STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT PAPER - World Bank



DOCUMENT OF

THE WORLD BANK

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

REPUBLIC OF TUNISIA

PROJECT PAPER

ON A PROPOSED SECOND REALLOCATION OF LOAN PROCEEDS AND SECOND EXTENSION OF CLOSING DATE

OF THE

EDUCATION QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT PHASE II

September 29, 2009

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SECTOR

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

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

STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT PAPER

Contents

1. DATA SHEET 3

2. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT 4

3. BACKGROUND AND REASONS FOR RESTRUCTURING 4

4. PROPOSED CHANGES 10

5. ANALYSIS 11

6. EXPECTED OUTCOMES 11

7. BENEFITS AND RISKS 11

ANNEX 1: GOVERNMENT REQUEST FOR EXTENSION AND REALLOCATION 12

ANNEX 2: KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 13

ANNEX 3: REALLOCATION PROGRAMME 14

ANNEX 4: DISBURSEMENT FORECAST: ACTIVITIES FINANCED FROM THE BALANCE 16

ANNEXE 5: PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS 17

ANNEX 6: STATUS OF CONSULTANT CONTRACTS 20

DATA SHEET

|Date: 09/29/2009 |Task Team Leader: Adriana Jaramillo |

|Country: Tunisia |Sector Manager/Director: Mourad Ezzine |

|Project Name: Education Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP) |Country Director: Mats Karlsson |

|Phase 2 |Environmental category: B Partial Assessment |

| | |

|Project ID: P082999 | |

|Borrower: Republic of Tunisia |

|Responsible agency: Ministry of Education and Training |

|Revised estimated disbursements (Bank FY/US$m) |

|FY |FY04 |FY05 |FY06 |FY07 |FY08 |FY09 |FY10 |

|Annual |3.7 |6.7 |26.4 |26.2 |26.0 |15.6 |25.7 |

|Cumulative |3.7 |10.4 |36.8 |63.0 |89.0 |104.6 |130.3 |

|Current closing date: 09/30/2009 |

|Revised closing date [if applicable]: 09/30/2010 |

|Indicate if the restructuring is: | |

| | |

|Board approved ___ | |

|RVP approved _X_ | |

| | |

|Does the restructured project require any exceptions to Bank policies? |__ Yes X No |

|Have these been approved by Bank management? |__ Yes X No |

|Is approval for any policy exception sought from the Board? |__ Yes X No |

|Revised project development objective/outcomes [If applicable] |

| |

|Per the Loan Agreement, the objectives of the Project are to assist the Borrower in reinforcing the process of reforming its |

|education sector through: (a) promoting excellence in teaching and learning in an improved pedagogical and physical environment; and|

|(b) ensuring that all children are provided with equitable and adequate opportunities to access quality education at all levels of |

|the Borrower’s school system |

| |

|These objectives will remain unchanged. |

| |

|Does the restructured project trigger any new safeguard policies? No |

|Revised Financing Plan (US$m) |

|Source |Local |Foreign |Total |

|Borrower | |11,800,000 |160,580,000.00 |

|IBRD/IDA | | |130,340,000.00 |

|Others | | |- |

|Total | | |290,920,000.00 |

Introductory Statement

This Project Paper seeks the approval of the Regional Vice President to introduce the following changes in the Tunisia Education Quality Improvement Program Phase 2 (Loan no. 7220-TUN, P082999): reallocate funds to support the IT school infrastructure and small rehabilitation works for schools, given that the reallocation is more than 5%. An extension of the project closing date for the second and last time from September 30, 2009 to September 30, 2010 is also requested in order to carry out this second order restructuring.

These changes will enable the Government to complete remaining activities which cannot be completed prior to the project’s current closing date, and make use of cost savings for additional rehabilitation works for schools, purchase of IT equipment and conduct the relevant teacher training. Cost savings come from savings on IT equipment purchases and appreciation of the Euro in which the loan is denominated. The proposed reallocation does not imply changes in the components of the project, nor in the activities to be carried out by the project. The school rehabilitation has been an important part of Component D of the Project (Strengthening Core System), and up until now, 1325 schools have been rehabilitated. This second extension and reallocation of funds would allow the Government to continue with the school rehabilitation, following the needs assessment done on a yearly basis by the Direction of Buildings and Equipment. This will be supported through the use of cost savings. The extension of the project closing date will also allow the Government to complete the procurement and distribution of IT equipment, and fully execute a number of consultant contracts that will assist the Ministry of Education in getting the best use of the IT infrastructure procured by the project.

Background and Reasons for Extension and Restructuring

Background

The overall purpose of the Education Quality Improvement Program (EQIP) is to support the Government’s objectives to achieve near-universal completion of basic education, to provide a greater number of students (from a wider range of backgrounds) with opportunities for post-basic education; and to modernize the sector in ways that improve the quality of outputs and the efficiency with which they are produced.

This project supporting the second phase of the program was approved on March 8, 2004 and became effective on May 24, 2004. The objectives of the project are to assist the Borrower in reinforcing the process of reforming its education sector through: (a) promoting excellence in teaching and learning in an improved pedagogical and physical environment; and (b) ensuring that all children are provided with equitable and adequate opportunities to access quality education at all levels of the Borrower’s school system. Progress against these objectives is measured by enrollment and completion rates, disaggregated by gender. Important progress has been achieved in this sector during the past few years and reforms have produced results.

Project components

The project comprises four components, each with two to four sub-components: (A) Inclusive Basic Education, (B) Diversity in Secondary Education, (C) School Sector Management, and (D) Strengthening Core Systems. Components A and B focus directly on the issue of quality in the classroom. Component C focuses on modernizing the management of the school sector, at the central, regional and school levels, in ways that improve schools’ abilities to deliver quality education. Component D focuses on enhancing the performance of the core systems (training, communication, ICT, assessment and infrastructure) that would enable the Ministry of Education to better implement the activities included in the first three components.

The component costs will remain unchanged. The reallocation affects only component D and more precisely sub-components D2 and D4. As explained above, cost savings are due in part to savings on IT equipment purchases which are under sub-component D2 and will be reallocated to the same component.

|Project Components |Project Cost by Component |

| |US$ million |

|Inclusive Basic Education |12.50 |

|A1. Teaching for Improved Learning Outcomes |8.70 |

|A2. Equal Schooling Opportunities |3.80 |

|Diversity in Secondary Education |5.66 |

|B1. Diversifying the Secondary Education Curriculum |5.60 |

|B2. Career Information and Guidance |0.06 |

|School Sector Management |0.58 |

|C1. School-Level Management |0.08 |

|C2. System-Level Management |0.50 |

|Strengthening Core Systems |111.60 |

|D1. Staff Training & Communications |1.00 |

|D2. Information & Communication Technologies |16.00 |

|D3. Assessment and Evaluation |0.60 |

|D4. School Infrastructure |94.00 |

The objectives of Component A are (i) to carry out a program, through the provision of training, equipment and technical assistance, with a view to improving teaching to attain better learning outcomes by: (a) extending child-centered, skills-based teaching methodologies to upper basic education; (b) modernizing the teaching of languages and science; and (c) introducing optional studies into upper basic education; and (ii) carry out a program, through the provision of training, documentation, equipment and technical assistance, the carrying out of civil works as well as the provision of Small Grants for Sub-projects to School Development Associations, with a view to ensuring equal schooling opportunities by: (a) integrating children with disabilities into mainstream schools; (b) strengthening teaching quality in poorly performing schools under the Priority Schools Program; and (c) extending the kindergarten program aimed at five-year-old children. Activities under this component include the design of learning manuals, teacher training, and equipment purchase for science and language labs. The Component also includes activities designed to better integrate children with disabilities into schools and improve the quality of education in schools where results are below the national or regional average (PEPE schools), such as civil works to facilitate the accessibility of disabled children, purchase of disabilities equipment, teacher training in disabilities and a communication campaign to help disabled children be better integrated in the schools. For schools in underserved areas, activities include teacher training, study tours, after school programs, moral support to students, monitoring and evaluation. It was noted in several reports from the Ministry of Education that half of the PEPE schools have now reached national averages. The Ministry is planning to expand the program in the future to include secondary schools. Activities for disabled children have also been successful and the number of schools accessible to disabled children has gone from 111 in 2003/2004 to 265 in 2007/2008. In general, all the activities under Component A have been carried out.

The objective of Component B is to (i) develop secondary education programs in ways that cater to the diverse student population, by diversifying the secondary education curriculum, through the provision of documentation, equipment and technical assistance; and (ii) promote career information and guidance to students by establishing a system to provide students with information on school programs, through the provision of training, documentation, equipment and technical assistance. The promotion of career information culminated with the creation of a national educational information and counseling center. The center collects and publishes information on school activities and programs. The diversification of the secondary school curriculum has been postponed to 2010; however, two studies have been published. The Ministry will draft a report regarding the diversification to be sent to the Bank. The objectives of Component B are well on their way to being achieved.

The objectives of Component C are to (i) strengthen school-level management by improving the relationship between central units, regional units and locals schools with a view to streamlining their respective roles while giving each entity the opportunity and means to operate effectively, through the provision of training, documentation and technical assistance as well as the provision of Small Grants for Sub-projects to School Development Associations; and (ii) strengthen system-level management, by completing the installation of integrated information system for the management and oversight of the school sector, in line with the principles of modern and decentralized administration, through the provision of training and technical assistance, and the purchase of equipment and vehicles. Strengthening school-level management was to be done through the creation of school improvement schemes and regional school improvement schemes but teachers were moderately supportive of these schemes. The Ministry still intends to put in place these schemes which are essential to the improvement of the school system. Quality assessment activities have been carried out successfully and include the design of a program to help schools put in a place a quality assessment program, the creation of an electronic quality assessment system in schools, and training of staff in quality assessment. Though all the objectives have not been achieved, the success of this component will be achieved in the long run once a quality assessment program is fully operational.

The objectives of Component D are (i) to reinforce staff training and communication programs within the school sector, through the provision of training, equipment and technical assistance, by: (a) designing and implementing a strategy aiming at improving and restructuring the in-service teacher training system; and (b) developing a communication strategy aiming at explaining the Borrower’s school reform program to teachers and the general public; (ii) strengthening the integration of information and communication technologies in the teaching and learning process, through the provision of training and technical assistance, and the purchase of equipment and vehicles; (ii) improving student learning assessment and evaluation systems, through the provision of training, documentation, equipment and technical assistance,, and the carrying out of study tours, by: (a) consolidating and further developing regular assessments of learning achievement; and (b) strengthening the Ministry of Education’s capacity in education research and teaching innovation; and (iv) improving school infrastructure, through the provision of equipment and the carrying out of civil works, by: (a) constructing and equipping new middle schools and secondary schools; (b) rehabilitating existing school infrastructure; and (c) upgrading existing school infrastructure for lower basic education. Most activities under this Component have been achieved but a few activities remain to be completed such as putting in place an efficient intranet system for the Ministry, improving the monitoring and evaluation capacity for training activities, and improving the oversight on the use of information technologies in schools.

Performance Indicators

The results framework is as follows:

|Project Development Objective |Outcome Indicators |

|Promote excellence in teaching and learning throughout the school |Enrollment rate (by gender and age group: 6-11 year-olds, |

|sector, while continuing the push for the inclusion of all children |6-16 year olds, 12-18 year olds); Primary education |

|at all levels of the basic education system. |completion rate (by gender) |

|Intermediate Results |Results Indicators |

|Component A (Inclusive Basic Education): | |

|Increased number of students successfully completing basic education |Basic education completion rate (by gender); results of |

| |national school quality monitoring for Grade 4 (by sampling) |

|Component B (Diversity in Secondary Education): | |

|Increased number of students successfully completing secondary |Secondary education completion rate (by gender) |

|education | |

|Component C (School Sector Management): | |

|Share of MET operational budget allocated to activities managed at |Share of MET operational budget allocated to non salary |

|the school level maintained at current levels |expenditures (by level [LBE, UBE/SEC]) |

|Component D (Strengthening Core Systems): | |

|Availability of tools needed to achieve Components |Student-computer ratio (by level [LBE, UBE, SEC]) |

|A-C | |

The performance indicators show a continuous progress, particularly, the expansion of access to basic and secondary education. Total enrollment rates have reached 98% in primary and more than 75% in secondary, meeting the project’s target objectives and providing proof of improvements in the performance of the education system. Completion rates have also increased, reaching 58.6% in primary. Between 2004 and 2009, the completion rate of basic education has increased by 7.2% (from 51.4% to 58.6%). While the completion rate of females exceeds that of male students, high dropout rates among male students in secondary education remains a challenge and rates have been stagnating. The government is following up closely on these observations, and is planning a study to evaluate the reasons that prompt youngsters to abandon or fail in school. In secondary, the target objectives have yet to be reached in terms of the student/computer ratio and the share in public expenditures. The Ministry of Education is also in the process of designing a mid-term expenditures framework which will enable it to better plan for future expenditures. A detailed evolution of these indicators is found in Annex 2. Even though at the time of project design there were no specific indicators to monitor progress on equity aspects of the project, in the past year the Project Coordination Unit has been able to submit the necessary information to confirm that important progress has been seen regarding improvement of completion rates in PEPE schools.

Reasons for Extension and Restructuring

Rationale for First Extension and Reallocation

A first extension and reallocation of the project was approved by the Bank in June 2008. The rationale for the first extension and reallocation were due to delays in project implementation. Procurement management was experiencing severe delays due to a lack of a proper project coordinator as well procurement practices in the country, and these issues were brought to the attention of the Minister of Education and Training. It was only in May 2008 that a new project director was officially designated by the Ministry of Education and Training. Up until then, the project implementation was managed by the director of civil works and equipment. A procurement specialist was also recruited as part of a revamped project management unit. The Government requested a first reallocation to reflect their priority to increase the scale of the ICT program and hence the need to increase the number of schools to be equipped with computers. Along the same lines, in order to fully implement the language program in schools, the equipment of language laboratories at the school level was deemed necessary. The revised procurement plan included two new biddings for this equipment.

The first extension enabled the Ministry of Education and Training to consolidate the implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the school system. Through the project support, the development of a sophisticated education network – EDUNET - with resources available for teachers and students has been put in place. This in itself constitutes an important element to continue the modernization efforts to improve teaching and learning throughout the school system.

Rationale for Second Extension and Reallocation

However, after reviewing the project’s implementation progress during the recent supervision mission in May 2009, the mission once again noted delays in the implementation of several activities. A review of the procurement plan for goods, works and services showed that some equipment purchases could not be completed prior to the project’s closing date. In particular large language laboratories and other IT equipment contracts (amounting to about US$25 million and for which the Bank gave it no-objection to award) are currently in the process of being signed or being delivered as summarized in the table below. It is evident that an extension is required to complete these purchases and fully execute and disburse a number of consultant contracts (see status of consultant contracts in Annex 6) and consolidate achievements of the project development objective.

|Bid Ref. |Description |Cost Estimate |Status |Estimated signing|Estimated |

| | |(DT) | |date |delivery date |

|30/7220 BIRD/2008 |Procurement of 500 language |7.250.000 |Contract signing in |June 2009 |4th trimester |

| |laboratories for colleges and | |progress | |2009 |

| |high | | | | |

|31/7220 BIRD/2008 |Procurement of 300 computer |4.000.000 |Contract Award in |4th trimester |4th trimester |

| |labs for colleges and high | |progress | |2009 |

| |schools and 15 mobile | | | | |

| |laboratories | | | | |

|33/7220 BIRD/2008 |Procurement of power supply |100.000 |Contract signed |2nd trimester |4th trimester |

|(Post Review) |equipment | | |2009 |2009 |

The review of the financial management revealed a balance of about 8.2 million Euros, due to savings on IT equipment purchase and the appreciation of the Euro. Rather than cancelling this amount, the Government decided to use the balance for the purchase of additional information technology (IT) equipment and to fund additional rehabilitation work on schools. The purchase of additional IT equipment is in line with the Government’s desire to increase the use of ICT in the education system as explained above and to establish systematic rehabilitation of schools. These two priorities were discussed with the Government which is keen for a follow up project on the (i) reform of technical and vocation education and (ii) integration of ICT in education and training. The Government prepared an action plan (attached as Annex 3) detailing the use of the balance. About 2.5 million Euros will be used for the purchase of interactive whiteboards, and 5.7 million Euros for small rehabilitation works on secondary schools and boarding schools based on the needs assessment done on a yearly basis by the Directorate of Buildings and Equipment.

The Bank and Government’s teams made a detailed assessment to estimate the timeframe needed to complete the implementation of the project activities. Based on this assessment, it was estimated that an extension of 12 months would be needed to complete all remaining project activities (particularly equipment purchases and small rehabilitation works). The Bank’s team assessment confirms that the implementation schedule and procurement plan are feasible within this timeframe.

Project Implementation

In the last ISR, the PDO rating is satisfactory as well as the overall implementation progress. Monitoring and evaluation has been upgraded to satisfactory due to improvements in the monitoring and reporting of progress on implementation activities. This is due in large part to the nomination of a project director in May 2008 who has submitted to the Bank two progress reports since his nomination, enabling the Bank team to better assess the progress on the monitoring indicators. Particularly, indicators on repetition and dropout rates for schools in underserved areas (PEPE schools) were reported for the first time since the project became effective, enabling to monitor equity indicators that were not part of the initial project design.

Procurement is rated moderately satisfactory due to the delays in the equipment contracts mentioned above. It should be noted that some delays are mainly due to stringent control mechanisms procurement in the country, which are beyond the control of the project implementation unit.

In view of this and the Government’s request for a follow up project, it will be important to draw lessons learned from this project, particularly as concerns the timely execution of activities and importance of focusing on equity issues.

Financial Management

From the financial management point of view, the reallocation will not have any adverse effect in the implementation of the project. The Ministry of Education and Training has an independent disbursement unit which is in charge of the financial management and monitoring of the project, as well as the preparation of the project’s semi-annual and annual financial monitoring reports. The FMRs are sent to the Bank on a regular basis. The audit report for FY2008 has been received from the Government on September 17, 2009 and reviewed by the Bank financial management team.

Proposed Changes

The proposed changes are to extend the closing date for the second time from September 30, 2009 to September 30, 2010 and to reallocate funds as summarized in the table below. The reallocation of funds affects only the Component D (Strengthening Core Systems) of the project and in particular sub-components D2 (ICT) and D4 (School Infrastructure). No modifications will need to be made to the objectives of the project and the present description of the project. The table below summarizes the proposed reallocation.

|Category |Current Allocation |Proposed reallocation |

| |(Euros) |(Euros) |

| | | |

|1. Works under | | |

|Part D.4 (a) of the Project |35,616,000.00 |35,616,000.00 |

|Part D.4 (b) of the Project |7,217,000.00 |10,399,000.00 |

|Parts A.2 and D.4 (c) of the |4,502,000.00 |3,604,000.00 |

|Project | | |

|2. Goods |54,905,000.00 |52,621,000.00 |

|3. Consultants’ services including |1,568,000.00 |1,568,000.00 |

|study tours and training | | |

|4. Small grants for sub-projects |70,000.00 |70,000.00 |

|under Parts A.2 (b) and C.1 of the | | |

|Project | | |

|5. Front-end fee |522,000.00 |522,000.00 |

|6. Unallocated |0.00 |0.00 |

|Total |104,400,000.00 |104,400,000.00 |

Analysis

The second extension of the closing date and the reallocation of loan proceeds will not have any major effect on the original economic, financial, technical, institutional or social aspects of the project as appraised. The project reallocation involves only two sub-components of the project. The environmental category, B-Partial Assessment, will remain unchanged and the environmental assessment plan of November 2003 will be upheld. No exceptions to Bank rules are sought.

The Borrower prepared an action plan containing the new disbursement forecast, a reallocation plan and a revised procurement plan (both attached as annexes 3, 4 and 5).

Expected Outcomes

The proposed changes will not affect the project’s development objective. Annex 2 contains the detailed key performance indicators at their target values until present.

Benefits and Risks

The achievement of the project’s development or outcome targets will not be jeopardized. However, there is some risk in terms of structural procurement delays, characteristic of Tunisia, and the Bank team has addressed its concerns to the Government. The completion rates in secondary education is also an issue that has been discussed with the Government and is being followed up.

Annex 1: Government Request for Extension and Reallocation

[pic]

Annex 2: Key Performance Indicators

Indicators: Net Enrollment Rates

|  |  |  |Baseline |Target Values |Targets Achieved |

|  |  |  |2003-04 |2004-05 |

|  |

|Designation |Cost Estimate in TD |PLANNING |

| |Total |IBRD Share |Tunisian Budget Share |Estimated date beginning of works |Estimated date |

| | | | | |completion of works |

|Rehabilitation, and boarding school space planning |10,097,966 |4,847,024 |5,250,942 |3rd Trimester 2009 |2nd Trimester 2010 |

|Rehabilitation, and secondary school space planning |4,191,200 |2,011,776 |2,179,424 | | |

|TOTAL Rehabilitation: |14,289,166 |6,858,800 |7,430,366 | | |

| |In Euros: |3,619,801 | | | |

|Boarding schools kitchen equipment |4,922,540 |3,938,032 |984,508 |3rd Trimester 2009 |2nd Trimester 2010 |

| |In Euros: |2,078,336 | | | |

ANNEX 4: DISBURSEMENT FORECAST: ACTIVITIES FINANCED FROM THE BALANCE

[pic]

ANNEX 5: UPDATED PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

ANNEX 6: UPDATED PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND BOARDING SCHOOLS REHABILITATION

[pic]

Boarding Schools Rehabilitation

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

Kitchen Equipment

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

ANNEX 7: STATUS OF CONSULTANT CONTRACTS

[pic]

[pic]

-----------------------

56346

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download