World Bank Documentdocuments.worldbank.org/curated/en/343841468257733630/...B.€ Rationale for...
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Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No: 50851-GM PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT FOR A PROPOSED CATALYTIC FUND GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF US$ 28.0 MILLION TO THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA FOR A EDUCATION FOR ALL – FAST TRACK INITIATIVE PROGRAM July 16, 2009 This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized
Transcript of World Bank Documentdocuments.worldbank.org/curated/en/343841468257733630/...B.€ Rationale for...
Document of The World Bank
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Report No: 50851-GM
PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT
FOR A
PROPOSED CATALYTIC FUND GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF US$ 28.0 MILLION
TO THE
REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA
FOR A
EDUCATION FOR ALL – FAST TRACK INITIATIVE PROGRAM
July 16, 2009
This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.
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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS
(Exchange Rate Effective January 23, 2009)
Currency Unit = Dalasi (GMD) US$1 = 26 GMD
FISCAL YEAR
January 1 – December 31
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AfDB African Development Bank BADEA African Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA in French) BESPOR Basic Education Support for Poverty Reduction (DfID project) CAS Country Assistance Strategy CF Catalytic Fund CREDD Curriculum, Research, Evaluation and Development Directorate DFID Department for International Development (UK) MOBSE Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education MOFEA Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs ECCD Early Childhood Care and Development EFA-FTI Education for All – Fast Track Initiative ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework FA Financing Agreement (formerly Development Credit Agreement) FMR Financial Management Report GC Gambia College GER Gross enrollment rate GTTI Gambia Technical Training Institute IDA International Development Association LAT Learning Achievement Targets MDGs Millennium Development Goals MTP Medium Term Plan (2009-2011) NAT National Assessment Test NER Net enrollment rate NGO Non-Governmental Organization PCU Projects Coordination Unit PHRD Program for Human Resources Development financed by Japan PIM Project Implementation Manual PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper RED Regional Education Director RPF Resettlement Policy Framework
Vice President: Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili Country Director: Habib Fetini
Sector Manager: Eva Jarawan/Christopher Thomas IDA Task Team Leader: Meskerem Mulatu
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GAMBIA, THE Education for All – Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund Program
CONTENTS
Page
1. STRATEGIC CONTEXT AND RATIONALE.................................................................. 1 A. Country and sector issues.................................................................................................... 1 B. Rationale for FTI/CF and IDA involvement ....................................................................... 3 C. Higher level objectives to which the project contributes .................................................... 4
2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................. 4 A. Project instrument ............................................................................................................... 4 B. Program objective and phases ............................................................................................. 4 C. Project development objective and key indicators.............................................................. 4 D. Project components (detailed descriptions are provided in Annex 1)................................. 5 E. Lessons learned and reflected in the project design............................................................ 6 F. Alternatives considered and reasons for rejection............................................................... 7
3. IMPLEMENTATION........................................................................................................... 7 A. Partnership arrangements .................................................................................................... 7 B. Institutional and implementation arrangements .................................................................. 8 C. Monitoring and evaluation of outcomes/results .................................................................. 9 D. Sustainability....................................................................................................................... 9 E. Critical risks and possible controversial aspects ............................................................... 10 F. Grant conditions and covenants: There are no effectiveness conditions for the Grant.... 10
4. APPRAISAL SUMMARY.................................................................................................. 11 A. Economic and financial analyses ...................................................................................... 11 B. Technical ........................................................................................................................... 12 C. Fiduciary............................................................................................................................ 13 D. Social................................................................................................................................. 13 E. Environment ...................................................................................................................... 13 F. Safeguard policies ............................................................................................................. 14 G. Policy Exceptions and Readiness...................................................................................... 14
Annex 1: Detailed Project Description......................................................................................... 16 Annex 2 : : Project Costs and Proposed Financing ........................................................................... 21 Annex 3: Results Framework and Monitoring............................................................................. 23 Annex 4: Institutional arrangements ............................................................................................ 27 Annex 5: Financial Management and Disbursement Arrangements............................................ 28 Annex 6: Procurement Arrangements .......................................................................................... 37 Annex 7: Safeguard Policy Issues................................................................................................ 46 Annex 8: Economic and Financial Analyses................................................................................ 47 Annex 9: Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework ...................................................... 55 Annex 10: Major Related Projects ................................................................................................ 56 Annex 11: Documents in the Project File .................................................................................... 57 MAP: IBRD No. 33409
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GAMBIA, THE
THE GAMBIA EFA-FTI CATALYTIC FUND 2009-2011
PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT
AFRICA
AFTED
Date: July 13, 2009 Team Leader: Meskerem Mulatu Country Director: Habib M. Fetini Sector Manager/Director: Eva Jarawan/Christopher J. Thomas
Sectors: Primary education (35%);Secondary education (35%);Public administration- Education (20%);Pre-primary education (10%) Themes: Education for all (100%)
Project ID: P115427 Environmental category: Partial Assessment Lending Instrument: Specific Investment Loan
Project Financing Data [ ] Loan [ ] Credit [X] Grant [ ] Guarantee [ ] Other: This is an EFA-FTI Catalytic Fund Grant For Grants: Total Operation Cost (US$m.): 28.00
Financing Plan (US$m) Source Local Foreign Total
Borrower 0.00 0.00 0.00 EFA-FTI Education Program Development Fund
28.00 0.00 28.00
Total: 28.00 0.00 28.00
Amount of financing to be provided by Source Amount (US$m) Trust Fund Program 28.00 SPF 0.00 Recipient 0.00 External Funds, not Bank Managed 0.00 Financing Gap 0.00 Total Project Cost 28.00
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Recipient: Republic of The Gambia Responsible Agency: Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education Willy Thorpe Place Bldg. Gambia, The Tel: +220-422 85 22 Fax: +220-422 50 66 [email protected]
Estimated disbursements (Bank FY/US$m) FY FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 Annual 5.00 7.00 10.00 6.00 Cumulative 5.00 12.00 22.00 28.00 Project implementation period: Start July 31, 2009 End: August 31, 2012 Expected effectiveness date: August 3, 2009 Expected closing date: December 31, 2012
Does the project depart from the CAS in content or other significant respects? Ref. PAD I.C.
[ ]Yes [X] No
Does the project require any exceptions from Bank policies? Ref. PAD IV.G. Have these been approved by Bank management?
[ ]Yes [X] No [X]Yes [ ] No
Is approval for any policy exception sought from the Board? [ ]Yes [X] No Does the project include any critical risks rated “substantial” or “high”? Ref. PAD III.E.
[ ]Yes [X] No
Does the project meet the Regional criteria for readiness for implementation? Ref. PAD IV.G.
[X]Yes [ ] No
Project development objective Ref. PAD II.C., Technical Annex 3 The overall project development objective is to improve conditions for teaching and learning in basic education including early childhood development. This objective is aligned with the ongoing IDA project and consistent with the overall objectives of the Government#s Education Sector Strategy Plan and the Medium-Term Plan for 2009-2011. Project description [one-sentence summary of each component] Ref. PAD II.D., Technical Annex 4 Component 1: Increasing access to and equity in basic education (US$9.3 million). Component 2: Improving the quality of teaching and learning (US$16.5 million). Component 3: Strengthening Management and Institutional Capacity at central and regional levels (US$2.2 million). Which safeguard policies are triggered, if any? Ref. PAD IV.F., Technical Annex 10 The project has triggered OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment and OP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement due to potential negative environmental and social impacts related to the construction of schools, and the possible construction and rehabilitation under the school
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improvement grants. The safeguard screening category is S2, and the environmental screening category is B. To address potential negative impacts consistent with the requirements of these safeguard policies, the project has prepared an ESMF and a RPF. In addition to describing the environmental and social screening process, the ESMF makes recommendations regarding capacity building needs to ensure its effective implementation, and consultations with potentially affected persons as part of the screening process that will take place at the time construction plans are prepared. Significant, non-standard conditions, if any, for: Ref. PAD III.F. Board presentation: This is an EFA-FTI CF Grant and does not require Board presentation. The CF Committee approved the grant in December 2008. Loan/credit effectiveness: There are no effectiveness conditions. Covenants applicable to project implementation: The Recipient will: (a) in August and February of each year, submit semi-annual progress reports including all key indicators; and (b) no later than six months after the end of the of the Recipient’s financial year, submit audited annual financial statements of the previous fiscal year.
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1. STRATEGIC CONTEXT AND RATIONALE COUNTRY AND SECTOR ISSUES
1. The Gambia is a small West African country with an estimated population of 1.6 million (2008), and an average per capita GDP of approximately US$420 (2007)1. The Gambia is ranked 155th out of 177 countries in the 2007 UN Human Development Index. The overall poverty headcount ratio is 58 percent, with large socioeconomic and regional variations. Tourism is a key driver of the economy and the country’s most significant foreign exchange earner. Agriculture accounts for approximately a third of GDP but more than 70 percent of employment.
2. The overall medium term outlook (2008-2010) is characterized by robust growth and a stable macroeconomic environment. Real annual GDP growth is expected to be steady at 5.8 percent over 2008-2010, consistent with recent history. The projected GDP growth rates for 2008 and 2009 were recently revised downward by approximately 0.5 percent given the expected impact of the global downturn on tourism and remittances and the relatively poor performance of the groundnut sector.
3. While the country has enjoyed relatively strong economic performance in recent years, governance challenges remain. President Jammeh has remained in power through a series of elections since a military coup in 1994, including the latest election in 2006, which international observers described as fair.
4. There have been important gains in education and health indicators. Access to education has expanded, particularly in rural areas, and quality has been identified as the next major challenge. The overall life expectancy in the country, estimated at 57 years (2005), is higher than the SSA average. The Gambia has also performed relatively well on child health indicators compared to the SSA average.
5. Education sector overview: In the last five years, substantial gains have been achieved in education service delivery, a key pillar of the PRSP. The Millennium Development Goals for universal primary education and gender parity are within reach provided additional resources are available for sustained and accelerated progress. The main challenge is to improve the quality of instruction, for which major initiatives are under way, including those supported by the Education for all-Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund (EFA-FTI CF) under Round 1, and proposed for support now under Round 2 (2009-2011). The Government’s Medium Term Plan (MTP) for the education sector was discussed with and recommended for re-endorsement by the in-country donors in August 2008. The key donors active in the sector include UNICEF (the lead in-country donor), the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the African Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and the other UN Funds and Programmes, and the World Bank (IDA). In addition, a number of national and international NGOs are closely involved in education activities, including Action Aid, Future in Our Hands, and VSO, among others.
1 The Gross National Income per capita (GNI) in 2007 is US$320.
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6. The MTP, which covers the period 2009-2011, is the outcome of a critical review of existing policies that aims at bringing a more practical and operational approach to the decision-making and prioritization processes. The priorities include improved access, especially for girls, for children in remote areas, and for children with disabilities. It maintains primary focus on quality challenges, with a strong emphasis on improving early grade reading, and addressing marked disparities seen between girls and boys, between regions and between the different socio-economic groups. The MTP also sets out clear baseline and target values for the key indicators in the sector.
7. The education sector has seen important gains: Over the past five years, there has been a strong focus on equity, access, quality and management: (a) Continued attention to equity and effective access: Attracting teachers to
remote, rural areas; creating additional places through efficiency measures and construction /extension of classrooms; attracting and keeping all children in school, ensuring that every child in lower basic has a book for all core subjects, increasing the chances of success at the end of the basic cycle are all objectives on which significant progress has been seen.
(b) Focusing on teachers as key actors in improving quality: Reforms in pre-service teacher training; strengthening in-service training at both central and regional levels; establishing cluster-level training structures; and certificate programs for unqualified teachers have all focused attention on the importance of providing strong content knowledge and school-level pedagogic support to teachers.
(c) Assessment instruments are in place to measure quality in the classroom:With World Bank and RTI/USAID support, Government has assessed reading levels in grades 1-3 in 2007 and has implemented an action plan as follow-up. A national assessment test (NAT) was conducted to all grade 3-5 students in 2007, the results from which are also available. These provide important baselines against which future progress can be measured.
(d) Greater attention to monitoring and evaluation: Through ongoing support from donors, such as DFID and IDA, Government has made significant improvements in data management and analysis, and has caught up to data insufficiencies noted during the period 2002-2004.
(e) Performance is seen as a key measure of career development: In an effort to improve results, the MOBSE has initiated a performance measurement process with support from DFID, IDA, and the PHRD Grant, which has introduced the element of performance as an important aspect of both career development and accountability for results.
8. In spite of these achievements, critical challenges still remain with the sector. These include. (a) Reaching the children still out of school, and addressing disparities:
Improvements in access in recent years notwithstanding, there are still significant number of children out of school, including those in remote, rural areas, those with disabilities, and those in difficulty (including orphans of HIV/AIDS). Although girls outnumber boys in lower basic education, they still under-perform boys at all levels of the school system. In
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addition, girls still lag behind boys in the upper basic cycle and beyond, and are significantly under-represented among teachers and school managers at all levels.
(b) Need for sustained focus on quality: Recently conducted tests and surveys confirm what is clearly stated in the Government’s policy documents: education quality is very low and is the key challenge for the sector. Serious problems persist in early grade reading, and English and mathematics mastery is very low in the lower basic cycle. Both in- and pre-service training have been given greater attention by Government and a few donor programs; however, the system continues to suffer from low content-knowledge of incoming student-teachers, limited pedagogic support at school level for new teachers and those with difficulties, and very limited opportunities for the professional development of existing teachers.
(c) Sector management needs to be anchored in a well-performing base: At present, sector management is strongest at the top, with a clear vision and solid leadership in policy implementation. The challenge, therefore, is to build a strong base at regional and local levels to ensure a solid base exist to which more management tasks can be devolved. Data management and analysis have seen recent improvements but continue to be vulnerable to problems in data collection and in attracting and keeping qualified staff.
RATIONALE FOR FTI/CF AND IDA INVOLVEMENT
9. There are several reasons why the Catalytic Fund should support the education sector in The Gambia, complementing the support already provided by the ongoing IDA operation and by other actors (donors, NGOs) in the sector. First, the Catalytic Fund Grant, as with the IDA Grant, would fit within the framework of the sector program, providing support that enables both financing sources to fill gaps where other donors are not able to respond, including substantial investments in quality interventions, in innovations in the measurement of learning achievements (such as the Early Grade Reading Assessment) and in changing incentives to effect behavior change (such as hardship allowances for teachers, or performance management linked to team bonuses for personnel). Second, coupled with IDA’s long-term involvement in the sector and in the country, the Catalytic Fund would be able to capitalize on IDA’s macro-economic and sectoral institutional knowledge due to its work in The Gambia since the 1970s. IDA support to the Education Policy under Phase 1 of this APL launched an important programmatic approach, from which important lessons have been drawn (see Lessons Learned below). 10. It is worth noting that activities proposed under the Catalytic Fund are not isolated initiatives but fall within the global implementation of the above-mentioned sector-wide approach. They would support the Government’s Medium Term Plan and are complementary to existing funding sources: school construction and rehabilitation are financed by IDA and AfDB, among others, in ongoing projects. Activities aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning complement support for teacher development under AfDB, DfID and IDA. The early childhood activities are complementary to UNICEF initiatives. Third, this proposal for accelerating progress towards universal primary education is the key objective highlighted both in the overall policy as well as in the MTP. The Catalytic Fund would help the financial gap and focus its efforts on those areas of the program deemed critical for the achievement of the MDGs.
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HIGHER LEVEL OBJECTIVES TO WHICH THE PROJECT CONTRIBUTES
11. The CF’s objectives are in line with the Joint Assistance Strategy (IDA and AfDB), presented to the Board in 2008, and with The Gambia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, which gives priority to human development in general, and to basic education and skills development in particular. More specifically, the project responds to the PRSP pillar on enhanced equity and quality of service delivery, and contributes to two other pillars that aim to improve public expenditure management, and promote private sector-led growth.
2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION A. PROJECT INSTRUMENT
12. The lending instrument selected for this project is a sector investment loan (SIL). The sector budget support instrument that had been in use under the first three-year round of the FTI CF support to The Gambia had been a successful one. However, with the continuing global financial and economic crises and its potential impact on the domestic economy,, the team considers the SIL to be the best adapted instrument to protect investments in the education sector.
B. PROGRAM OBJECTIVE AND PHASES
13. The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE) has concluded the Education Sector Strategic Plan for the period 2004-2015, and translated it into the Medium Term Plan (MTP, 2009-2011) which sets out the framework for the implementation period of this Grant. The proposed projects contributes in particular to the objective of achieving universal primary education as laid out in the MTP and takes into consideration other cross-cutting interventions such as special needs and HIV/AIDS education.
C. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE AND KEY INDICATORS
14. The overall project development objective is to improve conditions for teaching and learning in basic education including early childhood development. This objective is aligned with the ongoing IDA project and consistent with the overall objectives of the Government’s Education Sector Strategy Plan and the Medium-Term Plan for 2009-2011. Teaching and learning in basic education would be improved by (a) increasing access and equity in basic education; (b) improving the quality of teaching and learning; (c) strengthening management, monitoring and evaluation as well as institutional capacity at central and regional levels. The targets and key performance indicators are given below:
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Indicators Baseline 2006 (Female) Target 2012 (Female) 1. Intake Rates
ECD 39.4 % 45 % LBS 101 % 125 % UBS 88 % 90 %
2. Gross enrolment ECD 26% 42% LBS 91.4% (93%) 101.9% (103%) UBS 60% (58%) 69% (71%)
3. Net enrolment LBS 75% (77%) 85% (87%) UBS 38% (37%) 48% (47%)
4. Gender parity (female/male) LBS 1.03 1.03 UBS 0.91 1.0
5. Completion rate* LBS 65% (67%) 80% (80%) UBS 56% (52%) 63% (63%)
6. Teacher-Pupil Ratio LBS 1:39 1:45 UBS 1:22 1:45
7. % Qualified Teachers (LBS) 70% (27%) 80% (37%) 8. Annual Instruction Hours 866 hrs 880 hrs 9. Pupil:Textbooks /Instructional materials
Ratio 4:1 1:1
LBS 1:1 1:1 UBS 3:1 1:1
Baseline 2008 Target 2011 10. Education share of budget 14 20 11. Number of hours per week devoted to
reading, by region New TBD
12. Frequency and duration of support visits to schools by cluster monitors
TBD Weekly visits to each school
for half-day 13. Percent of schools with approved school
development plans TBD 100%
14. Increase grade level competence (mastery) in core subjects on NAT
10% 15%
15. Increase grade level competence (minimum) in core subjects on NAT
46% 60%
*: including madrassas offering the official curriculum
D. PROJECT COMPONENTS (DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS ARE PROVIDED IN ANNEX 1)
15. The CF program has three components, each of which is discussed in detail in Annex 1:
16. Component 1: Increasing access to and equity in basic education (US$9.3 million). The project would support the construction, rehabilitation, and furnishing of classrooms and staff quarters, provision of water points and latrines, employ strategies for children out of school and for adolescent girls, and encourage early childhood development.
17. Component 2: Improving the quality of teaching and learning (US$16.5 million). This component would constitute the bulk of the grant and supports quality interventions as a key
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priority. The activities would include provision of learning materials; curriculum development at all levels, support for in- and pre-service teacher training and school-level pedagogic support; provision of incentives to stabilize teachers in remote, rural areas; design and implementation of learning assessments instruments; support to early childhood development and for special needs education, as well as for orphans of HIV/AIDS, communication, advocacy and community activities to support mothers’ clubs and offer scholarships, and advocacy support to NGOs. 18. Component 3: Strengthening Management and Institutional Capacity at central and regional levels (US$2.2 million). Under this component, support would be provided for monitoring and evaluation systems, and for sector management, with a strong focus on data management, performance monitoring and bonuses (in line with plans under the existing IDA project). Support would be provided to the MOBSE and to the Projects Coordination Unit (PCU) through the provision of technical assistance, operating costs and carrying out of audits.
E. LESSONS LEARNED AND REFLECTED IN THE PROJECT DESIGN
19. Experience and lessons learned from the first phase of the EFA-FTI program and from past IDA projects are reflected into the project design and include the following: • Pay attention to the sustainability of interventions. A significant number
of activities financed under the first round of support from FTI have now been incorporated into the Government budget, including more than half of the teacher allowances, all pre- and in-service teacher training activities, scholarship support for girls (though some may remain under ongoing operations), operations and maintenance including a significant share of vehicle costs, among others. This has ensured that the successful pilots under the first FTI round and other donor programs have been able to benefit directly from the increased budget allocation to education.
• Create incentives (financial and non-financial) that support the project and are performance-based: Expand on ongoing capacity building efforts financed under the PHRD Co-financing Grant from the Government of Japan and the IDA project, the CF would sustain support for the performance evaluation framework that will be used to reward good performers and provide support for improvements for those unable to conduct their tasks effectively.
• Rather than trying to solely increase the number of pre-service places to fill teacher shortages, the quality of teacher training programs needs to be given sustained attention. The project will focus not only on the caliber of recruits but also provide support to teachers in their classrooms to ensure they translate their training into better practice.
• Strong coordination among donors is fundamental. The project will benefit directly from donor coordination efforts currently financed under the ongoing IDA project. With strong Government leadership and ownership of the process, harmonization of procedures and alignment of interventions is showing real progress.
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F. ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED AND REASONS FOR REJECTION
• Other lending instruments considered: With the World Bank as the Supervising Entity, the sector investment loan is the only lending instrument currently available for FTI Catalytic Fund operations.
• Focus on quality: The CF program would focus on improvements in quality while continuing to support limited expansion of school places. A limited number of access interventions are included that aim at attracting and supporting the last 15 percent of children to schools, at stabilizing teachers in remote, rural areas, and at improving the learning environment in existing schools.
• Focus on intermediate targets related to school, student and teacher performance and outputs instead of on improvements in student achievement: The task team agreed with Government that focusing solely on student achievement measures was unrealistic given the time it takes to see significant improvements. Instead the team has opted for a mix of intermediate outcome and output indicators for the next four years, while tracking student achievements and completion rates as important long-term goals.
3. IMPLEMENTATION 20. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE), supported by the Projects Coordination Unit (PCU), as is currently the case in the implementation of IDA, AfDB, IsDB and other donor programs. The following arrangements have been put into place:
G. PARTNERSHIP ARRANGEMENTS
21. EFA-FTI: The Education for All –Fast Track Initiative has been the most important partnership arrangement coming to the assistance of the Government in recent years, supporting its efforts to accelerate progress towards meeting the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The first year’s allocation of US$4 million was fully disbursed within the allotted 12-month period, and focused primarily on access and quality inputs; the same was true for the US$4 million allocated in Year 2 and the US$5.4 million in Year 3. Some of the most important lessons were: (a) relatively small financial incentives were effective in attracting teachers to remote areas and in reducing requests for mobility out of those regions; (b) the absorptive capacity of the system was higher than was anticipated, as the MOBSE was able to program and execute all planned activities measures within the planned time period; and (c) the importance of addressing priority logistical problems (including lack of electricity or fuel for vehicles) as a means of attaining quality and management objectives, and of motivating staff by improving working conditions. The second round of EFA-FTI CF allocation is expected to coincide with the implementation of the Education Medium Term Plan (2009-2011).
22. Donor programs: This program has been prepared in close collaboration with the in-country donor team, including UNICEF (lead in-country donor) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), with contributions from the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, BADEA and the other UN Funds and Programmes (especially
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World Food Program) and several non-governmental institutions. Examples of the interventions supported by these donors include:
UNICEF: Child-friendly schools initiative (including Essential Learning Package), support to policy and life-skills;
DfID: Educational management, training of unqualified teachers and Whole School Development;
AfDB: School construction, well drilling and school maintenance, school health packages, and teacher training and consultancy for TVET and Non Formal education;
IDB: Provision of furniture and supplementary reading materials, and literacy support; BADEA: Classroom construction, staff quarters and well drilling; WFP: Food for education (school feeding programme).
23. In terms of geographical coverage, interventions are nationwide with the exception of UNICEF focusing on Upper River Region, BADEA in Kanifing Municipality and Western Region and WFP in rural areas excluding the growth centers (see also Annex 10, p. 52). As some of the development partner’s existing programs wind down, the Islamic Development Fund, BADEA and OPEC Fund are currently discussing follow-up operations with Government in the areas of classroom construction, rehabilitation, teacher training and management support. The expected contributions of these donors come to about US$30 million in the next three years. Both the DfID and the AfDB projects are expected to close before 2010, and no follow-up projects are under discussion or likely before 2011.
24. In June 2008, the Government made a formal request to the donors to re-endorse its Medium Term Plan for the sector, with the focus on universal primary education. In August 2008, the in-country donors unanimously endorsed this proposal, which was transmitted to the Catalytic Fund Committee in September 2008.
H. INSTITUTIONAL AND IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS
25. Overall project orientation and coordination. The project will be implemented by the MOBSE, with the coordination activities handled by the Projects Coordination Unit (PCU). This unit, unlike those in many other countries, is fully integrated into the MOBSE. Lines of authority and division of responsibilities between the Ministry and the Project Unit are clear. The PCU includes a project manager, deputy manager, fiduciary team and a small construction management unit. The PCU team manages most of the donor programs in the sector – the staff is highly experienced and well versed in Bank and other donor procedures. The Senior Management Team (SMT) of the MOBSE, comprising the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, the Deputy Permanent Secretaries and the Directors (both central and regional) are charged with the overall policy direction and make key implementation decisions. The SMT delegates implementation either to the PCU or to the relevant Directorates as necessary. The well-qualified, committed and stable Government team has made a significant difference in policy formulation. As in many small countries, the presence or absence of qualified and committed leaders in critical posts makes or breaks the institutions in The Gambia. At present, strong leadership has been in place for the past four years and assurances have been be sought from
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Government that mobility at both the political and technical levels within MOBSE and PCU be kept at a minimum during the implementation phase.
26. Donor Coordination and joint semi-annual review: The PCU’s role within the MOBSE includes the coordination of sector program implementation and the management of donor-funded programs. Its key areas of intervention include the fiduciary responsibilities, including procurement and financial management, construction supervision, reporting and donor coordination. Semi-annual joint donor review meetings have been organized for the past two years, bringing together all key donors in the sector. During these joint missions, the MOBSE presents the progress in the monitoring indicators, and discusses compliance with financial management and procurement requirements. The MOBSE and partners also review the education budget, ensure consistency between the activities proposed and the strategic plan, and conduct field visits to assess the results at the school-level.
27. Construction: The PCU Construction Programme Manager (CPM) will be expected to head the implementation supervision activities, as a parallel structure does not exist with the MOBSE. The CPM will coordinate with the Procurement Officer as well as with the Financial Comptroller to ensure all activities are conducted according to IDA procedures, or those of other donors, as necessary. The following procurement methods will be used for the construction of classrooms: (a) awarding individual contracts through National Competitive Bidding, (b) negotiating delegated management contracts with an implementation agency and/or (c) framework agreements with qualified NGOs.
I. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES/RESULTS
28. The output and outcome indicators that are selected for this project will be tracked regularly at school, regional and central levels, using the existing tools for data collection developed and rolled out under the BESPOR (DfID) and IDA projects, with the appropriate measures taken by Planning to ensure accuracy, security, and timeliness. Any necessary policy actions will be taken by senior management to address any worrisome trends captured in the data collection.
J. SUSTAINABILITY
29. The sustainability of this operation will be driven by the degree of ownership by Government, by the capacity of core education institutions (especially the MOBSE) to absorb the additional resources and to implement the necessary activities, and by Government’s continued commitment to the education sector as demonstrated by the priority given to it.
30. Financial sustainability: Based on the scenario proposed in the medium term plan, a financing gap has emerged of US$7.7 million for recurrent costs and US$24.9 for investment costs. The CF application is projected to comprise about 20 percent of the overall program costs and would help to close the financing gap. As mentioned earlier in this document, a number of activities financed under the first round of support from FTI have now been incorporated at least partially into the Government budget (teacher allowances, teacher training activities, scholarship support for girls, operations and maintenance, etc.). It is important, however, not to underplay
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the challenge: although macro-economic performance has improved over the past couple of years and has been assessed as satisfactory, the system still remains relatively fragile.
31. Government commitment and civil society involvement: The Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) supported by this grant is very much Government owned, with the vision, goals and implementation arrangements articulated by the senior management leading the sector. It has benefited from extensive discussions with key stakeholders. With strong leadership at the MOBSE, and with the high demand for education expressed by the population, there is little reason to believe that Government commitment will wane in the near future. Finally, the regular engagement by MOBSE with civil society and with a broad cross-section of the population continues to provide strong support for long-term sustainability and ownership. There is little risk, therefore, that the commitments in the ESSP and the MTP will not be met.
32. Institutional sustainability: The ability of the sector to fulfill its ambitious objectives is directly related to the stability of the senior management team and core directors in the system. The IDA team is encouraged by the fact that the current management team has been maintained for the past three years, including most of the central and regional directors, contributing to the continued progress seen in the sector. As was confirmed under the first phase of the IDA project, all persons sent for short- and long-term training overseas have signed guarantees (“bonds”) to confirm their commitment to return, and of those who have completed their training, more than 95 percent have returned to the civil service.
K. CRITICAL RISKS AND POSSIBLE CONTROVERSIAL ASPECTS
Risk Mitigation Measures Rating*
Staff mobility: Changes in senior management could derail progress in the education sector
Despite shuffles in other Ministries, the senior management team has been stable in education.
L
MOBSE may be unable to attract qualified personnel: Low salaries/benefits make MOBSE jobs unattractive to qualified personnel.
With the recognition that the sector is one of the highest performing ones in the economy, MOBSE has been able to attract candidates for most of the positions it has despite the low salaries. The strong leadership, improved working conditions and staff commitment must be maintained.
M
Lack of incentives: Teacher dissatisfaction due to low salaries and lack of incentives
Hardship allowances are provided under the EFA-FTI Catalytic Fund. Teachers’ careers are given greater attention, and the challenges faced by teachers in classrooms are directly addressed. At present, there is good collaboration and trust between the Teachers’ Union and MOBSE.
M
Sustainability of change agenda in the classroom
Training for teachers and managers will not only include introduction to new pedagogic measures but will also focus on behavior change and change management
M
Overall M Rating scale: H=high; S=substantial; M=modest; L=Low or negligible * Risk rating with mitigation
L. GRANT CONDITIONS AND COVENANTS: THERE ARE NO EFFECTIVENESS CONDITIONS
FOR THE GRANT.
33. Dated covenants: The Recipient will:
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(a) in August and February of each year, submit semi-annual progress reports including all key indicators; and no later than June 30 of each year, submit audited annual financial statements of the previous fiscal year.
(b) not later than September 1, 2009, submit the updated version of the Project Implementation Manual satisfactory to the Association;
(c) not later than three months after the Effective Date of the Grant, amend the contract with the external auditors of the Third Education Project - Phase 2 to include the audit of this Grant for the fiscal year 2009; and
(d) not later than October 30, 2010, recruit new external auditors for the Project and the Third Education Project - Phase 2 pursuant to terms of reference and qualifications acceptable to the Association.
4. APPRAISAL SUMMARY M. ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL ANALYSES
34. The share of the public recurrent budget allocated to education averaged just 11 percent during most of the decade, representing only 2 percent of GDP, far below the FTI benchmark of 20 and 3.6 percent, respectively. However, due to high debt service requirements, this share rises to an average of 18 percent of total public discretionary recurrent expenditure (i.e. exclusive of interest payments), not very distant from the FTI benchmark of 20 percent on this indicator. Thus, within its fiscal space constraints, Government commitment to the implementation of the education sector program has been high.
35. Despite increases in the budget allocation in 2009, the current public investment in The Gambia is not sufficient to support high quality teaching and learning, exacerbated by low teacher qualifications and motivation; challenge of continued full coverage in teaching and learning materials, and inadequate school-level pedagogical support, among others.
36. A cost-effectiveness analysis was carried out under the ongoing IDA project to consider the investment in quality versus the continued mass expansion of school enrollment only. Investment in quality will also increase the internal efficiency of the Gambian education system, contributing to the decreased repetition rate from 6 percent to 2 percent per grade on average during the primary cycle. Only investing in expansion will keep these system indicators at status quo. Without the investment in quality, it takes 6.38 years on average for a graduate to complete the cycle, and an average of 8.93 years of investment to produce one graduate, taking into account the wastage due to dropout. It is envisaged that, with the planned investments in quality, it will take 6.12 years on average for a graduate to complete the cycle, and an average of 6.78 years of investment to produce one graduate. The improved efficiency will result in reduced total cost of producing one primary school graduate from estimated US$190 to $179, even with the increased unit spending per pupil per year from 7 percent of GDP per capita to 9 percent of GDP per capita.
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37. A financial analysis was carried out to evaluate the attainability and sustainability of the targets specified in the Government’s Education Sector Development Plan. The policy choices which aim to ensure the sustainability of the plan are as follows:
38. Lower basic education: Access (i) increase the admission rate from 101% to 125%; increase the LBS GER (including madrassas) from 91.4% to 101.9%; (ii) reduce the repetition rate in LBS from 5.8% to 3.6%; (iii) reduce the dropout rate in LBS from 4.1% to 2.8%; (iv) increase the transition rate (from Grades 6 to 7) from 88% to 90%; (v) increase the share of enrolment for boys in LBS from 49% to 50%; (vi) increase the achievement scores for girls at all levels to catch up with boys (NAT, EGRA, etc.); (vi) focus on reading as a key foundation competency; and (vii) introduce national languages to ensure early literacy of children. Quality (i) increase grade level competence (mastery) in the core subjects from 10% to 15%; (ii) increase grade level competence (minimum)in the core subjects from 46% to 60%; (iii) maintain the pupil-textbook ratio in LBS at 1:1; (iv) decrease the pupil-supplementary reader ratio in LBS from 2:1 to 1:1; (v) increase hours of instruction to 8662; (vi) increase frequency of school-level pedagogic support visits from once monthly to once a week by cluster monitors, with approximately two hours per school; (vii) introduce the national languages as a media of instruction in the early grades i.e. Grades 1-3 while English will be taught as a subject; (viii) improve reading in the early grades, with 80% of children reading at grade level.
39. In upper basic education, the major variables of this policy are to: (i) increase upper basic gross enrolment rate (including official madrassas) from 60% to 69%; (ii) reduce the repetition rate from 4.7% to 3%; (iii) maintain the dropout rate at 2%; (iv) decrease the pupil-textbook ratio in UBS from 3:1 to 1:1; and (v) decrease the pupil-supplementary reader ratio in UBS from 4:1 to 1:1.
40. In secondary education, the following policy options are considered to improve access: maintain the transition rate from basic to secondary education at 52%; (ii) increase the GER from 33% to 38%; (iii) decrease the repetition rate from 4.2% to 2.7%; (iv) achieve gender parity of students by 2011. For quality: (i) increase the number of teachers from 1034 to 1531; (ii) increase the number of Gambian teachers to 50% by 2011; (iii) train at least 115 Gambian teachers each year to degree level and increase the proportion of female teachers in this group; and (iv) establish gender-balanced board of governors in accordance with the Education Act (a complete economic analysis is provided in Annex 5).
N. TECHNICAL
41. The CF program will provide support to the development of the education sector in The Gambia based on the MTP. Providing pedagogic support at school level, and focusing attention and resources on teaching and learning conditions will improve teaching by offering teachers timely, good quality pedagogic support, and will enable students through active learner-centered methodologies. Both teachers and students will receive instructional materials. Direct support to schools and regional education offices will allow for greater ownership, better accountability and improved cooperation between Government and civil society in order to promote equity and
2 This is based on the flexible school calendars of the six educational regions.
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ensure quality service delivery. The technical soundness of the program will be reviewed carefully twice each year with all stakeholders participating.
O. FIDUCIARY
42. Financial Management Arrangements: A full financial management assessment was conducted in August 2008, which noted that the Catalytic Fund (CF) transactions would be managed within the existing Projects Coordination Unit (PCU) of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE). The Grant would follow the financial management arrangements already in place for the ongoing IDA-financed Third Education, Phase 2 project. The overall performance of the PCU in financial management was rated satisfactory by the last FM supervision.
43. The fiduciary arrangements of the national implementing agencies meet the Bank’s minimum requirements under OP/BP10.02. It is adequate to provide, with reasonable assurance, accurate and timely information on the status of the project required by IDA.
44. Procurement Arrangements: The proposed operation will use the same procurement arrangements as the ongoing IDA Third Education project. An assessment of the Projects Coordination Unit’s capacity to implement procurement actions under IDA and EFA FTI Catalytic Fund (CF) financing was carried out in August 2008. The objective of the assessment was to update the previous procurement assessment conducted in May 2006 and determine whether the implementing entities continue to offer an acceptable arrangement in line with Bank procedures. The assessment reviewed the organization structure, the current procurement plan implementation and the interaction between the project’s staff responsible for procurement and found them to be satisfactory.
P. SOCIAL
45. The issues that are of particular concern included: (a) the lack of parity between boys and girls in terms of access, with gross enrollment rates for boys dropping in lower basic; (b) the gap in learning achievements between boys and girls, with girls under-performing boys at all levels; (c) the lack of effective access for children with special needs; (d) the need to ensure equality of access to all levels, to the extent possible, for children in the parallel Koranic (madrassa)system; and (e) the low levels of reading accuracy and comprehension measured in recent assessments. The interventions planned under the CF program will help address these problems.
Q. ENVIRONMENT
46. The framework documents already in use under the existing IDA project fully apply in the case of the CF Grant, since the activities planned are consistent with those addressed in both the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and the Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF). A screening mechanism is in place that will ensure that all sub-projects are screened on their environmental and social impacts, and where called for, limited environmental analyses will be carried out to mitigate the impact. As most of the sub-projects are relatively small in size, it is envisaged that the impacts are normally small and thus a checklist will suffice.
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Therefore, the impact of all sub-projects will be effectively addressed and adequately monitored during project implementation.
R. SAFEGUARD POLICIES
47. The project has triggered OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment and OP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement due to potential negative environmental and social impacts related to the construction of schools, and the possible construction and rehabilitation under the school improvement grants. The safeguard screening category is S2, and the environmental screening category is B. To address potential negative impacts consistent with the requirements of these safeguard policies, the project has prepared an ESMF and a RPF. In addition to describing the environmental and social screening process, the ESMF makes recommendations regarding capacity building needs to ensure its effective implementation, and consultations with potentially affected persons as part of the screening process that will take place at the time construction plans are prepared.
Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No Environmental Assessment OP/BP/GP 4.01) [X] [ ]Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) [ ] [X] Pest Management (OP 4.09) [ ] [X] Cultural Property (OPN 11.03, being revised as OP 4.11) [ ] [X] Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) [X] [ ]Indigenous Peoples (OD 4.20, being revised as OP 4.10) [ ] [X] Forests (OP/BP 4.36) [ ] [X] Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) [ ] [X] Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP/GP 7.60)* [ ] [X] Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP/GP 7.50) [ ] [X]
S. POLICY EXCEPTIONS AND READINESS
Project staff in place: The project staff are all in place, including the fiduciary team. Counterpart funds budgeted/released: As country financing parameters have been established for The Gambia, the CF program would finance 100 percent of expenditures. Procurement plan for the first 18 months of activities: A draft was already provided to the team and a final one will be provided at Negotiations. Disclosure requirements met: The Environmental and Social Management Framework and the Resettlement Plan were fully disclosed for the ongoing IDA project. In line with guidance from the Safeguards team, since no new types of activities are planned, and since construction activities under those framework documents have not yet begun (i.e. no performance measures can be provided at this time), those disclosed documents would still be considered in force.
* By supporting the proposed project, the Bank does not intend to prejudice the final determination of the parties’ claims on the disputed areas
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Results assessments arrangements completed: The Results Framework has been discussed and agreed upon with Government.
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Annex 1: Detailed Project Description The overall project development objective is to improve conditions for teaching and learning in basic education including early childhood development. This objective is aligned with the ongoing IDA project and consistent with the overall objectives of the Government’s Education Sector Strategy Plan and the Medium-Term Plan for 2009-2011. Teaching and learning in basic education would be improved by (a) increasing access and equity in basic education; (b) improving the quality of teaching and learning; (c) strengthening management, monitoring and evaluation as well as institutional capacity of the central and regional levels. The components have been identified to help attain this objective, including: Component 1: Increasing access to and equity in basic education (US$9.3 million). Component 2: Improving the quality of teaching and learning (US$16.5 million). Component 3: Strengthening management and institutional capacity of the central and
regional levels (US$2.2 million). Component 1: Increasing access to and equity in basic education (US$9.3 million) Challenge: The school-age population continues to grow at a rapid rate in the nation, and the greatest demand now for school places is in urban and peri-urban areas. However, as remote villages in rural areas still show significant increases in the school-age population and continue to lag in service delivery, any expansion of access would have to address the needs of these two distinct populations. In addition, with gross enrollment at 90 percent, expanding access to the remaining 10 percent of children out of school will require additional effort and more innovative approach. Many of these children are from disadvantaged backgrounds: they are children with disabilities, children from poor families, and orphans of HIV/AIDS, among others. To attain universal basic education by 2015, and maintain the enrollment rates in upper basic, additional school places in lower- and upper-basic schools will have to be created at an accelerated pace. One of the successes registered in the previous implementation of the first phase of the catalytic funding is the increase in enrolment of girls and the attainment of gender parity in enrolment between boys and girls at the level of basic education. However, the drop in enrolment for boys and the performance gap between boys and girls in lower and upper basic remain important. Strategies: This proposal is expected to deliver about 400 classrooms with furniture and sanitary facilities, and to rehabilitate 85 dilapidated classrooms across all regions, especially in underserved areas. In order to address the difficulties around the supply of safe drinking water, 200 water points will be provided where the need is greatest. In addition, about 65 teachers’ quarters will be constructed or rehabilitated in extremely deprived communities. To further enhance access to schooling for communities with very low school-aged population located two or three kilometers away from the nearest lower basic school, a pilot will be designed to use customized horse/donkey carts to transport early graders to and from school until they are older and able to walk such distances.
In response to the challenge of getting and keeping all kids into school, the construction of separate toilet facilities for girls will be expanded, with 234 new toilet facilities. Sanitary supplies would be provided for adolescent girls to avoid loss of instructional time. The child-
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friendly school initiative will continue to be expanded in Regions 2 and 3 through support for new and existing mothers’ clubs, including but not limited to communication, advocacy and community support. In order to bridge the gap in enrolment between boys and girls, financial assistance will be provided to needy boys in those areas where enrolments have dropped. The employment of different pedagogic methods (such as methods for special needs children, orphans, or children with HIV/AIDS ) are planned under the project. Efforts will also be needed in areas where the opportunity cost of education is higher than the immediate benefits to the household or the child.
Component 2: Improving the quality of teaching and learning (US$16.5 million) Challenges: The Gambia’s Basic Education Policy objectives are based on the assumption that improvements in the quality and relevance of schooling will increase the demand of basic education for both parents and employers while at the same time influencing the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire education system. Higher student achievement, stronger language skills, higher completion rates and lower rates of repetition and dropout are all immediate outcomes of the National Education Policy (2004-2015).
The quality of education constitutes the biggest challenge in the sector. By all measures, quality education remains a challenge, with low mastery of both mathematics and English as observed in the school leaving examinations, in the UNESCO/MLA tests and the Gambia National Assessment Test (NAT). NAT shows that in all core subjects including mathematics, English, and science, a maximum of 10% of Grades 3 and 5 students reached the mastery level of 73%. Results from UNESCO’s Monitoring Learning Achievements (MLA, 2000) demonstrate that 46% of students reached the passing minimum mark (40%) in the core subjects. GABECE, which is taken at the end of the Grade 9, yields similar outcomes. Although there are questions about the validity of some of the instruments used to ascertain the extent of the problem, there is no doubt that quality is disappointingly low in public education. In addition, there are critical issues that have a direct impact on instruction, including:
• Insufficient number of contact hours provided; • Teacher and student absenteeism; • Low content knowledge by teacher-trainees entering teacher training; • Poor or outdated pedagogical knowledge and skills of teachers ; • Few or no professional development opportunities for teachers both before and during
their teaching service; • Limited or non-existent pedagogic support to teachers at the school level and in the
classroom ; and • Lack of updated curricula and teaching syllabuses; and flawed assessment instruments for
measuring student achievement.
Strategies: The provision of quality education is essentially the main thrust of this proposal. Therefore, in acknowledging the urgency of bettering student performance, the improvement of learning outcomes will continue to be prioritized through a combination of strategies that include the following:
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• Essential Learning Package – ELP: The following elements of the ELP will be provided to all public schools across the country: classroom consumables, library books and supplementary readers. Materials that facilitate early grade reading will be given top most priority.
• Early Childhood Development: Under the ESMTP 2008 - 2011, the strategy for providing ECD services will continue to be anchored in two approaches, one of which is the participation of the private sector in the provision of such service in the urban and peri-urban areas, while the other is the attachment of ECD centres to existing lower basic schools in the rural communities. Both approaches are expected to focus on the integrated model of ECD, which underscores the need for complementarities of other social services such as nutrition, health, care, water sanitation, protection and early stimulation for learning. However, under this proposal support will only be provided to: creation of networks among stakeholders, development of a professional development plan and review and update ECD curriculum.
• Special Needs Education: MOBSE will focus on disadvantaged and vulnerable groups given that part of the remaining cohort of children out of school may reside within these groups. The CF program would support: Provision of equipment to blind and low vision students, provision of equipment to students with hard of hearing, provision of equipment to mentally retarded students (learning difficulties), mainstreaming of students with special needs in ordinary schools, development of an itinerant teaching programme to support mainstreaming, training of students with hard of hearing and their parents on sign language for ease of communication and monitoring and evaluation of special needs education programme.
• Teacher Training: Improve distance learning for teacher trainees, provision of stipend to teacher trainees, supporting face-to-face sessions for teacher trainees and lecturers and supporting the Primary Teachers’ Certificate Extension Programme currently being piloted in Region 5 where all the regular unqualified teachers are being upgraded with skills, knowledge and abilities to deliver better classroom practices.
• West African Examinations Council: Strengthening the institutional capacity of WAEC in order that its mandate in the conduct of national examinations can be effectively and efficiently executed without creating undue cost burden to the parents, the majority of whom live below the poverty line). This will allow WAEC to maintain the level of examination fees currently being levied to students.
• Curriculum Improvement: Conduct curriculum audit and research on non-core subjects for lower and upper basic schools – grades 1-9, development of curriculum materials on non-core subjects for lower and upper basic schools – grade 1-9, development of curriculum materials on core subjects for upper basic schools – grades 7-9, and provision of syllabuses for grades 1-9)
• Teacher Incentives: Given the success registered in attracting qualified teachers from non-deprived locations and regions to voluntarily take up postings in designated hardship zones, teacher incentives in the form of hardship allowances have now been
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institutionalised and the allowances for Region 3 and part of Region 2 (Foni) have been mainstreamed into the Government regular budget. In a bid to continue to attract qualified teachers to serve in these hardship areas, teachers in disadvantaged communities in Regions 4, 5 and 6 will be provided with hardship allowances with varying levels of percentages from the CF. In addition, prizes will be awarded to outstanding teachers based on a mutually agreed frame of criteria between the Gambia Teachers’ Union and the MOBSE.
• Monitoring Exercises: Cluster-based monitoring has now become a regular feature of the education system, hence support to facilitate increased frequency of support visits to schools has been provided on a regular basis. Cluster monitors are gradually being equipped with skills and abilities to monitor quality assurance and other educational programs being implemented in the regions. There is evidence of support being provided to schools through this cluster-based monitoring model in the form of cluster-based training activities undertaken to support school-level pedagogic activities and mentoring of teacher trainees. It is however noted that some of the cluster monitors with old motorcycles have difficulty in reaching schools on a regular basis. Consequently, the CF will provide more motorcycles.
• HIV/AIDS Education Sector Response (HIV/AIDS) is more of a development problem than an exclusive health issue and, consequently, children, youth and women are part of the vulnerable groups in this country. Furthermore, the menace of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is a real threat to the EFA targets and the education-related MDGs to which the Government of The Gambia is very much committed. Given that MOBSE acknowledges the seriousness of the pandemic based on empirical evidence, both local and international, coupled with the commitment of the sector to minimize the social, economic and developmental consequences of HIV/AIDS on the education system, a comprehensive education sector response to HIV/AIDS premised on the mandate and the social, economic and developmental consequences of HIV/AIDS on the education system, a comprehensive education sector response to HIV/AIDS premised on the mandate and comparative advantage of the sector has been developed through an operational sector policy on HIV/AIDS. Under this proposal, support to this programme will focus on the development of a comprehensive communication strategy on prevention, care, support and non-discrimination; provision of subsidies to HIV/AIDS orphans (students); provision of first aid kits to public schools and development of a training manual on nutritional care and support for PLWHA
• Civil Society Organizations: The role of civil society in advocating for additional resources sufficient to pursue the targets of EFA and the education-related MDGs cannot be overstressed. In The Gambia, the EFA Campaign Network is the umbrella body of all civil society organizations that have a stake in education and whatever support that is provided to CSOs is channelled through this Network. Under this proposal, the MOBSE will continue to provide support to the Network so that its mandate in the area of advocacy can be efficiently and effectively executed.
• School-level Pedagogic Development: The focus of this intervention is to strengthen the culture of pedagogic support within schools, targeting senior teachers, deputy head
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teachers and head teachers as potential pedagogic leaders who will be expected to provide pedagogic support to classroom teachers. In addition, the four subject teacher associations namely: Mathematics – MATAG, Science - STAGAM, English – GATE and Social and Environmental Studies – SESTA will be supported to deliver in-service training activities at the national, regional and cluster levels aimed at supporting classroom practices and mentoring arrangements.
Component 3: Strengthening institutional and management capacities of central and regional directorates (US$2.2 million) Challenges: The ability of the sector to deliver services in line with its vision of ‘universal access to relevant and high quality education’ is constrained by the current level of its capacity. This is experienced at two levels of capacities, namely institutional and management. These pose constraints to both the central and regional directorates to the extent that the management and institutional practices are not conducive to optimal performance. However, under the first phase of the Catalytic Funding, there has been significant improvement in these areas to the extent that a performance management system is being institutionalized to enhance staff performance.
Strategies: Cognizant of the above challenges, this programme is expected to deliver outputs that will address the above challenges through the following interventions targeting sector management:
• Leadership training for managers in the MOBSE • Improved data collection, analysis and dissemination, including the timely availability of
reliable statistics each year; • Conduct of a school mapping exercise and facilities assessment survey; • Conduct of an EFA assessment in all six regions; • Providing performance bonuses to teams within MOBSE as part of the Performance
Management System (PMS), complementing such initiatives in the IDA project; • Formulation and finalization of the postings policy; • Convening of bi-monthly Coordinating Committee Meetings (CCM) and Senior
Management Team (SMT) meetings in regions 1-6; • Provision of office consumables for regions and headquarters (15 directorates/units) • Fuel and maintenance for regional and central stand-by generators; • Monitoring of assets; and • Annual audits
These activities would complement the resources made available both under the IDA project and the PHRD Co-financing Grant that provide opportunities for training and capacity development.
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Annex 2 : : Project Costs and Proposed Financing Programme / Activities 2009 2010 2011 TOTAL Component 1: Increasing access & equity 2,989,670 3,097,260 3,233,600 9,320,530 Increasing access & equity to basic education: Classroom and staff quarter construction and/or rehabilitation; provision of furniture, provision of water points. Support for environmental and social safeguards and pilot on customized donkey carts. 2,670,750 2,765,750 2,885,800 8,322,300 Increasing participation and retention rates for both boys and girls: Separate toilet facilities for girls; support to mothers’ clubs; provision of sanitary supplies for girls and financial assistance for needy boys
318,920 331,510 347,800 998,230
Component 2: Improving the quality of teaching and learning 5,651,118 5,310,127 5,532,925 16,494,670 Support to Essential Learning Package (ELP): Procurement and distribution of supplementary readers, and other teaching and learning materials (including EGRA).
1,665,100 1,719,800 1,776,900 5,161,800
Support to Early Childhood Development: Creating networks among stakeholders; develop professional development plan and support PTC curriculum for ECD
37,600 1,100 1,200 39,900
Support to Special Needs Education: Purchase of equipment for students with special needs; development of an itinerant teaching program and training for teachers; and support program for parents..
348,300 361,700 375,700 1,085,700
Support to Gambia College (Teacher Training (PTC): Improved distance learning for trainees, stipends for PTC; support for face-to-face sessions and training of unqualified PTC.
437,900 456,550 476,250 1,370,700
Support to West African Examinations Council 76,400 79,300 82,400 238,100 Programme / Activities 2009 2010 2011 TOTAL Support to curriculum improvement:: Curriculum design and development; development of national languages strategy; development of syllabuses and instructional materials for grades 1-9
290,050 110,250 87,800 488,100
Provision of incentives for teachers: hardship allowances for Regions 3-6 677,435 6955,469 706,116 2,079,020
Support to monitoring exercises: Monitoring visits by REDs and cluster monitors,, training of cluster monitors, including fuel, insurance and replacements.
688,900 353,800 360,000 1,402,700
Support to HIV/AIDS education sector response Communication strategy, subsidy for orphans, first aid kids and training
88,350 51,575 53,075 193,000
Support to civil society organizations (advocacy) 16,100 17,000 17,900 51,000 Support to school-level pedagogic development: training of teachers on early grade literacy, professional development for teachers and pedagogic leaders (including DE); remedial classes; multi-grade teaching initiative; scholarship and prizes for outstanding students and teachers; support to Subject Teacher Associations and provision of school library materials
1,104,983 1,145,983 1,188,884 3,439,850
Support to National Assessment Tests: NATs for grades 3, 5 and 8; grade 3, 5 and 9 tests in madrassas 200,000 296,600 384,700 881,300
Component 3: Strengthening Management and Institutional Capacity of central and regional levels: Data collection and school mapping; M&E reporting; CCMs and SMTs; operating costs including fuel and maintenance for vehicles, motorcycles and equipment; consumables; Strategic Plan reviews and EFA assessments; performance bonuses; purchase of office equipment and software; communications costs; and technical and financial audits.
816,400 650,900 717,500 2,184,800
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Summary by Component 2009 2010 2011 TOTAL (US$) (US$) (US$)
Increasing access & equity to Basic Education, including participation and retention 2,989,670 3,097,260 3,233,600 9,320,530 Improving the quality of teaching and learning 5,651,518 5,310,227 5,532,925 16,494,670 Strengthening Management and institutional capacity of the central and regional levels 816,400 650,900 717,500 2,184,800 TOTAL 9,457,588 9,058,387 9,484,025 28,000,000
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Annex 3: Results Framework and MonitoringPDO Project Outcome Indicators Use of Project Outcome Information
Project Development Objective: To improve conditions for teaching and learning in basic education including early childhood developmentIncreased access and equity Improve intake into grades 1 and 9 Target regions where rates are lower than the national average
Improve enrolment throughout the year at all levels Verify enrollment numbers against cluster monitor reports ofabsentees
Improve retention and completion Improve end-of-cycle completion rates for ECD, lower basicand upper basic
Determine if dropout and repetition rates are eroding successesin enrolment
Improve quality Increase numbers of qualified teachers in schools Verify classroom instruction improves with the increased numberof qualified teachers
Strengthen management Continue to implement performance management system(work already ongoing under IDA and DFID projects)
Verify if service level agreements are leading to changes inmanagement behavior and in results
Intermediate Outcomes Intermediate Outcome Indicators Use of Intermediate Outcome MonitoringIncreased access and equity Improve net enrolment rates in lower and upper basic Ensure under- and over-age children are moving through the
system now that intake rates are highImprove retention and completion Maintain gender parity and address inequities Ensure both boys and girls are gaining effective access to
schooling
Increase availability of useable classrooms in under-servedareas
Address any unmet demand, especially in rural areas
Improve quality Measure ratio of pupils to teachers and pupils to textbooks Ascertain that students have adequate access to instructionalmaterials
Increase the number of instructional hours Increase the number of hours students and teachers areengaged in learning activities
Increase the number of hours spent on reading, and masteryof core subjects
Ensure adequate attention is paid to core subjects, with aspecific focus on reading
Strengthen management Increase number of support visits to classrooms for teachersand school heads
Ensure real-time access to pedagogic support for teachers,especially new and/or unqualified teachers
Increase Government budget allocation for education Increase expenditures for education to come within the range forlow-income countries; ensure availability of resources for non-salary expenditures; improve chance for sustainability after FTI
Produce education data in a timely and accurate manner Ensure use of education sector data for policy- and decision-making, and for tracking progress towards attainment ofobjectives
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Arrangements for results monitoring
• Institutional issues: Both the MOBSE senior management (particularly the Permanent Secretary and the Director of Planning) and the PCU will be charged with the effective use of data collected under the Results Framework to track progress towards both the intermediate and the overall program objectives. The project will benefit from recent missions conducted under the Third Education, Phase 2 project with a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist to improve the data collection, analyses and reporting arrangements within the MOBSE. In addition, a support mission from UNESCO/UIS team provided recommendations for the improvement of the M&E framework.
• Data collection: Although the data collection has improved significantly in the past two years, there are still
gaps in the process for the timely analysis, cleaning, security and reporting of data both internally, and to external partners. Continued attention will be required from both the senior management team and from the regional and cluster level officers.
Capacity: As noted above, capacity within MOBSE/PCU has been variable, and one of the key recommendations of the in-country donors is to create a position for a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist within MOBSE, under the office of the PS or the DPS/Technical. This Grant will be able to help with this capacity development, as would the PHRD Cofinancing Grant from the Government of Japan which is co-financing the Third Education, Phase 2 project.
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Arrangements for Results Monitoring
Project Development Objective: To improve conditions for teaching and learning in basic education including early childhood development
Project Outcome Indicators
Baseline 2008 unless
noted (girls in
parentheses)
2010
2011
2012
Frequency and
Reports
Data Collection
Instruments
Responsibility for Data
Collection
Increasing access and
equity
Intake Rates ECD Lower Basic School Upper basic School
39,4% 101% 88%
45% 125% 90%
Annual MOBSE report
Planning MOBSE
Planning Unit
Gross enrolment ECD Lower Basic School Upper Basic School
26% 91.4% (93%)
60% (58%)
42%
101.9%(103%) 69% (71%)
Annual MOBSE report
MOBSE Planning Unit
Improve retention
and completion
Completion rate Lower Basic School Upper Basic School
65% (67%) 56% (52%)
80% 63%
Annual MOBSE Report
PS/DP MOBSE
Planning Unit
Improve quality
% Qualified Teachers (LBS)
70% (27%) 80% (37%) Annual MOBSE/ Report
Gambia College U
Strengthen manageme
nt
Performance management system is functional and helps inform key personnel decisions
All job profiles
completed in regions
All job profiles
completed in all
directorates
PMS in
use
PMS fully functional
Annual HR reports MOBSE/HR
Component 1: Increasing access and equity
Intermediate Outcome Indicators Baseline 2010 2011 2012
Frequency and
Reports
Data Collection
Instruments
Responsibility for Data Collection
Net enrolment rate Lower Basic School Upper Basic School
75% (77%) 38%
(37%)
85% (87%
)48% (47%
)
Annual Sector Report MOBSE Planning
Unit
Gender parity (female/male) Lower Basic School Upper Basic School
1.03 0.91
1.03 1.0
Annual MOBSE/HR
reports MOBSE Planning
Unit
Number of classrooms built under n/a 130 135 141 Semi- Sector Report
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CF Annual
Number of classrooms rehabilitated under CF
n/a 28 30 30 Semi-
Annual Sector Report
Component 2: Improving the quality of teaching and learning
Intermediate Outcome Indicators Baseline 2010 2011 2012
Frequency and
Reports
Data Collection
Instruments
Responsibility for Data Collection
Teacher-Pupil Ratio Lower Basic School Upper Basic School
1:39
1:22 1:45
1:45 Annual MOBSE report
DPSENSE Planning Unit BSE Planning
Unit
Pupil:Textbooks Ratio Lower Basic School
Upper Basic School
1:1
3:1 1:1
1:1
Annual CM and SH
Reports CM and SH
Annual Instruction Hours 866 hours
880 hours
Annual CM & SH
reports CM, SH
Number of hours per week devoted to reading, by region
TBD TBD Annual Sector Report WAEC
Percent of schools with approved school development
plans TBD 100% Quarterly Sector Report
Basic Ed Dir
Increase grade level competence (mastery) in core subjects on
NAT 10% 15% Annual Sector Report
WAEC/Basic Ed Dir
Increase grade level competence (minimum) in core subjects on
NAT 46% 60% Annual Sector Report
WAEC/Basic Ed Dir
Frequency and duration of support visits to schools by
cluster monitors TBD
Two-hour
visit to each
school per wk
Quarterly Sector Report CM, regional directorates
Component 3: Strengthening management and institutional capacities of the central and regional directorates
Education share of budget 14% 20% Annual Budget Reports Planning Unit
Availability of sector statistics by February of each year
2007 data available
2008 data available by July 2009
2009 data available by Feb 2010
CM = cluster monitors (local staff providing pedagogic support to schools via weekly and biweekly visits to every school SH = school head
- 27 -
Annex 4: Institutional arrangements As per CF PAD guidelines, kept section in main text since it is under 2 pages
- 28 -
Annex 5: Financial Management and Disbursement Arrangements
1. Introduction
This report was issued in the context of the preparation phase of the third tranche of “The Education For All - Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) Catalytic Fund” for the Gambia. Initial grants were approved for the years 2005 – 2006 and 2007 respectively at a value of USD 4 millions per annum for 2005-2006; and USD 5.4 millions for 2007. The EFA FTI comes as an additional fund for the Government of the Gambia in its commitment to achieve education for all developed program. The Bank is also financing the Education sector in the country through the Grant H230-GM signed on August 17, 2006 for USD 8 millions. A financial management assessment was carried out in accordance with the Financial Management Practices Manual issued by the Financial Management Board on November 3, 2005. The objective of the assessment was to update the previous FMA and determine whether the implementing entities continue to have acceptable financial management arrangements, which ensure that: (1) the funds are used only for the intended purposes in an efficient and economical way, (2) the preparation of accurate, reliable and timely periodic financial reports, and (3) safeguard the entities’ assets. Executive Summary
The EFA-FTI project’s transactions will be managed within the existing Projects Coordination Unit (PCU) of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE). The overall performance of the PCU in financial management was rated satisfactory by the last FM supervision. The fiduciary arrangements of the national implementing agencies meet the Bank’s minimum requirements under OP/BP10.02. It is adequate to provide, with reasonable assurance, accurate and timely information on the status of the project required by IDA. However, actions need to be taken to update the format of the Interim Financial Report (IFR) to include the EFA/FTI operations. Summary Project Description The main objectives of the EFA-FTI Program are to (i) increase access to and equity in primary education through the construction and furnishing of classrooms and teachers’ quarters (ii) increase participation, performance and retention rates for girls (iii) improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools (iv) and strengthen management and institutional capacity at the central and regional levels through support to sector management and regional directorates. Country Issues Financial management continues to face significant challenges. The 2003 CFAA noted that The Gambia was associated with a high level of fiduciary risk resulting from weak public financial management of the different elements of the budget cycle, including strategic budgeting, budget
- 29 -
preparation, budget execution, accounting, internal control and monitoring, and reporting and audit.3 Since the 2003 CFAA, the Government has made it a priority to ensure a better execution of the budget, enhance the budget process and complete ongoing reforms to improve the efficiency and accountability of public expenditure. As a result, there have been major reforms addressing many of the weaknesses identified in the CFAA. A new CFAA, or possibly a PEFA, has been conducted in FY08 and preliminary results of the draft report show major improvements of public financial management since the 2003 CFAA. The “2004 Budget Management and Accountability Act” provides an updated legal framework for reform. Recent progress has been made in preparing comprehensive and analytical annual budgets for 2006 and 2007. Though significant improvements in the budget have been made, reforms need to continue. A significant reform achievement was the operationalization of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) in January 2007.4 The system provides comprehensive public expenditure and revenue management and reporting. It produces financial statements on a timely basis and in conformity with international standards. The IDA and the African Development Bank’s Joint Assistance Strategy (JSA) for 2008 to 2011 will provide support to further strengthen financial management structure, procedures and interface. Risk Assessment and Mitigation
The objectives of the project’s financial management system are to: • ensure that funds are used only for their intended purposes in an efficient and economical
way; • ensure that funds are properly managed and flow smoothly, adequately, regularly and
predictably in order to meet the objectives of the project; • enable the preparation of accurate and timely financial reports; • enable project management to monitor the efficient implementation of the project; and • safeguard the project assets and resources. Furthermore, the following are necessary features of a strong financial management system that need to be maintained within the PCU: • the PCU should have an adequate number and mix of skilled and experienced staff; • the internal control system should ensure the conduct of an orderly and efficient payment and
procurement process, and proper recording and safeguarding of assets and resources; • the accounting system should support the project’s requests for funding and meet its
reporting obligations to fund providers; • the system should be capable of providing financial data to measure performance when
linked to the output of the project; and • an independent, qualified auditor should be appointed to review the Project’s financial
statements and internal controls.
3 Country Financial Accountability Assessment, World Bank, 2003 4 IFMIS is an Integrated Financial Management Information System providing an integrated platform for budget preparation, execution, accounting, reporting and payroll.
- 30 -
The table below shows the results of the risk assessment from the Risk Rating Summary. This identifies the key risks project management may face in achieving project objectives and provides a basis for determining how management should address these risks.
- 31 -
Risk RiskRating
Risk Mitigating Measures incorporated into the ProjectDesign
Residual Risk Conditions ofNegot., Board orEffectiv (Yes or No)
Remarks
Inherent Risk E SCountry Level E The 2003 CFAA action plan is under implementation and
the conclusion of the last CFAA PEFA is expected to showimprovement in the area of PFM.
S No
Entity Level S While legal and Institutional framework is in place,implementation may be hampered by political interferenceon which attention will be paid.
M No .
Project Level S The EFA FTI Project is complex and involves multi Donorsand government entities at central and regional level.However, Implementing entity has experience with Bankfinanced project
M No FM arrangement of this Project will rely on PCUof MOBSE administrative and Financialprocedures. Attention will be pay to Reportingand Auditing Process that will need to be juggedsatisfactory to the Bank..
Control Risk M MBudgeting M Annual work plans will be prepared, approved by the Senior
Management Team (SMT) and submitted to the Bank byNovember 30 of each year.
M No
Accounting M Accounting function is lead by qualified financial staff withrelevant experience in accountancy and audit.
M No Project staff willneed to be trainedin knowledgeupdating perspectivein Bank FM,Disbursementand Procurementprocedures.
Internal Control M There is no Internal Audit function in the PCU. However,the Financial and the Administrative and Financialprocedures Manual gives a clear description of theApproval and authorization processes.
M No .The Bank will pay attention to the internal controlsystem during supervision mission, in particularthe approval processed and documentation ofactivities implementation.
Funds Flow S Flow of funds arrangements are complex and involve manylevels including at the regional and local levels. Moreover,the project will use the report basedmechanism. However, the project staff has strongexperience in IDA Disbursement procedures. A DesignatedAccount will be opened by the PCU at the Central Bank forthe purpose of the EFA FTI Project.
M No
Financial Reporting M The Bank will assist the PCU in improving the format of thequarterly reports (IFR).
L No An agreement on the IFR format will be reachedprior to negotiation.
Auditing M An external Auditor with experience and qualificationssatisfactory to the Bank will be recruited.
L No .
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In view of the general country financial management issues and the issues peculiar to the PCU, the overall financial management risk rating for this EFA/FTI project is Moderate.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Financial Management The project financial management is strengthened by the following salient features: � The Financial and accounting personnel are adequately qualified and experienced; � The PCU has experience in handling with EFA FTI funds � Budgeting arrangements are in place; � Banking arrangements are adequate; � There is an adequate accounting software. The project financial management will ensure that the Interim Un-Audited Financial Report (IFR) incorporates the new EFA FTI operation; Implementing Entity The PCU will constitute the operational link between IDA and the Government on matters related to the Fiduciary aspect. The Permanent Secretariat (PS) and the Directorate of the Basic and Secondary Education are responsible (MOBSE) for the implementation of the project activities. The EFA FTI coordinator is the Director of DOBSE. During the project execution, the PCU and the DOBSE shall coordinate project implementation and manage:
� procurement, including purchases of goods, works, and consulting services; � project monitoring, reporting and evaluation; � contractual relationships with IDA and other co-financiers; and � financial management and record keeping, accounts and disbursements.
2. Budgeting
The Senior Management Team (SMT) in collaboration with the PCU will finalize and submit to the Bank for consideration and approval, proposals for the following Financial Year in respect of the Work Program and Budget of EFA FTI.
3. Accounting and Financial procedures
The PCU will follow the Companies Act 7 in The Gambia. The project accounts will, therefore, be maintained under the private accounting rules. The Chart of Account and Analytical account will be drawn up if need for new activities of the EFA FTI. A Procedures Manual providing all the required details on accounting and financial procedures had been developed in the context of the Third Education program and will be use for the EFA FTI. The Grant proceed will be accounted for on a cash basis. This will be documented with appropriate records and procedures to track commitments and to safeguard assets. The Chart of accounts will facilitate the preparation of relevant quarterly and financial statement including information on the total project expenditures, the financial contributions from Donors and expenditures by component/activities.
- 33 -
4. Information System
All financial accounting and reporting activities related to EFA FTI will be performed under the automated information system TOMPRO mastered by the PCU’s staff. TOMPRO will allow production of all accounting and financial data required: Financial Statement, Bank reconciliation statements, all the books of accounts and all financial reports including the Interim Un-Audited Financial Reports (IFR).
5. Internal Control and Internal Auditing
The PCU is required to have in place satisfactory internal audit arrangements to assist management in ensuring the continuing adequacy of and conformity with the project’s procedures. Despite the absence of an internal audit body, key internal controls will be undertaken by all the high level staff including of the PS, the MOBSE and the PCU: approval and authorization controls (including for procurement) are documented in the manual, Bank reconciliations will be prepared regularly and on a timely basis by staff independent of the payment function, subsidiary records of fixed assets and stocks will be maintained and all assets will be duly insured. The manual outline the specific internal controls to be carried out by each staff member of the PCU. In addition, the external auditors and the Bank will pay attention to the continuing adequacy of and conformity with the EFA FTI project’s procedures by the PCU during their review.
6. Reporting and Monitoring
The EFA-FTI Coordinator will be responsible for overall reporting on the entity. The PCU will prepare quarterly Interim Unaudited Financial Reports (IFR) of EFA FTI’s financial operations that details (i) the contributions by Donors (ii) the expenditures of the quarter broken down by Components/categories or activities (iii) cumulative expenditures-to-date for the financial year, including comparative (prior year) information (where requested); (iv) the Net fund available (v) details of any commitments and contingencies (vi) a Note to the Financial Statement. The Bank FM Specialist will ensure that on a quarterly basis, Interim Un-Audited Financial Reports (IFR) of EFA FTI are produced and transmitted to the Bank no later than 45 days from the end of the quarter. On an annual basis, the PCU will also be required to produce, no later than June 30 of the following fiscal year, audited annual financial statements.
7. External Audit arrangement
An annual audit of the financial statements will be conducted by external auditors with qualifications and experience judged satisfactory. Besides expressing an opinion on the Financial Statements in accordance with International Standards on Auditing issued by the International Federation of Accountant (IFAC), the auditors will be required to comment on whether the contributions for EFA FTI have been used in accordance with the Financing Agreement. In addition to the audit report, the auditors will be expected to prepare Management Letters giving observations and comments, and providing recommendations for improvements in
- 34 -
accounting records, systems, controls and compliance with financial covenants in the EFA FTI grant agreements. The audit reports for the fiscal year ended must be submitted not later than June 30 following the end of that fiscal year.
8. Funds Flow and Disbursement Arrangements
Disbursement Methods
Under EFA FTI’s FM arrangement, disbursement will be made based on Interim Un-Audited Financial Reports (IFRs) . Fund flows under the grant are expected to take place, as follows: IDA will authorize a six-month advance to the designated account based on the EFA FTI work programs. Funds would be used to: (i) honor eligible expenditures, (ii) and make advances to the sub-designated accounts if needed. Each quarter, the PCU would prepare and transmit to IDA the IFR together with withdrawal application form and the pooled Designated Accounts reconciliation statements. IDA would review the IFR and release the amount requested (See flow of funds at the end of this Annex). All supporting documentation would be retained by the PCU and must be made available for review by periodic World Bank review missions and external audits. The format of the quarterly Interim Un-audited Financial Report was discussed and agreed upon and will be attached to the Disbursement Letter. The reimbursement method will be used for retroactive financing. Other transaction-based payment methods can be used under exceptional circumstances. Designated Account
The Designated Account will be managed by the PCU, and will be located at the Central Bank. The currency of the designated account will be the US dollar. Sub-accounts may be opened at the regional level. The currency of the sub accounts will be the Gambian Dalasi and the allocation for each Sub account will be agreed with the PCU during the implementation of the project. Financial Management Action Plan The action plan below indicates the actions to be taken for the project to strengthen its financial management system and the dates that they are due to be completed by.
Action Date due by Responsible 1 Update the content and format of the Interim Un-
Audited Financial Report (IFR) formats to include EFA FTI activities.
July 24, 2009 PCU
Conclusion of the Assessment A description of the project’s financial management arrangements above indicates that they satisfy the Bank’s minimum requirements under OP/BP10.02. However, there remain improvements to be effected for the system to adequately provide, with reasonable assurance, accurate and timely information on the status of the Project as required by the IDA. The recommended improvements are detailed in the Financial Management Action Plan.
- 35 -
9. Financial Covenants
Financial covenants are the standard ones as stated in the Financing Agreement Schedule 2, Section II (B) on Financial Management, Financial Reports and Audits and Section 4.09 of the General Conditions.
10. Supervision Plan
The PCU will be subject to periodic supervision missions. Supervision activities will include review of quarterly IFRs; review of annual audited financial statements as well as timely follow-up of issues arising; transaction review; participation in project supervision missions as appropriate; and updating the FM rating in the Implementation Status Report (ISR).
11. Disbursements
The table provided below specifies the single category for eligible expenditures that may be financed under this project:
Category
Amount of the Grant Allocated (Expressed in USD)
Percentage of Expenditures to be Financed
(Inclusive of Taxes)
Works, Goods, Consultants’ Services, Scholarships under the second component of the Project, Training and Operating Costs
28,000,000 100%
TOTAL AMOUNT 28,000,000
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INFORMATION FLOW MECHANISM
Documents flowFunds flow
IDA - WashingtonGrant/Credit Account
PCU / MOBSEDesignated Accountsat the Central Bank
Replenishments
BENEFICIARIES
Transfer (Reimbursement, Payment)
Annual Audit Report
Direct PaymentsSpecial Commitments
Interim Un-AuditedFinancial Report (IFR)
Government’s projectaccount for retroactive
financing
Annexes, Page 37
Annex 6: Procurement Arrangements A. General Procurement for the proposed project will be carried out in accordance with the World Bank’s "Guidelines: Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits," dated May 2004 and revised in October 2006, and "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers," dated May 2004 and revised in October 2006, and the provisions stipulated in the Financing Agreement. The various items under different expenditure categories are described in general below. For each contract to be financed by the CF Grant, the different procurement methods or consultant selection methods, the need for pre-qualification, estimated costs, prior review requirements, and time frame are agreed between the Borrower and the Bank in the Procurement Plan. The Procurement Plan, defining the procurement and selection methods and the requirement of IDA prior review, will be updated at least annually or as required to reflect the actual project implementation needs and improvements in institutional capacity.
Procurement Documents
The procurement will be carried out using the World Bank’s Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs) or Standard Request for Proposal (RFP) respectively for all ICB for goods and works and recruitment of consultants. For National Competition Bidding (NCB), the Borrower will use the World Bank’s SBD for ICB for goods and works, and the Bank’s RFP for recruitment of consultants.
Advertising procedure
General Procurement Notice (GPN), Specific Procurement Notices (SPN), Requests for Expression of Interest, results of the evaluation and contracts award should be published in accordance with advertising provisions in the following guidelines: "Guidelines: Procurement Under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits" and "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers," both of which are dated May 2004 and revised in October 2006.
Procurement of Works: Works procured under this project would include but are not limited to: construction of new classrooms and rehabilitation of existing classrooms; construction and rehabilitation of staff quarters for teachers in remote areas; provision of classroom furniture for existing schools; and provision of water points and latrines. The procurement will be done using the Bank’s Standard Bidding Documents (SBD) for all ICB and National SBD agreed with or satisfactory to the Bank including Framework Agreements with NGOs, using thresholds established in the section above on Procurement Arrangements. Procurement of Goods: Goods procured under this project would include but are not limited to: (a) instructional materials (including textbooks, supplementary readers, classroom tools and other learning and library materials); classroom furniture and laboratory materials; computers and office equipment (including computers and peripherals, furniture, photocopiers, overhead projectors and all consumables related to these machines); and small and medium-sized generators. Motorcycles and vehicles shall be procured through United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS), as this offers lower prices and faster delivery times than other options. The procurement will be done using the Bank’s SBD for all ICB and National SBD agreed with or
Annexes, Page 38
satisfactory to the Bank. Small articles and office supplies as well as small equipment and furniture available locally and whose estimated cost is less than thresholds indicated in the Procurement Arrangements section may be awarded through Shopping; in those cases, the written request shall be addressed to several (at least three) established suppliers. After comparing a minimum of three quotations, the contract will be awarded to the bidder who has offered the lowest price, and has demonstrated capacity to successfully execute the contract. Procurement of non-consulting services: The project will support capacity building activities including but not limited to pre- and in-service teacher training, training for head teachers and senior and mentor teachers; for cluster monitors; for subject teacher associations and unions; for partner institutions linked to the MOBSE, and for central and regional directorate staff. The project will also support activities needed for the review of curricula and syllabi, and of training plans and implementation modalities (see Project Implementation Manual and Procurement Arrangements for details). Regarding the size of these types of contracts, the procurement process will be conducted under acceptable procedures to IDA. Selection of Consultants: The general description of consulting services (provided by firms or individuals) that will be financed under the Grant will include but are not limited to: preparation of bid documents for works to be financed under the project; construction supervision; training and advisory services; expertise for the design and implementation of capacity development and institutional strengthening activities, among others. The procurement plan will set forth: (a) the particular contracts for consulting services required to carry out the project during an initial period of at least 18 months; (b) the proposed methods for selection of consultants services; and (c) the related Bank review procedures.5 The Borrower shall update the Procurement Plan annually or as needed throughout the duration of the project. The Borrower shall implement the Procurement Plan in the manner in which it has been approved by the Bank Short lists of consultants for services estimated to cost less than US$200,000 equivalent per contract may be composed entirely of national consultants in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2.7 of the Consultant Guidelines. The Standard Request for Proposal (RFP) and the Sample Form of evaluation Report for the Consultant, as developed by the Bank, will be used for appointment of consultants. Small contracts will be used for short-term assignments, i.e. not exceeding six months, carried out by firms or individual consultants. Operating Costs: Operating costs financed by the Project are incremental expenses, including office supplies, vehicle operation and maintenance, insurance, maintenance of equipment, communication costs, rental expenses, utilities expenses, consumables, transport and accommodations, per diem, supervision costs and salaries of locally contracted staff. These costs exclude salaries, bonuses, honoraria and fees for Government civil servants. They will be procured using the implementing unit’s administrative procedures, which were detailed in the project administrative and financial manuals, reviewed and found acceptable to IDA.
5See Appendix 1.
Annexes, Page 39
The procurement procedures and SBDs to be used for each procurement method, as well as model contracts for works and goods procured, are presented in the Project Implementation Manual.
B. Assessment of the agency’s capacity to implement procurement The assessment of the Projects Coordination Unit’s capacity to implement procurement actions under IDA and EFA FTI Catalytic Fund (CF) financing was carried out in August 2008. The objective of the assessment was to update the previous procurement assessment conducted in May 2006 and determine whether the implementing entities continue to offer an acceptable arrangement in line with Bank procedures. The assessment reviewed the organization structure, the current procurement plan implementation and the interaction between the project’s staff responsible for procurement. Organization Structure The CF transactions would be conducted by the existing Projects Coordination Unit (PCU) of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE). This unit is currently headed by a Project Manager, and comprises a Deputy Project Manager, a Financial Controller, a Construction Programme Manager and a Procurement Officer, among others. The PCU team is well versed in the IDA procedures, and has handled procurement under previous and ongoing IDA programs as well as all other donor operations where an executing agency is not in place (including AfDB, BADEA, IsDB, among others). The Procurement Officer has both the technical expertise and the experience necessary to carry out the procurement activities envisaged under donor projects supporting the education sector program. This is particularly important given the scarcity of these specific skills in The Gambia.
Key issues: Based on the experience with the current IDA project implementation, adequate capacity exists within the PCU for procurement reporting requirements.
Nevertheless, the key issues and risks concerning procurement implementation of the project have been identified and include: (i) heavy workload for the Procurement Officer who is involved in procurement activities with other donors, ii) need for a better follow up for procurement monitoring progress.
The corrective measures are:
• recruit a Procurement Assistant who will be trained on Bank’s procurement procedures (latter version),
• set up a follow-up mechanism for procurement activities.
Therefore the procurement risk is moderate for the PCU.
Annexes, Page 40
Supervision Plan: In addition to the prior review to be carried out by the IDA task team, there will be one supervision mission every six months and at least one IDA annual Post Procurement Review (PPR).
Procurement Method Thresholds International Competitive Bidding (ICB) and Limited International Bidding (LIB) for Goods
US$300,000 and above
ICB for works US$3,000,000 and above Shopping Less than US$50,000
Please note that the prior review thresholds are provided below as part of the Procurement Plan. Procurement Plan The Recipient, at appraisal, developed a draft procurement plan for project implementation which provides the basis for the procurement methods. This procurement plan will be agreed between the Recipient and the Project Team latter during negotiations and will be made available at the Coordination Unit located at MOBSE. It will also be available in the project’s database and in the Bank’s external website. The Procurement Plan will be updated in agreement with the Project Team annually or as required to reflect the actual project implementation needs and improvements in institutional capacity.
Annexes, Page 41
Procurement Plan (The initial procurement plan will cover the first 18 months of the project and then updated annually or earlier as necessary)
I. GENERAL
1. Project information: Republic of The Gambia
Education for All – Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund Program
2. Bank’s approval Date of the Procurement Plan Original : October 27, 2008 Revision 1 : December 20, 2008 Revision 2 : May 11, 2009 Revision 3 : July 14, 2009
Date of General Procurement Notice: September 28, 2009 3. Period covered by this procurement plan:
18 months (August 2009 to January 2011)
II. GOODS AND WORKS AND NON-CONSULTING SERVICES
1. Prior Review Threshold: Procurement Decisions subject to Prior Review by the Bank as stated in Appendix 1 to the Guidelines for Procurement: Thresholds for applicable procurement methods (not limited to the list below) has been determined by the Procurement Accredited Staff based on the assessment of the implementing agency’s capacity.
Annexes, Page 42
Procurement Method
Prior Review Threshold
Comments
1. ICB and LIB (Goods)
= or >US$300,000 ICB and LIB for goods will be used for US$ 300,000 and above
2. NCB (Goods) The first contract, irrespective of its cost estimate
NCB for goods will be used for less than US$ 300,000
3. ICB (Works) = or >US$3,000,000 ICB for works will be used for US$3,000,000 and above 4. NCB (Works) The first contract,
irrespective of its cost estimate
NCB for works will be used for less than US$3,000,000
5. ICB (Non-Consultant Services), if any
= or >US$ 300,000 ICB for non-consultant services will be used for US$300,000 and above
6. NCB (Non-Consultant Services)
The first contract, irrespective of its cost estimate
NCB for non-consultants services will be used for less than US$ 300,000
7. Shopping <US$50,000 and the first two contract under US$50,000
Shopping for works, goods and non-consultants services, will be used for less than or equivalent to US$50,000. If more than US$50,000, prior clearance is needed from IDA with relevant justifications. The cost estimate will not exceed US$100,000.
8. Direct contracting All, irrespective of the cost estimate
None
2. Prequalification. NA
3. Proposed Procedures for CDD Components (as per paragraph. 3.17 of the Guidelines: Not Applicable
4. Reference to (if any) Project Operational/Procurement Manual:
The Project Implementation Manual, approved by IDA for the ongoing Third Education, Phase 2 project, will be updated by August 15, 2009 and will provide the details.
5. Any Other Special Procurement Arrangements: Procurement of vehicles and
motorcycles shall be through United Nations Procurement Agency (UNOPS)
Annexes, Page 43
6. Procurement Packages with Methods and Time Schedule
[List the Packages which require Bank’s prior review first and then the other packages]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Ref. No.
Contract (Descrip.)
Estimate
dCost
Proc.
Method
Pre-
qualif (yes/no)
Domest Prefer
(yes/no)
Review by Bank (Prior / Post)
Expected
Bid Opening Date
Comments
1Construction of Staff Quarters for Teachers in Difficult Areas
2,967,600 NCB No No Prior 05/22/09 49 new and 16
rehabilitated staff quarters in remote, rural areas
2Provision of Customized horse/donkey carts
62,200 DC NA No Prior 04/23/09 Design of carts to be direct contracted to GTTI
3 Labor-saving devices (milling machines) 155,700 NCB NA No Post 06/06/09
4 Supplementary Readers
1,732,000 DC NA No Prior NA
Various Gambian authors, as done under 3rd Educ.,
Phase 1
5 School Library Materials 934,200 ICB NA No Prior 06/06/09
6 Sanitary supplies for girls 18,130 Shopping NA No Post 04/27/09
7Distance education (DE) Materials for Pedagogic Leaders
41,500 Shopping NA No Post 05/7/09
8EGRA and Other Teaching and Learning Materials
500,000 ICB NA No Prior 07/10/09
9
Equipment for Blind, Low Vision, Hard of Hearing and Learning Difficulties Students
622,811 ICB NA No Prior 07/10/09
10 Equipment for WAEC 311,400 ICB NA No Prior 07/10/09
11 Procurement of Vehicles and Motorcycles
370,400 Other NA No Prior NA Procurement under UNOPS
12 First Aid Kits for Public Schools 22,400 Shopping NA No Post 05/21/09
13 Consumables for Directorates 46,900 Shopping NA No Post 04/24/09
14 IT Consumables 49,000 Shopping NA No Post 05/18/09
15 Procurement of Photocopiers and Digital Cameras
25,100 Shopping NA No Post 03/24/09
16 Procurement of Project Management Software 25,000 Shopping NA No Post 04/06/09
17 Printing of MOBSE News Letters 25,000 Shopping NA No Post 04/06/09
18 Printing of Syllabi for grades 1-6
75,000 NCB NA No Post 05/26/09
19
Procurement of Accessories (helmets and riding jackets) for motorcycle users
46,800 Shopping NA No Post 05/26/09
Annexes, Page 44
III. SELECTION OF CONSULTANTS
1. Prior Review Threshold: Selection decisions subject to Prior Review by Bank as stated in Appendix 1 to the Guidelines Selection and Employment of Consultants:
Selection Method Prior Review
Threshold Comments
1. Competitive Methods (Firms) = or
>US$200,000
The first contract, irrespective of its cost estimate will be prior
reviewed
2. Single Source (Firms) All, irrespective
of the cost estimate
First contract prior review, irrespective of
cost estimate
3. Individual Consultants = or
>US$100,000
First contract prior review, irrespective of
cost estimate
4. Single source for Individual Consultants All, irrespective
of the cost estimate
First contract prior review, irrespective of
cost estimate
5.
Contracts for specific assignments such as contracts for the elaboration of manual of the project implementation and the manual of procedures, contracts for monitoring and evaluation assignments; contracts for financial assistance assignments; contracts for financial audit; contracts for technical audit; contracts for environmental and social issues; contracts for legal assignments
All, irrespective of the cost estimate
Those contracts are not selection methods; but due to their sensitivity, they will be subject to
prior review
2. Short list comprising entirely of national consultants: Short list of consultants for services, estimated to cost less than $ 200,000 equivalent per contract, may comprise entirely of national consultants in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2.7 of the Consultant Guidelines.
3. Any Other Special Selection Arrangements: None
4. Consultancy Assignments with Selection Methods and Time Schedule
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Ref. No.
Description of Assignment
Estimated
Selection Method
Review by Bank
(Prior / Post)
Expected
Proposals Submission
Date Comments
1Development and Implementation of a Professional D l Plan
6,300 QCBS Prior 07/07/09
This is expected to be the first, and therefore subject to prior review
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Development Plan
2
Development of Comprehensive Communication Strategy on Prevention, Care, Support and Non-Discrimination
25,130 QCBS Post 14/07/09
3
Management and Construction of New Classrooms Separate Toilet Facilities for Girls (FIOH) – MOU
1,693,560 SSS Prior 06/01/09
4
Management and Rehabilitation of Staff Quarters, Classrooms and Provision Furniture (FIOH) – MOU
766,100 QCBS Prior 06/01/09
5Construction of New Classrooms (GAMWORKS) - DMC
1,452,000 SSS Prior NA
6
Construction of Concrete Lined Wells with Hand Pumps (Dept. of Water Resources within Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources) - MOU
355,000 SSS Prior NA
7 Procurement of Auditors 32,000 QCBS Post 07/07/09
Annexes, Page 46
Annex 7: Safeguard Policy Issues
OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment OP 4.01 was triggered due to the construction and rehabilitation of schools to be funded under the project, including under the school improvement grants. To address the potential negative environmental and social impacts, Government re-disclosed the existing Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) documents (prepared for the ongoing IDA-financed Third Education, Phase 2 Project) to ensure that the same policies apply to the EFA-FTI Catalytic Fund operation. ESMF: The ESMF will be applied by qualified personnel from the Environment Impact Assessment Unit of the National Environment Agency, who will be consulted by the PCU at the time when plans for the construction or rehabilitation of schools are made to ensure that potential environmental and social impacts are identified, assessed and mitigated appropriately. Thus, the ESMF (i) describes steps 1-7 of the environmental and social screening process; (ii) includes an environmental checklist to be applied/amended by qualified personnel as appropriate; (iii) provides generic draft terms of reference for an environmental analysis, should one be required; and (iv) it summarizes the Bank’s operational policies to ensure that these are taken into account during project implementation as required. Furthermore, the ESMF includes provisions, including costs estimates, for environmental management capacity building to ensure effective implementation of the ESMF; these costs will be incorporated into the project cost tables. To ensure adequate monitoring of the implementation of the ESMF and the RPF, the Recipient institution responsible for environmental management, i.e the National Environment Agency, will be charged with the responsibility of supervising implementation and sharing their findings with the Bank and other interested parties. OP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement OP 4.12 was triggered due to the potential need for land acquisition which might lead to the loss of assets, loss of shelter, loss of access to economic assets or loss of livelihood, requiring that affected persons be compensated and/or resettled. To address potential negative social impacts due to land acquisition, the Government re-disclosed the existing Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) and Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) documents, as noted above.
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Annex 8: Economic and Financial Analyses
This Annex summarizes the economic analyses that were conducted during the preparation and appraisal of the EFA-FTI Catalytic Fund project and includes the following: (i) an assessment of the macroeconomic framework, (ii) presentation of achievements and continued challenges of the sector, (iii) an analysis of the financing of education, and (iv) an analysis of different scenarios and policy options for a comprehensive medium term plan. Macroeconomic Framework The overall poverty headcount ratio in The Gambia is 58 percent, with large socioeconomic and regional variations.6 The Gambia has enjoyed steady growth and a stable macroeconomic environment in recent years. Real GDP growth has averaged 6.2 percent since 2003 after a brief contraction in 2002 due to low rainfalls and poor macroeconomic management. Growth has been driven by tourism, construction and telecommunication, and supported by significant foreign direct investments which have averaged 12.8 percent of GDP since 2003. Sustained fiscal and monetary discipline has been accompanied by significant improvements of public financial management.
Table 1: GDP Growth (2002-2008)
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 estimates
GDP at market prices (million GMD)
7,364 10,026 12,037 13,174 14,248, 16,007 17,900
Inflation (Annual Average) %
16.1 17.4 14.3 4.3 2.6 5.6 5.6
Real GDP growth % -3.2 6.9 5.1 5.0 6.5 6.3 5.9
Source: IMF & MOBSE Simulation Model 2008 The overall life expectancy in the country, estimated at 57 years (2005), is higher than the SSA average. The Gambia has also performed relatively well on child health indicators compared to the SSA average, although both the infant mortality and the under five mortality rates remain higher than those in Ghana and Senegal, two of the best performers of West Africa. The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is 540 per 100,000 live births (2000), which is comparable to similar SSA countries.
Fiscal context
The education sector is evolving in a difficult but improving macroeconomic framework. Fiscal policy has been largely consistent with macroeconomic stability. In the past four years, the overall fiscal balance has averaged a deficit of 5.7 percent of GDP. It significantly improved from a deficit of 7.8 percent of GDP in 2007 to a surplus of 0.5 percent in 2008 due to reduced expenditures. External concessional financing has been large, averaging 9.5 percent of GDP in the past four years. It has funded significant public investments in PRSP priority areas, including education, health, agriculture, infrastructure and public sector capacity building.
6 Poverty indicators are based on the 2003 household expenditure survey, the latest available.
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Table 2: Central Government Fiscal Operations
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
(millions of US dollar)
Total revenue and grants 102.1 98.8 114.2 147.2 154.2 197.1 222.1 238.3 Revenue 83.8 91.1 107.7 139.4 145.6 162.9 180.7 197.3 Grants 18.2 7.7 6.4 7.8 8.5 34.1 41.4 41.0
Total expenditures and net lending 124.9 138.6 150.0 146.1 165.7 224.2 249.3 263.2 Current expenditures 67.8 84.7 92.1 104.0 128.7 144.3 150.5 155.8
Wages and salaries 17.2 19.4 23.3 27.3 41.5 43.5 49.9 53.2 Goods and services 21.7 25.7 36.0 43.9 56.1 66.8 68.5 70.6 Interest payment 28.9 39.6 32.8 32.8 31.1 34.0 32.2 32.1
Capital expenditures 56.9 49.7 58.0 42.1 37.0 79.9 98.7 107.3 Overall balance 1/ -24.9 -42.3 -39.6 3.1 -11.5 -27.1 -27.1 -24.9 (percent of GDP)Total revenue and grants 25.5 21.4 22.5 22.6 19.7 23.3 23.3 24.5
Revenue 20.9 19.7 21.2 21.4 18.6 19.3 19.8 20.3 Grants 4.5 1.7 1.3 1.2 1.1 4.0 4.5 4.2
Total expenditures and net lending 31.1 30.0 29.5 22.4 21.2 26.5 27.3 27.0 Current expenditures 16.9 18.4 18.1 16.0 16.5 17.1 16.5 16.0 Capital expenditures 14.2 10.8 11.4 6.5 4.7 9.5 10.8 11.0
Overall balance 1/ -6.2 -9.2 -7.8 0.5 -1.5 -3.2 -3.0 -2.6 Source: IMF and staff estimates. The overall medium term outlook (2008-2010) is characterized by robust growth and a stable macroeconomic environment. Real annual GDP growth is expected to be at 5.3 percent over 2008-2010, consistent with recent history. The projected GDP growth rates for 2008 and 2009 were recently revised downward given the expected impact of the global downturn and dalasi appreciation on tourism and remittances and the relatively poor performance of the groundnut sector. Growth is expected to continue to be led by tourism, construction and telecommunication, funded by private investments. Government is committed to curtailing extra-budgetary expenditures and avoiding off-budget expenditures. Prudent debt management will be critical in order to keep public debt sustainable after debt relief.
Links with PRSP and CAS. The project is fully aligned with the PRSP and the CAS. The strategic priority policies and actions of the PRSP are organized into five “pillars”: (i) macroeconomic stability and public sector reform; (ii) promotion of pro-poor growth and employment through private sector development; (iii) improved basic social services; (iv) decentralization and strengthened local governance; and (v) multi-sectoral programs on gender, HIV/AIDS, environment, nutrition, and population. The proposed grant will support policy actions in pillars two and three. The government indicated that the PRSP initiatives were chosen based on their contribution towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Financing of Education
Throughout most of the recent decade, public expenditure choices crowded out domestic financing for education recurrent expenditure. The share of the public recurrent budget allocated
Annexes, Page 49
to education averaged just 11 percent during most of the decade, representing only 2 percent of GDP, far below the FTI benchmark of 20 and 3.6 percent, respectively. However, due to high debt service requirements, this share rises to an average of 18 percent of total public discretionary recurrent expenditure (i.e. exclusive of interest payments), not very distant from the FTI benchmark of 20 percent on this indicator. Thus, within its fiscal space constraints, Government commitment to the implementation of the education sector program has been high.
Table 3: Overview of education expenditures from 1997-2008
Resource mobilization 1997-98 2000-01 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Average 2004-2008
FTI Benchmark
Domestic revenue as % of GDP 19 17 20 21 22 22 21 14-18
Recurrent education expenditures as % of GDP 2.7 2.6 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.1 2 3.6
Recurrent ed exp. as % of total recurrent expenditures 15 14 11 11 12 12 11 20
Recurrent ed. Expenditures /total recurrent – interest 21 19 19 18 18 17 18 20
Basic education recurrent as % of ed recurrent expenditures 51 64 66 67 66 65 42-64
Chart 1 below shows the impact of these choices on education recurrent expenditure. All categories of recurrent expenditure – salaries, goods, services and training – have either eroded or remained constant throughout most of the decade.
Chart 1. Education Development and Recurrent Expenditure, 2001-2007
Non-salary expenditure is very low. On average, 92% of education recurrent expenditure is spent on salaries; only 8% is spent on goods, services, local training and operating costs,
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Salary & Allowances Goods&Services
Operations & Maint. Subventions
Annexes, Page 50
compared with the FTI benchmark of a desirable 33%. Non-salary expenditure is unpredictable and has declined on a per student basis.
A large share (about 65%) of the recurrent budget is spent on basic education. Nevertheless, expenditure per student is low – averaging only US$ 25 – and has remained relatively constant at that level since 2001. At the secondary level, per student expenditure increased by about 40 percent in real terms since 2001 (Chart 2). The increase was required to liquidate arrears accumulated by nearly all schools because although parents pay substantial fees, the subventions provided have been historically too low to enable schools to cover their costs. To address this problem, in 2005, the MOBSE both increased the subsidy and adopted a per student formula to improve equity.
Chart 2: Education Recurrent Expenditure per Student, 2001-2007
Recent achievements in the education sector. Over the past decade, significant successes have been registered within the education sector. These include expanded access to education across all levels of the school system, particularly by girls in the rural areas, where, in some instances, interventions led to the unintended decline of boys’ enrolment. The gross enrollment rate at the lower basic level increased from 85% in 1998 to 92% in 2007. Concurrently, the GER at the upper basic level, which stood at 29% in 1998, has risen by over 30% to 65%. These achievements have ultimately contributed to the attainment of gender parity at the basic level (i.e., from Grades 1 to 9). At the senior secondary level, the GER doubled from 15% in 1998 to 32% in 2007. The textbook rental scheme has been abolished, and the student-textbook ratio is 1:1 for the core subjects at the lower basic level; that is, from Grades 1 to 6. While the transition from the lower basic (primary) level to the upper basic level increased from 72% in 1998 to 88%7 in 2005 as a result of phasing out the Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination, the transition rate from the basic level (Grade 9) to the senior secondary level (Grade 10) has exceeded the 50% target. The Gambia has relatively high progression and completion rates and low repetition. A 2005 MICS survey estimates that 96% of an entering cohort reaches grade 5. The net primary completion rate averaged 80% in 2006/07. 8
7 This is a result of children repeating and dropping out at the end of Grade 6. 8 Grade 6 enrolment net of repeaters divided by the population aged 12.
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
2001 2005 2006 2007
Basic Education Secondary Education
2000 constant GMD
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The partnership between MOBSE and the madrassa proprietors, through the General Secretariat for Islamic/Arabic Education, continues to enhance access, whilst improving the quality of education provided. The teaching of the English language in the madrassas that are being granted-aided by MOBSE and the harmonization of the various syllabuses of the madrassas and their synchronization with the curriculum of the conventional schools have contributed to this success. Generally, resources are more equitably distributed and better utilized for program implementation. The reviews and updates of the curriculum have also resulted in a more relevant and, therefore, more responsive curriculum to stakeholder needs.9 As evidenced by the 2006 and 2007 results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and The Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination (GABECE) respectively, the performance of students is steadily improving (Analyses of Examination Results by the Planning Directorate, MOBSE, 2006 and 2007).
Improving the quality of education remains a major challenge. The high failure rates in standardized tests indicate that the quality of education is still poor. There is a need to strengthen the training, supervision, and support of teachers, and increase the supply of classroom materials. In addition, improvement of the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers in rural areas is essential, which calls for substantially increased incentive packages.
9 This is in accordance with the study commissioned by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) for the 2008 Biennale.
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B. TABLE 3: SUMMARY OF KEY EDUCATION INDICATORS
Lower Basic 2006 2007 2008 Total Enrolment 220,421 228,272 238,469
Annual Growth Rate 3.6% 4.5% Enrolment Government and Grant-Aided (%) 80% 80% 80% Gross Admission Rate (new entrants/population aged 7 yrs) 90% 95% 101% Gross Enrolment Rate (=total primary enrolment/population aged 7-12yrs) 85% 86% 88% Completion rate (=g6 non-repeaters/population aged 12yrs) 70% 73% 72% Upper Basic Total Enrolment 66,956 69,547 74,255
Annual growth rate 3.9% 6.8% Enrolment Government and Grant-Aided (%) 88% 88% 88% Transition Rate from Grade 6 (=new entrants grade 7 year t+1 /p6 non repeaters year t) 90% 91% Gross Enrolment Rate (=total enrolment /population aged 13-15 yrs) 59% 60% 62% Gross Admission Rate (=new entrants in grade 7/population aged 13 yrs) 58% 63% 66% Completion rate (=non-repeaters in grade 9/population aged 15 yrs) 56% 55% 56% Senior Secondary Total Enrolment 32,991 35,278 35,671
Annual growth rate 6.9% 1.1% Enrolment Government and Grant-Aided (%) 44% 44% 45% Transition Rate from Grade 9 (=new entrants grade 10 year t+1 /g9 non repeaters year t) 52% 53% Gross Enrolment Rate (=total enrolment in/population aged 16-18 yrs) 32% 33% 33% Gross Admission Rate (=new entrants in grade10/population aged 16 yrs) 33% 32% 31% Completion rate (=non-repeaters in grade 12/population aged 18 yrs) 27% 31% 31%
Source: MOBSE Simulation Model
Objectives and Sustainability of Education Development To elaborate the medium term education sector plan, a simulation model was used to determine the resources needed to obtain the objectives in education. This section presents the main results and a sustainability of these objectives. Objectives Lower basic education. In order to sustain the gains registered thus far and remain on track to universalize lower basic education by 2015, the following objectives have been set during the period of the MTP: Acces (i) increase the admission rate from 101% to 125%; increase the LBS GER (including madrassas) from 91.4% to 101.9%; (ii) reduce the repetition rate in LBS from 5.8% to 3.6%; (iii) reduce the dropout rate in LBS from 4.1% to 2.8%; (iv) increase the transition rate (from Grades 6 to 7) from 88% to 90%; (v) increase the share of enrolment for boys in LBS from 49% to 50%; (vi) increase the achievement scores for girls at all levels to catch up with boys (NAT, EGRA, etc.); (vi) focus on reading as a key foundation competency; and (vii) introduce national languages to ensure early literacy of children. Quality (i) increase grade level competence (mastery) in the core subjects from 10% to 15%; (ii) increase grade level competence (minimum)in the core subjects from 46% to 60%; (iii) maintain the pupil-textbook ratio in LBS at 1:1; (iv) decrease the pupil-supplementary reader ratio in LBS from 2:1 to 1:1; (v) increase hours of instruction to 86610; (vi) increase frequency of school-level pedagogic
10 This is based on the flexible school calendars of the six educational regions.
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support visits from once monthly to once a week by cluster monitors; (vii) introduce the national languages as a media of instruction in the early grades i.e. Grades 1-3 while English will be taught as a subject; (viii) improve reading in the early grades, with 80% of children reading at grade level. In upper basic education, the major variables of this policy is to: (i) increase upper basic gross enrolment rate (including official madrassas) from 60% to 69%; (ii) reduce the repetition rate from 4.7% to 3%; (iii) maintain the drop out rate at 2%; (iv) decrease the pupil-textbook ratio in UBS from 3:1 to 1:1; and (v) decrease the pupil-supplementary reader ratio in UBS from 4:1 to 1:1. In secondary education, the following policy option are considered to improve access: maintain the transition rate from basic to secondary education at 52%; (ii) increase the GER from 33% to 38%; (iii) decrease the repetition rate from 4.2% to 2.7%; (iv) achieve gender parity of students by 2011. For quality: (i) increase the number of teachers from 1034 to 1531; (ii) increase the number of Gambian teachers to 50% by 2011; (iii) train at least 115 Gambian teachers each year to degree level and increase the proportion of female teachers in this group; and (iv) establish gender-balanced board of governors in accordance with the Education Act.
In higher education, the main policy components are to: (i) encourage the integrated University of The Gambia to offer, beginning on a limited scale, graduate programs within the existing faculties and in cooperation with foreign universities; (ii) reduce dependency on expatriate teaching staff; (iii) encourage the integrated UTG to collaborate with other universities in programs relevant to The Gambia; (iv) enable the integrated UTG to take up a strategic position within the national development program; (v) finalize the Higher Education Observatory Act; (vi) establish the Higher Education Observatory as the body charged with accrediting and validating qualifications in order to reduce the dependency on external bodies.
Financing the medium term plan The table below estimates the total recurrent and investment financing gap for basic education. Based on the scenario proposed in the medium term plan, a financing gap has emerged of US$7.7 million for recurrent costs and US$24.9 million for investment costs. In December 2008, The Gambia has been allocated US$28 million under the EFA-FTI Catalytic Fund covering the next three years (2009-2011). Therefore the overall financing gap has been reduced to approximately US$4.7 million. The Government is currently engaging with new donors possibilities to fill this remaining gap.
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ESP Medium Term Plan Costs and Financing, 2009-2011
2009 2010 2011 Total Total resources 37695.5 40244 35133.2 113072.7
Investment 29409.3 32102.2 25814.8 87326.3 Recurrent 8286.2 8141.8 9318.4 25746.4
The Government 14902 10123.7 11779.4 36805.1 Investment 13180.1 8303.5 9860.9 31344.5 Recurrent 1721.9 1820.2 1918.5 5460.6
Donors (WB+PHRD) 2841.30 4632.60 4249.90 11723.80 Investment 1292.3 3539.7 2331.4 7163.4 Recurrent 1549 1092.9 1918.5 4560.4
Other Donors 19952.2 25487.7 19103.9 64543.8 Investment 14936.9 20259 13622.5 48818.4 Recurrent 5015.3 5228.7 5481.4 15725.4
Cost of the plan 50997.8 52857.3 41945.9 145801 Investment 40625.4 41190.1 30505.3 112320.8 Recurrent 10372.4 11667.2 11440.6 33480.2
Financing gap 13302.3 12613.3 6812.7 32728.3 Investment 11216.1 9087.9 4690.5 24994.5 Recurrent 2086.2 3525.4 2122.2 7733.8
*Note: The Gambia’s budget classification is different from other countries. Investment expenditures include civil works, goods including instructional materials, equipment, research/studies, workshop/training, and consultancy services. Recurrent expenditures include operating costs, scholarships, salaries and incentives
Annexes, Page 55
Annex 9: Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework
OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment OP 4.01 was triggered due to the construction and rehabilitation of schools to be funded under the IDA project and the EFA-FTI Catalytic. To address the potential negative environmental and social impacts, the IDA project: (a) prepared an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) because the precise locations of the schools and the potential localized impacts could not be identified prior to appraisal. ESMF: The ESMF will be applied by qualified personnel from the Environment Impact Assessment Unit of the National Environment Agency, who will be consulted by the PCU at the time when plans for the construction of schools are made to ensure that potential environmental and social impacts are identified, assessed and mitigated appropriately. Thus, the ESMF (i) describes steps 1-7 of the environmental and social screening process; (ii) includes an environmental checklist to be applied/amended by qualified personnel as appropriate; (iii) provides generic draft terms of reference for an environmental analysis, should one be required; and (iv) it summarizes the Bank’s operational policies to ensure that these are taken into account during project implementation as required. Furthermore, the ESMF includes provisions, including costs estimates, for environmental management capacity building to ensure effective implementation of the ESMF; these costs will be incorporated into the project cost tables. To ensure adequate monitoring of the implementation of the ESMF and the RPF , the Recipient institution responsible for environmental management, i.e the National Environment Agency, will be charged with the responsibility of supervising implementation and sharing their findings with the Bank and other interested parties. OP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement OP 4.12 was triggered due to the potential need for land acquisition which might lead to the loss of assets, loss of shelter, loss of access to economic assets or loss of livelihood, requiring that affected persons be compensated and/or resettled. To address potential negative social impacts due to land acquisition, the IDA project prepared a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) and Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) which were disclosed in The Gambia and at the Bank’s InfoShop prior to appraisal of the IDA Education Sector Project. The same procedures are applicable for the activities supported under the EFA-FTI Catalytic Fund.
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Annex 10: Major Related Projects
The Bank is the longest and largest development partner supporting the education sector in The Gambia, a small country also characterized as donor orphan. Donors to the sector include DfID, AfDB, UNICEF, IsDB, BADEA, Japan (JSDF) and World Food Program.
Key Partners in Education
Development Partner Areas of Support Amount Duration
AfDB School construction and rehabilitation, teacher training 10 million UA11/2002-
1/2009
DfID (BESPOR) Education management, training of unqualified teachers, preliminary studies to inform the program
2.9 million 2005-2009
IsDB Lower basic and literacy education $1.8 million2006-2009 UNICEF Basic education $3 million 2007-2011 WFP School feeding $4.1 million 2007-2011 BADEA Classroom construction & staff quarters $4.7million2005-2009 Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF)
Early Childhood Development $1.4 million 2009-2011
IDA (including PHRD Cofinancing Grant from Japan)
Sector-wide support
Capacity development
US$8 million
US$3 million
2008-2011
2008-2011
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Annex 11: Documents in the Project File
1. Aide-memoire from joint donor missions 2006 to present
2. Country Assistance Strategy, 2008
3. Poverty Analysis of the Integrated Household Survey, 2006
4. Public Expenditure Reviews, 2004-6
5. Implementation Completion Report for Third Education Project, Phase I, December, 2005
6. Project Appraisal Document, Third Education Project, Phase 2, 2007
7. The Gambia Country Financial Accountability Assessment, 2009
8. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper - Annual Progress Report, October 2008
9. Education Sector Strategic Plan, 2007
10. Education Sector Medium Term Plan, 2008
11. Audits of financial statements, annual
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MAPGAM33409.jpg
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