VI . Summary and Conclusions
It is obvious from the baseline and final evaluation worker surveys and interviews that the FCFS program obtained overwhelming positive feedback from the beneficiaries and resulted in significant improvements in worker -‐ management relationships , workers ’ satisfaction with the factory and worker retention . The program positively impacted children who could spend their two -‐ month summer holiday in a safe and inspiring environment , and became more active and outgoing after participating in the FCFS program . This result was confirmed during 69 interviews we conducted with parents , children and teachers during three on -‐ site observations .
As for the challenges and gaps , even with a summer FCFS program , working parents still face challenges related to childcare , and there ’ s a strong need to improve workers ’ and their families ’ awareness about FCFS to ensure they know about this option . The data also shows the importance of supporting parents with parenting training in order to help them deal with their emotions when children need to leave for their hometowns after the summer holiday .
In summary , there is a strong need to replicate the FCFS model at more factories and to spread its positive impact among a larger workforce , especially in factories with large migrant worker populations . Meanwhile , there is a strong case to scale up the FCFS program at existing participating factories . The positive impact of FCFS can further be magnified if combined with parenting training programs .
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