PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)



PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)

CONCEPT STAGE

Report No.: AB4756

|Project Name |Higher Education Development Project |

|Region |South Asia |

|Sector |Tertiary Education (100%) |

|Project ID |P113402 |

|Borrower(s) |Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka |

|Implementing Agency |Ministry of Higher Education |

|Environment Category |[ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) |

|Date PID Prepared |April 28, 2009 |

|Estimated Date of Appraisal Authorization |January 2010 |

|Estimated Date of Board Approval |March 2010 |

I. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement

1. Sri Lanka is a country with a per capita income of approximately US$2,000, and a population of around 20 million people. Basic human development levels are high, with a primary education competition rate of over 95 percent, a secondary education enrollment rate of 85 percent, and a literacy rate of 93 percent. There is also a substantial degree of gender parity with Sri Lanka ranking high among developing countries in terms of gender development and gender empowerment. The higher education sector has about 390,000 students enrolled. There are 15 universities, 11 Advanced Technological Institutes (ATIs) and about 12 private degree awarding institutions.

2. Sri Lanka’s future as a Middle-Income Country (MIC) in the global knowledge economy of the twenty-first century depends critically on the country’s intellectual and human capital. The ability of people to think and act creatively, work industriously and productively, and innovate and adapt available technologies to strengthen economic activities is vitally important in the modern world. In this context Sri Lanka urgently needs a higher education system that can produce skilled, hard-working and enterprising graduates, and research and innovation capacity capable of promoting dynamic economic development. The higher education sector can also play a central role to help Sri Lanka in her transition towards a Country in Peace (CIP).

3. The higher education sector has performed below its potential in the past. Sri Lanka invests less in higher education than comparable middle-income countries, or developing countries as a whole. The sector also faces a number of urgent challenges. These include the production of graduates who are employable in the private sector, especially graduates with good English language and ICT skills; the moderate quality of courses and programs in the majority of higher education institutions (HEIs); the absence of a national qualification framework with pathways between the various types of HEIs, programs and courses; inadequate quality assurance mechanisms for the full public and private higher education sectors; the large proportion of students (nearly 60 percent) enrolled in external degree programs with minimal academic support; the substantially poorer coverage and quality of higher education in lagging regions such as the Northern and Eastern Provinces; weak research and knowledge linkages between HEIs and the industrial and service sectors of the economy; and the need for HEIs to play a prominent role in the social and cultural life of the country, particularly to promote a favorable environment for a pluralist, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society.

4. The key policy makers in the higher education sector are aware of the vital and central importance of developing the higher education sector to lead the economic and social future of Sri Lanka as a MIC. The Ministry of Higher Education (MHE), the National Education Commission (NEC), the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Sri Lanka Institute for Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) and the Bank, in consultation with stakeholders in the higher education sector and more broadly in GOSL, have worked together to conceptualize a framework for the development of the higher education sector. The Bank has recently produced a draft Higher Education Sector Report, through a close process of collaboration with the senior higher education counterparts, which is contributing to this process.

5. The government framework seeks to: (a) improve the economic and social relevance of higher education, especially in the context of a nation that is seeking to emerge from a long conflict and make the transition to a peaceful country with a middle-income economy; (b) develop both the university sector and the alternative (non-university) higher education sector; (c) improve the quality of academic institutions, staff, degree programs, curricula and assessment methods; (d) strengthen the governance and management of the higher education sector; and (e) meet the special expansion and quality needs of the system in the lagging regions such as the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The proposed Higher Education Development Project (HEDP) will assist the higher education sector to implement a set of strategic and innovative initiatives. Both the concept and the design of the HEDP draw on the analysis and diagnosis of the Bank’s Higher Education Report and integrates some of its most important recommendations. [These are listed in Annex One].

6. The Sri Lankan higher education sector is currently being supported by an IDA operation, the Improving Relevance and Quality of Undergraduate Education (IRQUE) project. IRQUE is assisting the establishment of a national Higher Education Management Information System (NHEMIS), selected undergraduate degree programs on the basis of a competitive quality enhancement fund, and the development of a quality assurance mechanism for undergraduate degrees in public universities. The project has performed satisfactorily, with capable leadership from the MHE and strong commitment from the beneficiary degree programs. IRQUE is scheduled to close in June 2010. The HEDP will broaden and deepen the Bank’s engagement in the higher education sector, while also building on the lessons learned during the implementation of IRQUE. (The link between IRQUE and the proposed new project is outlined in Annex Two).

II. Proposed objective(s)

7. The project will support the higher education sector to implement strategic and innovative initiatives needed for Sri Lanka’s development as a middle-income country. The project development objective is to enhance capacity to deliver quality higher education services aligned with the economic and social needs of the country.

8. HEDP will support the strengthening of the governance framework through system-wide initiatives to establish a National Qualification Framework and Quality Assurance Mechanisms for the full higher education sector, including the public and private higher education sectors, and the university (conventional, external and distance mode degree programs) and alternative higher education sectors. In the context of quality and economic relevance, HEDP will emphasize the improvement of English language and ICT skills, which are of critical importance for the economy. The promotion of English language fluency will have an added social benefit, as it will facilitate communication between students from Sinhala and Tamil backgrounds. HEDP will also seek to assist HEIs to improve the soft skills of students which are in demand among employers, particularly firms in the private sector. HEDP will pay special attention to the expansion of the coverage of the HEIs in the lagging regions, especially the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

III. Preliminary Description

9. The Bank would support the higher education sector through a US$40 million Specific Investment Loan (SIL) on the terms of an IDA credit. GOSL would provide counterpart funding to cover the cost of taxes and tariffs.

10. Project components, activities and outputs. The Higher Education Development Project would have four components, as follows.

11. Component one: Institutionalizing Norms for the Higher Education Sector (estimated cost US$ 5 million). This component would support the development of a National Qualification Framework (NQF) covering the full higher education sector, including public and private higher education institutions, and the universities (conventional undergraduate and postgraduate, and external and distance mode degree programs) and the alternative higher education institutions. The NQF would enable horizontal and vertical mobility between the different types of higher education institutions. The component would also assist the establishment of quality assurance mechanisms for the full higher education sector (including the private sector).

12. Component two: Promoting Quality Teaching, Learning, and Research (estimated cost US$ 24 million). Two funding mechanisms would be established under this component. The first one would be an Institution-Wide Innovation Fund (IWIF). This fund would support the improvement of English language and ICT skills of students, and the strengthening of industry-university linkages through in-plant placement of students in industry as part of degree programs, and the development of business and technology commercialization centers in universities. The IWIF would also provide resources to support activities to promote social cohesion between different ethnic groups, such as intellectual and cultural activities, and exchange programs between students of different ethnic communities from various parts of the country.

13. The second funding mechanism, a Quality Development Grant, would aim to modernize teaching and improve learning in university faculties. This would be a performance-based grant, and would be made available over three successive rounds. The number of grants would be limited. Only universities and faculties that are willing to undertake innovative measures to improve the quality of teaching and learning would, in principle, be eligible to compete for this grant. The competition for the grant would be organized according to three tiers, so that weaker universities are not at a disadvantage. Tier one would consist of universities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces; Tier two would cover new universities in the other provinces; and Tier three would be the older, well-established universities in the main cities. Competition, and the measurement of performance, would be undertaken within these tiers, so that there is a level playing field for the different types of universities.

14. Component three: Strengthening Advanced Technological Education (estimated cost US$ 7 million). This component would support SLIATE to modernize the curricula and reform the examination systems of the Advanced Technological Institutes (ATIs) to better orient the programs to meet labor market needs. In addition, the component would help expand the coverage and scope of ATIs in the lagging regions, such as the Northern and Eastern Provinces, to promote regional equity of access. This expansion will seek to meet the needs of the lagging provinces for managerial and technical human resources for development, as well as provide a long-term avenue to increase enrollment in job-oriented ATI programs while phasing down enrollment in the poor quality external degree programs (EDPs).

15. Component four: Human Resource Development, Monitoring, Evaluation, Studies, Coordination and Communication (estimated cost US$ 4 million). The component would assist capacity building, especially through human resource development, of academic and managerial staff of the higher education sector. The lagging regions, particularly the Northern and Eastern Provinces, would receive extra support for capacity building and human resource development. In addition, the component would support policy research, monitoring, evaluation and communication at the national, institutional and project-level. The policy analysis and communication activities would support champions of higher education reform and development to promote dialogue and debate in the country on key higher education issues. The monitoring and evaluation activities would provide feedback on the performance of the higher education sector, individual higher education institutions, and the project.

IV. Safeguard Policies that might apply

|Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project |Yes |No |TBD |

|Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) |[X] |[] | |

|Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) |[ ] |[X] | |

|Pest Management (OP 4.09) |[ ] |[X] | |

|Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP 4.11) |[ ] |[X] | |

|Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) |[] |[X] | |

|Indigenous Peoples ( OP/BP 4.10) |[ ] |[X] | |

|Forests (OP/BP 4.36) |[ ] |[X] | |

|Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) |[ ] |[X] | |

|Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP 7.60)* |[ ] |[X] | |

|Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP 7.50) |[ ] |[X] | |

|Piloting the Use of Borrower Systems to Address Environmental and Social Issues in |[ ] |[X] | |

|Bank-Supported Projects (OP/BP 4.00) | | | |

V. Tentative financing

|Source: |($m.) |

|Borrower/Recipient |Under estimation |

|International Development Association (IDA) |40 |

|Financing Gap |0 |

|Total | |

| | |

VI. Contact point

Contact: Harsha Aturupane (TTL)/Yoko Nagashima (co-TTL)

Title: Senior Economist/Education Specialist

Tel: [94-11-5561306]/(202) 473-1096

Fax: [94-11-2240357]/(202)522-3408

Email: Daturupane@ynagashima@

Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka/Washington DC, USA

* 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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