Project Appraisal Document - World Bank



Document ofThe World BankFOR OFFICIAL USE ONLYReport No: 71655-ZRINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONPROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENTON APROPOSED Grant IN THE AMOUNT OF US$ 100 MILLIONTO THEDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO FOR ASUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROJECTUNDER THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION FUNDMay 2, 2013Human Development SectorWest and Central Africa 1Africa RegionThis 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.CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS(Exchange Rate Effective as of February 27, 2013)Currency Unit = Congolese Franc (CDF)US$1.00 = CDF 922.32FISCAL YEARJanuary 1–December 31ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMSAfDFrench Development Agency (Agence Fran?aise de Développement)AFTFMAfrica Technical Financial ManagementALEAgence Locale d’ExécutionAPEFEAssociation pour la Promotion de l’Education et de la Formation à l’EtrangerAUFAgence Universitaire de la FrancophonieBGPBureaux Gestionnaires de ProximitéCARITASInternational Confederation of Catholic Organizations for Charitable and Social ActionCASCountry Assistance StrategyCATTechnical Advisory UnitCDFCongolese Francs (Francs Congolais)CFAA Country Financial Accountability AssessmentCOGESConseil de Gestion ScolaireCONATCoordination NationaleCONFEMENConférence des Ministres de l'Education ayant le Fran?ais en PartageCOPROCoordination ProvincialeDADesignated AccountDfIDDepartment for International DevelopmentDIPROMADDirection des Programmes et du Matériel DidactiqueDRC Democratic Republic of Congo ECDEarly Child DevelopmentEDCEducation Development CenterEPSPPrimary, Secondary and Technical Education (Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel)ESUHigher and University Education (Enseignement Supérieur et Universitaire)FMFinancial ManagementFTIFast Track InitiativeGDPGross Domestic ProductGERGross Enrolment RateGPEGlobal Partnership for EducationHDIHuman Development IndexHIPCHeavily Indebted Poor CountriesHIV/AIDSHuman immunodeficiency virus infection / Acquired immunodeficiency syndromeIBRDInternational Bank of Reconstruction and DevelopmentICTInformation Communication TechnologyIDAInternational Development AssociationIEPInterim Education Plan (Plan Intérimaire de l’Education)IFACInternational Federation of AccountantsIFADEMInitiative Francophone pour la Formation à Distance des Ma?tresIFRInterim Financial ReportIPPInspecteur Principal ProvincialIRCInternational Rescue CommitteeLSLower SecondaryMASMinistère des Affaires SocialesM&EMonitoring & EvaluationMEFMinistry of Economy and FinanceMEPSPMinistry of Primary, Secondary and Technical Education (Ministère de l’Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel)MLAModern Language AssociationNGONon-Governmental OrganizationOIFOrganisation Internationale de la FrancophoniePADProject Appraisal DocumentPAQUEDProjet d’Appui à la Qualité de l’EducationPARSEEducation Sector Support ProjectPASECProgramme d’Analyse des Systèmes Educatifs de la CONFEMENPDOProject Development ObjectivePEFAPublic Expenditure and Financial AccountabilityPER Public Expenditure ReviewPFMPublic Financial ManagementPIEProjet Intérimaire de l’EducationPIUProject Implementation UnitPROVEDProvincial Education OfficesPRSPPoverty Reduction Strategy PaperPUAICFProjet d’Urgence d’Atténuation des Impacts de la Crise FinancièrePURUSProjet d’Urgence de Réhabilitation Urbaine et SocialeSECOPEService de Contr?le et de la Paie des EnseignantsSERNAFORService National de FormationSILSpecific Investment LoanTCTechnical CommitteeToRTerms of ReferencesTVETTechnical Vocational Education TrainingUCOPUnité de Coordination des ProjetsUISUNESCO Institute for StatisticsUNUnited NationsUNICEFUnited Nations International Children Emergency FundUSUpper SecondaryUSAIDUnited States Agency for International DevelopmentUSDUnited States DollarWFPWorld Food ProgramRegional Vice President:Makhtar Diop Country Director:Eustache Ouayoro Sector Director:Ritva ReinikkaSector Manager:Peter Materu Task Team Leaders:Dung-Kim PhamDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO SUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMUNDER THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION FUNDTABLE OF ContentsPage TOC \o "1-3" \t "PDS Heading 2,2,PDS Annex Heading,1" I.STRATEGIC CONTEXT PAGEREF _Toc355005197 \h 1A.Country Context PAGEREF _Toc355005198 \h 1B.Sectoral and Institutional Context PAGEREF _Toc355005199 \h 2C.Donor Coordination and Financing PAGEREF _Toc355005200 \h 10D.Higher Level Objectives to which the Project Contributes PAGEREF _Toc355005201 \h 12II.PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES PAGEREF _Toc355005202 \h 12A.PDO PAGEREF _Toc355005203 \h 12B.Project Beneficiaries PAGEREF _Toc355005204 \h 13C.PDO Level Results Indicators PAGEREF _Toc355005205 \h 13III.PROJECT DESCRIPTION PAGEREF _Toc355005206 \h 13A.Project Components PAGEREF _Toc355005207 \h 14B.Project Financing PAGEREF _Toc355005208 \h 20C.Lessons Learned and Reflected in the Project Design PAGEREF _Toc355005209 \h 20IV.IMPLEMENTATION PAGEREF _Toc355005210 \h 22A.Institutional and Implementation Arrangements PAGEREF _Toc355005211 \h 22B.Results Monitoring and Evaluation PAGEREF _Toc355005212 \h 25C.Sustainability PAGEREF _Toc355005213 \h 25I.KEY RISKS AND MITIGATION MEASURES PAGEREF _Toc355005214 \h 26A.Risk Ratings Summary Table PAGEREF _Toc355005215 \h 26B.Key Risks and Mitigation Measures PAGEREF _Toc355005216 \h 26II.APPRAISAL SUMMARY PAGEREF _Toc355005217 \h 27A.Economic and Financial Analyses PAGEREF _Toc355005218 \h 27B.Technical PAGEREF _Toc355005219 \h 28C.Financial Management PAGEREF _Toc355005220 \h 29D.Procurement PAGEREF _Toc355005221 \h 30E.Social Accountability PAGEREF _Toc355005222 \h 30F.Social PAGEREF _Toc355005223 \h 31G.Environment and Social Safeguard Policies PAGEREF _Toc355005224 \h 32Annex 1: Results Framework and Monitoring Equator Province & Kasai West Province PAGEREF _Toc355005225 \h 34Annex 2: Detailed Project Description PAGEREF _Toc355005226 \h 40Annex 3: Economic and Financial Analysis PAGEREF _Toc355005227 \h 49Annex 4: Implementation Arrangements PAGEREF _Toc355005228 \h 57Annex 5: Financial Management and Procurement Arrangements PAGEREF _Toc355005229 \h 65Annex 6: Operational Risk Assessment Framework (ORAF) PAGEREF _Toc355005230 \h 81Annex 7: Implementation Support Plan PAGEREF _Toc355005231 \h 87Annex 8: Governance and Anti-corruption Action Plan PAGEREF _Toc355005232 \h 91Annex 9: Roadmap PAGEREF _Toc355005233 \h 99List of Tables TOC \h \z \c "Table" Table 1: School fees allocated to the “bureaux gestionnaires” (2011-12) PAGEREF _Toc355090490 \h 4Table 2: Support by Various Partners PAGEREF _Toc355090491 \h 10Table 3: Project Cost and Financing PAGEREF _Toc355090492 \h 20Table 4: GDP and GDP per capita, 2000-2011 PAGEREF _Toc355090493 \h 27Table 5: Education and EPSP expenditure, 2010-2011 PAGEREF _Toc355090494 \h 27Table 6: Needs-based assessment by province PAGEREF _Toc355090495 \h 48Table 7 : GDP and GDP per capita, 2000-2011 PAGEREF _Toc355090496 \h 49Table 8: Enrolment and Gross Enrolment Ratio, 2000-2010 PAGEREF _Toc355090497 \h 50Table 9: Context indicators in Equator and Kasa?-West PAGEREF _Toc355090498 \h 52Table 10: Sector indicators (Primary Education) in Equator and Kasa?-West PAGEREF _Toc355090499 \h 52Table 11: Education and EPSP expenditure, 2010-2011 PAGEREF _Toc355090500 \h 53Table 12: Financing Framework for the EPSP (IEP) PAGEREF _Toc355090501 \h 55List of Graphs TOC \h \z \c "Graph" Graph 1: Gross Enrolment Ratio, comparison with neighbor countries PAGEREF _Toc334218312 \h 50Graph 2: Public recurrent expenditure per student in primary education, comparison with other African countries, expressed as a percent of GDP per capita PAGEREF _Toc334218313 \h 54List of Chart TOC \h \z \c "Chart" Chart 1: Distribution of "faith-based” public schools (2009), (disaggregated by network) PAGEREF _Toc334218314 \h 2PAD DATA SHEETCongo, DemocratZR SUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM (P131120)PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT.AFRICAAFTEWReport No.: PAD489.Basic Information Project IDLending InstrumentEA CategoryTeam LeaderP131120Specific Investment LoanB - Partial AssessmentDung-Kim PhamProject Implementation Start DateProject Implementation End Date01-Jul-201330-Jun-2016Expected Effectiveness DateExpected Closing Date01-Apr-201331-Aug-2016Joint IFCNoSector ManagerSector DirectorCountry DirectorRegional Vice PresidentPeter Nicolas MateruRitva S. ReinikkaEustache OuayoroMakhtar Diop.Borrower: Democratic Republic of CongoResponsible Agency: Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Technical EducationContact: Mr. Lufunisabo BundokiTitle: Secretary GeneralTelephone No:24381 091 9965; 0810919965Email: sgepsy@yahoo.fr..Project Financing Data(in USD Million)[ ]Loan[ ]Grant[ X ]Other[ ]Credit[ ]GuaranteeTotal Project Cost:100.00Total Bank Financing:0.00Total Cofinancing:Financing Gap:0.00.Financing SourceAmountBorrower0.00EC European Commission6.40Education for All - Fast Track Initiative93.60Total100.00.Expected Disbursements (in USD Million)Fiscal Year2013201420152016Annual2.0025.0055.0018.00Cumulative2.0027.0082.00100.00.Institutional DataSector BoardEducation.Sectors / Climate ChangeSector (Maximum 5 and total % must equal 100)Major SectorSector%Adaptation Co-benefits %Mitigation Co-benefits %EducationPrimary education100Total100 I certify that there is no Adaptation and Mitigation Climate Change Co-benefits information applicable to this project..ThemesTheme (Maximum 5 and total % must equal 100)Major themeTheme%Human developmentEducation for all100Total100.Project Development Objective(s)Proposed Development Objective(s)In support of the implementation of the MEPSP Interim Education Plan the project objectives are to: (a) increase access and equity in primary education, (b) improve learning conditions in primary education and (c) strengthen sector management and promote greater accountability by introducing new management practices at the local levels..ComponentsComponent NameCost (USD Millions)Improving of Access and Equity at the Primary Level24.40Quality of Learning Environment60.10Strengthening Sector Management15.pliance PolicyDoes the project depart from the CAS in content or in other significant respects?Yes[ ]No[ X ].Does the project require any waivers of Bank policies?Yes[ ]No[ X ]Have these been approved by Bank management?Yes[ ]No[ X ]Is approval for any policy waiver sought from the Board?Yes[ ]No[ X ]Does the project meet the Regional criteria for readiness for implementation?Yes[ X ]No[ ].Safeguard Policies Triggered by the ProjectYesNoEnvironmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01XNatural Habitats OP/BP 4.04XForests OP/BP 4.36XPest Management OP 4.09XPhysical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11XIndigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10XInvoluntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12XSafety of Dams OP/BP 4.37XProjects on International Waterways OP/BP 7.50XProjects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60X.Legal CovenantsNameRecurrentDue DateFrequencyThe Recipient shall furnish to the World Bank, no later than one (1) month after the Effective Date, an opinion or opinions satisfactory to the World Bank of counsel acceptable to the World Bank or, if the World Bank so requests, a certificate satisfactory to the World Bank of a competent official of the Recipient, confirming that tuition and other associated fees are not permitted to be levied from parents and communities by the Recipient’s Equator and Kasai-West provinces to finance the administrative cost of the SchoolManagementOffices (BureauxGestionnaires).(b)Without limitation upon its other reporting obligations under this Agreement, the Recipient shall (and shall cause the Governors of Equator and Kasai-West provinces to) collect, compile and submit to the World Bank, in accordance with Section II.A of this Schedule 2 to this Agreement, reports on the status of compliance with, and enforcement of, the prohibition on the collection of tuition and other associated fees to finance the administrative cost of the School Management Offices (BureauxGestionnaires).One Month after effectivenessDescription of CovenantUnder decrees promulgated by the Governors of Equator and Kasai-West provinces are prohibited from the collection of fees from parents, communities and schools to finance the costs of the administrative officesNameRecurrentDue DateFrequencyThe Recipient shall prepare and furnish to the World Bank for its approval, not later than December 15 of each year during the implementation of the Project (or such later date as the World Bank may agree), an annual work plan and budget (“Annual Work Plan and Budget”) containing all eligible Project activities and expenditures planned for the following fiscal year, including a specification of the source or sources of financing for all eligible expenditures15-Dec-2014YearlyDescription of CovenantTransmission of annual work program and budgetNameRecurrentDue DateFrequencyFinancial Management dated covenantsThree months after effectivenessDescription of Covenanta) The Recipient shall recruit, no later than three (3) months after the Effective Date, an independent external auditor in accordance with the provisions of Section III of this Schedule 2 to this Agreement.(b) The Recipient shall recruit, no later than three (3) months after the Effective Date, (i) a finance office for each of the Recipient’s seven (7) educational provincial offices (PROVED); and (ii) an engineer for each of the Recipient’s six (6) educational provincial offices (PROVED) in which it will be implementing Part A of the Project, all in accordance with the provisions of Section III of this Schedule 2 to this Agreement each with skills, experience and qualifications acceptable to the World Bank.(c) The Recipient shall, no later than three (3) months after the Effective Date, engage the services of Delegated Contract Managers in accordance with the provisions of Section III of this Schedule under contracts pursuant to which the Recipient shall delegate to the Delegated Contract Managers certain Project implementation responsibilities, including procurement of the works and equipment required for Part A of the Project and financial management thereof, in accordance with this Agreement..ConditionsNameTypeDescription of ConditionTeam CompositionBank StaffNameTitleSpecializationUnitDung-Kim PhamSenior Operations OfficerTeam LeadAFTEWAdriana M. Da Cunha CostaLanguage Program AssistantLanguage Program AssistantAFTEERachidi B. RadjiCountry ManagerCountry ManagerAFMBIPaul Jonathan MartinSector LeaderSector LeaderAFTSNBourama DiaiteSenior Procurement SpecialistSenior Procurement SpecialistAFTPWNorosoa AndrianaivoSenior Program AssistantLanguage Program AssistantECSHDAntoine V. LemaSenior Social Development SpecialistSenior Social Development SpecialistAFTCSMonthe Bienvenu BiyoudiSenior EconomistSenior EconomistAFTP5Aissatou DialloSenior Finance OfficerSenior Finance OfficerCTRLAMathieu BrossardSr Education Econ.Sr Education Econ.AFTEWKolie Ousmane Maurice MegnanSr Financial Management SpecialistSr Financial Management SpecialistAFTMWAnthony MolleSenior CounselSenior CounselLEGSOLanssina TraoreProcurement SpecialistProcurement SpecialistAFTPWNon Bank StaffNameTitleOffice PhoneCitySouleymane ZerboArchitectWashington DCJohan VerhagheConsultant Human DevelopmentKinshasaJean Claude HameidatConsultant PlanningFranceDonald HamiltonConsultant EducationWashington DC.LocationsCountryFirst Administrative DivisionLocationPlannedActualCommentsSTRATEGIC CONTEXTCountry ContextThe Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country with a vast natural endowment with the potential to underpin significant economic development, yet it remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Located in Central Africa, it is the third largest country on the continent with an area of 2.3 million square kilometers. Its population of nearly 71 million is widely dispersed with just under 40 percent living in urban areas. The country is extremely rich in natural resources, including diamonds, copper, cobalt, crude oil, and gold, and benefits from an abundance of fertile land. It has the potential to become one of Africa’s richest countries and an engine for regional growth. Despite this abundant endowment of resources, the incidence of poverty remains stubbornly high with 71 percent of the population living on less than US$1.25 a day. The International Food Policy Research Institute estimated that half the country is undernourished. The DRC performs most poorly of all countries assessed by the 2011 Global Hunger Index. Since the end of the wars in 2002, DRC has been everywhere at peace, except in some areas in the Eastern provinces where conflicts have been persistent. The country has made significant progress with regard to economic growth and political development in the intervening years, but peace remains fragile, and reconstruction and economic development will remain challenges for years to come. Economic growth slowed in 2009 due to the global financial and economic crisis but averaged a healthy 7 percent in 2010 and 2011. Inflation has been brought under control, falling to less than 10 percent in 2010 from a high level of 53.4 percent in 2009. Improved macroeconomic policy management and performance facilitated the DRC accessing the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in July 2010. Nevertheless, due to entrenched structural weaknesses, the country’s economic recovery is expected to remain precarious for the foreseeable future. Recent developmental improvements have moderately impacted the country’s human development. Progress with regard to normalizing the political context, improving the business environment and strengthening service delivery have had an uneven impact, with only a marginal improvement in socio-economic conditions for the population as a whole. The vast majority of Congolese continue to live in conditions characterized by poverty; deprived of access to basic services like education; health; electricity; sanitation; drinking water; and critical commodities such as cooking fuel. The DRC was at the bottom of the 2011 Human Development Index (HDI) in 187th position, with an HDI of 0.286, well below the averages for countries in the ‘low human development group’ as well comparator countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The resumption of hostilities in the east could interrupt continuation of recent progress with both long and short-term effects. The long term impact of the conflict is that it could undermine state institutions as the law is not enforced in those parts of the country. This could be avoided if proposed internal reforms to improve governance and initiatives to reestablish political stability which the government is trying to put in place with the support of the international community succeed. The short term impact has been a shock that threatens fiscal stability. The security situation in the east has indeed led recently to a rapid expansion in security related expenditure. However these increased expenditures have been absorbed by a reallocation from investments in infrastructure, current funding for education and other social sectors remains protected. Public service salaries are being paid, including teachers. The government has also started to transfer teachers who are now paid from household contributions to the budget. This trend is likely to continue as the government has made a commitment to increase allocations to the sector to finance teachers and other essential expenditures. These increases are likely to accrue since government revenues from its rich oil and mineral resources are likely to remain stable and increase slightly in the medium term. According to Congolese Central Bank projections, economic growth in 2013-15 is projected to reach 7.3 percent, some 5 percent per capita. Sectoral and Institutional ContextPrimary Education in the DRC is administered by the Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Technical Education (Ministère de l’Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel - MEPSP) and is characterized by a de-concentrated managerial and organizational structure. In line with the country’s administrative organization, the MEPSP is subdivided into eleven administrative provinces, and an additional thirty ‘educational provinces’ (PROVEDs), which have some administrative autonomy. PROVEDs are further divided into sub-PROVEDs at the district level. Religious networks that directly administer the majority of primary schools are structured similarly, with representations at the provincial and the district level. This dual structure reflects a deep-rooted tradition of education management shared between State and religious networks. In other words, a specificity of the DRC context is that faith-based organizations are part of the management of the education system. In primary education approximately 72 percent of students attend schools owned and managed by churches and religious communities but fully or partially funded by the government (“Ecoles Conventionnées”). Secular public schools (“Ecoles non Conventionnées”) only account for 17 percent of the overall enrolment, with private sector schools accounting for the remaining 11 percent. The distribution of schools run by the various religious organizations is shown in Chart 1. The contract (“La Convention”) that has governed the partnership since 1977 grants the State a primary role in the administration of schooling with all non-private schools financed and controlled by government as part of the public system. However, churches retain significant day-to-day oversight and managerial independence over the schools in their networks.Chart SEQ Chart \* ARABIC 1: Distribution of "faith -based” public schools (2009), (disaggregated by network) Source: MEPSP, compiled by J. Verhaghe 7% 40% 43% 1% 3% 1% 5% 0% 0% Catholic Protestant Kimbanguist Independent Islamic Salutist Adventist Fraternité Lumière Source: MEPSP, compiled by J. Verhaghe 7% 40% 43% 1% 3% 1% 5% 0% 0% Catholic Protestant Kimbanguist Independent Islamic Salutist Adventist Fraternité Lumière In practice, the roles and responsibilities of State and religious organizations are unclear. Religious networks operate largely as autonomous, parallel structures inside the public system, resulting in a system that divides the management of public schools between “state-run” and “church-run” networks. This “out-sourcing” in the provision of education services ensured the survival of public education during years of the State’s absence and periods of severe public financing restrictions. Today, the vast size of the country, generally weak state administration and poor communications, and the durability and distribution of these non-state actors throughout the primary education sector present multiple opportunities for collaboration and a division of labor that has not been fully explored. Despite these existing and potential benefits, the practical manifestation of dual management of the education sector has resulted in a system characterized by layers of administrative offices operating with significant efficiency and accountability deficits.In an effort to address these weaknesses, government has invested considerable effort in increasing access to education with promising results. Over the course of the last five years, important investments have been made to expand the system, resulting in a rapid increase in enrollments in all levels of education. Between 2008 and 2010, the number of public and private education institutions increased from 47,000 to 51,000, and the number of students registered across the system, from primary to higher education, grew from 13.6 million to 14.6 million. In 2010, gross enrollment rates reached 94 percent in primary education, 38 percent in secondary education and 7 percent in higher education. The gradual introduction of a fee-free policy for primary education in September 2010 has further strengthened this positive trend in access, specifically for children from poorer household’s and has contributed to a reduction in gender disparity. In spite of these achievements, challenges remain. Barriers to access and continued inequity are driven by high costs to households, poor infrastructure, and socio-economic and cultural factors that constrain access for girls, and children from low income groups and hard to reach areas. A poor learning environment, underpinned by poor teaching skills and the limited availability of textbooks, undermine the quality of student learning as demonstrated by student learning assessments. These challenges remain pervasive in the absence of capacity to carry-out regular assessments and the ability to analyze data to improve the teaching and learning interface. Finally, as mentioned above, deficiencies resulting from to the dual character of education management impede efficiency and accountability.Limited Access and Equity at the Primary Level High Costs to Households. Despite the financial efforts undertaken by the government (with support of the donor community), the direct costs of schooling to households remain high and, in many cases unaffordable, for most households. In 2009, it was estimated that households financed at least 37 percent of direct education expenditures, the state 48 percent, and other sources 15 percent. In DRC, school fees are pervasive, many authorized by provincial decrees. About 70 percent of the fees collected stay at the school level while 30 percent is transferred to local and provincial education offices to finance their administrative costs. The breakdown of how the funds for administration are used is shown in Table 1 for two provinces. Out of the 70 percent that remains at the school level, the largest share is used as “prime de motivation”, a top-up for teachers collected at the school level to compensate for low salaries. The government has not yet succeeded in raising salaries to the level required to eliminate this practice. These fees are not regulated by national legislation and are, at origin, often dubious, reflecting the perverse relationship that has evolved between schools and their respective administrators whereby the latter have grown financially dependent on parental contributions. Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 1: School fees allocated to the “bureaux gestionnaires” (2011-12)(Case of Bas-Congo and Orientale provinces)Limited access due to poor infrastructure. Despite significant government investment over the course of the last five years, the need to re-build and to rehabilitate classrooms remains urgent. Many schools were devastated by decades of wars and under-investment, and continue to deteriorate, while those built by communities are characterized by very poor quality. In 2010, 80.5 percent of the schools were judged to be in “good condition” despite 42 percent being built out of non-durable materials (33 percent were built with pressed earth and 8.7 percent with straws and leaves). Data demonstrates wide variations in the quality of schooling infrastructure between and within the 11 provinces (see Attachment to Annex 2). Many schools also lack basic amenities such as furniture; equipment; latrines; clean water and electricity. Implementation of the fee-free policy has resulted in an influx of children to schools and increased demand for school places, exacerbating the challenge associated with the poor existing stock of school infrastructure. The Interim Education Plan (IEP), developed by the government to operationalize the sector strategy, estimates that approximately 9,500 new primary schools need to be built and close to 5,000 classrooms will require rehabilitation for the period 2011/12 to 2013/14. Disparities in access persist across a range of dimensions – accessibility (financial and physical), geographical and gender. The high costs of education limit demand, especially for children from poor families and rural areas. These households incur higher relative opportunity costs for schooling, especially for girls, and, as a consequence, are less likely to enroll their children in school. In addition, there remain serious geographical disparities: While primary gross enrollment averages 94 percent at national level during 2010-11, it ranges from 75 percent in Katanga to 102 percent in North-Kivu. Children living in underserved and hard to reach regions are still disproportionately excluded from the system and/or study under very difficult circumstances (distance from the school, dilapidated classrooms, impact of war, etc.). Gender Disparities.Gender-based inequality is relatively high in DRC: 72 percent of females aged 15 – 24 years attend an educational institution compared to 78 percent of males. Progress has been made in increasing the girls:boys enrolment ratio (parity index of 0.87 in 2010 in primary education); however, gender disparity is wider at higher levels of education. The 2011 Gender Inequality Index demonstrated that only 10.7 percent of adult women reached secondary or higher levels of education, compared to 36.2 percent of their male counterparts. The social and economic consequences of gendered educational disparity is evidenced, for example, by the fact that 20 percent of children of mothers without any education die before they are 5 years old compared to 10 percent for children of mothers with secondary education. Several factors underpin gender disparity: female children bear a disproportionate burden with regard to demand for out-of-school work, and household work to support their families; girls on average marry earlier; and the absence of proper latrines and water supply also discourages girls’ participation. Poor security on roads/paths leading to schools and armed conflict negatively impact female participation rates. Moreover, female teachers and administrators, who have the potential to serve as role models and encourage girls to stay in school, represent only 27 percent of the teaching force. Persistent high costs and inadequate financing of education lead to some families prioritizing boys’ enrollment in school. These factors are further compounded by a lack of sensitivity to gender issues and a proper system to address the treatment of sexual abuse and unwanted pregnancies, which in many instances limit further participation of girls in schools. Poor Learning EnvironmentChallenges remain with regard to the quality of education delivered to students, and endowing students with the skills necessary to realize their full potential. Despite significant progress in improving access to education, learning achievement remains low. The results of a learning assessment carried out by the Program on the Analysis of Education Systems (PASEC) (2010) indicate that at the end of the 5th year of primary education, average scores of pupils show only 47 percent in French and 59 percent in Math. The poor quality of primary education is, in part, a consequence of the poor quality of pre-service training, inadequate support for upgrading in-service teacher skills at the local/school levels, and a scarcity of textbooks and other learning materials. Factors contributing to limited access and enduring inequity also negatively impact internal efficiency. The 2009/10 annual statistics demonstrate high rates of repetition, fluctuating between 8.5 percent in the 6th grade and 16.6 percent in the 3rd grade. Although drop-out rates are low in all grades, with the exception of the 1st and 6th grades where they can reach 20 percent, only 59 percent of Congolese children complete a full course of 6 grades in primary education. The causes of repetition and drop-out are diverse and remedial solutions will require a combination of policies and measures to strengthen the quality of education delivered.Low Teacher Skills.Poor teacher skills limit learning outcomes. The quality of pre-service teacher training is low and the in-service training program implemented in the eighties to improve teacher skills no longer operates at the level required to effectively supplement low teaching skills. This is compounded by weak supervision of teachers. Several agencies address these weaknesses through programs targeted to specific pedagogical issues or districts/provinces. But these efforts do not reflect a coherent and strategic approach to addressing generic weaknesses. The size and terrain of the country compound the limited scope of these programs, making it difficult to reach all teachers in a systematic manner. Scarcity of Textbooks. Despite recent improvements to the distribution of textbooks, availability of learning materials continues to be a problem at the primary level. Since 2004, textbooks and pedagogical materials mainly in French and math have been distributed free of charge to schools (public and private) across the country. With the support of the Belgian Cooperation, reading and math textbooks for primary grades 5 and 6 were distributed for the school year 2004-05, and for grades 3 and 4 in 2007-08. Under the auspices of the Education Sector Support Project (PARSE) intervention, textbooks in French and math were distributed in 2009-10 for grades 1 and 2. Significant improvements are evident in the distribution of textbooks for French and math, however, a coherent policy will be required to sustain and improve these gains as the system expands over time. In addition, a shortage of textbooks in other subjects has persisted through the course of the last ten years, specifically in sciences, and civic and moral education. In addition to improvements in the distribution of textbooks, there is a concurrent need to ensure that the textbooks are used appropriately in the classroom. Current teacher guides are unsuitable and will require significant revision. Distribution of teaching guides with complementary training is envisaged through the continuing teacher education program. Periodic surveys will also be conducted to ensure that communities and schools follow the guidelines related to the use and maintenance of books. In light of recent progress, the sustainability of the textbooks program is now a priority to bolster the potential for delivering quality education. Government will develop and implement a textbooks policy and strategy to build the capacity necessary for the development, evaluation and publication of textbooks; the strengthening of textbook management and distribution systems; and the design and realization of a financing system to ensure the continuous supply of affordable textbooks and learning materials to schools. The existing distribution approach will be replaced by a system that further decentralizes textbook distribution to the PROVED and sub-PROVED levels where collaborating local officials and the coordinating offices of religious organization will be responsible for delivery of books to schools. Learning Assessment. Periodic assessment of student achievement is carried out in the context of the recommendations of the Dakar World Conference on Education held in 2000, but the process is not yet institutionalized in the DRC. There are also concerns that poor organization and management of examinations reduce the reliability of the exam results. With the support of various donors, the MEPSP has implemented a number of initiatives to assess students learning in French/Reading and math, notably through the development of standardized tests with UNICEF (between 1999 and 2001), the assessment under the PASEC in 2010 for grades 2 and 5 with CONFEMEN, and the assessment under PAQUED in 2010 with USAID financing for grades 2 and 4. In addition, Early Grade Reading Assessments have been carried out with the support of USAID. The results of these assessments have not been fully exploited to serve as the basis for policy making or for improving the teaching/learning process due to capacity constraints for managing learning assessments consistent with international best practice, and for the preparation and use of test results. The government plans to establish capacity in the near-term with support from the donor group utilizing the experience gained in carrying the various assessments. As part of this exercise, the PARSE would finance a national assessment in 2013 and studies on options for establishing sustainable assessment capacity.Weak Sector Financing and Management Public financing of the sector is limited, with skewed expenditures. Sector financing is low and has not increased relative to changes in need. It is estimated that in 2010, the budget for the education sector was approximately 3 percent of GDP and only 8.9 percent of the national budget, lower than averages for Sub-Saharan Africa. Even though some improvement has been noted in 2011 and 2012, this remains a challenging issue (see annex 3 for more details). The overwhelming majority of this spending is used for the payment of salaries (on average 91 percent of the domestically funded spending), and the limited funds allocated to development and operating costs are inefficiently used. A comprehensive analysis of public expenditure underscores the DRC’s overall dependence on aid (about 40 percent of the budget is externally funded), and that poverty reduction priorities remain weakly protected in the budget. In 2011, it was estimated that less than 50 percent of the national budget was allocated to priority areas to combat poverty and improve basic service delivery, with the remainder being dedicated to sovereignty and security sectors. The government is committed to increase financing of education and has started increasing the share of the budget dedicated to education (see section VI.A and Annex 3 for more details).Access to education and the quality of education delivered are adversely affected by weak management, specifically through an inefficient operational system and the burden imposed as a consequence of corrosive budgetary burden imposed by the cost of school management offices. Comprehensive sector management reform is complicated by the size of the country and the cumbersome nature of administrative structures. There is a need to strengthen management offices closest to the schools as their performance has greater impact on school outcomes. Weak application of norms and standards by the MEPSP as well as the proliferation and over staffing of these offices, have contributed to inefficiencies in education sector management. Staff who have reached the mandatory age of retirement continue to be employed within the system (as is the case throughout the DRC’s administration), regulations pertaining to the establishment, staffing and coordination of inspectorate offices are not applied and regulations related to recruitment are bypassed through unauthorized appointments. The nature of the haphazard expansion of administrative offices has institutionalized duplicated mandates and parallel structures, exacting a substantial cost on the State (salaries, operating costs provided to the administrative offices) and the households who pay fees to maintain administrative offices. These factors have contributed to a context of increasingly scarce school inputs, the deterioration of education infrastructure, and the ineffectual delivery of critical services such teacher management and data collection. In the absence of effective allocation of state resources, households have had to contribute to the operating costs of administrative offices, with a subsequent erosion of accountability and oversight. In an effort to address this, government has begun to finance the operating costs of administrative offices, and more vigorously enforce norms and standards. Linked to weaknesses in school management offices is inadequate control with regard to the payment of teacher salaries and the establishment of new schools. The movement of the existing stock of 341,000 teachers (primary and secondary education), the additional 91,000 teachers in schools awaiting admission to the government payroll, and the absence of accurate data relating to school openings and payment of teacher salaries further complicates financial control and the administration of teacher management. The unit responsible for teacher management lacks the organizational, institutional and technological capacity to handle the task and the government does not have enough resources to meet the costs of absorbing new teachers. Government cannot afford the cost required to retire the large number of over-aged teachers and the additional burden of covering the salaries of teachers currently supported by community contributions. An improved management system is needed to increase efficiency and gradually reduce the burden of teacher salaries and running costs imposed on parents. Government’s Education StrategyTo address these issues in a more structured and coherent manner, the MEPSP established a strategy for the development of primary education that was adopted by the government, and subsequently endorsed by the Local Education Donors Group (LEDG) on March 16, 2010. While waiting for the completion of a holistic strategy for the entire education sector (to include higher education, adult literacy and non-formal education), and with the goal of accelerating the achievement of universal primary education, the MEPSP has adopted an Interim Education Plan (IEP) for the period 2012-2014. The IEP provides a framework for future interventions in the subsector by increasing the alignment of government and donor programs to improve administration and management. It is expected that the IEP will result in increased coordination, and efficiency gains to the benefit of impact on the ground. Objectives of the IEP.The three specific objectives of the IEP are to:(a) Increase access to primary education through: (i) promotion of gender parity; (ii) specific measures to increase access for girls and overage children in first grade; (iii) improving school infrastructure; and (iv) initiate a community approach to early childhood development. (b) Improve learning achievement through (i) the provision of textbooks for all students in French, math, sciences, and civic and moral education; (ii) strengthening reading and writing; (iii) adapting training for vocational training instructors to their areas of specialty; (iv) strengthening in-service training of teachers; (v) updating or adapting training programs to the needs of the economy; (vi) developing measures to ensure retention of students for the full cycle of primary education; and (vii) improving actual learning time.(c) Improve system management through (i) strengthening management at the local/school level; (ii) improved allocation of public sector resources for the operation of offices at the de-concentrated level; (iii) the development of specific actions for more effective involvement of parents and civil society in school management; (iv) strengthening of the capacity of administrative and pedagogical supervisors of educational establishments and teachers; and (v) establishing a system of management by results at all levels of the education system. The IEP emphasizes priority actions to support the development of the sector in the medium and long-term. These priority actions also constitute the conditions necessary for the success of future reforms in the sub-sector and build the foundation for the development of an overall sector strategy. Of particular importance are the expansion of free primary education, a national policy for teacher training, reorganization of the management structure of the MEPSP, a census of schools and staff of EPSP, a national policy on early childhood education, the integration of children currently outside the education system, and the incorporation of cross-sectoral themes such as gender, HIV/AIDS, the environment, promotion of peace, good citizenship and democracy. The proposed project components are premised on consensus and will constitute a base that other donors can replicate and/or scale up. The same holds true for the "local" partners (faith-based networks, civil society), even if some are part of the public system. These groups have been involved in the development of the IEP and this project. The participation of these important stakeholders, and the resulting consensus for reforming the sector, constitute a significant achievement that should not be discounted.Status of the IEP.Implementation of the IEP has already commenced in a number of key areas mainly as a consequence of Development Partners’ interventions, including IDA-financed activities. These interventions serve as examples of best practices upon which IEP programs will be built including the fee-free policy, improvements in the provision of funding and grants to support the running costs of schools, and adding teachers to the payroll. In September 2009, the government commenced implementation of a fee-free policy on a gradual basis with relative success in grades 1 to 4 in all provinces except Kinshasa and Lumumbashi, the 2 largest cities in the country. Efforts were also made to progressively absorb the stock of non-budgeted primary school teachers, and salaries were increased by 20 percent in the provinces to match the salaries of teachers in Kinshasa. Schools and administrative offices have also begun to receive monthly payments to support operating costs. However, these efforts remain inadequate to meet needs and have evidenced limited impact.With regard to teacher training, the government is planning to reactivate and strengthen the in-service training program by embedding it in structured national framework. The framework will address generic weaknesses while providing flexibility at the local level to adapt training content to the specific needs of communities. It is envisaged that the structured program will allow for the provision of technical support where needed, with appropriate oversight from the center, to ensure compliance with, and the maintenance of, minimum standards. To ensure a wide reach, the government plans to expand the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the delivery of in-service training; in line with a program piloted in the DRC context by USAID. Improved textbook distribution must be complemented by interventions to ensure that textbooks are used appropriately in the teaching process and are available across the system. To achieve this objective, the current teacher guides will be revised and redistributed to teachers to complement training provided through the continuing teacher education program. Periodic surveys will be conducted to ensure that communities and schools follow the guidelines related to the use and maintenance of textbooks. Government is committed to the development and implementation a textbooks policy, strategy and program, to deepen and sustain recent improvements in textbook distribution. It is envisaged that this will entail the institutionalization of capacity for the development, evaluation and publication of textbooks, strengthening of the textbook management and distribution system to improve efficiency and sustainability, and the design of a financing system to ensure the continuous supply of affordable textbooks and learning materials to schools. Previously the distribution of textbooks relied on expensive modes of transportation from three points in the country from which it was difficult to reach isolated areas. This approach will be replaced by system that further decentralizes distribution to the PROVED and sub-PROVED levels from where textbooks will be delivered to schools through collaboration between local officials and the coordinating offices of religious organizations. Progress is also being made in the area of teacher management reform. Specifically, the government carried out a functional and organizational evaluation of Service de Contr?le et de la Paie des Enseignants (SECOPE) and changed the leadership team in February 2012. A rapid census of all ministry schools and staff was carried out in April/May 2012 and the government budget is being increased to finance the costs of recruiting teachers and administrative staff to offset contributions from parents. The government plans to introduce a new system and procedures for the establishment, registration and budgeting of schools, management offices and teachers to be financed by the public sector. The new system will function under the oversight of an inter-ministerial committee made up of the ministries of education, budget, finance and the public service as well as trade unions and other key stakeholders. In the immediate future SECOPE will update the software responsible for the administration of teachers and staff data. The cost of the software, computer equipment and training will be financed under the PARSE. Donor Coordination and Financing The IEP provides a framework for future interventions in the sector. The plan applies to all partners supporting the sector, including government. The role of the Technical Advisory Unit (CAT) as the coordinating unit for donor intervention will allow for improved coordination and minimize the potential for duplication. Recent developments and discussions demonstrate the commitment of donors to the alignment of new projects within the IEP framework (DfID, Belgium, Spain, UNESCO, UNICEF, USAID and French AfD). As shown in Table 2 below, donor support covers a significant swathe of the education sector in DRC, and the coordination thereof is not only helpful, but critical to avoid duplication of efforts. In practice, school construction has come to be led by UNICEF, AfD, CARITAS, and DfID. USAID has assumed the lead in financing girls’ education, while multiple donors contribute to quality improvement efforts with regard to in-service teacher training, textbook provision, ad-hoc student assessments and general capacity building.Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 2: Support by Various PartnersDonorPeriodType of interventionTotal funding(USD)USAID2009 – 2014Teacher training (implemented by EDC)40,000,000 2010 – 2015Teacher training policy (implemented by IRC)22,500,000CurrentEarly grade reading with EDC and IRCTBDWorld Bank (Current Projects)2008- 2013School construction/rehabilitationTextbooks 1st-2nd gradesOperating costs for schoolsPayment of teacher salaries (adding additional teachers onto the payroll)Support to development of policies and strategies150,000,000DfID2012Study on exclusion (out-of-school children) - implemented by UNICEF2,000,0002012 – 2015Girls’ Education Challenge FundTBD2013 - beyond 2015Direct support to schools, communities (esp. early grade learning)58,000,000 UNICEF2008-2012ECD (community-based)Access to quality primary education (construction, in-service training, learning materials etc.)Emergency and transitionAdolescent development and participation85,000,0002013 – 2017Improve access: infrastructure and ECDImprove completion: social protection (most vulnerable girls and boys)Improve quality: in-service training, early grade literacy and math, life skills; system of monitoring learning outcomesEmergency and transition (peace education, systems restoration, emergency response capacity strengthening)Policy and partnerships (knowledge generation for policy analyses; policy dialogue, civil society and donor coordination and partnership building; EMIS decentralization; schools accountability)98,000,000AfD2011 – 2013Community based Construction, in-service teacher training and institutional capacity building6,600,0002014 – beyondCommunity based Construction, in-service teacher training and institutional capacity building and teachers salaries66,000,000Belgium2009 – 2012In-service training (grades 3 and 4) – implemented by FEMS3,960,0002006 – 2012In-service training (grades 3 and 4) – implemented by MS218,080,0002012 – 2013Training of secondary teachers and inspectors (French) - implemented by SESAM640,0002008 – 2011Institutional capacity building2,640,0002011 – 2015Institutional capacity building (central and decentralized entities)7,620,000TBDTVET new country program39,600,000Spain2011-2013Construction, in-service training and institutional capacity building6,600,000ADB2013-2017TVETTBDWorld Bank Strategy and Rationale for GPE EngagementThe World Bank has been engaged in the education sector in DRC for a significant period, working closely with partners and the government to address critical challenges. Bank-supported analytical and operational work has enabled a strategic dialogue that has helped the government leverage support for further development of the education sector. Through IDA financing, the Bank has also contributed to reducing the cost of education for families. The IDA-financed Projet d’Urgence de Rehabilitation Urbaine et Sociale (PURUS) and PARSE initiated a process for allocating grants to primary schools to help cover running costs as a first step towards alleviating the burden of school fees on households, and to make schools primarily accountable for locally managed expenditure. PURUS and PARSE moreover reduced costs to households by adding teachers to the public payroll who were previously paid by communities. The implementation of these activities included the establishment of reliable financial flows, the design of operations manuals and reporting mechanisms in line with the deconcentrated/decentralized approach of the IEP. These initiatives have encouraged the government to commence financing (2011) of the operating costs of some schools and administrative offices utilizing domestic (non-donor) resources. In addition, PARSE conducted a number of studies (Diagnostics organisationnels du MEPSP et du SECOPE) that form the basis of analysis to underpin the institutional reforms proposed in the IEP. Another PARSE study supported the government in developing a national policy for school rehabilitation and construction. This analytical work provided the basis for a more cost-effective approach (community-based design and use of low-cost local materials) adopted under the auspices of the IEP, and is already being implemented by a number of donors. Government has succeeded in improving the supply of textbooks to students in the key subjects of French and math. Additional interventions are being envisioned to strengthen the data collection and analysis system, with adecentralization to the local level. Despite heavy donor engagement in the education sector, the Bank’s role has been critical in covering the gap found in recurring costs and the funding of teacher salaries, as well as through the introduction of innovative methods and for systems strengthening. Through the GPE, the World Bank, as the supervising entity, will contribute to support the Government of DRC to address the increasing pressure on the education system flowing from increased enrollment, and improve the quality of learning delivered through the provision of quality textbooks and teacher training. Higher Level Objectives to which the Project ContributesThe project contributes to the higher level objectives of the country’s growth and poverty reduction strategy supported by the Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for 2007-2010. The main pillars of the CAS are to (i) promote good governance; (ii) improve access to basic social services and reduce vulnerability; and (iii) promote community dynamics. A new CAS, currently being prepared, will be presented to the Board in FY13. Project design is aligned with the objective of the Bank’s Education Strategy 2020 by striking a balance between the provision of essential inputs (school buildings, textbooks and trained teachers) and activities that contribute to strengthening accountability within the education system (low-cost strategy in school construction, decentralization of the decision-making process, use of results agreements). The project also contributes to the objectives and activities of the IEP endorsed by the LEDG and GPE members: (a) increase access to primary education; (b) improve learning achievement and (c) improve system management. Components outlined in this operation will serve as the mechanism for operationalizing these objectives set out by the government and endorsed by the local donor group. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVESPDODesign of the project takes into account the complexity and scope of the IEP, the size of the country, and the short three year implementation horizon of the project. The project is premised on the principle of collaboration with the government and other stakeholders and complements the efforts being undertaken by other donors. A targeted approach will maximize impact, and ensure effective implementation support to the project, including supervision of new interventions/reforms to ensure that lessons are learned prior to scaling up. It is proposed that project interventions be mainly concentrated in two provinces, Equator and Kasai-West, with the exception of textbooks which will be national in scope, and benefit from the experience accrued through a number of donor supported programs. The two provinces were selected based on six needs-based criteria that were decided through a participatory process involving the LEDG and the Government (see Attachment to Annex 2 for details).The project’s development objectives are to: (a) increase access and equity in primary education, (b) improve learning conditions in primary education and (c) strengthen sector management and promote greater accountability by introducing new management practices at the local levels.Project BeneficiariesThe benefits of the project will accrue both in the short- and medium-term. Some objectives focus on activities that would have an immediate impact (provision of classrooms, textbooks and teacher training etc., while others will produce more sustained gains through measures supporting system building and strengthening that are integrated into the design of each of the components. The key beneficiaries will be current and future participants in the education sector including: (a) all school children; (b) teachers, school directors, pedagogical advisors, inspectors and other officials in MEPSP; (c) schools’ managers, and (d) parents and communities. School children will benefit from an improved physical and pedagogical environment, and improvements to the quality of education delivered, with the potential to increase earnings and positively influence the social conditions for outgoing students and their communities. Improved conditions and higher levels of education for girls will not only help them raise future earnings but also help protect them from social ills associated with abuse and HIV/AIDS. Educating girls to higher levels will also help improve the social welfare conditions of their families. Teachers and other pedagogical and administrative officials will benefit from higher levels of training, an improved working environment and higher levels of income and employment security. School managers will benefit from working in a more structured environment with greater clarity of roles and responsibilities and greater security in the financing of salaries and operations. The burden imposed on communities through the levying of informal fees associated with education will be alleviated by more efficient and effective public financing of education. Parents and communities will benefit from increased opportunities to educate their children, the increased provision of free textbooks, and through the eventual reduction and elimination of fees currently supplementing the running costs of school administration. PDO Level Results IndicatorsPDOOutcome indicators(i) Improve access and equity in primary education - Primary net 1st year intake rate, average and by gender(ii) Improve learning conditions in primary education - French textbook:pupil ratio - Math textbook:pupil ratio (iii) Strengthen sector management and promote greater accountability by introducing new management practices at the local levels- % of “bureaux gestionnaires de proximité“ functioning according to regulatory norms and under results agreements systemPROJECT DESCRIPTION To minimize implementation risks and maximize impact on the neediest areas, the Government and Local Education Donors Group (LEDG) decided to focus project interventions mainly in two provinces (Equator and Kasai-West), with the exception of the textbooks sub-component which will cover the whole country. Following a participatory consultation process with the LEDG and the Government, various criteria were discussed and agreed upon for selecting the two targeted provinces out of the 11 Congolese provinces. Six criteria were used to capture the most deprived provinces in terms of schooling (in particular for girls) and where donors are least active. The six criteria chosen included: (i) Primary Completion Rate, (ii) Number of Out-Of school Children, (iii) Gender Parity Index in primary education, (iv) Enrolment growth rate due to tuition-free policy, (v) Percentage of classrooms in durable material and (vi) Number of classrooms rehabilitated/rebuilt by donors and government during the last 5 years as a percentage of the total number of classrooms in the province. This analysis identified the Equator Province and Kasa?-West as the provinces most urgently in need (see attachment to Annex 2 for more details). The project will be financed by two sources of financing: the Global Partnership for Education (US$93.6 million) and the Education for All Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Trust Fund - European Commission (US$6.4 million). The closing dates of the TFs corresponding to these funds, August 31, 2016 and June 30, 2016 respectively have been taken into account in the design of implementation arrangements for this operation.Project ComponentsComponent 1: Increasing access and equity at the primary level through Rehabilitation and Re-Construction of Classrooms (US$24.4 million)To increase access and promote equity, this component will rehabilitate and replace unsuitable classrooms, and build ancillary facilities. The component will strengthen and complement the government’s existing free primary education program and initiatives to promote girls’ education. Specific Objective.The objectives of this component are to: (i) rehabilitate or replace classrooms in disrepair and those built with non-durable materials (mud and straws and leaves); (ii) add or rehabilitate school director offices and annexed facilities such as latrines and water supply, and (iii) involve local communities, specifically the Conseils de gestion scolaire (COGES) in the provision and management of school infrastructures and furniture. A total of 900 classrooms in the provinces of Equator and Kasai-West, in existing schools, have been identified for rehabilitation and the provision of furniture and equipment. Ninety percent (90%) of these classrooms will replace temporary nondurable structures in rural areas, and 10 percent (10%) will be rehabilitated in peri-urban and urban areas. The construction of latrines and the provision of clean water will help attract and retain girls in school. The strategy will imply the inclusion of rehabilitation of schools attended by indigenous people, as revealed by the provincial consultations in conjunction with the preparation of the Indigenous People Planning Framework (IPPF).The distribution of resources between the two provinces is premised on the number of classrooms and girls enrolled, with a 60/40 percent weighting in favor of classrooms and number of girls. Based on these criteria, 56.51 percent of the funds will be allocated to Equator and 43.49 percent to Kasai-West.An important feature of the proposed project is the promotion of de-concentrated decision-making. School building program implementation will be based on the following principles: (i) delegation of implementation to the de-concentrated levels of the ministry; (ii) recruitment at deconcentrated level of LEAs with support from the central level to ensure operational management of the construction program ; (iii) capacity building of PROVEDs to ensure the technical monitoring of the construction program ; (iv) involvement of the local school networks (S/PROVED for the “state-run” schools and “Coordinations” for the “faith-based” schools) in the selection of the schools; (v) for the duration of the project, involvement of the COGES and school networks in supervision of the implementation of the works and their compliance with environmental and social requirements ; and (v) involving deconcentrated officials such as the provincial minister of education in supervision tasks. The execution of the infrastructure program will build on the government construction strategy that promotes the use of appropriate technology and local materials and through the outsourcing of the program to specialized executing entities with community participation. This approach is being used for the school infrastructure program under the on-going PARSE as well as by other international donors, such as UNICEF and AfD. PROVEDs, strengthened with TA, will assume overall responsibility for construction program, while LEAs will be responsible for operational management of construction. The capacity of the Directorate of Infrastructure at the central level will be strengthened. The implementation arrangements will be developed in the operations manuals. The strategy will imply the inclusion of rehabilitation of schools attended by indigenous people as revealed by the provincial consultations in conjunction with the preparation of the Indigenous People Planning Framework (IPPF). The criteria for the selection and distribution of schools among provinces are described in detail in Annex 2. In summary, (i) the schools in the program should have a full cycle and at least 40 percent of the schools will be “state-run” (non conventionnées) schools; (ii) civil works should be carried out only on existing sites and within the limits of the school. The works should not present any major environmental or social risk; (iii) schools to be rehabilitated should be structures built from durable material and the cost of the rehabilitation should be less than 50 percent of the replacement costs; (iv) schools to be replaced should be within 3 miles of a principal road or water way. (v) As a result of provincial and national consultations carried out in conjunction with the preparation of the Indigenous People Planning Framework (IPPF),, about 10% of the selected sites (between 10 and 15 sites) will harbor schools that are also attended by indigenous students. Works on these sites will be carried out on the basis of studies that assess the specific living conditions of these indigenous people and provide a tailored architectural design, including of furniture. Under the leadership of MEPSP, the measures and processes described above are expected to lead to a uniform policy for school construction. The estimated cost of this component is US$24.4 million for civil works, furniture, equipment and consultancy fees. Component 2: Improving the Quality of the Learning Environment (US$60 million) To improve quality, the project will support (i) teacher skills development in Equator and Kasai-West and (ii) the provision of textbooks and pedagogical materials country-wide. Sub-component 2.1: Strengthening in-service training (US$16.9 million)Improving teacher quality is a top priority for the government given the erosion of teacher training capacity through the crisis period. A number of partners are assisting the government to address this issue through training programs. Government and donors share consensus with regards to the need for a robust and sustainable system for teacher training. Government intends to introduce a national system to upgrade teacher skills and to meet the needs of teachers according to the diverse social and geographic conditions of the country. The project will activate and improve school/local based in-service training program by introducing successful elements of ongoing programs such as IFADEM financed by OIF, AUF and APFE in the province of Katanga, APEP financed by AfD and PAQUED financed by USAID. The program will combine a distance training (taking into account the country’s very poor road network and connectivity) and on-site approach. Delivery will be anchored at the individual school, and networks of three schools, with upward linkages to the central ministry through the sub-PROVEDs and PROVEDS using printed media (printing can be done locally) and radio/television. Print media will be used for areas that cannot easily be reached by radio and television. The distance approach will allow access to a large number of teachers, reduce drop-outs associated with travel to training programs, minimize absences from schools, and costs associated with travel. In addition, the interventions will ensure that Le Service National de la Formation (SERNAFOR) has the required training skills and reduce the period between acquisition and use of skills in the classrooms. A joint technical committee of the Direction des Programmes et du Materiel Didactique (DIPROMA)-SERNAFOR will provide overall guidance for the training component of the project, with support from local and international technical experts. The Training teacher program will start with existing modules, developed by the MEPSP with support from USAID and being used in other provinces. New modules will be prepared by specialists in workshops based on that experience, and school directors and other local trainers will be capacitated in the use of the modules in the targeted sub-PROVEDs during school vacations. Training at the school/local level will be conducted through tutorials organized by the school directors and experienced teachers to stimulate participation and obtain feedback. Radio/television modules will be delivered at agreed upon times and will contain instructions for both teachers and students on their use. Self-training sessions will also be held by groups of teachers facilitated by the school director or an experienced teacher.At the national level, the program will be managed by the SERNAFOR in collaboration with the DIPROMAD. These directorates will work closely with the education department of the University of Kinshasa, UNICEF and UNESCO as well as other international institutions in designing the modules and in evaluating programs. The Director of the sub-PROVED will manage the delivery of training at the local level supported by the inspector of primary schools and the pedagogical inspector. School directors supported by experienced teachers will manage the program at the school level. A resource center, staffed by a part-time technical specialist, will be established at each sub-PROVED.The project will finance school and proximity based teacher training in the amount of US$16.9 million. Sub-component 2.2: Provision of learning materials (US$43.1 million)This sub-component will, as planned in the IEP, support the acquisition and the distribution of textbooks, country-wide to all public and private primary education schools. The project will: (i) procure and distribute textbooks for grades 3 and 4 for French and math and for grades 5 and 6 in French, math, sciences and Civics in primary education and (ii) develop and introduce a national textbooks policy and program. About 4.5 million of the current textbooks and teacher guides in math and French for grades 3 and 4 will be reprinted and distributed. (The cost of these textbooks estimated at US$6.4 million will be financed under the Education for All Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Trust Fund - European Commission). The textbooks and teachers guides for grades 5 and 6 in French, math and sciences will be new editions as the current versions are outdated. About 9.9 million textbooks and complementary teacher guides will be procured for these grades. The textbooks and teacher guides for civics and moral education for grades 5 and 6 will also be prepared by the ministry based on technical guidelines in effect, and approximately 1.8 million textbooks will be provided and distributed to all schools.To reinforce the capacity of the DIPROMAD to lead the implementation of the program, the project will (a) finance training in: (i) the preparation of textbooks, (ii) define the technical and pedagogical specifications of textbooks; (iii) institutionalize evaluation of textbooks, and (iv) support logistics related to management of textbooks stocks and their distribution. In addition, the DIPROMAD will (b) support the development of a textbook policy, strategy and program. DIPROMAD will be provided with materials and equipment to improve their effectiveness.Building on lessons learned from PARSE, the distribution approach will be further decentralized by linking the center to schools through the intermediate levels. Decentralization of textbooks distribution will substantially reduce the need to manage very large stocks and heavy transportation. Textbooks will be delivered to PROVEDs and distributed further to sub-PROVEDs who will liaise with network coordinators for religious schools to arrange for the distribution of textbooks to schools using local transportation. The school management offices will be charged with the responsibility to verify that the books have been delivered and are being used. Parents and communities will be sensitized about the provision of the textbooks and their use, and encouraged to monitor the program. Systematic beneficiary surveys will be carried out to assess the effectiveness of the system as a whole. The project will finance acquisition and distribution of textbooks as well as capacity building in an amount of US$43.1 ponent 3: Strengthening Sector Management (US$15.5 million) This component will support interventions to ensure that current regulations are applied and strengthened as a basis for more efficient and more accountable sector management. Sub-component 3.1: Restructuring of the education administrative offices (US$4.7 million)The government is committed to reforming the management of the system following the drop in standards resulting from the crisis. However, it recognizes that this would be a major task which would need to be carefully designed and implemented to avoid further damage to the system. The focus at this stage is therefore to ensure that the school management offices closest to schools provide the necessary support to allow for improvements in the quality of education delivered in schools. Results-based agreements will be used initially to re-establish norms and standards that would facilitate provision of cost-effective quality education and increased accountability for results. To help re-establish progressively a “healthier” administrative and pedagogical relationship between the administrative offices and schools, a roadmap has been formally discussed and agreed upon with all stakeholders and will be implemented in the short to medium term. The road map will be introduced at the sub-provincial level in the two selected provinces targeting (a) the retirement of eligible staff still in the system, and (b) addressing the over staffing of offices due to unauthorized recruitment. Retirement of eligible staff will not be addressed in this project as it requires a national approach encompassing all sectors. However, over staffing can and will be handled by the MEPSP in the short-term through reassignment to other positions based on a new organizational structure, or in instances where staff are unqualified or there are no available positions to fill, affected staff will be made redundant. To ensure transparency and objectivity in implementing the reforms, representative commissions will be established at the central and provincial levels. To complement support from managing agencies, parental and community involvement in school management will be strengthened. Financing under the sub-component will consist of: (i) provision of operating costs for school management offices (“Bureaux Gestionnaires de Proximité”); (ii) the development of management and reporting tools and communication activities; (iii) the design of results-based agreements; and (iv) financial audits and quality assessments (US$4.7 million). It has been agreed upon thatoperating costs of provincial level administrative offices of Equator and Kasai-West provinces will be financed by the Government and not anymore by fees collected at school level.Sub-component 3.2: Other Strengthening of institutional capacity (US$2.7 million)Teacher management (US$2.1 million). Premised on an organizational diagnostic, this component will build on the intervention implemented by SECOPE (new organigrams, redefined and targeted roles etc.). Support is currently being provided by PARSE to assess the essential needs of SECOPE in terms of immediate technical support (ITC, decentralization internal management etc.) and initiate the basis for reform. To assist with the institutionalization of the system, the project will provide technical assistance to SECOPE to implement reform. This technical assistance will cover the 3-year period of the project but will intervene on a periodic basis following a clear work plan.Technical support is critical to strengthening the education system in DRC, including the need for further dialogue with the government with regard to the budget framework to (i) increase the adequacy and efficiency of budget allocations with a particular attention to teacher recruitment and school operating costs; and (ii) ensure effective monitoring of budget execution. This process is expected to be strengthened by the planned Afd support to increase fiscal space for core education expenditures under the debt-relief program, encouraging the sustainability of the IEP implementation and more effective administration. The project will finance technical assistance in an amount of US$2.1 million Shaping the strategic framework for tackling Girls Education (US$0.6 million) – Given prevailing gender disparities, the project gram will support the development of a national strategy for girls’ education, in consultation with UNICEF and DFID. Government is committed to pursuing a comprehensive and cost-effective approach that would eliminate barriers to girls’ education and bridge equity gaps. The project will finance a study for the development of a strategy in this area.Sub-component 3.3: Project Management and Coordination (US$8.1 million)The sub-component will support project management and coordination through the financing of medium-term consultant services and technical assistance in the education sector. It will also support workshops, seminars on technical subjects relevant to the project objectives, and training in project management skills. In addition, it will provide financing for the acquisition of computer equipment, office materials and supplies as well support the development and implementation of communication strategies and campaigns to bolster the fee-free policy. The project will finance supervision costs and provide additional resources for monitoring and evaluation that could include support for the collection and analysis of school statistics in the two selected provinces of Equator and Kasa? West (US$8.1 million). Project FinancingLending InstrumentProject financing is through two sources: (i) a grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in the amount of US$93.6 million and (ii) a grant from the Education for All Fast Track Initiative– European Commission fund in the amount of US$6.4 million. Both grants are provided using a SIL in light of the weak macro-economic and fiduciary systems in the country. The project will also complement the on-going PARSE financed by an IDA credit of US$150 million. Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 3: Project Cost and FinancingProject ComponentsProject cost US$ MGPE or EFA-FTI EC% Financing1. Increasing access and equity at the primary level2. Quality of Learning Environment3. Strengthening Sector ManagementTotal Baseline Costs Physical contingencies Price contingenciesComponents costs including pro-rated contingencies1. Increasing access and equity at the primary level2. Quality of Learning Environment3. Strengthening Sector Management23.056.514.694.15.50.424.460.115.5GPEGPE (50.1)GPEGPEGPEGPEEFA-FTIEC (6.4)23.0 56.514.5794.15.50.424.460.115.5Total Project CostsTotal Financing Required100.0100Lessons Learned and Reflected in the Project DesignThe project draws on lessons learned from closed and on-going projects in DRC such as PARSE and other post-conflict countries, as well as the implementation of GPE-financed projects. The following key lessons have been taken into consideration in the project design. Support to post-conflict/fragile countries needs to strike a balance between essential inputs to address urgent needs including construction, textbooks, teachers’ training and broader sector reform interventions such as restructuring of the administrative offices and further strengthening of SECOPE to progressively establish a foundation for further systems with a better accountability. In this regard this project as stated earlier will further expand and help institutionalize expansion of the provision of classrooms, textbooks and in-service teacher training being carried out under PARSE and other donor supported projects. The use of LEAs for construction is being further improved to enhance fiduciary management and efficiency and the textbooks distribution system is being further decentralized to overcome issues encountered in PARSE related to geographic challenges and weak linkage with sub-provincial offices and schools. Given the time required to design and implement the reforms aimed at improving teacher quality through pre- and in-service teacher training, the project will build on its school/cluster level in-service program by integrating aspects of the USAID financed program to get quick results more efficiently. At the same time the project will continue to support the sector level reforms to ensure sustainability. In this regard, given the lessons learned in the payment of teacher salaries and financing of school fees under PARSE, the project will continue to support these reforms but in a strategically different manner. These activities will no longer be projectized, but paid through the government system as essential recurrent costs which need to be integrated to ensure sustainability. Also, these expenditures can now be financed by the government given the improved fiscal context, reducing the need for temporary external financing. Institutionalization of these interventions will be supported through technical assistance. Related to this was the choice to focus project support for institutional change at the school management office/school level. This was done with the recognition that sector level changes can take time to impact schools and that school based management was an essential part of the institutional chain that needed to be addressed to yield quick and sustainable results. The aim is therefore to help establish the institutional framework, procedures and initial financing to make school management offices independent from financing by schools and to help the government for its oversight functions related to the performance of these offices and schools. This is a challenging task given the weak capacity in many of the local offices and the need to also ensure a structured and systematic relationship between the management offices/schools, parents and civil society. This intervention will therefore be piloted in two provinces with the close collaboration of other donors to learn lessons before the measures are taken to scale. In a vast country like DRC and with limited resources, it is important to proceed on a gradual basis, limiting the coverage to a modest number of provinces, so as to more efficiently monitor and assess the impact of interventions. Effective donor coordination is essential in providing the government with complementary assistance programs, ensuring a coherent and systemic approach to reform and maintaining a focus on the need to strengthen education outcomes. This approach was applied in the preparation of the IEP and in the selection of the policy and investment areas this project would cover. This collaboration is also built into the monitoring and evaluation arrangements for the project.Mainstreaming project implementation arrangements in government structures strengthens the capacity of the executing ministries, builds stronger ownership of the reforms and is more likely to contribute to sustainable results. This approach is built into the project design, however given the challenges related to use of government structures in an environment with weak capacity some modifications were made to manage the risks. First, the Secretariat General’s office will be strengthened and fiduciary management will be supported by the unit in the PARSE project. The provincial offices will also be reinforced with TA especially for the construction component. Effective supervision is needed to ensure impact of projects. The geographic scope of the project has therefore been scaled down to 2 provinces to manage strengthening of systems effectively and permit adequate supervision and monitoring of project outcomes. In addition the ISP and GAC Plan will include the key elements that would need support during implementation.Use of disbursement conditions to ensure action is taken on key issues can delay project implementation if they cannot be met. All project components will therefore be fully prepared prior to project effectiveness and there will not be any disbursement conditions. IMPLEMENTATIONInstitutional and Implementation ArrangementsThe detailed project implementation arrangements are shown in Annex 4.Guiding principlesThe implementation arrangements envisaged for this Project are premised on the de-concentrated implementation framework developed under the auspices of the IEP. Implementation will be mainstreamed through the existing structures and coordination mechanisms of the sector, and will be framed by the following principles: (i) responsibility and accountability; (ii) equity and (iii) performance-based agreements. (a)A de-concentrated approach requires a stronger sense of responsibility and awareness of accountability at the lower levels of the education system, specifically the administrative offices at sub-provincial levels (S/PROVED, Inspool primaire and Sous-Coordinations) and schools. In return for financing from the government they will be expected to deliver quality public services.(b)Equity: The principle of equity not only refers to issues of vulnerability and exclusion, but necessitates a more equitable distribution of resources, and the prioritization of those most in need. This requires establishing objective criteria for targeted interventions (e.g., choice of geographic locations) and institutional arrangements for equitable service delivery (e.g., number of inspectors proportional to the number of schools etc.);c)Performance-based agreements require periodic evaluations of work on the basis of established and agreed upon indicators. In line with the IEP, this Project will establish “performance” agreements at the sub-provincial level. This is a relatively new concept as very little accountability exists with regard to the management of school fees and the delivery of services. In addition to a partnership agreement between the center and the PROVEDs, a results based performance agreement will be established between the sub-PROVED and school management offices regarding the administrative structure, operations and the supervision of schools to ensure that the required administrative and pedagogical standards are maintained Implementation at central levelMEPSP will ultimately be accountable for meeting the objectives of the project. Project implementation will be mainstreamed, using the MEPSP structure at the central and deconcentrated levels, with the large majority of activities executed at the deconcentrated levels. Strategic oversight of project implementation will be ensured by the Steering Committee (SC, Comité de pilotage) composed of the Ministers of EPSP (President), ESU, MAS, Planning, Finance and Budget, the Donors Coordinating Agency and the Secretary General of MEPSP (Secretariat of the SC). The SC will approve annual work plans and reports, and endorse major decisions of the project. The committee will meet formally twice a year and invite the World Bank (as an observer). The committee will meet formally twice a year and invite the World Bank (as an observer). A Project Implementation Team has been established within the MEPSP by a- ministerial decree as follows: Overall project management, supervision and coordination will fall under the Secretary General assisted by an executive officer for day-to-day decision making. Mechanisms will be established to monitor implementation progress. A Technical Committee (TC) and the Technical Advisory Unit (CAT) will work closely together, meeting on a regular basis, and reporting to the Secretary General. The TC will be comprised of a core group including the heads of the Directorates responsible for key project components, notably school construction, sector planning, pedagogical inputs, teacher training, teacher management and system governance. Other Directorates of the MEPSP will be seconded to the TC if the need arises. The CAT, composed of national and international experts, is already operational. It was involved in the development of the IEP and is a source of technical advice to the Directorates. Project management within the Secretary General’s Office will be strengthened with the support of the fiduciary specialists of the PARSE. These specialists have accrued important expertise, and demonstrated satisfactory performance with regard to the procurement activities and financial management of the PARSE. The capacity of the recently created Procurement Services unit of MEPSP will be built through the course of the project to ensure sustainable results.Implementation at de-concentrated levelsAt the provincial level, the PROVED, as cosignatory to performance-based agreements with sub-provincial offices, is ultimately responsible for project oversight. The PROVED will exercise this authority in line with a participatory process and within limits approved by the Provincial Committee (Commission provinciale de l’EPSP) comprised by provincial education officials, representatives of civil society, church-run networks and the donors coordinating agency. The sub-provincial offices are directly accountable, from a technical perspective, for implementation of the Project. For this reason, their organigrams have been revisited and essential tasks redefined in order to ensure implementation at the school level. They will closely monitor the performance of school heads and teachers. Sub-provincial offices and schools will be responsible for reporting on results under the performance-based agreements. At the level of the school, parent committees will be actively involved in approving and monitoring local implementation plans. Existing operations manuals will be adapted and included in the project’s operations manuals.The execution of the school rehabilitation/reconstruction component will build on government’s construction strategy promoting a low-cost approach using appropriate technology, local materials and through the outsourcing of the program to specialized executing entities and local communities. Local Executing Agencies (LEA) will be recruited at provincial level with support from central level. LEAs will recruit general contractors (responsible for studies and oversight of the construction works), local enterprises to carry-out construction and firms to deliver furniture. Furniture will be procured locally through competitive bidding. Local communities represented by the school management committees (COGE) will receive initial training from the LEAs and will be responsible for the maintenance of the buildings and the furniture. The COGEs will be involved in implementation arrangements such as monitoring progress of construction works and the reception of buildings and furniture. The specific implementation procedures will be developed in operations manuals. The PROVEDs will be strengthened by a team composed of a financial person (minimum of Bac+3 level) and a qualified engineer (A0 level) to permit them to effectively carry out the planning and supervision of the ALEs, the construction firms and other contractors (general contractors, construction enterprises and furniture providers). A technical evaluation of buildings and furniture will be conducted by an independent consultant on an annual basis to ensure the quality of the investments made.Role of Partners The collaboration among the donor group during the preparation of the IEP and of the project will continue during implementation. There will be direct involvement of other partners in the implementation of some components while for other components the project will benefit from the experiences of projects financed by other partners. USAID for example will work very closely with the MEPSP and the Bank team in the development of in-service teacher training system through the development of modules and for putting in place the mechanisms for distance education in the 2 provinces. The LEDG will also work jointly in developing the systems for promoting girls education and teacher management. Discussions are well advanced with UNICEF, USAID and DfID on issues related to girls’ education and with AfD on the development of the teacher management system. Regular consultations will also take place at the informal and formal levels on the implementation of all components given the experience of other donors in the various activities included in the project to learn from their experiences and to ensure a coherent national approach. The systems that will be developed will be adopted by all donors in future programs, in the framework of the IEP. The role of the Technical Advisory Unit (CAT) as the coordinating unit for donor intervention will allow for improved coordination and minimize the potential for duplication. Recent developments and discussions demonstrate the commitment of donors to the alignment of new projects within the IEP framework (DfID, UNICEF, USAID and AfD).Donors will jointly monitor project implementation in the context of the IEP. The Donors Coordinating Agency will be a member of the Steering Committee chaired by the Minister of MEPSP, which will provide strategic oversight of the project. This committee will approve annual work plans and reports and endorses major decisions. The Committee will meet at least twice a year. There will also be joint annual reviews of the implementation of the IEP during which the project will also be discussed as part of the IEP. The Donors Coordinating Agency will also be part of the Provincial Committees and participate twice a year in meetings organized by the Provincial Committee located in the “capital” of the administrative province, chaired by the provincial Minister of Education.Donors and civil society representatives will also be members of the various platforms that coexist and serve as frameworks for dialogue and concerted action between the donors and the government. These include the Thematic Education Group (Groupe Thématique Education) and the Comité de Concertation. The Thematic group is a high-level body including the Ministers of Education (EPSP, ESU and MAS); while the Comité is more technical, responsible for analytical work and the production of technical reports. The role of these groups will be to monitor government action and formulate recommendations.Results Monitoring and EvaluationAt the central level, strategic monitoring of overall project progress will be ensured by the Steering Committee. To ensure effective monitoring, the project will provide funds for further development of school statistics, and for surveys to monitor the use and maintenance of textbooks.Monitoring and evaluation will be supported by semi-annual implementation support missions from the Bank as Supervising Entity, and joint annual sector reviews organized by the government with the contribution of the Parent Teacher Associations. The results of annual sector reviews will be communicated to affected stakeholders through workshops. Information campaigns developed through the communication strategy will assist in disseminating information relating to project activities, and ensure more vigorous public monitoring of project activities. Day-to-day project activities will be monitored and periodic evaluations undertaken, at the deconcentrated level with the first line of responsibility assumed by the “bureau gestionnaires de proximité” through the use of results agreements. A prerequisite for efficient implementation is the existence of a reporting and monitoring systems at all levels. Sub-provincial offices will report to their counterparts at provincial level (for instance, Inspool to IPP). Provincial offices will compile these reports and formally transmit them to the PROVED who, in turn, will elaborate a synthesis report to be transmitted to the central level. The project’s operations manuals will establish the format and reporting periods for the compilation of reports.Independent financial audits will closely monitor spending procedures at the sub-provincial and school level. Quality surveys will be conducted on a regular basis to assess the impact and quality of the public service delivery. As a forerunner of an independent watchdog body (as described in the IEP), the system will rely on groups already present on the ground (local and international NGOs, UNICEF, teacher unions, parent associations etc.) to collect qualitative data utilizing a uniform survey design. Finally, joint annual reviews will be organized involving all partners.SustainabilityThe sustainability of the project outcomes will depend largely on continued and deepening government commitment. Integral to the IEP, is an implementation platform for reform to which the government, partners and civil society are committed. Construction activities will utilize local resources and technology, while the teacher training and textbooks programs build on successful interventions. Strengthening the management offices is a key priority for the government in the provision of quality education on a sustainable basis. All of these initiatives support the DRC in building sustainable mechanisms to address access, equity, and quality challenges within the education system. The project, moreover, has the potential to serve as a catalyst for further financial commitment to education. A promising development in this regard was the written commitment on the part of the Ministers of EPSP and Budget to increase the MEPSP allocation of the national budget (domestic resources) to at least 12 percent (2012). KEY RISKS AND MITIGATION MEASURESRisk Ratings Summary TableRisk CategoryRating Stakeholder RiskHighImplementing Agency RiskCapacityHighGovernanceSubstantialProject RiskDesignHighSocial and EnvironmentalLowProgram and DonorLowDelivery Monitoring and SustainabilityHighOverall Implementation RiskHighKey Risks and Mitigation MeasuresThe risk assessment and mitigating arrangements are detailed in the Operational Risk Assessment Framework (ORAF) contained in Annex 6. The overall implementation risk (before mitigation) is rated as “High”. While the likelihood of some of the risks being realized may be low, their impact on the project could be severe. Some reforms envisioned by the project remain relatively complex given the institutional context and the diversity of stakeholders’ motivations. Capacity constraints across the edifice of the system for procurement, fiduciary oversight, data collection, and project management remain weak. However the WB and partners, together with government have identified these risks and will directly address them through the mitigation measures.To mitigate the technical risks, especially with regard to institutional reforms, project interventions will be limited to the management offices closest to school in only two provinces. Mainstreaming of the project in the MEPSP will also ensure that line managers with intimate knowledge and experience of the issues will be responsible for implementation. This approach often raises the motivation level of managers and staff and permits the use of interventions tailored to the specific context and which take into account the technical, economic and socio-cultural. The technical weaknesses of line staff will be addressed by the support of the CAT. This combination will substantially increase the chances of successful implementation. It would also allow seamless oversight by the leadership of the ministry. Fiduciary management which is more technical and for it is difficult to find specialists to fill public sector positions will be addressed using the strengthened capacity of PARSE along with technical assistance and LEAs at the provincial level.APPRAISAL SUMMARYEconomic and Financial AnalysesMacroeconomic contextDuring the past decade, the Congolese economy has demonstrated consistent recovery following several years of civil conflict and war (see Table 4 below). Between 2002 and 2008, the GDP growth rate was healthy, but slowed-down as a consequence of the global financial crisis in 2009. Growth recovered to rates of 7.2 percent and 6.9 percent for 2010 and 2011 respectively. Economic growth GDP is largely premised on healthy commodity prices and the expansion of the mining industry. Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 4: GDP and GDP per capita, 2000-20112000200220042006200820102011GDP, const (growth rate)-6.93.56.65.66.27.26.9GDP, cur. (billions FC)2971,9222,6014,1326,53011,87514,393GDP, cur (US $)5,5015,4105,7536,1726,5636,8227,056GDPpc, cur (US $)82100111141175186216Source: International Monetary Fund and World Bank data, August 2012.Despite these gains, the DRC remains one of the poorest countries in the world. In 2011 per capita GDP was equivalent to US$216, less than US$1 per person per day. The DRC, with a score of 0.286, performed worst - 187 out of 187 countries- in the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI). Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 5: Education and EPSP expenditure, 2010-201120102011National Domestic Resources (CFD billion)3 0133 735EPSP expenditure (excl. transfers to education local authorities) funded from Domestic Resources (CFD billion)197273Education Sector expenditure funded from Domestic Resources (CFD billion)303399EPSP expenditure as a share of Domestic Resources6.5%7.3%Education Sector expenditure as a share of Domestic Resources10%10.7% Source: IEP.Economic Analysis and sustainabilityIn order to assess the economic impact of schooling, a rate of return analysis was conducted using data from the 1-2-3 Survey (2004-2005). One extra year of education in DRC leads to a 6 percent increase in revenue; almost twice the rate of return observed in Benin (3.3 percent). Evidence from the same survey suggests a poverty incidence of 71 percent, with a decreasing incidence associated with rising educational attainment. A non-educated person has a 77 percent likelihood of being poor, whereas this falls to 34 percent for a university graduate. The fee-free policy education in 2009 aimed to reduce the costs currently being supported directly by households. The policy was intended to bring into the system children from the most disadvantaged households and provinces. By providing textbooks for students and in-service training for teachers, the project is expected to improve the quality of education delivered. Rates of repetition are expected to fall to 7 percent in 2015, from 13 percent in 2011. International research demonstrates the effect of reduced repetition on drop-out reduction (on average, 1 percentage point increase of repetition corresponds to a 0.8 percentage point increase of the drop-out rate). Using this benchmark, it is estimated that the targeted reduction in repetition will lead to a decrease in drop-outs by 6 percent with the contingent effect of increasing average school enrollment from 8.5 years to 8.9 years.Poor budgetary allocations for education have been raised by local donors and the GPE with government. Commitments on the part of the Vice Prime Minister and the Minister of Budget have secured a significant increase to the EPSP budget for the next four years (see letter sent by the Government to the Head of the GPE Secretariat). According to this agreement, the public financing secured for EPSP in the budget framework will demonstrate an increase from 299 billion FC in 2012 to 409 billion FC in 2015 (a 37 percent increase over three years). The credibility of this commitment is strengthened by the rapid recovery of fiscal revenues after the financial crisis in 2009. The tax base is increasing thanks to economic growth of 6-7 percent since 2009, projected to increase to over 8 percent in 2013. Fiscal revenues also increased as share of GDP up from 17 percent in 2009 to 19 percent in 2011 and projected at 22 percent in 2012 in the wake of significant revenue mobilization efforts by the authorities. Thanks to a strengthening exchange rate during 2009-11, revenues increased rapidly in dollar terms, reaching almost US$3 billion in 2011 up from US$1.8 billion two years earlier. Going forward the exchange rate has stabilized but revenues are projected to continue to increase to over US$5 billion in 2015.TechnicalThe project supports the implementation of an IEP appraised by a group of experts who found it to be technically sound and “a well-prepared plan”. Most project interventions have been tested and will benefit from applied experience and lessons learned from comparator contexts. The construction methodology is premised on a national construction strategy developed in collaboration with the end-users through the course of 2010. The approach promotes the use of appropriate technology, local materials and labor. This will help to reduce costs, promote ownership and increase the chances of appropriate maintenance, in turn prolonging the life of infrastructure. The in-service teacher training component follows best practice both in terms of the strategy for improving teacher skills and in the delivery thereof. Continuous teacher support and training at the school/local levels has been shown to be one of the most effective methods for upgrading the skills of teachers with limited or no formal teacher training. It allows for tailored targeting of training to the specific needs of teachers reducing the time between acquisition of skills and their use in the classroom, and assists with the development of a professional culture at the school level with positive effects for student learning. The provision of training at the local level reduces costs and disruption to teaching schedules by eliminating the need for travel. Implicit in the design of the training program are backward linkages to the province and central levels that enable level technical support, supervision and maintenance of professional standards.Textbooks provision follows best practice by utilizing a partnership between local teachers, authors and international publishing houses to ensure that relevant local content is reflected in the textbooks and associated pedagogical materials. Textbook use and maintenance will be promoted through supervision in schools and the adoption of manufacturing specifications and protective covers to limit damage to books. The distribution system is deconcentrated to ensure books will reach all schools including those in hard to reach areas. Costs and delays, as well as the deterioration of books stored in unsuitable conditions for long periods or not transported, will be minimized through local oversight, the utilization of deconcentrated staging posts and distribution networks.The strengthening of management offices and school level management is premised on extensive research on improved school based management. The intervention lends itself to rapid results and minimizes delays associated with central and provincial decision-making. This approach will ensure that school infrastructure, pedagogical inputs and teachers are managed in a coherent and cost-effective manner, in the service of improved education delivery. Financial ManagementThe detailed project financial management arrangements are shown in Annex 5. In accordance with the Financial Management Manual issued on March 2010, the financial management arrangements of the Support to Basic Education Project have been reviewed to determine whether it is acceptable to the Bank with consideration for the country’s post conflict situation. To this end, the following were reviewed (i) FM arrangements of the existing Bank financed project – PARSE (Projet d’Appui au Redressement du Secteur Educatif -P086294) on which the proposed program will be entrusted, (ii) the arrangements in place at the MEPSP and (iii) implementation progress of the national PFM strategy. The proposed project will use the financial management arrangements currently in place at PARSE. These will be strengthened through additional mitigation measures described below. The overall FM risk at preparation is considered Substantial. The proposed financial management arrangements including the mitigation measures for this project are considered adequate to meet the Bank’s minimum fiduciary requirements under OP/BP10.00.The review revealed that the following actions will need to be completed (i) the revision of the existing manual to include the new project specifications and ensure adequate ownership by the new players including the Local Execution Agencies (LEA), (ii) the development of the ToR of the external auditor, (iii) the appointment of one finance and budget officers at the provincial education office and (iv) the recruitment of LEAs who will execute the schools construction under a contract management agreement, based on agreed terms of reference. Dated Covenants: Three months after effectiveness: Recruitment of the external auditor. Recruitment of one finance and budget officer at each province education office. Select the LEAs.ProcurementThe detailed project procurement arrangements are shown in Annex 5.Procurement rules and procedures: Procurement activities under this project will be carried out in accordance with the World Bank’s "Guidelines: Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits" dated January 2011; and "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers" dated January 2011; and the provisions stipulated in the Legal Agreement. The following anti-corruption guidelines will apply “Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loaons and IDA Credits and Grants”, dated October 15, 2006 and revised in January 2011.The procurement activities of this project will be handled at the central level and the decentralized level. At the central level the procurement activities will be handled by the newly created procurement unit (Cellule de Gestion des Projets et des Marchés Publics – CGPMP) within the Ministry of Education (MEPSP). The CGPMP will be strengthened by the integration of the staff of the former procurement unit of PARSE who will provide needed support and technical assistance. It will also benefit periodically from technical support of an international procurement expert whenever necessary. At the decentralized level procurement activities will be carried out by local executing agencies (LEA) within a framework of a contract management agreement (CMA-convention de mise en oeuvre) which they will sign with MEPSP at the province level. LEA will carry out procurement activities at the decentralized level under the overall quality control of the CGPMP. The CGPMP has the overall responsibility for the quality of procurement under the project Operations manual for this program, satisfactory to the Bank, will be adopted to define and describe (i) the procurement procedures and process at the decentralized level; (ii) the roles and responsibilities of each actor/beneficiary in the management of the procurement cycle and the process to be followed; and (iii) the role of the Bank in the review process.Social AccountabilityOversight of Project implementation. The project will reinforce involvement of the COGES (fifty percent of whose members represent the parent teacher organizations) and school networks in implementation including in the provision and use of textbooks and school construction. They will also ensure integrity in fiduciary management as they will be actively involved in approving and monitoring the local implementation plan. PARSE operations manuals will serve as a model for the project’s manuals. As final beneficiaries of the project the COGES will contribute by observing the procurement process and supervising construction works and other project activities. LEA will strengthen the capacity of communities through simplified procurement training.Monitoring. Consensus exists within civil society (NGOs, children rights activists, parent committees, women associations and teacher unions) to establish a permanent and independent watchdog to monitor the quality of public service delivery. In addition, and building on the PURUS/PARSE experience, a hot line (texting transformed into email) will be implemented enabling citizens to report on the quality of the service delivery. The use of mobile phones and texting has been used very effectively to overcome the communication challenges imposed by the large size of the country and limited infrastructure. Mobile communications have penetrated the country more deeply than other methods.Restructuring of the administrative offices –Role of FBOs. - One of the key objectives of the project is to strengthen the roles of the Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) (National Coordinators and church representatives) that manage schools on behalf of the government. These agencies were severely weakened because of the lack of effective public oversight and financial resources during the war and period of crisis. In the absence of public resources the FBOs relied on fees collected from parents for financing their administrative costs. This relationship prevented the FBOs from exercising oversight of school operations to ensure that the relevant pedagogical and administrative standards were maintained. With the resumption of public financing for the management offices and the use of results agreements the FBOs will be empowered to verify that minimum standards are maintained in schools to promote learning. Roadmap. To implement this strategy, a roadmap (see Annex 9) has been cosigned by the MEPSP (Secretariat General) and the FBOs. The roadmap reflects agreement on the need to restructure administrative offices as a prerequisite for financing and efficient service delivery. The financing agreements include an immediate halt to the collection of school fees from households by these offices. Restructuring will entail the establishment of new organigrams and compliance with existing staffing norms. These norms will be integrated into SECOPE’s data base to mitigate overstaffing in future. The main roles and tasks of these offices have been redefined to target specific activities and results. Tools. In order to enhance accountability and mitigate risks, PURUS and PARSE have developed simple procedures manuals for schools. These contain ministerial decrees on management and parent committees (election rules, composition and specific roles, etc.), detailed information on allocated amounts, eligible expenditure, book keeping processes, reporting requirements etc. These manuals have been distributed to all eligible schools. The GPE will build on this experience and tailor tools to the needs of the administrative offices. Social Social Assessment and Beneficiaries: The economy of the project impact area is predominantly agriculture and forestry (Equator), livestock and artisanal mining (Kasai-West). The main food crops produced include root crops, vegetables and plantains. Fruit production, mainly mangoes and pineapples, is also highly developed. Livestock production includes goats, mutton and cattle. Main minerals exploited are: diamonds, gold, uranium and iron. The socio-economic impacts of the proposed project are expected to be largely beneficial; enhancing short term, medium term and long term benefits. Immediate benefits will include: access to text books; improved classrooms; strengthened pedagogical and logistic capacity for teachers, and income generation at local community level, during classroom rehabilitation work. Medium and long term benefits will comprise, but not limited to: (i) enhanced literacy level; (ii) gender parity; (iii) access to education services; and (iii) enhanced access to basic means of communication (e.g., mobile phones) and facilitation of communication between communities and markets. In addition, the project will strengthen ownership of means of production. Key beneficiaries consist of: (a) school children; (b) teachers; (c) school administrators (directors, pedagogical advisors, inspectors and other officials; (d) parents and communities and (e) indigenous people. School children will enjoy improved infrastructures and pedagogical environment. Teachers and school administrators will benefit from enhanced working environment, capacity building, higher incomes and employment security. Parents and communities will benefit from increased opportunities to educate their children, provision of free textbooks, and a potential reduction/elimination of informal fees currently supplementing the running costs of school administrations. Indigenous people will have enhanced opportunities to send their children to schools. Gender, Indigenous People, Poverty and Equity . To reduce gender disparity is one of the cornerstones of the proposed project, as gender-based inequality is relatively high: gender parity index in primary education are in 2011 respectively 0.76 and 0.80 in Equator and Kasai-West provinces. An equally important equity issue to be addressed by the project is the inclusion of schools with a significant presence of indigenous people students. Poverty and equity concerns informed the selection of the two provinces, based on a list of six needs-based objective criteria (including gender parity index) applied to all 11 (administrative) provinces of the country. Also the classrooms rehabilitation/replacement that will be funded by the project will include sanitary infrastructures with access to water and separate latrines for boys-girls which are expected to attract more girls into schooling. Environment and Social Safeguard PoliciesEnvironmental safeguards triggered. The project has triggered OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment and OP 4.11 Physical Cultural Resources due to potential negative environmental impacts related to the rehabilitation/reconstruction of schools. OP 4.11 Physical Cultural Resources was triggered, as civil works may induce chances of finding physical cultural properties, e.g. under the school class foundation, or where sand or stones are retrieved for construction work. An ESMF was prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed before appraisal. Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs) will be prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed during project implementation once sites and works have been finalized.Social safeguards triggered. Involuntary Resettlement (OP 4.12) was triggered as civil works of component 1 may require, on an exceptional basis, land acquisition e.g. vegetable gardens or structures (shacks, market stalls) occupying land on school premises. To mitigate potential adverse impacts, a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) was prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed, prior to appraisal. It is noteworthy that school buildings sites will be selected for rehabilitation or replacement only if the civil works to be carried out within the school site do not present any environmental or social threats and do not involve new land acquisitions. Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) will be prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed as and when necessary during project implementation. Indigenous People (OP 4.10), was triggered as the two provinces in which the project is being implemented include Indigenous Peoples in the project area. This was identified in the Bank's Strategic Framework for Pygmy Development in DRC, as well as in the ESMF of the proposed project. To mitigate potential adverse impacts on indigenous people, an Indigenous Peoples Planning Framework (IPPF) was prepared and disclosed, prior to appraisal. Indigenous Peoples Plans will be prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed during project implementation once sites and activities have been finalized. The social impacts identified, are not expected to have long term or cumulative effects.Consultations and Communications. The identification, design and preparation of the project have been participatory at several levels: provincial level, at national administration level, as well as at donors’ level. The results of the public consultations carried out in conjunction with the preparation of the environmental (ESMF) and social safeguards instruments (RPF and IPPF), confirm a solid support for the implementation of the project. Furthermore, continuous consultations with local, provincial and national administration will be part of the project implementation and monitoring strategy. DRC Government Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies. The government demonstrated its commitment to safeguards compliance, during project preparation. An ESMF, an RPF and an IPPF were prepared by the MEPSP and disclosed prior to appraisal. The DRC government’s capacity to monitor or implement safeguards polices is, however, weak. Environmental policies and their compliance are governed by the Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Conservation de la Nature et du Tourisme (MECNT) – (Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Tourism). The MECNT has three departments in charge of environmental monitoring and management: i) Le Groupe d’Etudes Environnemental du Congo (GEEC); (ii) le Centre National d’Information sur l’Environnement (CNIE); and iii) La Cellule Réglementation et Contentieux Environnementaux (CNIE). The GEEC is responsible for safeguards compliance of all projects in the country. The unit is understaffed and has limited capacity. Despite several donor funded capacity building investments, the unit still largely relies on donor funds to carry out its field supervisions duties. The proposed project will support and strengthen the GEEC by providing short term consultancy services to monitor the implementation of the safeguards instruments prepared. The project will also seek to strengthen the capacity of the GEEC staff through hands on training. Supervision and monitoring will be a continuous process. The day to day field supervision will be conducted by the consultant engineers and documented in the monthly progress reports. Periodic supervision will be conducted by the GEEC and Bank’s safeguards specialists. The GEEC will produce quarterly progress reports on environmental and social performance. The reports will form part of the overall project monitoring system. Experience with prior and ongoing Bank projects in the country suggest that, resources to implement the RPF and the IPPF as well GEEC resources to carry out supervision work, should be supported by the project. Safeguard Policies Triggered by the ProjectYesNoEnvironmental Assessment (OP/BP/GP 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 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]Annex 1: Results Framework and Monitoring Equator Province & Kasai West ProvinceDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOSUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMUNDER THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION FUNDEquator ProvinceProject Development Objective: In support of the implementation of the MEPSP Interim Education Plan the project objectives are to: (a) increase access and equity in primary education, (b) improve learning conditions in primary education and (c) strengthen sector management and promote greater accountability by introducing new management practices at the local levels.IndicatorsCoreUnit of MeasureBaselineTarget ValuesFrequencyData Source/MethodologyResponsibility for Data CollectionBrokenValueBaseline year2013201420152016PROJECT OUTCOME INDICATORSIndicator One (Access): Primary net 1st year intake Rate%Male48.52009-1051535557AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics DataSub- proved/ Proved and MEPSPFemale40.544475053Total44.547.55052.555Indicator Two (Equity): Gender parity index (GER F/GER M) FORMCHECKBOX %N/A0.782010-110.790.800.810.82AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Three (Quality):French textbooks: pupil ratio for Grade 3 and Grade 4RatioN/A0.42011-120.50.811AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Four (Quality):French textbooks: pupil ratio for Grade 5 and Grade 6RatioN/A0.22011-120.50.811AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Five (Quality):Math textbooks: pupil ratio for primary education for Grade 3 and 4RatioN/A0.42011-120.20.811AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Six (Quality):Math textbooks: pupil ratio for primary education for Grade 5 and 6RatioN/A0.32011-120.30.811AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Five (Management): % of “bureaux gestionaires de proximité” functioning according to regulatory norms and under results agreements%“Conventionnés”(Faith-based)02011-1220406575AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub- PROVED/PROVEDSub- proved/ Proved“Non-conventionnés”(Secular)02011-125356575INTERMEDIATE RESULTSIncreasing access and equity at the primary levelProject beneficiaries : # of primary school students, of which girls FORMCHECKBOX NumberTotal1,323,3512010-111,405,6331,446,7741,487,9161,530,080AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics DataSub- proved/ Proved and MEPSPFemale578,688621,588643,037664,487719,200Primary 1st year new entrants, of which girlsNumberTotal255,5242009-10275,372281,989288,605296,130AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Female115683126,415129,993133,570142,080Additional classrooms rehabilitated or rebuilt FORMCHECKBOX NumberN/A02011-120300504 504AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVEDSub- proved/ ProvedNumber of latrine blocks builtNumberN/A02011-1205084 84AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVED-id-Number of water points installedNumberN/A02011-1205084 84AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVED-id-Quality of learning environmentNumber of textbooks and teacher guides distributed (country-wide indicator) FORMCHECKBOX NumberN/A02011-1204,500,00011,700,00011,700,0002014Monitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVED-id-Project beneficiaries : Teachers benefitting in-service training (cumulative) FORMCHECKBOX NumberTotal02011-121,0007,00016,00021,000AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics DataSub- proved/ Proved and MEPSP% of school clusters having organized inter-school pedagogical meetings (3 per year)%N/A102011-1220407580AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVEDSub- proved/ Proved% of “cellules pédagogiques” organizing in-service training (at least once every week during working hours)%N/A102011-1220407580AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED-id-Strengthening management% of schools having COGES having quarterly meetings as documented by the MinutesNumberN/A02011-1220407580AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVED-id-Annual qualitative surveys undertaken (“Bureaux gestionnaires de proximité” no longer collecting fees from the schools)NumberN/A02011-121111AnnualSurvey Report-id-Annex 1: Results Framework and Monitoring Equator Province and Kasai West ProvinceDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOSUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMUNDER THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION FUNDKasai West ProvinceProject Development Objective: In support of the implementation of the MEPSP Interim Education Plan the project objectives are to: (a) increase access and equity in primary education, (b) improve learning conditions in primary education and (c) strengthen sector management and promote greater accountability by introducing new management practices at the local levels.IndicatorsCoreUnit of MeasureBaselineTarget ValuesFrequencyData Source/MethodologyResponsibility for Data CollectionBrokenValueBaseline year2013201420152016PROJECT OUTCOME INDICATORSIndicator One (Access): Primary net 1st year intake Rate%Male69.12009-1072747679AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics DataSub- proved/ Proved and MEPSPFemale57.961646772Total63.566.56971.575Indicator Two (Equity): Gender parity index (GER F/GER M) FORMCHECKBOX %N/A0.792010-110.820.840.860.9AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Three (Quality):French textbooks: pupil ratio for Grade 3 and Grade 4RatioN/A0.42011-120.40.811AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Four (Quality):French textbooks: pupil ratio for Grade 5 and Grade 6RatioN/A0.22011-120.20.811AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Five (Quality):Math textbooks: pupil ratio for primary education for Grade 3 and Grade 4RatioN/A0.42011-120.40.811AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Six (Quality):Math textbooks: pupil ratio for primary education for Grade 5 and Grade 6RatioN/A0.32011-120.30.811AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Indicator Seven (Management): % of “bureaux gestionaires de proximité” functioning according to regulatory norms and under results agreements.%“Conventionnés”(Faith-based)02011-1220406570AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVEDSub- proved/ Proved“Non-conventionnés”(Secular)02011-125356570INTERMEDIATE RESULTSIncreasing access and equity at the primary levelProject beneficiaries : # of primary school students, of which girls FORMCHECKBOX NumberTotal987,2192010-111,044,6751,073,4021,102,1301,152,300AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics DataSub- proved/ Proved and MEPSPFemale436,791466,341481,116495,891530,120Primary 1st year new entrants, of which girlsNumberTotal208,2792009-10221,660226,121230,581235,800AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics Data-id-Female96,127104,012106,641109,269115,542Additional classrooms rehabilitated or rebuilt FORMCHECKBOX NumberN/A02011-120240396396AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVEDSub- proved/ ProvedNumber of latrine blocks builtNumberN/A02011-120406666AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVED-id-Number of water points installedNumberN/A02011-120406666AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVED-id-Quality of learning environmentProject beneficiaries : Additional teachers benefitting in-service training FORMCHECKBOX NumberTotal02011-121,0007,00016,00021,000AnnualMonitoring Report of S-PROVED/PROVED and School Statistics DataSub- proved/ Proved and MEPSP% of school clusters having organized inter-school pedagogical meetings (3 per year)%N/A102011-1220407580AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVEDSub- proved/ Proved% of “cellules pédagogiques” organizing in-service training (at least once every week during working hours)%N/A102011-1220407580AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVED-id-Strengthening management% of schools having COGES having quarterly meetings as documented by the MinutesNumberN/A02011-1220407580AnnualMonitoring Report of Sub PROVED/PROVED-id-Annual qualitative surveys undertaken (“Bureaux gestionnaires de proximité” no longer collecting fees from the schools)NumberN/A02011-121111AnnualSurvey Report-id-Annex 2: Detailed Project Description DOCPROPERTY "Country" \* MERGEFORMAT DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOSUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMUNDER THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION FUNDProject ComponentsComponent 1: Increasing access and equity at the primary level through Rehabilitation and Re-Construction of Classrooms (US$24.4 million)To increase access and promote equity this component will rehabilitate and replace unsuitable (deteriorated, out of standard etc) classrooms and build ancillary facilities such as latrines, ensure water supply, and offices for school directors. It will complement the government’s free primary education program and initiatives to promote girls’ education. The government has started taking over the running costs of primary schools and school management offices from parents and has been providing free textbooks to students in key subjects for a number of years. Through a program supported by UNICEF a number of initiatives are being implemented to promote girls education, including the provision of block grants to schools to support individual disadvantaged girls, increasing the proportion of female teachers in primary schools, and sensitizing opinion leaders and the community to the value of girls education. The interventions are already contributing to improved enrollment. Specific Objective.The objectives of this component are to: (i) rehabilitate or replace classrooms in disrepair and those built with non-durable materials; (ii) add or rehabilitate annexed facilities such as latrines and water supply; and (iii) involve primary school management committees (COGEs) in the management of school infrastructures and furniture. A total of 900 equipped classrooms will delivered in the provinces of Equator and Kasai-West. Ninety percent of these classrooms replace temporary non-durable structures in rural areas and ten percent rehabilitated classrooms in peri-urban and urban areas. The program will also construct or rehabilitate offices for school directors and separate latrines for boys and girls. Clean water facilities will be delivered in the schools. The different buildings will have access ramps for disabled people. The distribution of resources between the 2 provinces is based on the numbers of classrooms and girls enrolled with a 60/40 percent weighting in favor of number of classrooms and number of girls. Based on these criteria, 56.51 percent of the funds were allocated to Equator and 43.49 percent to Kasai-West. The following criteria were used for the selection and distribution of schools among provinces. The school should be on the MEPSP payroll and have a full cycle. Forty percent of the schools would be “state-run” schools (écoles non conventionnées) and 60 percent ”church-run”schools (écoles conventionnées) , The existing proportion of schools within religious networks in the province will be maintained as part of the selection criteria. The civil works will be carried out only within the limits or perimeter of the school and should not present any environmental or social threats. Schools to be rehabilitated should be structures built in durable material and the cost of the rehabilitation should be less than 50 percent of replacement costs. Infrastructures to be reconstructed in schools in rural areas should be within 3 miles of a principal road or water way. . Provincial and national consultations carried out in conjunction with the preparation of the Indigenous Peoples Planning Framework (IPPF) have resulted in considering the needs of these local populations. Also, the schools to be rehabilitated in favor of Indigenous Peoples will represent approximately 10% of the sites (between 10 and 15 sites) that harbor schools attended by them. Also, the infrastructure program will include at least 10% of the sites (between 10 and 15 sites) that harbor schools that are also attended by indigenous students.An important feature of the proposed project is to promote deconcentrated decision-making processes. Specifically, the school building implementation strategy will be based on the following principles: (i) delegation of implementation responsibility to the de-concentrated levels of the ministry; (ii) recruitment of LEAs by the deconcentrated level with support from the central level to ensure the operational management of the construction program; (iii) strengthening of the capacity of the PROVEDs to ensure technical monitoring of the construction program; (iv) involvement of the local networks in the school selection process; (v) involvement of the COGES and school networks in the implementation, and (vi) participation of deconcentrated officials and units such as the provincial minister of education in supervision. Decisions relating to the selection of school sites included in the rehabilitation program will be left to the deconcentrated units, using objective criteria set by the central level that will ensure compliance. The execution of the infrastructure program will be guided by government’s construction strategy promoting a low-cost approach using appropriate technology, local materials and through the outsourcing of the program to specialized executing entities and communities. This approach is partially being used for the school infrastructure program under the on-going PARSE as well as by other international donors, such as UNICEF and AFD. The PROVED will assume overall responsibility for the construction program, while LEAs will be responsible for the operational management of construction. The LEAs will, in turn, recruit the general contractors (responsible for studies and the oversight of the works), construction enterprises and furniture providers. Furniture will be procured locally through competitive bidding. Communities will be involved commitments to repair and maintain infrastructures, monitor progress of construction works and in the reception of buildings, equipment and furniture. The specific implementation procedures will be contained in operations manuals. The PROVEDs will be strengthened with financial persons (minimum level Bac+3) and civil engineers (level A0) recruited at provincial level with support from the central level, to permit them to effectively carry out the planning and -supervision of the ALEs and the construction companies. Under the leadership of MEPSP, the measures and processes described above are expected to lead to a uniform policy ensuring a low-cost construction approach, and deconcentrated decision-making for the selection of school sites. This policy will be applied to government-financed civil works program as well those of other donors. Financing for the activities of component 1 (civil works, furniture and equipment acquisitions etc.) envisaged as part of the project will amount to US$24.4 million. Component 2: Quality of learning Environment (US$60 million) To improve quality, the project will support (i) improving teacher quality and professional development in Equator and Kasai-West provinces and (ii) the provision of textbooks and pedagogical materials country-wide. Sub-component 2.1: Strengthening in-service training (US$16.9 million)Improving teacher quality is a top priority for government given the erosion of teacher training capacity during the crisis period. Although a number of training programs are currently supported by partners and NGOs, they tend to be limited in scope and geographic coverage. The government is concerned that these interventions do not adequately address generic weaknesses of teachers and those specific to particular areas. In addition, it is difficult to judge the quality and impact of the programs provided. In light of this the government would like to introduce a national system and program that would allow upgrading of teacher skills as well as to meet the variety of teacher needs in the diverse geographic context of the country. To achieve this, the proposal is to reactivate school/local based in-service training courses and improve interventions through the introduction of successful elements of ongoing programs such as IFADEM by OIF, AUF and APFE in the Katanga province and APEP financed by Afd and PAQUED financed by USAID. Specifically, the program will combine a distance training and on-site approach with delivery anchored at the individual school, and networks of three schools, with backward linkages to the central ministry through the sub-PROVEDs and PROVEDS through printed media (printing can be done locally) and radio/television. Print media will be used for areas which cannot be easily reached by radio and television. This distance approach will allow access to a large number of teachers, reduce drop-outs that often occur when teachers need to travel to training programs, avoid protracted absences from schools, and reduce costs associated with travel. In addition, it will encourage direct teacher participation in the program, and aid sustainability by ensuring that SERNAFOR has the required training skills and by reducing the period between acquisition and use of skills in the classrooms. The program will be carried out as follows: A joint technical committee of DIPROMA-SERNAFOR will provide overall guidance in the management of the program and in the preparation of training modules. The Training teacher program will start with existing modules, developed by the MEPSP with support from IFADEM and USAID, that are being used in other provinces. New modules will be prepared by specialists in workshops based on that experience. The committee will be complemented with local and international technical assistance. Modules will be prepared by pedagogical and technical specialists in workshops. School directors and other local level trainers will be trained in the use of the modules in the targeted sub-PROVEDs during school vacations. Training at the school/local level will be done through tutorials organized by the school directors and experienced teachers to stimulate participation and maximize feedback. These sessions will also provide opportunities to identify the needs of specific teachers and the development of local modules to address these needs. These tutorials utilize print media. The radio/television modules will be delivered at agreed times and include instructions for both teachers and students on how they should be used. Self-training sessions will also be held by groups of teachers facilitated by the school director or an experienced teacher.At the national level the program will be managed by SERNAFOR in collaboration with DIPROMAD. These directorates will work closely with the education department of the University of Kinshasa and international institutions to design modules and evaluate the programs. The director of PROVED will coordinate the program at the provincial level supported by a committee made up of the deputy provincial inspector, a representative of the SERNAFOR, and the provincial inspector for primary education. This committee will link the central level and the sub-districts. Its members will also participate in the provincial technical committee of the PME on questions related to the in-service training program. Similar to the provincial level, the program will be coordinated at the sub-provincial level by Director of the MEPSP. He will be supported by the inspector of primary schools and the pedagogical inspector. The school directors will take direct responsibility for the administrative and pedagogical management of the training programs with the support of experienced teachers. They will work both with programs prepared at the central level and those designed to take into account local need. A resource center, staffed by a part-time technical specialist, will be established at each sub-PROVED for use by trainers and teachers to supplement the training modules. To start with and for reasons of capacity and effectiveness, the subcomponent will pioneer the above approach in Equator and Kasai-West provinces. The subcomponent will feed into the development of a national in-service training strategy and system. The project will finance school and proximity based teacher training in the amount of US$16.9 million. Sub-component 2.2: Provision of learning materials (US$43.1 million). As described earlier, textbooks supply has been a priority for the government over the last ten years and availability of textbooks in schools has been significantly improved. This initiative is key to the IEPs efforts to improve the quality of education delivered. Increased availability of textbooks will also facilitate implementation of the USAID financed Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) project. It would permit the assessment of students against a more complete quality package through a planned national assessment under PARSE. In turn these various interventions will form the building blocks onto which an integrated system for provision of quality education and assessment of student learning will be built. This sub-component will, as planned in the IEP, support the acquisition and the distribution of textbooks, country-wide to all public and private schools. The project will: (i) procure and distribute textbooks for grades 3 and 4 for French and math and for grades 5 and 6 in French, math, science and Civics in primary education and (ii) develop and introduce a national textbooks policy and program. About 4.5 million of the current textbooks and teacher guides in math and French for grades 3 and 4 will be reprinted and distributed. The cost of these textbooks estimated at US$6.4 million will be financed entirely, at 100%, by the Education for All Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund – European Commission. The textbooks and teachers guides for grades 5 and 6 in French, math and sciences will be new editions as the current versions are outdated. About 9.9 million textbooks and complementary teacher guides will be procured for these grades. The textbooks and teacher guides for civics and moral education for grades 5 and 6 will also be prepared by the ministry based on technical guidelines in effect, and approximately 1.8 million textbooks will be provided and distributed to all schools.To reinforce the capacity of the DIPROMAD to lead implementation of the program, the project will (a) finance training in: (i) the preparation of textbooks, (ii) define the technical and pedagogical specifications of textbooks; (iii) evaluate textbooks, (iv) oversee logistics related to the management of textbooks stocks and the distribution of books, and (b) support the development of a national textbooks policy, strategy and program. DIPROMAD will also be provided with materials and equipment to improve their effectiveness. The current distribution system will be replaced by a more decentralized approach that will link the center to schools through the intermediate levels. Textbooks will be delivered to PROVEDS from which they will be sent to sub-PROVEDs. From these points the sub-PROVEDs and network coordinators for religious schools will arrange for the distribution of textbooks to schools using local transportation. To address geographical challenges such as rivers and mountains, logistical arrangements will permit distribution of books from one PROVED to a sub-PROVED in a neighboring PROVED to reduce costs and save time. UN emergency agencies such as the World Food Program and UNHAS planes will be used to transport textbooks in areas affected by conflict.A number of initiatives will be put in place to ensure that textbooks are delivered and used. The school management offices will be charged with the responsibility to verify that the books have been delivered and that they are being used in line with teaching and maintenance guides. Parents and communities will also be sensitized about the provision of the textbooks and their use and encouraged to verify that established procedures are in use. Civil society organizations will be provided with ongoing channels to comment on textbooks supply and use. Systematic beneficiary surveys will also be carried out to assess the effectiveness of the system. Decentralization of textbooks distribution will substantially reduce the need for large warehouses at central points and the need to manage very large stocks and the utilization of heavy transportation. Existing local enterprises with which the sub-PROVEDS and coordinating offices are most familiar with their respective areas to enable them to most effectively and efficiently fulfill this mandate. These arrangements will allow for the provision of textbooks in the main subjects to students on a sustainable basis. The project will finance procurement and distribution of textbooks as well as capacity building in an amount of US$43.1 million. Component 3: Strengthening Sector Management (US$15.5 million). This component will be essentially implemented in Equator and Kasai-West provinces and aims to ensure that current regulations are applied and strengthened as needed as a basis for more efficient and accountable management. Sub-component 3.1: Restructuring of education administrative offices (US$4.7 million)The government is committed to reforming the management of the system following the drop in standards associated with the crisis. It recognizes the complexity of this task, and the need for careful design and implementation measures to avoid further damage to the system. Achieving this will need time and can only be achieved in the medium term. The focus at this point is to ensure that the school management offices closest to schools provide the necessary support to support quality education in schools. It will support the national effort in reactivating the school administrative offices, to establish an institutional configuration functioning under a governance system to maximize efficiency. Results-based agreements will be used initially to re-establish norms and standards and facilitate the provision of cost-effective quality education and increased accountability for results. To help re-establish progressively a “healthier” administrative and pedagogical relationship between the administrative offices and schools, a roadmap has been formally discussed and agreed upon with all stakeholders to the process and will be implemented in the short to medium term. In line with this incremental approach, the road map will first be introduced at the sub-provincial level in Equator and Kasai-West provinces. The two issues to be addressed are: (a) retirement of eligible staff still in the system and (b) the overstaffing of offices due to unauthorized recruitment of staff. The staff retirement issue will not be addressed in this project as it requires a national approach beyond the education sector. However, overstaffing can and will be handled by the MEPSP in the short-term through reassignment to other positions based on the new organizational structure, or making staff redundant if they are unqualified or if there are no available positions they can fill. To ensure transparency and objectivity in implementing the reforms, broad based commissions will be established at the central and provincial levels. To complement the support from the managing agencies, the involvement of parents and communities in school management will also be strengthened. Financing under the subcomponent will consist of: (i) provision of operating costs for school management offices; (ii) the development of management and reporting tools building on those currently used by the schools; (iii) the design of performance-based agreements; and (iv) financial audits and quality assessments (US$4.4 million). Sub-component 3.2: Other Strengthening of institutional capacity (US$2.7 million)Improving teacher management (US$2.1 million). In parallel with the institutional change of the administrative offices, and on the basis of an organizational diagnostic, this component will build on the exercise commenced by SECOPE (new organigrams, redefined and targeted roles etc.) that will ultimately lead to a more efficient system. Support is currently being provided by PARSE to assess the essential needs of SECOPE in terms of immediate technical support (ITC, decentralization internal management etc.) and to lay the foundation for reform. In order to institutionalize the system, the project will provide technical assistance to SECOPE and PFM actors involved at the deconcentrated level in implementing the different phases of reform with the aim of improving budget execution (by adopting decree clarifying the new PFM Organic Law, providing technical training to the public accounts, and other actors). This technical assistance will cover the three-year period of the project, but will intervene on a periodic basis following a clear work plan.It is worth mentioning that this technical support is critical to building the capacity of the education system in DRC, and includes dialogue with the government on the budget framework with the objective of (i) increasing the adequacy and efficiency of budget allocations with particular attention paid to teacher recruitment, school operating costs; and (ii) to ensure the effective monitoring of budget execution. In addition, this process is expected to be strengthened by the planned AfD support to increase fiscal space for core education expenditures under their debt-relief program, leading a greater sustainability of the IEP implementation and more effective administration. Girls Education (US$0.6 million): Given prevailing gender disparities, the project will support the development of a national strategy for girls’ education, in consultation with UNICEF and DFID. Government is committed to pursue a comprehensive and cost-effective approach to eliminate barriers to girls’ education to bridge equity gaps The project will finance a study and activities for the development of a strategy in this area in an amount of US$0.6 million.Sub-component 3.3: Project Management and Coordination (US$8.1 million)The sub-component will support project management and coordination. It will finance medium term consultant services to provide technical assistance and knowledge on topics in the education sector. It will also support workshops, seminars on technical subjects relevant to the project objectives, and training in project management skills. In addition, it will provide financing for the acquisition of computer equipment, office materials and supplies as well as communication strategies and campaigns to bolster the implementation of the fee-free policy and encourage behavior changes induced by the policy. The project will finance supervision costs and provide additional resources for monitoring and evaluation that will include support for the collection and analysis of school statistics (US$8.1 million). Attachment to Annex 2 Criteria for selecting the two provincesTo minimize implementation risks and maximize impact on the neediest areas, the Government and Local Education Donors Group (LEDG) decided to focus project interventions in two provinces (Equator and Kasai-West), with the exception of the US$43.1 million textbooks sub-component which will cover the whole country. Following a participatory consultation process with the LEDG, the supervising entity and the Government, various criteria were discussed and agreed on for selecting the two targeted provinces out of the 11 Congolese provinces. Six criteria were used to capture the most deprived provinces in terms of schooling (in particular for girls) and where donors are least active. The six criteria chosen are the following: (i) Primary Completion Rate (Source: Statistical Yearbook), (ii) Number of Out-Of school Children (Source: EADE Report and MICS 2010 data), (iii) Gender Parity Index in primary education (Source: Statistical Yearbook), (iv) Enrolment growth rate due to tuition-free policy (Source: rapport d’enquête sur la gratuité), (v) Percentage of classrooms in durable material (Source: Statistical Yearbook), and (vi) Number of classrooms rehabilitated/rebuilt by donors and government during the last 5 years as a % of the total number of classrooms in the province (Source: Specific donors’ survey on school rehabilitation). This list of indicators is also in line with the core indicators of the Global Partnership for Education (in particular, the primary completion rate, the out of school children and the gender parity index). Based on the criteria’s values for the 11 provinces, a score was given for each criterion to each province on a sliding scale: 10 points to the neediest province down to 0 point to the least needy province. An overall needs-based score was then computed for each province by summing up the scores for six criteria. Applying this methodology, Equator and Kasai-West were judged the first and second neediest of the eleven provinces, scoring 51 and 44 points respectively out of a possible maximum of 60. (Table 6 below shows the details). It is noteworthy that the difference between Kasa?-West and the next neediest provinces in the ranking (Kasa?-East and Katanga) is significant; 6 points.Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 6: Needs-based assessment by province?1. Primary Completion Rate (%)2. Out-of-school Children (%)3. Gender Parity Index4. Enrolment growth rate due to tuition-free policy (%)5. Classrooms in durable material (%)6. Classrooms rehabilitated during the last 5 years (in %)Overall scoreKinshasaValue77.915.11.01N/A95.952Score000002Bas-CongoValue53.827.60.8811574.122Score725413BandunduValue61.2270.89411.81.125Score11211010EquatorValue51.2370.762115.71.451Score9710799Orientale ProvinceValue52.3330.881436.9233Score855555North-KivuValue60.839.20.87639.21.928Score296146Sud-KivuValue56.134.60.91646.95.922Score661621ManiemaValue57.829.20.883229.27.830Score5361060Kasai-EastValue58.829.90.862623.51.538Score347978Kasai-WestValue58.538.10.82421.51.744Score489887KatangaValue45.941.80.82746438Score10108334Source: Education Statistical Yearbooks, EADE Report/MICS 2010 data, Rapport d’enquête sur la gratuité, Donors’ survey on school rehabilitation. Annex 3: Economic and Financial AnalysisDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOSUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMUNDER THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION FUNDMacroeconomic contextDuring the past decade, the Congolese economy has demonstrated consistent recovery following several years of civil conflict and war (see Table 7 below). Between 2002 and 2008, the GDP growth rate was healthy, but slowed-down as a consequence of the global financial crisis in 2009. Growth recovered to rates of 7.2 percent and 6.9 percent for 2010 and 2011 respectively from -6.9 percent in 2000. Economic growth measured by the GDP is largely premised on healthy commodity prices and the expansion of the mining industry. Despite these gains, the DRC remains one of the poorest countries in the world. In 2011 per capita GDP was equivalent to US$ 216, less than US$1 per person per day. The DRC, with a score of 0.286, performed worst - 187 out of 187 countries- in the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI). Inspite of this bleak picture indicated by the GDP and GDP per capita levels, overall growth has been strong over a sustained period which augurs well for the fiscal climate in the medium term. Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 7 : GDP and GDP per capita, 2000-20112000200220042006200820102011GDP, const (growth rate)-6.93.56.65.66.27.26.9GDP, cur. (billions FC)2971,9222,6014,1326,53011,87514,393GDP, cur (US $)5,5015,4105,7536,1726,5636,8227,056GDPpc, cur (US $)82100111141175186216Source: International Monetary Fund and World Bank data, August 2012.Sector context: Enrolment, disparities and efficiencyThe pre-university education system in DRC is structured in four cycles: pre-primary, primary, secondary (lower secondary and upper secondary) and tertiary. Primary cycle officially starts at age 6 for 6 years/grades, while lower secondary cycle begins at age 12 and ends at age 13 for 2 years/grades. In 2010, about 10.6 (respectively 1.6) million children were enrolled in the primary cycle (respectively in lower secondary cycle).In the primary cycle, around 72 percent of students attend “Conventionnées” schools which are owned and managed by churches and other religious organizations although they are financed partly or entirely by the Government as part of the state system. Secular public schools (“Non Conventionnées”) only account for 17 percent of the overall enrolment of that cycle while the private sector accounts for 11 percent. From 2002 to 2010, the enrolment in basic education (primary + lower education) doubled, with an average growth rate of 8.7 percent every year. This increase is associated with the secession of conflict, and government efforts to increase access through a variety of methods including lowering the cost of education to households and expanding the capacity of the system to accommodate new students. In the primary cycle, the number of school facilities (all types of school put together) increased from 19,265 to 35,890 during the same period. Despite gains in enrolment, the gross enrolment rate (GER) for the primary cycle is still less than 100 percent. Between 2002 and 2010 enrollment nearly doubled and the GER increased from 60.4 percent to 92.7 percent (see Table 8). Improved enrollment is reflected in improved coverage in the past decade, with a relative slowdown during the past three years. The progress is a reflection of the government’s efforts to develop the sector in the recent past. However a further expansion of infrastructure will be required to enroll all school-aged children.Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 8: Enrolment and Gross Enrolment Ratio, 2000-2010200020012002…200820092010Enrolment Preschool38,79240,43268,710…201,351249,326218,842Primary--5,455,391…9,973,36510,244,08610,572,422Lower Secondary--779,414…1,446,0051,568,5151,561,036Upper Secondary--833,426…1,683,4831,830,0351,923,423Gross Enrolment RatioPreschool0.70.81.3…3.23.83.3Primary--60.4…90.390.892.7Lower Secondary--30.2…46.649.247.6Upper Secondary--18.3…30.131.732.3Source: MEPSP Statistical Yearbook and UIS database.Despite the tremendous progress, compared to neighboring countries, the DRC performs poorly with regard to school coverage (see Graph 1). The country’s GER (93 percent) is 27 percentage points lower than the average GER of its neighbors (120 percent). Graph SEQ Graph \* ARABIC 1: Gross Enrolment Ratio, comparison with neighbor countriesSource: MEPSP Statistical Yearbook, UIS database and authors calculation.Girls remain disadvantaged compared to boys, despite improvements to the gender gap. In 2010, the gender parity index of the GER was 0.87 for the primary cycle and 0.65 for the lower secondary cycle, compared to 2007 values of 0.81 and 0.58 respectively. The education system remains characterized by low internal cost efficiency, marked by high repetition and drop-out rates and a lack of consistency in teachers’ postings to regions and schools. In 2011, the repetition rate in the primary cycle was 13 percent. The gross intake rate to first grade of primary is estimated to 117 percent but only 59 percent of children reach the last grade (completion rate). The students-teacher ratio (excluding private schools) in primary education is 39:1 (2011). Learning achievement remains low. The results of a learning assessment exercise carried out by PASEC (2010) indicate that at the end of the 5th year of primary education, only 47 percent of pupils demonstrate “minimal” knowledge in French and 59 percent in math. The poor quality of primary education is partly explained by the poor learning environment (42 percent of classrooms are built in non-durable material), low quality of pre-service training, inadequate support for upgrading teacher skills at the local/school levels, and the scarcity of textbooks. Context and Sector Analysis at the Province level: Equator and Kasa?-West In order to minimize implementation risks and maximize impact on the most needy areas, the Government and LEDG decided to focus the project interventions in Equator and Kasai-West provinces (with the exception of the textbooks sub-component which would be country-wide) which were selected using six needs-based criteria (see attachment to Annex 2 for details). Context analysis. The context analysis is based on Table 9. Equator is the third-largest province of DRC with an estimated population of 7.2 million (2010). The climate is tropical, hot and humid, dominated by an 8-month rainy season. Only 43 km out of 14,313 km of roads are paved and 72 percent of the province’s surface is covered by rainforest. The Congo River (an 800 km stretch) and its tributaries are the economic backbones of the province. Equator has the highest poverty incidence in DRC (see Table 8). Nearly 77 percent of the population works in subsistence agriculture. Almost no inhabitant has access to electricity or tap water in contrast to the average of 10.3 percent and 10.9 percent respectively for the DRC. The infant mortality rate is 102 per 1000 live births in Equator also higher than the average for DRC, 92 per 1000 live births. Past support from international aid to the province is also substantially below the average for the 11 provinces US$0.7 per inhabitant versus US$24.3. Kasa?-West has an estimated population of 4.7 million (2010). The northern part is covered by tropical rainforest; the southern part by savanna. Similar to Equator province, 78% of the people are subsistence farmers and almost no one has access to electricity or tap water. The provincial infant mortality rate (95 per 1000 live births) is also higher than the national average. The province is the least supported by international aid (US$0.2 per inhabitant). Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 9: Context indicators in Equator and Kasa?-WestIndicatorEquatorKasa?-WestDRCPoverty incidence (%)93.655.871.8% of population working in agriculture76.577.971.4% of population with access to electricity1010.3% of population with access to tap water12.210.9Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births)1029592Support from International aid per inhabitant (US$, 2000-2005 average)0.70.224.3Sources: 1-2-3 Survey, EDS 2007, ONU/SIDA, Statistical yearbooks (2009-2010), Bulletin statistique sur les aides extérieures mobilisées en RDC sur la période 2000-2005.Sector analysis (see Table 10). Equator is the province with the most critical needs for support in education. The primary completion rate is only 51 percent (compared to the national average of 57 percent) and the proportion of out-of-school children is still very high (37 percent). Girls’ enrolment is a particularly critical issue as reflected by the very low parity index (0.76, the lowest of all provinces value). Only 15.7 percent of the 4,263 schools are built in durable material (versus 42% for the national average). The recent tuition-free policy has also increased the needs for that province significantly: it is estimated that school enrolment has increased by 21 percent due to the new policy compared to 13 percent for the national average. Kasa?-West is the second most deprived province as indicated by the high proportion of out-of-school children (38 percent), the second lowest gender parity index (0.80) and low proportion of classrooms built in durable material (21.5 percent). Also the impact of the tuition-free policy on enrolment growth (24 percent) was even bigger than for Equator. Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 10: Sector indicators (Primary Education) in Equator and Kasa?-WestIndicatorEquatorKasa?-WestDRCNumber of schools 4 2633 29835 890Number of pupils (2010-11)1 323 350987 22011 082 501Completion rate (%)51.258.556.7Out-of-school children (%)37.038.132.9Parity index0.760.800.86Classrooms built in durable material (%)15.721.542.0Enrolment growth rate due to tuition-free policy (%)212413Sources: Statistical yearbooks (2009-2010 and 2010-2011), EADE Report and MICS 2010 data, Rapport d’enquête sur la gratuité.Education Sector Expenditure, Budget framework (2012-2015) and sustainabilityCompared to other countries, education in the DRC is poorly supported by budgetary allocations. In 2011, the whole education sector (EPSP and Higher Education) expenditure accounted for 10.7 percent of the domestic resources (see Table 11), below the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 22 percent. Recent trends are encouraging (from 10 to 10.7 percent for the sector share and from 6.5 to 7.3 percent for the EPSP share, between 2010 and 2011) and government is committed to securing additional domestic resources for the sector in the next 4 years. Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 11: Education and EPSP expenditure, 2010-201120102011National Domestic Resources (CFD Billion)3 0133 735EPSP expenditure (excl. transfers to education local authorities) funded from Domestic Resources (CFD Billion)197273Education Sector expenditure funded from Domestic Resources (CFD Billion)303399EPSP expenditure as a share of Domestic Resources6.5%7.3%Education Sector expenditure as a share of Domestic Resources10%10.7%Source: IEP.The largest share of the education allocation (65% in 2010, 68% in 2011) was allocated to EPSP (primary, secondary and vocational education). It is estimated that around 45 percent of the education spending is allocated to primary education. Based on international data (UNESCO-P?le de Dakar), public expenditure per student (unit recurrent cost) is very low in DRC compared to other countries in the region. In primary education, public expenditure per student is only 5 percent of GDP per capita, in contrast to an average of 12 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa. Based on countries for which data is available, only Gabon has a public expenditure unit cost lower than the DRC; but GDP per capita in Gabon is significantly higher than the DRC. This low level of public expenditure is compensated for by a sizable financial contribution from households. In 2009 estimates show that households financed at least 37 percent of direct education expenditures. The Government is aware that under financing of the system limits participation especially for the poorest and prevents provision of quality education. To address this issue the government is gradually expanding free-fee primary education as a first step in a reform process. However, this policy needs to be implemented more effectively and scaled up rapidly nation-wide and grade-wide. Graph SEQ Graph \* ARABIC 2: Public recurrent expenditure per student in primary education, comparison with other African countries, expressed as a percent of GDP per capitaSource: UNESCO-P?le de rmation from the Ministry of Budget for 2011 demonstrates the following breakdown for education expenditure funded by domestic resources: 87 percent for salaries; 11 percent for operating cost (“fonctionnement”); 0.6 percent for subsidies to sciences and culture, 0.7 percent for student grants; and 1 percent for capital expenditure. Budget Framework (2012-2015) and sustainability. Low budgetary allocations for education in the past have been raised by local donors and the GPE with government. While this is a legitimate concern, several factors suggest that sustainability could be effectively managed by the government. As shown in Table 12, a substantial part of the IEP program, 73 percent is financed from government resources, with only 13 percent from external financing (LEG and GPE) to cover largely investment expenditures. The remaining gap is only 14 percent. In addition, the largest part of the IEP costs consists of recurrent expenditures to finance salaries and other recurrent costs and the government is already financing these costs. In the recent past the government has increased its financing of teachers’ salaries and the operation costs of school through the gradual introduction of fee free primary education and financing of the administrative costs of school management offices. These increased expenditures are reflected in the increased allocations to the sector from 2010 to 2012 when the budget for the MEPSP increased faster than for the sector as a percentage of the national budget. While the national budget increased by 24% during this period, that for MEPSP increased by about 38.6%. Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 12: Financing Framework for the EPSP (IEP)Budget Framework for the EPSP (Base Case)2012201320142015TOTAL Percentage Share2012-2014GDP (Billions FC) 15,96318,58321,50024,815National Budget from Internal Resources as a % of GDP23.0%22.6%22.6%22.6%National Budget from Internal Resources (Billions FC)3,6714,2004,8595,608Share of Internal Resources Allocated to MEPSP (%)9.0%10.8%12.5%14.0%MEPSP Budget from Internal Resources (Billions FC)3304536077851,39073%External Resources to MEPSP (billions FC)575241*1508%TOTAL RESSOURCES (Billions FC)3875056487851,54081%IEP Expenditures (Billions FC)520670721*1,911100%Financing GAP (Billions FC)13316573*37119%Expected Contribution from GPE (Billions FC)**2040401005%Net GAP (Billions FC)11712533*27114%Source: Presentation of IEP to GPE Secretariat (September 2012)Much of this increased financing is derived from the positive fiscal conditions which followed the cessation of major conflict and political tension in the country that reduced the need for education to compete for resources with security concerns and that stalled GDP growth. It is also expected that the savings from the HIPC initiative will be allocated to teacher salaries. Assured financing of recurrent expenditures is critical to ensure sustainability since investments expenditures can be adjusted based on availability of resources.Vice Prime Minister and the Minister of Budget has confirmed in a letter sent by the government to the Head of the GPE Secretariat that the government is committed to increase the EPSP budget significantly over the next four years. According to this agreement, public financing secured for EPSP will increase from FC 299 billion in 2012 to FC 409 billion in 2015 (a 37 percent increase over three years). The credibility of this commitment to increase funding for education is strengthened by the rapid recovery of fiscal revenues after the financial crisis in 2009. The tax base is increasing thanks to economic growth of 6-7 percent since 2009, projected to increase to over 8 percent in 2013. Fiscal revenues also increased as share of GDP up from 17 percent in 2009 to 19 percent in 2011 and projected at 22 percent in 2012 in the wake of significant revenue mobilization efforts by the authorities. Thanks to a strengthening exchange rate during 2009-11, revenues increased rapidly in dollar terms, reaching almost US$3 billion in 2011 up from US$1.8 billion two years earlier. Going forward the exchange rate has stabilized but revenues are projected to continue to increase to over US$5 billion in 2015. Expected impact and project cost-efficiencyBy supporting the fee-free policy initiated by the government in 2009, the project will help reduce the cost currently levied on households, and bring poor and vulnerable children into the system. In order to assess the economic impact of schooling, a rate of return analysis for education has been conducted using data from 1-2-3 Survey (2004-2005). One extra year of education in DRC leads to a 6 percent increase in revenue; almost twice the rate of return observed in Benin (3.3 percent). Evidence from the same survey suggests a poverty incidence of 71 percent, with a decreasing incidence associated with rising educational attainment. A non-educated person has a 77 percent likelihood of being poor, whereas this falls to 34 percent for a university graduate. By providing textbooks for students and in-service training for teachers the project is expected improve the quality of education delivered. More specifically the repetition rate is targeted to fall to 7 percent in 2015, from 12 percent in 2010. International research has shown that reducing repetition has a positive impact on drop-out reduction (on average, 1 percentage point increase of repetition corresponds to a 0.8 percentage point increase of the drop-out rate). Based on that assumption, it is estimated that the repetition rate reduction will lead to a decrease of the drop-out rate by 6 percentage points (the school life expectancy would then increase from 8.5 years up to 8.9 years).Annex 4: Implementation ArrangementsDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOSUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMUNDER THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION FUNDImplementation ArrangementsGuiding principlesThe implementation arrangements set up for the GPE are in line with the implementation framework of the IEP and its deconcentrated approach. They are built on the following guiding principles: (i) responsibility and accountability; (ii) equity; and (iii) result-based contracting. A deconcentrated approach requires a strong sense of responsibility and awareness of accountability on the part of sub-national units (S/PROVED, Inspool primaire and Sous-Coordinations) and schools. Both will receive financing from the government; in return, they are expected to deliver quality public services. PROVED will bear fiduciary responsibility for a defined list of activities that are defined in the Operations Manual, and will set up Management Committees: Comité de gestion for the offices and Conseil de gestion for the schools. Budget and finance officers will be recruited located at the PROVED level and cover a number COGES. These will build on existing and best practices from IDA-financed PURUS and PARSE (operations manuals, book keeping guidance and reporting mechanisms).Increased accountability will require changes in administration practices at the central level. Offices at national and provincial level will be required to transparent management practices. In addition, a code of conduct will be elaborated and widely distributed. It will apply to all offices and schools that receive public funding and contain clear measures for disciplinary action, including procedures as prescribed by the law. Equity: The principle of equity not only refers to issues of vulnerability and exclusion, but necessitates a more equitable distribution of resources, and the prioritization of those most in need. This requires establishing objective criteria for targeted interventions (e.g., choice of geographic locations) and institutional arrangements for equitable service delivery (e.g., number of inspectors proportional to the number of schools etc.).Performance-based agreements require periodic evaluations of work on the basis of established and agreed upon indicators. In line with the IEP, the GPE will establish “performance” agreements at the sub-provincial level. This is a relatively new concept as very little accountability exists with regard to the management of school fees and the delivery of services. Finally, and whenever possible, project coordination, implementation and monitoring/evaluation at central, provincial and sub-provincial levels will be carried out by existing, operational structures of MEPSP that allow effective participation of all key actors (other ministries, faith-based groups, donors, NGOs, civil society and beneficiaries). Two types of “agreements” will be established: In addition to a partnership agreement between the center and the PROVEDs there will be two other formal arrangements: A partnership agreement (partenariat) between the centre and the different “educational” provinces (PROVEDs), setting the norms and the key results indicators for programs. The role of the PROVED is to ensure that activities are effectively implemented at the sub-provincial level;Results-based contracting (contrat de résultats) between the PROVED and the sub-provincial offices is at the heart of implementation, defining clear results indicators and reporting mechanisms in line with work plans and essential tasks. Sub-provincial offices are directly accountable for implementing activities on the ground; As a rule, all agreements will establish clearly delineated lines of authority and accountability for all parties involved. These will be in line with the vision of efficient service delivery as redefined in the package of essential activities, and related post descriptions at the different levels of the implementation chain. Ministerial decrees will formalize these responsibility lines. Implementation at central levelMEPSP will be ultimately accountable for meeting the objectives of the project. Project implementation will be mainstreamed, using the MEPSP structure at the central and deconcentrated levels, with the majority of activities executed at the deconcentrated levels. The overall project management and coordination of the IEP/GPE will be placed under the direction of the Secretary General (SG). The SG will be responsible for (i) taking strategic decisions as recommended by findings of analytical work and evaluations; (ii) liaising between the government and the donor community; (iii) ensuring the effective involvement of civil society on a participatory process; (iv) monitoring the IEP/GPE implementation process; (v) consolidating, analyzing and disseminating implementation reports; and (vi) organizing external audits and joint annual reviews. In order to strengthen its capacities, the General Secretariat will benefit from the following resources: An executive officer will be appointed as the SG’s principal assistant for day-to-day decision-making. The recruitment process for this full-time position will be competitive and subject to non-objection from the World Bank; A Technical Committee (TC) composed of a core group, including the heads of the Directorates oriented toward the strategic axes of the project (school construction, sector planning, pedagogical inputs, teacher training, teacher management and system governance), experts from the CAT and the Fiduciary Unit (see below), representatives of the ‘church-run’ network, representatives of ESU and MAS (on a needs-basis) and the Lead/Co-lead of the education donor group. The TC meets monthly under the direction of the SG. The TC approves the budgeted work plans in close consultation with the World Bank;The Technical Advisory Unit (CAT) of the MEPSP will be comprised of a national (PARSE) and international expert (AfD). This unit is already operational and has been actively involved in the development of the IEP and the technical work of the Directorates. It will play a central and supportive role to the TC. The Project will reinforce the CAT and hire additional staff to boost capacity (experts in PFM, in quality control and institutional reform, in educational planning and a M&E specialist);Project management in the SG’s office will be strengthened with the fiduciary capacity from the PARSE. The latter has accrued important experience and expertise through the procurement activities and financial managementof the PARSE project .and will technically support the recently created CGMP of MEPSP in carrying out procurement activities at the national level and supervision of procurement at the deconcentrated level. . This team of fiduciary specialists will include (i) a Financial Controller, (ii) an Accountant; (iii) a Cashier; (iv)a Procurement Specialist; and (v) a Procurement Assistant.Implementation at de-concentrated levelsAt provincial level, the PROVED, as cosignatory of the result-based “contracts” with the sub-provincial offices, is ultimately responsible for project oversight. The PROVED exercises authority following a participatory process and within the limits approved by the Provincial Committee of EPSP (Commission provinciale de l’EPSP). These Committees are already operational and bring together key education officials at provincial level, including representatives of civil society (teacher unions, parents, NGOs), and the “church-run” networks. It is envisaged that they will meet on a bimonthly basis. Finally, PROVEDS are only in charge of “educational” provinces. For instance, Equator province has five “educational” provinces and five PROVEDs. In order to ensure more efficient oversight at provincial level, all PROVEDs will participate twice a year in meetings organized by the Provincial Committee located in the “capital” of the administrative province, chaired by the provincial Minister of Education and including the participation of the Donors Coordinating Agency. The sub-provincial offices are directly accountable for implementation. For that purpose, their organigrams have been revisited and essential tasks redefined in order to align them with school-based activities to ensure implementation at the school level. Sub-provincial offices will closely monitor the performance of school heads and the teachers. These offices will meet formally as a Technical Committee on a regular basis to monitor and coordinate project implementation. They will be responsible for the collection and compilation of M&E reports before transmission to the PROVED. The Technical Committee is composed of (i) the Sous/PROVED; (ii) the Inspool; (iii) SECOPE; and (iii) the Sous-Coordinateurs and Conseillers Résidents (“church-run” offices). Both sub-provincial offices and schools will receive fiduciary support from budget and finance officers to be recruited and located at the PROVED for financial management and reporting. Sub provincial offices and simple schools local management units (Comités de gestion and Conseils de gestion) will then focus in implementing the activities. At the school level, the management committee (COGES) of the school comprises: (i) the school head; (ii) the president and two members of the COPA (parent committee); (iii) the representative of the teachers; and (iv) the representative of the pupils (as observer). The COGES is actively involved in approving and monitoring the local implementation plan. Existing operations manuals will serve as models for the project’s manuals. Monitoring and reporting mechanismsAt the central level, a Steering Committee (SC) composed of the Ministers of EPSP (President), ESU, MAS, Planning, Finance and Budget, the Donors Coordination Agency and the Secretary General of MEPSP (Secretariat of the SC) will provide strategic oversight of the project. The committee will approve annual work plans and reports and endorses major decisions. The Committee will meet at least twice a year. Various platforms coexist and serve as frameworks for dialogue and concerted action, including the Thematic Education Group (Groupe Thématique Education) and the Comité de Concertation. The Thematic group is a high-level body including the Ministers of Education (EPSP, ESU and MAS); while the Comité is more technical, responsible for analytical work and the production of technical reports. Both platforms are composed of government, donor and civil society representatives. The role of these groups will be to monitor government action and formulate recommendations. A precondition for efficient implementation is a well-organized, fluid reporting and monitoring circuit across all levels. This implies simple and pragmatic mechanisms to facilitate rather information flows (see diagram below). Sub-provincial offices will report to their counterparts at provincial level (for instance, Inspool to IPP). Provincial offices will compile these reports and formally transmit them to the PROVED who, in turn, will elaborate a synthesis report to the provincial level. A consolidated report will then be transmitted to the central level. The project’s operations manuals will set the format and the reporting periods.In addition, independent financial audits will closely look into spending procedures at both sub-provincial and school levels. Quality surveys will be conducted on a regular basis to assess the impact and the quality of the public service delivery. Further, a monitoring system involving civil society will be established. As a forerunner of a permanent independent watchdog body (as described in the IEP), the system will rely on groups already present on the ground (local and international NGOs, teacher unions, parent associations etc.) to collect qualitative data via a uniform survey design. Finally, joint annual reviews will be organized involving all partners. The diagram below summarizes the nature of accountability relationships between offices and schools, on the one hand, and schools and parents, on the other. The rationale is to put in place a “combined” accountability system where bottom-up monitoring can trigger top-down oversight. School heads and teachers are the main agents of implementation, and should feel accountable toward both their employer (state) and their clients (parents). For instance, if the outreach office facilitates the election of a Parent Committee to the benefit of transparency, then it builds pressure on the school head to act accordingly. Similarly, if a school inspector is entitled to look at the schools’ compliance with e.g., established expenditure procedures, then this may become a reason for the school head to act by the rules. The bottom-up involvement of a representative COPA will equally contribute to monitoring and enforcing a “climate of compliance”. Social AccountabilityOversight of Project implementation. The project will also reinforce involvement of the COGES, (fifty percent of whose members represent the parent teacher organizations) and school networks in implementation including in the provision and use of textbooks and school construction. They will also ensure integrity in fiduciary management as they will be actively involved in approving and monitoring the local implementation plan. PARSE operations manuals will serve as a model for the project’s manuals. As final beneficiaries of the project the COGES will contribute by observing the procurement process and supervising construction works and other project activities. LEA will strengthen the capacity of communities through simplified procurement training.Monitoring. A consensus exists among the main actors of the civil society (NGOs, children rights activists, parent committees, women associations and teacher unions) to establish a permanent and independent watchdog to monitor the quality of service delivery. In the interim the project will depend on existing structures active in the two provinces and associated local networks. On the basis of a predefined, uniform report card (monitoring protocol) these groups will monitor implementation of key activities such as in-service training, delivery and utilization of textbooks, school fees, effectiveness of school-based management committees etc. Reports will be collected, analyzed and discussed at provincial (Commission provinciale de l’EPSP) and central levels (Secretariat General/CAT) to allow remedial action. In addition, and building on PURUS/PARSE experience, a hot line (texting transformed into email) will be initiated to facilitate citizens’ participation in reporting on the quality of service delivery. The use of mobile phones and texting has been used very effectively to overcome the communication challenges imposed by the large size of the country and limited infrastructure. Mobile communications have penetrated the country more deeply than other methods.Restructuring of the administrative offices –Role of FBOs.- One of the key objectives of the project is to strengthen the roles of the Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) (National Coordinators and church representatives) that manage schools on behalf of the government. These agencies were severely weakened because of the lack of effective public oversight and financial resources during the war and period of crisis. In the absence of public resources the FBOs relied on fees collected from parents for financing their administrative costs. This relationship prevented the FBOs from exercising oversight of school operations to ensure that the relevant pedagogical and administrative standards were maintained. With the resumption of public financing for the management offices and the use of results agreements the FBOs will be empowered to verify that minimum standards are maintained in schools to promote learning.Roadmap. The roadmap was cosigned by the MEPSP (Secretariat General) and the faith-based organizations (National Coordinators and church representatives). There is consensus for the need to restructure the administrative offices as a prerequisite for financing and efficient service delivery. The financing entails an immediate halt on the levying of school fees on households by these offices. The restructuring will require new functional organigrams and compliance to existing norms (staffing). These norms will be integrated into SECOPE’s data base to block overstaffing. The main roles and tasks of these offices have been redefined to target specific activities and results. Tools. In order to enhance accountability and mitigate risks, PURUS and PARSE have developed simple procedures manuals for schools. These contain ministerial decrees on management and parent committees (election rules, composition and specific roles, etc.), detailed information on allocations, eligible expenditure, book keeping procedures, reporting requirements etc. These tools have been distributed to all eligible schools. The GPE will build on this experience and tailor the tools to the needs of the administrative offices. The use of mobile phones and texting has been used very effectively to overcome the communication challenges imposed by the large size of the country and limited infrastructure. Mobile communications have penetrated the country more deeply than other methods.Role of Partners The collaboration among the donor group during the preparation of the IEP and of the project will continue during implementation. There will be direct involvement of other partners in the implementation of some components while for other components the project will benefit from the experiences of projects financed by other partners. USAID for example will work very closely with the MEPSP and the Bank team in the development of in-service teacher training system through the development of modules and for putting in place the mechanisms for distance education in the 2 provinces. The LEDG will also work jointly in developing the systems for promoting girls education and teacher management. Discussions are well advanced with UNICEF, USAID and DfID on issues related to girls’ education and with AfD on the development of the teacher management system. Regular consultations will also take place at the informal and formal levels on the implementation of all components given the experience of other donors in the various activities included in the project to learn from their experiences and to ensure a coherent national approach. The systems that will be developed will be adopted by all donors in future programs, in the framework of the IEP. The role of the Technical Advisory Unit (CAT) as the coordinating unit for donor intervention will allow for improved coordination and minimize the potential for duplication. Recent developments and discussions demonstrate the commitment of donors to the alignment of new projects within the IEP framework (DfID, UNICEF, USAID and AfD).Donors will jointly monitor project implementation in the context of the IEP. The Donors Coordinating Agency will be a member of the Steering Committee chaired by the Minister of MEPSP, which will provide strategic oversight of the project. This committee will approve annual work plans and reports and endorses major decisions. The Committee will meet at least twice a year. There will also be joint annual reviews of the implementation of the IEP during which the project will also be discussed as part of the IEP. The Donors Coordinating Agency will also be part of the Provincial Committees and participate twice a year in meetings organized by the Provincial Committee located in the “capital” of the administrative province, chaired by the provincial Minister of Education.Donors and civil society representatives will also be members of the various platforms that coexist and serve as frameworks for dialogue and concerted action between the donors and the government. These include the Thematic Education Group (Groupe Thématique Education) and the Comité de Concertation. The Thematic group is a high-level body including the Ministers of Education (EPSP, ESU and MAS); while the Comité is more technical, responsible for analytical work and the production of technical reports. The role of these groups will be to monitor government action and formulate recommendations.Annex 5: Financial Management and Procurement ArrangementsDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOSupport to Basic Education Program under the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) FundFinancial Management and Disbursements Country PFM situation and Use of Country System. CFAA (Country Financial Accountability Assessment), PER (Public Expenditures Review), and PEFA (Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability) reports completed for the DRC between 2002 and 2008 portray an unsatisfactory environment for economic and financial control including weak mechanisms for budget preparation and control, financial reporting, external audit and human resources. In-depth structural reforms are required to improve economic governance, public expenditure management, the financial sector and public enterprises to strengthen capacity in public administration. To this end, with the support of the donor community, the Government of DRC is undertaking a series of PFM reforms in budget preparation and execution, adhesion to Treasury forecasts, preparation of regular budget execution reports, and the simplification of the national budget classification system. The first critical steps for PFM reform include the adoption of a new procurement code in December 2008 and the adoption in July 2011 of a new PFM organic Law. Additional decrees are being finalized to clarify the organic Law. It will take time for these reforms to yield substantial improvements in the management of public funds. As a result, the overall country fiduciary risk is still considered High. A repeated PEFA will be performed by the end of 2012 to take stock of progress and revise the existing PFM strategic plan, paving the way for a new PFM Technical Assistance operation expected to be implemented by the Bank. An assessment of the use of national PFM systems will be undertaken in FY13 to identify areas for Bank assistance and projects. While waiting for the outcomes of the use of country system assessment, the proposed project will (i) be entrusted to the Secretary General of the MEPSP, (ii) use the deconcentrated administrative services (bureaux gestionnaires, ordonnateur délégué provincial, Service de Contr?le et de la Paie des Enseignants…) at the provincial level subject to reinforcement and (iii) rely on PARSE fiduciary arrangements that will be strengthened. It is worth noting that PARSE fiduciary unit has performed satisfactorily in the management of the procurement activities and financial management in the project. In addition, it has acquired substantial experience in the sector. PARSE’s existing financial management arrangements are more than adequate and comply with Bank minimum requirements. Key weaknesses and Action Plan to reinforce the control environmentSignificant Weaknesses or risksActionResponsible bodyCompletion DateExisting FM manual of procedures do not include the new project specifics.Revise the existing manual to include the new project specifics and ensure adequate ownership by the new players including the LEAs. PARSEDoneNational budget execution and accounting procedures at the deconcentrated level suffers from bottlenecks in the expenditures chain (duplicate controls, delay in transferring the resources…). This could hamper the execution of the project components to be implemented at the deconcentrated level. PARSE is already suffering from this situation.During project implementationRecruit, through a competitive process the LEAs for the implementation of the school constructions component. Each LEA will need to comply with minimum fiduciary requirements (seasoned FM officer, adequate fiduciary platform). Recruit one budget and finance officer at the PROVED offices. They will be in charge of providing technical support to the PFM actors at the decondentrated level on budget cycle.MEPSP (Central and PROVEDs)ToR doneRecruitment 3 months after effectivemessCurrent External audit arrangements are not related to the new projectAmend the ToR of the external auditor underway to be recruited.IDA/MoFDoneRisk of fraud & corruption in the payroll management and operation cost transferred at the deconcentrated level.Ex ante controls: The revised operations manual will help to ensure an adequate ex ante control environment. Ensure actual implementation of SECOPE reform action plan.Ex post controls: Technical and financial internal auditors will play a key role in the ex post controls arrangements. External financial audit as well as Bank integrated fiduciary review will complement the arrangements. The development of an effective complaint handling mechanism will help to capture beneficiaries concerns and track poor performance. This will complement the social accountability measures already in place and proposed in the project.PARSE/IDAOver project implementationStaffing and Training: The financial team is in place using the capacity of PARSE (an Administrative and Financial Manager, and two internal auditors).. The team is well conversant with Bank FM procedures. After a period of one year, an assessment of the team work load will be performed to determine if an additional accountant should be recruited. At the deconcentrated level, the project will rely on administrative and accounting staff present in the “bureaux gestionnaires”. To reinforce the arrangements one finance and budget officer for each provincial education office will be recruited to support these provinces in overseeing the expenditure by the LEAs. They will also reinforce the capacity of the public accountants that will become key actors in the next phases of support to the education sector. This staffing will be complemented by the recruitment on a competitive basis of LEAs endowed with adequate fiduciary staff. The last two mitigation actions are deemed to be appropriate alternatives for weaknesses in the public expenditure chain. They also allow to build capacity for utilization of the public expenditure chain in the medium term. Budgeting: PARSE’s existing operations manuals include detailed budgeting procedures for the consolidation of the activities submitted by the implementing entities, the preparation of annual work plans, and their adoption by the Steering Committee to the budget execution. The manuals will be revised to incorporate the new project specifics including the role of LEAs. Accounting Policies and Procedures: PARSE’s operations manuals detail the accounting policies and procedures which are in line with Congolese accounting principles. The manuals will be revised to include project specifics (chart of account, procedures of posting of teachers salaries transactions, LEAs....). The existing accounting software which has multi projects, multi sites and multi donors’ features will be used. At the deconcentrated level, a simplified accounting system will be put in place. A statement of expenditures will serve to account for the money transfer. The supporting documents will be retained at the “bureaux gestionnaires” which will be subject to external and internal audits. Internal Control and Internal Auditing: Subject to revision of the operations manual, the existing internal control arrangements at PARSE will be applied. In addition, the Provincial Education offices will play a key role in overseeing the local executing agencies. Each local implementation agency will comprise a minimum staff (e.g., head of office, one finance and administration officer, etc.). The finance and budget officers to be recruited will play a key role in the internal control environment at deconcentrated level as they will build capacity of the actors and oversee the LEAs. The existing internal audit unit located at PARSE which comprises 2 internal auditors (financial and technical auditors) will be used. Subject to a performance evaluation, their contracts could be extended after the initial term scheduled for December 2012. The new project will be included in the annual audit plan that will be set up on the basis of risk evaluation Given the risk associated with operating cost transactions, rehabilitation of classrooms and text books distribution, the focus of the annual audit will be on the verification of expenditures and physical outputs of transactions. Joint audit with the General Inspectorate of Finance are envisaged. A summary of audit reports as well as implementation status of the recommendations will be incorporated in the quarterly Interim Financial Management Reports. Funds Flow and Disbursement Arrangements: As for the Global Partnership for Education Fund, two Designated Accounts (DAs) will be opened. The bank accounts will be denominated in US$. The transaction-based disbursement procedures will be applied. Designated Account A will be opened in a commercial bank acceptable to World Bank and used to finance all components except the activities that will be implemented by the “bureaux gestionnaires”. The ceiling of designated account A will be set to 2US$ million and is estimated to cover four months of project expenditures for all project components except subcomponent 3.1.Payments from the DA will be made in accordance with the provisions of the revised operations manuals (i.e., joint signatures by the Secretary General of EPSP and the FM project officer will be required for any payment, application of Bank procurement guidelines for goods and services. The contract management agreements signed with the Local Execution Agencies for the school construction (the LEA to be recruited based on agreed terms of reference) will specify the payment modalities (opening of subaccounts in commercial banks acceptable to the Bank, etc.) to be used to pay the suppliers selected through acceptable Bank procurement procedures. Replenishment of the LEA accounts will be done monthly by the project upon submission through the Provincial Education office, of acceptable supporting documents that will include a Statement of Expenses together with all invoices, good receipt notes and bank reconciliation. Payments from the sub accounts will be subject to joint signatory of the head of office and the finance and administration officer. They will be subject to external audit. The DA will be used for all payments less than twenty percent of the ceiling and replenishment applications will be submitted electronically via the Client Connection website as often as possible against full documentation, except for the following items of expenditures: (a) contracts for works in an amount less than US$500,000; (b) contracts for equipment and goods less than US$250,000; (c) contracts for consultants firm in an amount less than US$100,000 equivalent per contract; (d) and contracts for individual consultants in an amount less than US$50,000 equivalent per contract, as well as all operating costs, which would be claimed on the basis of Statement of Expenditures. All supporting documents should be retained at the project or implementing agencies and readily accessible for review by IDA implementation support missions and external auditors. Direct payments will be made to service providers, if need be.Designated Account B will be opened at the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) - much more decentralized in the areas of project implementation than commercial banks - to finance a defined list of activities to be implemented by 160 “bureaux gestionnaires”. It is worth noting that the central government resources financing these “bureaux gestionnaires” are already being channeled via existing local branches of the Central Bank. The ceiling of designated account B will be set to US$800,000 and is estimated to cover four months of project expenditures related to subcomponent 3.1.Transactions on Designated Account B will be initiated by the Secretary General of EPSP and the Finance Officer and be submitted to the signature of the Ministry of Finance in line with the national procedures for any account opened at the Central Bank. Sub accounts will be opened by the “bureaux gestionnaires” (S/PROVED, Inspool and Subprovincial Coordinations) in the Central Bank branches where they exist. To this end an updated stock take will be conducted to identify the remaining areas where these branches do not exist. For these areas, other financial institutions such as existing “messageries” will be used. The subaccounts will be managed by the local management committees established in the “bureaux gestionnaires” composed of, among others, the head of the office and an accountant. These committees will account for the advance received on a quarterly basis (not later than 15 days after the end of the quarter) using a simplified reporting template that will include the details of expenditure and the opening and closing balance of the treasury. The supporting documents will be retained by the “bureaux gestionnaires” for internal and external audits…The DA as well as sub-account management, as described, meets the minimum requirements for Bank Financial Management policy (OP 10.02 and its effective replacement thereafter).To manage the Education for All Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund – European Commission, one Designated Account (DA-C) will be opened at a commercial bank acceptable to the Bank. However, given the nature of activities to be financed under this TF (textbooks), it is likely that direct payment will be the mostly used. The ceiling of the DA will be set to US$ 300,000.Disbursements by category: The table below sets out the expenditure categories to be financed out of the Grant proceeds. This table takes into account the prevailing Country Financing Parameter for DRC in setting out the financing levels. GPECategoryAmount of the Grant Allocated (expressed in US$Percentage of Expenditures to be Financed(inclusive of Taxes)Goods, works, non-consulting services, consultants’ services, Training and Operating Costs under the Project (other than Parts B.2(a)(i) and C.1 of the Project) 88,600,000100%Goods, non-consulting services, consultants’ services, Training and Operating Costs under Part C.1 of the Project5,000,000100%TOTAL AMOUNT93,600,000EFA-FTI ECCategoryAmount of the Grant Allocated (expressed in USD)Percentage of Expenditures to be Financed(inclusive of Taxes)Goods under Part B.2(a)(i) of the Project 6,400,000100 %TOTAL AMOUNT6,400,000Financial Reporting and Monitoring: The existing PARSE administrative, financial and accounting procedures have provisions for quarterly and yearly financial reporting including reporting on physical progress. The same arrangements will continue to be applied and are indicated in the administrative, financial and accounting manual. . The current format includes (i) statements of sources and use of funds, and use of funds per category, (ii) updated procurement plans, and (iii) physical progress will be amended to incorporate the summary of the internal audit missions as well as the implementation status of recommendations. External Auditing: The project’s financial statements as well as internal control system applied will be subject to an annual audit using the existing external audit arrangements. The scope mandate of the auditor under recruitment will be revised to include the new project and its specifics (all the LEAs, all the 160 “bureaux gestionnaires”.). The auditor will provide an opinion on the annual financial statements in compliance with IFAC Standards on Auditing. In addition to the audit reports, the external auditors will be expected to prepare a Management Letter giving observations, comments, and providing recommendations for improvements in accounting records, systems, controls and compliance with financial covenants in the Financing agreement. A special opinion will be produced on the component the school constructions. The project will be required to produce, no later than June 30 of the following fiscal year, audited annual financial statements. In line with the new access to information policy, the project will comply with the Bank disclosure policy of audit reports (e.g., make publicly available, promptly after receipt of all final financial audit reports (including qualified audit reports) and place this information on its the official website within one month of the report being accepted as final by the team. Implementation support Plan: FM implementation support missions will be consistent with a risk-based approach, and will involve a collaborative approach with the entire Task Team. A first implementation support mission will be performed six months after project effectiveness. Thereafter, missions will be scheduled using a risk based approach and will include the following diligences: (i) monitoring of the financial management arrangements during supervision at intervals determined by the risk rating assigned to the overall FM Assessment at entry and subsequently during Implementation (ISR); (ii) integrated fiduciary review of key contracts, (iii) review of the IFRs; (iv) review of the audit reports and management letters from the external auditors and follow-up on material accountability issues by engaging with the Bank team leader, MEPSP, and/or Auditors; the quality of the audits (internal and external) will also be monitored closely to ensure that they cover all relevant aspects and provide evidence of the appropriate use of funds by recipients; (v) physical supervision on the ground; and (vi) assistance to build or maintain appropriate capacity in financial management.Conclusions of the FM Assessment: The overall residual FM risk at preparation is considered Substantial. The proposed financial management arrangements for this project are considered adequate to meet the Bank’s minimum fiduciary requirements under OP/BP10.02. ProcurementA.General: Procurement rules to be appliedProcurement activities under this project will be carried out in accordance with the World Bank’s "Guidelines: Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits" dated January 2011; and "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers" dated January 2011; and the provisions stipulated in the Legal Agreement. The general description of various items under different expenditure category is described below. For each contract to be financed by the Loan/Credit, the different procurement methods or consultant selection methods, the need for prequalification, estimated costs, prior review requirements, and time frame are agreed between the Borrower and the Bank project team in the Procurement Plan. The Procurement Plan will be updated at least annually or as required to reflect the actual project implementation needs and improvements in institutional capacity. B.Use of the national procurement law/code provisions and the related institutions and texts of application For all contracts not advertised internationally, the Bank may authorize the use of the national procurement system that comprises the law including its texts of application and the institutions in charge of control and regulation. In such case, the national competitive bidding procedures shall be reviewed and modified as necessary to assure economy, efficiency, transparency, and broad consistency with the provisions included in Section I and paragraphs 3.3 and 3.4 of the Bank Procurement Guidelines. C.Items to be procured and the methods to be usedAdvertisement : General Procurement Notice (GPN), Specific Procurement Notices (SPN), Requests for Expression of Interest, and 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" dated January 2011; and "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers" dated January 2011. For this purpose, the MEPSP will prepare and submit to the Bank a General Procurement Notice (GPN). Specific Procurement Notice (SPN) for all goods, non-consulting services and works to be procured under International Competitive Bidding (ICB) and Requests for Expressions of Interests for all consulting services costing the equivalent of US$200,000.00 and above will be published in Dg Market, on the Bank’s external website, and in the national press, in addition to other media with wide circulation. All other specific procurement notices and other requests for expression of interest shall be published at a minimum in the national press with wide circulation.Procurement of Goods: Goods procured under this project will include: (i) the acquisition and distribution of textbooks; (ii) school furniture and equipment, computer equipment, office materials and supplies, vehicles and related products. The procurement will be done under ICB or NCB using the Bank’s Standard Bidding Documents for all ICB and National Standard Bidding Documents agreed with or satisfactory to the Bank. Small value goods may be procured under shopping procedures. Direct contracting may be used where necessary if agreed in the procurement plan in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3.7 to 3.8 of the Procurement Guidelines. All ICB contract and the first contract for Goods for each LEA will be subject to prior review by the World Bank.Procurement of Non-consultancy services: Non-consultancy services under this project will include the distribution of textbooks in all provinces by various means of transportation deemed to be the most convenient and economical way to reach all schools. They will also include workshops, training, etc. The project will use NCB procedures agreed with the Bank and National Standard Bidding Documents agreed with or satisfactory to the Bank. Small value non-consultancy services may be procured under shopping procedures. Direct contracting may be used where necessary if agreed in the procurement plan in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3.7 to 3.8 of the Procurement Guidelines.Procurement of Works: Works procured under this project will include reconstruction and renovation of approximately 900 dilapidated classrooms, and the provision of latrines and clean water. Procurement will be done under NCB using National Standard Bidding Documents agreed with or satisfactory to the Bank. Small value works may be procured under shopping procedures. Direct contracting may be used where necessary if agreed in the procurement plan in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3.7 to 3.8 of the Procurement Guidelines. The prequalification processes for all the contracts for works to be procured using NCB are subject to prior review by the Bank. The first contract for works (schools construction works) for each LEA will be subject to prior review by the World Bank.Selection and employment of Consultants: Consultancy services (Consulting firms or Individual consultants) under this project will be selected on a competitive basis. The selection method for consulting firms will be Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) method whenever possible. Contracts for specialized assignments estimated to cost less than USD200,000.00 equivalent may be contracted through Consultant Qualification (CQ). The following additional methods may be used where appropriate: Quality Based Selection (QBS); Selection under a Fixed Budget (FB); and Least-Cost Selection (LCS).The LEAs will be selected on a competitive basis using the selection method based on the Consultants’ Qualifications (CQS). The selection of LEAs will be subject to Bank prior review. Short lists of consultants for services estimated to cost less than the equivalent of US$200,000.00 per contract may be composed entirely of national consultants in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2.7 of the Consultant Guidelines. However, if foreign firms express interest, they will not be excluded from consideration.Single Source Selection (SSS) may be employed with prior approval of the Bank and will be in accordance with paragraphs 3.8 to 3.11 of the Consultant Guidelines. All services of Individual Consultants (IC) will be procured under contracts in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 5.1 to 5.6 of the Guidelines.Operational Costs which would be financed by the Project would be procured using the implementing agency’s administrative procedures described in the Project administrative, financial and accounting manual to be reviewed and found acceptable to the Bank.D.Institutional arrangements for procurement and capacity assessment1)Implementation arrangements The procurement activities of the project will be handled at the central level and at the decentralized level. At the central level the procurement activities will be handled by the Cellule de Gestion des Projets et des Marchés Publics (CGPMP) the newly created procurement unit within the Ministry of Education (MEPSP), and at the decentralized level they will be carried out by local executing agencies (LEAs) through a signed CMA (Contract Management Agreement) The CGPMP at the central level has the overall responsibility for the quality of procurement under the whole project. At the central level the CGPMP of the MEPSP will benefit from the staff of the current Procurement Unit of PARSE; this unit is staffed with one Procurement Specialist and one procurement assistant who have acceptable qualifications and experience in procurement. While the CGPMP handles procurement activities at the central level, it should ensure that the agreed procurement rules are respected at the decentralized level. For this purpose, it will carry out periodic post controls on the way procurement activities are conducted and build the capacity of the actors at the deconcentrated level. The important role of the CGPMP in the management of procurement activities and the fact that it does not have currently the necessary skills and experience shows the need for more capacity. For that reason, and beyond the assistance received from staff of the former PARSE, it is crucial to recruit an International Procurement Expert who will provide the CGPMP with technical support and training on a periodical basis. At the decentralized level procurement activities will mainly concern the implementation of the infrastructure program in the component 1. These procurement activities will be carried out by LEAs which will sign a contract management agreement (CMA-convention de gestion) with MEPSP at the provincial level. Given the lack of capacity and experience in procurement at the decentralized levels the selection of LEAs will be carried out at the decentralized level in close collaboration with the procurement unit at the central level. The LEAs will be selected on a competitive basis using the selection method based on the Consultants’ Qualifications (CQS). The selection of LEAs will be subject to Bank prior review. In the execution of its mandate through the CMA, LEAs will outsource the implementation of the activities to enterprises and suppliers for works and furniture for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of schools’; the tasks may include hiring individuals and firms for design and supervision of the works. The enterprises will be outsourced by LEAs after a prequalification process acceptable to the Bank. The invitation to prequalify prior to bidding will use the Standard Prequalification Document issued by the Bank adapted to the context in a manner acceptable to the Bank. The invitation for prequalification will be advertised and interested parties notified as described in compliance with World Bank Guidelines. The responsibilities of LEA on procurement activities management will be detailed in the operations manual. The procurement activities carried out by LEAs will be periodically reviewed by the CGPMP in the purpose of quality control.As final beneficiaries of the rehabilitated or reconstructed classrooms the community represented by COGES will contribute and supervise construction works. LEA will strengthen the capacity of communities through simplified procurement training. 2)Assessment of the agency’s capacity to implement procurementAn assessment of the capacity of the MEPSP to implement procurement actions for the project has been carried out. The assessment reviewed the organizational structure of the CGPMP within the MEPSP for implementing the procurement. The assessment found that the CGPMP has currently limited capacity and does not have the required staff with necessary qualifications and experience to handle the project procurement activities. This is why the CGPMP will be reinforced by the procurement staff of former PARSE and one International Procurement Expert who will provide periodically technical support and training to the CGPMP. E.Assessment of the risks and the related mitigation measures1)Risks that have been identifiedThe risk factors for procurement performance include those posed by the country context and those due to the low procurement capacity of the MEPSP. This ministry will be in charge of project implementation as pointed out above. With reference to the country context and the experience with the current project implemented by PARSE the procurement in this project is likely to involve the following risks:?The administrative system as it operates in practice creates opportunities for informal interference in the procurement process by senior officials;?Government officials likely to be involved in project procurement through tender and evaluation committees may not be familiar with procurement procedures according to IDA guidelines and rules; ?Control and regulation mechanism according to the provisions of the new procurement law and its application procedures could delay the procurement process if mandatory reviews are required;?At the decentralized level, few companies are qualified and experienced in supplying goods and construction works for development projects in the current country conditions; thus Goods may not be available or exorbitantly expensive, especially up-country. As a result, there may be insufficient competition resulting in higher prices of goods and services;?The implementation of the management contracts signed with the LEAs could be problematic in some sub-provinces because of lack of experience of LEAs.The overall project risk level for procurement is High.2)Measures to mitigate the above risks?To mitigate the risks of political interference, the Project Implementation Team will have full responsibility through delegation from Minister of education. The operations manual will elaborate on how this delegation will operate.?To mitigate risks related to the low level of capacity at the decentralized level, all proposed procurement decisions at a given threshold (to be determined) will be subject to mandatory review by the CGPMP at the central level. ?To avoid delays in the procurement process due to the interventions of the national control and regulation system, it was agreed that the Government will complete the on-going work on establishing the review threshold of Bank-financed projects and pass a decree to that effect. ?In case of goods and works for which there is a few number of suppliers or contractors the advertisement may be done country wide if necessary.?A project launch workshop will be carried out for all project stakeholders including the actors from the decentralized level, (relevant staff of all other entities involved in project implementation, NGOs, contractors, suppliers and civil society). During this workshop clear explanations of LEAs intervention will be provided. In addition to this LEAs will benefit the design and implementation of an appropriate capacity building and training program.For more transparency and integrity in the implementation of this project, all relevant information will be published in a well-known web site; these include the following: Project Appraisal Document and Grant Agreement; advertisements; funding proposals; terms of reference for all activities; contract awards; progress reports from implementing entities; a procedure for handling complaints satisfactory to the Word Bank; and complaints received and action taken.The Project Operations Manual includes all procurement methods to be used in the project along with step by step explanation as well as the standard and sample documents to be used for each method.F.Frequency of Procurement SupervisionIn addition to the prior review supervision to be carried out by the Bank staff, the capacity assessment of the Implementing Agency has recommended one supervision mission each six months during the first 18 months to visit the field to carry out post review of procurement actions. These missions in the first 18 months shall involve a Bank Procurement Specialist or a Consultant.G.Procurement PlanningThe Recipient has developed a Procurement Plan acceptable to the Bank. For each contract to be financed under this program, the different procurement methods or consultant selection methods, the need for pre-qualification, estimated costs, prior review requirements, and time frame are included in the Procurement Plan. The procurement plan will be updated at least annually, or as required, to reflect actual project implementation needs and improvements in institutional capacity. All procurement plans, their updates or modifications shall be subject to Bank’s prior review prior to implementation. Following the grant negotiations, the Bank shall arrange publication of the agreed initial procurement plan and all subsequent updates, on the Bank’s external website. The Anti-Corruption Guidelines, namely, the “Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants” dated October 15, 2006, and revised in January 2011, shall apply.The thresholds for the use of the various procurement and selections methods are summarized below:Thresholds for procurement methods and Bank prior reviewExpenditure CategoryContract Value Threshold(US$)Procurement MethodContracts Subject to Prior Review (US$)1. Works≥10,000,000<10,000,000<200,000All amountICBNCBShoppingDirect contractingAllAll contracts ≥ 5.000.000, the first contract of each LEA and the prequalification processes for all the contractsNoneAll2. Goods≥1,000,000 <1,000,000<500,000<100,000All amountICBNCBShopping from all major brands of vehicles dealers or distributors of petroleum productsShoppingDirect contractingAllAll contracts ≥500,000 and the first contract of each LEAShortlist of: (i) vehicles dealers; and (ii) distributors of petroleum products. The technical specifications of vehicles.NoneAll2. Services FirmsIndividual Cons.≥200,000<200,000≥100,000<100,000All amountCQICICSSSAll Only the selection of LEAsAllNoneAllAll TOR regardless of the value of the contract are subject to prior review.H. Details of the Procurement Arrangements Involving International Competition1.Goods and Works and non-consulting servicesList of contract packages to be procured following ICB and direct contracting:Ref.Contract (Description)Estimated CostIn US$Procurement MethodDomestic Preference Review by Bank (Prior/Post)Expected Bid-Opening DateComments1Poste radio avec modem pour carte SD (3radios/école) pour Equateur et Kasai Occidental1,800AOINonPriori28/03/20132Lecteur vidéo type iPad avec panneau solaire 1vidéo/3écoles pour Equateur et Kasai Occidental1,650AOINonPriori02/04/20133Achat cartes SD pour duplication modules audio et AV pour Equateur et K-Occ1,460AOINonPriori30/04/20134Réimpression des manuels scolaires (Fran?ais et Math 3e et 4e années primaires) par : BEAUCHEMIN INTERNATIONAL ET HACHETTE INTERNATIONAL9,342EDNonPriori5Impression des nouveaux manuels livrés aux PROVED et COORD ( Fran?ais, Math, Sciences, Ed.Civ&morale 5e et 6e)27,886AOINonPriori27/11/20126Impression de guides livrés aux PROVED et COORD (toutes les matières)2,508AOINonPriori17/12/2012Consulting ServicesList of Consulting Assignments recruited internationally:RefDescription of AssignmentEstimated CostSelection MethodReview by the Bank (Prior/ Post)EOI published onExpected Proposals Submission DateExpected contract signature dateCommentEtudes et enquêtes de suivi auprès des béneficiaires400SFQCPriori15/05/201316/08/201324/11/2013Annex 6: Operational Risk Assessment Framework (ORAF)DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOSupport to Basic Education Program under the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) FundProject Stakeholder Risks RatingHighDescription: The MEPSP is overseen by a committed Minister, and the PIU within MEPSP will be led by an experienced Secretary General. Government as a whole is committed to improving delivery and management of primary education, and to achieving the MDGs. Inspite of this changes in the leadership of the ministry are possible given the fragile context in which the government operates and this could undermine continued commitment to the sector program.The benefits of the involvement of communities and religious organizations in the management of schools could be undermined by increased participation by the government in the systemRisk Management:The Minister was reappointed to the ministry after the elections given his commitment to seeing through reforms in the sector. This is a demonstration of the commitment of the country to developing education as a priority. Resp: MEPSP and Bank| Stage: Prep | Due Date: | Status: CompletedRisk Management:The GPE intervention is one component of a broader education intervention that has been developed through a participatory process, inclusive of religious organizations and other critical stakeholders. To mitigate the potential for disagreement, and to ensure smooth implementation across the edifice of education delivery, the MEPSP and relevant faith-based organizations, cosigned the Roadmap for education reform, establishing a broad-based consensus regarding the need to restructure the administration of education as a prerequisite for financing and improved delivery of education. The spirit of this consensus, and established participatory processes will be continued through the Provincial Committees for EPSP – comprising key provincial education officials and local civil society (including but not limited to: teacher unions, parents NGOs) and faith-based munications campaigns to highlight the benefits of education and education reform will be intensified to encourage community buy-in, and ensure the deepening of consensus around the need for reform throughout the education system.Resp: MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal | Due Date: | Status: In ProgressImplementing Agency Risks (including fiduciary)CapacityRating:HighDescription: The MEPSP has limited experience in managing and coordinating externally funded operations, including Bank projects, and will require capacity to be built for effective project management. The MEPSP Secretariat General is part of the administration working in an environment of low motivation and accountability, with lengthy processes. In addition, being a line ministry, the MEPSP does not directly execute budgets and consequently lacks experience in financial management and reporting. A procurement unit has been established in the MEPSP but is relatively inexperienced. The procurement unit will require capacity building to implement a project of this magnitude. Weak capacity to administer procurement of textbooks, and pedagogical content could hamper the rapidity of textbook distribution. Supply chains in rural and conflict affected areas could undermine distribution and service delivery.Risk Management:Mainstreaming of the project in the MEPSP will ensure that the Secretary-General and line managers with intimate knowledge and experience of the issues will be responsible for implementation. The Secretary General will be supported by of an executive officer dedicated to the project. This approach would raise the motivation level of managers and staff and permit the use of interventions tailored to the specific context and which take into account technical, economic and socio-cultural factors. The technical weaknesses of line staff will be addressed by appointment of qualified staff with clear terms of reference and the support of the CAT to support implementation and M&E activities. This combination will substantially increase the chances of successful implementation. It would also allow seamless oversight by the leadership of the ministry. Fiduciary management which is more technical and for it is difficult to find specialists to fill public sector positions will be addressed using the strengthened capacity of PARSE along with technical assistance and LEAs at the provincial level. Although conventional construction and procurement methods will be utilized, while building the capacity for communities to participate in future interventions, communities will participate by observing the procurement process and performing oversight during construction.Construction activities draw on government’s construction strategy developed with the support of the PARSE. In addition, implementation at PROVED and sub-provincial offices will be tied to performance-agreements to ensure effective oversight of implementation. In turn, employment contracts between sub-provincial offices and school heads will ensure accountability and oversight to the most devolved unit of education delivery.LEAs will play a key role in reinforcing local capacity. The project will build the capacity of the MEPSP procurement unit to ensure skills transfer for long term sustainability. International procurement specialists will be hired to assist the procurement unit in fulfilling its duties at the central and provincial levels and assist in capacity building.The current arrangements for delivery of textbooks will be further decentralized to the PROVEDs and sub PROVEDs levels, including school management offices, to improve efficiency and accountability. Emphasis will be put on using local networks and transportation with more intimate knowledge of the local challenges and resources for overcoming them. Resp: MEPSP| Stage: Appraisal | Due Date: | Status: In ProgressDescription: Capacity at the PROVED and LEA level for implementation and oversight of construction is expected to be highly variable. Capacity for oversight and implementation of the infrastructure component of the project will require capacity building and technical assistance. Construction activities draw on government’s construction strategy developed with the support of the PARSE. Risk Management:Construction activities will draw on lessons learned and expertise developed through the course of the PARSE initiative, as well as the experience of established initiatives conducted by UNICEF and CARITAS. PROVEDs will be strengthened by the retention of engineers and other technicians for effective planning and supervision of LEA activities. LEAs will recruit consultants, where necessary, to assist in operational management and supervision of construction. TA will be recruited at the provincial level to help supervise the LEAs. A detailed manual is being developed, premised on lessons learned and best practice, to establish norms and standards to guide the infrastructure delivery component of the project.Resp: Bank and MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal | Due Date: | Status: In progressDescription:The in-service training component of the project will generalize the successful interventions associated with the APEP and PAQUED initiatives. Supplementing technical expertise of the DIPROMA and SERNOFOR to manage in-service training and prepare training modules could lead to delays in the roll-out of this component of the interventions.Risk Management:A joint technical committee will be established to guide the management of in-service training and the development of modules at the national level. This committee will be supplemented by local and international technical experts where necessary. The Training teacher program will start with existing modules, developed by the MEPSP with support from USAID and being used in other provinces. New modules will be prepared by specialists in workshops based on that experience, SERNAFOR and DIPROMA will be assisted by experts from the University of Kinshasa and international institutions in the design and eventual evaluation of training modules.Resp: MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal | Due Date: | Status: In ProgressGovernanceRating:SubstantialDescription: Significant management, oversight and implementation capacity weakness is evident across the edifice of education administration. Decision making in the administration of education in the DRC tends to be centralized, with less than optimal communication lines. The decentralized execution of project activities in a system with a hybrid structure (state-run and church-run) will add to the complexity of information flows and potentially undermine transparency.Devolution of implementation responsibility to sub-national units could complicate the governance of the project as a whole, and undermine coherent management thereof.Risk Management:The CAT which has been involved in the development of the EPSP strategy and the Education Interim Plan, and has played a catalytic role during all these processes, will be retained as part of the implementation arrangement structure. Staffed with national and international experts, it is more agile in the dissemination of information in a neutral way, and is relatively insulated from the institutional culture of the MEPSP as a whole. A strong communication strategy will be prepared and implemented throughout the project execution with the view not only to share information but also to foster greater accountability. Resp: MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal | Due Date: | Status: In ProgressRisk Management:Close supervision by the LEDG, World Bank and partners with regard to technical support should help to mitigate and address governance problems as they arise Resp: Bank and partners | Stage: Ongoing | Due Date: Throughout| Status: CompleteRisk Management:The inclusion of norms and standards in the operations manuals, as well as clear lines of reporting to the MEPSP SG through results based agreements should mitigate the potential for suboptimal governance. The formation of technical committees and the retention of technical expertise at the PROVED level should strengthen the capacity of PROVEDs for the effective exercise of oversight and accountability. Results -agreements between school heads and sub-PROVEDs will bind activities and reporting arrangements at the most deconcentrated level of implementation. Moreover, civil society and community engagement, and the capacitating of communities to effectively oversee implementation of the project is given particular attention in the project to encourage bottom-up accountability and the demand for better governance of education more generally.Resp: Bank and MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal| Due Date: | Status: -In ProgressProject RisksDesignRating:HighDescription: The project has retained a relatively simple design, supporting one reform with technical complexity (restructuring of the administrative offices) and also introduces innovation to mainstream project management in MEPSP structure.Delays in procurement, capacity building, and the development of methodologies have the potential to negatively affect aspects of implementation and/or disbursement, and result in significant delays to project implementation.The need to accommodate different stakeholders and decision-making procedures at sub-national level could lead to slow down of project implementation due to inexperience in implementing WB projects.Risk Management:All relevant stakeholders were consulted at the design stage to avoid confusion/ensure clarity amongst all parties involved. Capacity building and the training of ministerial directorate staff, and PROVED officials should reduce risk. M&E capacity will be strengthened to support efficient project implementation. The project has limited its major interventions to two provinces. Best practices, mechanisms and procedural arrangements that have been enhanced under many Bank’s operations will be used. Resp: MEPSP and Bank | Stage: Appraisal | Due Date: | Status: In ProgressRisk Management:Project management staffing will be undertaken using clear terms of reference, with transparent selection criteria. Salary level will be commensurate to the scope of responsibilities and performance. Preliminary discussions with the authorities underscored that counterpart funds will be secured to finance these motivation arrangements. The implementation arrangement to include the fiduciary specialists of the PARSE will also contribute to mitigating the risk. Resp: MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal| Due Date: | Status: CompletedRisk Management:Regular oversight and supervision from the Bank team, as well as assistance from the LEDG and CAT, should help to address bottlenecks and backlogs when and where they occur. Resp: Bank and Partners | Stage: Appraisal | Due Date: Throughout | Status: In ProgressSocial & EnvironmentalRating:LowDescription: The project is designed to address infrastructural backlogs, and delivery of educational services to marginal and needy communities. Construction is not expected to entail major safeguards issues.Construction will only affect existing communities, and the model envisaged makes explicit account of their concerns. No involuntary displacement is expected as a result of project interventions.Risk Management:An ESMF, RPF, and IPPF have been prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed before appraisal. Construction design follows technical standards premised on international best practice. Close monitoring of safeguards during implementation. Resp: Bank and MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal | Due Date: | Status: In ProgressRisk Management:Appropriate staffing of MEPSP with social and environmental oversight capacity and training of these staff. Although it is unlikely that any major social and environmental risks will materialize, the safeguards instruments include guidance for addressing impacts and propose mitigation measures. ESMPs and IPPs will be prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed during project implementation; RAPs will be prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed as and when necessary. Resp: MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal| Due Date: | Status: In progressProgram & DonorRating:LowDescription: While the project supports the implementation of the IEP that are supported by other donors, it is also a stand-alone operation, and as a consequence the PDO is insulated from changes in the donor environment. Nevertheless, the project builds synergy and coherence between the specific interventions associated with the project and those of the other donors. For example the in-service training component of the project will be adopted by UNICEF in other provinces. Risk Management:Regular coordination through donor meetings and the LEDG, and information sharing should mitigate the risk of poor communication and the potential for duplication between partners. In addition, joint annual sector reviews are expected to be organized so as to foster operational coordination while lowering transaction costs. The project should serve to deepen relations between government and partners, strengthen donor harmonization and reduce risk.Resp: Partners and MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal| Due Date: | Status: In ProgressDelivery Monitoring & SustainabilityRating:HighMonitoring and EvaluationDescription: The culture of monitoring and evaluation in the DRC, utilizing evidence-based information, is under-developed. Impact evaluation of interventions is seldom undertaken. The capacity to collect sector data to produce annual statistics is inadequate, and the information is not used for analytical purposes. Moreover, the process is not institutionalized and is dependent on external support. Weaknesses in data management and analysis, as well as the decentralization of delivery, could result informational delays.Weaknesses within the MEPSP relating to management and planning, and M&E have the potential to undermine gains associated with the project and compromise sustainability. Risk Management?:In close synergy with other donors (specifically UNICEF and UNESCO) the project will explicitly addresses weaknesses in data collection and analysis through the decentralization of the process of data collection and data treatment to targeted areas. To ensure regular M&E and data management, and to encourage accountability, annual joint sector reviews of the IEP will be conducted with the participation of civil society. The IEP also envisages the creation of an education observatory with sustained NGO participation. Resp: Bank, partners and MEPSP | Stage: Appraisal| Due Date: | Status: In ProgressSustainabilityDescription:Sustainability is fostered through anchoring anchoring the project in the IEP.Some of the reforms supported by the project are vulnerable to changes in commitment on the part of a range state and non-state entities: specifically the Education and Finance ministries, budget support, and the civil service, as well as the important religious networks. The fiscal implications of reforms are transitory costs also financed by the project, which could lead to sustainability challenges. Sector expansion and reform could be constrained by the budget framework and financing sustainability in the context of existing limitations on public financing of the sector.Risk Management:The geographic coverage of the key reforms has been limited to better support and monitor implementation. Communication and information campaigns are on-going and will continue. With the assistance of the Bank, Government has made commitments to support the recurrent costs (integration of additional teaching posts in the budget, national harmonization of teachers’ pay, operating costs to schools and to the administrative structures, etc.) in the recent past. The project includes actions to institutionalize activities that currently depend on external financing. Restructuring of administrative offices and the introduction of results agreements with sub-national units will contribute to a leaner organizational structure with strengthened institutional capacity. Resp: Bank, partners and MEPSP| Stage: Appraisal | Due Date: continuous | Status: In ProgressRisk Management:The Government committed to increase the budget allocations to education and this commitment will be closely monitored by the LEDG.Resp: Bank, partners and MEPSP| Stage: Complete | Due Date: Project Duration| Status: In ProgressOverall Implementation RiskRating:HighComments: The challenging institutional context as well as complexities arising from both the technical nature of some envisaged reforms and the need to mainstream project implementation within the MEPSP imposes a high implementation risk. Variable capacity across sub-national units will require specific interventions tailored to identify capacity weaknesses.Annex 7: Implementation Support PlanDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOSUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMUNDER THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION FUNDThis implementation Support Plan is designed to address the critical areas in which support will be needed to ensure successful project implementation and complements the ORAF and the Governance and Anti-Corruption Plan. The project builds on a series of World Bank operations and other development partner projects aiming at supporting the recovery of basic education services. It is an integral part of the government’s program since it is designed to help implement the IEP. It has strong support from authorities, development partners, provincial and sub-provincial education offices as well as religious organizations that manage schools. It was designed in collaboration with the different levels of stakeholders taking into account the lessons learned from experiences with PARSE and other donor supported projects. In this regard the project will build on experiences to move the locus of decision making from the central to local levels which are more critical for ensuring provision of quality education. Therefore, a significant part of the project aims at strengthening the management offices closest to schools by re-establishing the required norms, providing adequate resources for operating costs and developing a results-based management system to which all the key players are committed through an agreed “road map”. Duration of implementation. The project will be implemented over a 3-year period, therefore, significant preparatory activities have already been initiated to strengthen capacity and establish guidelines for operationalizing project activities. The design of the program reflects the need to use existing systems that are familiar to policy makers, stakeholders and implementing agencies in order to maximize the short implementation period. Innovations and improvements to these systems are being introduced, but the project maintains simplified arrangements in line with current government processes. Instead of a separate PIU the project will be implemented by the various directorates and units of the MEPSP with continued support from the CAT and its team of technical assistance specialists. This decision also reflects the government’s and Bank’s intention to mainstream project activities within their current system. Fiduciary management will be the responsibility of the Secretary General, strengthened by the fiduciary and procurement specialists from the PARSE project reinforced to undertake the additional load.Scope. To minimize implementation risks and maximize impact on the neediest areas, the project will be implemented in 2 provinces except for the textbooks component which will be nation-wide building on past successes. The rationale for limiting the scope is that since a large part of the project is focused on system strengthening, there is a need to ensure that the interventions are well implemented, properly supervised and that progress and results are observed and appropriate lessons drawn as a basis for future scaling up. Following a participatory consultation process with the LEDG, the supervising entity and the Government, various criteria were discussed and agreed upon for selecting the two targeted provinces out of the 11 Congolese provinces. Six criteria were used to capture the most deprived provinces in terms of schooling (in particular for girls) and where donors are least active. The six criteria chosen are the following: i) Primary Completion Rate, ii) Number of Out-Of school Children, iii) Gender Parity Index in primary education, iv) Enrolment growth rate due to tuition-free policy, v) Percentage of classrooms in durable material and vi) Number of classrooms rehabilitated/rebuilt by donors and government during the last 5 years as a % of the total number of classrooms in the province. This analysis identified the Equator Province and Kasa?-West as the provinces most urgently in need. Technical support will be provided by the LEDG, Bank staff, CAT and external consultants, especially during the first phases of project implementation. Specialized support for in-service teacher training implementation, monitoring and evaluation will also be assured by practitioners who can spend time in the country to support government and implementing agencies. Study tours or country visits will also be organized. In addition to ongoing technical assistance programs such as the CAT the project also provides adequate supervision funding to help support various technical experts as needed. In mainstreaming the project in the MEPSP, the implementation arrangements will ensure that the Secretary-General and line managers use their intimate knowledge and experience of the issues to carry-out their functions. This will be done by asking them to develop specific implementation plans, monitoring implementation of these plans and holding the managers responsible The Secretary-General will be supported by an executive officer dedicated to the project. The technical weaknesses of line staff will be addressed by appointment of qualified staff with clear terms of reference and the support of the CAT to support implementation and M&E activities. Although conventional construction and procurement methods will be utilized, communities will participate in the process to increase ownership by observing the procurement process and performing oversight during construction while building the capacity for communities to participate in future interventions. Implementation of the in-service training component of the project will draw substantially from generalize the successful interventions associated with the APEP and PAQUED initiatives and TA will be provided to strengthen the capacity of the DIPROMA and SERNOFOR to manage in-service training and adapt the training modules. Oversight of the restructuring of the school management offices will be done by PROVED and sub-provincial offices using the revised and agreed norms and will be supported by TA. Monitoring and Evaluation: The project will be coordinated and overseen by the Secretary-General of the MEPSP whose office will be strengthened by a qualified staff responsible for project activities. The PROVEDs, sub-PROVEDs and religious organizations will be responsible for implementation at the province, sub-province and school levels following clearly laid down guidelines. Based on inputs received from schools, sub-PROVEDS and PROVEDs, MEPSP including the fiduciary and procurement specialists of PARSE will be responsible for providing the following consolidated monitoring data: (i) status reports on project implementation by component, including summary description of activities at the regional, district, and school levels (annually); (ii) status reports on the use of project funds (quarterly); and (iii) detailed M&E reports (annually). The main findings from the M&E reports will be incorporated into the Education Sector Annual Report discussed by the government, donors and other stakeholders during the joint reviews. In addition, the MEPSP HQ and PARSE will be responsible for preparing the following documents: (iv) interim financial reports (IFRs) for the project covering all the components; (v) financial statements and independent financial audits reports (annually); (vi) a mid-term review report with recommendations and lessons learned, and (vii) an Implementation Completion and Results Report (ICRR) including the project’s economic, financial, social and environmental impact, prior to the project closing. Significant training and technical assistance will be provided by the project to ensure that project interventions and activities are properly monitored and evaluated. A monitoring and evaluation framework will be drafted which includes an M&E Plan for tracking and assessing the activities and results of the project. Significant capacity building will be provided under the project for M&E to support deconcentrated staff in particular to undertake supervision, monitoring and evaluation especially in the collection and analysis of data. During supervision missions, the team will assess progress on staff training and development and recommend specific areas for intensive support. Joint supervision: Developed as a multi-donor program, the project implementation will continue the spirit of cooperation and partnership through joint supervision and support. The World Bank, as the supervising entity, will be responsible for ensuring compliance, performance and fiduciary standards as established in the PIM and the PAD. The Donors Coordinating Agency will take the overall leadership for coordinating the DP education group. The DP group will provide ongoing capacity building and support for implementation during the life of the project through meetings, semi-annual reviews, strategic implementation workshops and annual reviews. This strong partnership between the DPs, government and the Bank has already been established during joint preparation and is essential for ensuring continued coordination and harmonization of support in the education sector. Technical assistance will be rationalized with key positions supporting education activities across various DP initiatives. In many cases, DPs are co-financing ESP objectives and support to their implementation will need to be equally coordinated. For example, USAID and UNICEF are funding teacher training from which the project design benefitted and this collaboration will continue during monitoring and evaluation.Financial Management: FM implementation support missions will be consistent with a risk-based approach, and will involve a collaborative approach with the entire Task Team. To establish an adequate fiduciary framework for implementation, the revised FM and Procurement Manuals will be reviewed and approved by the Technical Committee at the inception of implementation and its use is regularly monitored in FM management process and in review meetings of the TC. The Steering Committee will confirm the issuance of the decree prohibiting continued imposition of fees for the running of administrative offices, and the MEPSP/Provincial Governments and PROVEDs will regularly verify that it is applied. MEPSP/PARSE/PROVEDs will confirm that LEAs have the required standards before contracts are signed. A first implementation support mission will be performed six months after project effectiveness. Thereafter, missions will be scheduled using a risk based approach and will include the following diligences: (i) monitoring of the financial management arrangements during supervision at intervals determined by the risk rating assigned to the overall FM Assessment at entry and subsequently during Implementation (ISR); (ii) integrated fiduciary review of key contracts, (iii) review of the IFRs; (iv) review of the audit reports and management letters from the external auditors and follow-up on material accountability issues by engaging with the Bank task team leader, MEPSP, and/or Auditors; the quality of the audits (internal and external) will also be monitored closely to ensure that they cover all relevant aspects and provide evidence of the appropriate use of funds by recipients; (v) physical supervision on the ground; and (vi) assistance to build or maintain appropriate capacity in financial management.Procurement: Procurement Reviews will be carried out annually by Bank procurement staff and/or independent auditors. The specialists coming from PARSE in charge of procurement have adequate capaciy to coordinate all project-financed procurement activities, ensuring that activities are procured in compliance with World Bank Guidelines. Given that the bulk of procurement will be decentralized to district, level, capacity and continued supervision will be critical to ensure that procurement at these levels receive the support they need to deliver at the sub-PROVED and school levels. The sub-PROVEDs and schools will rely on the PIM which clearly defines procurement procedures (as per Bank guidelines) for all schools and districts to utilize project resources. Procurement training workshops to explain/train/raise awareness of implementing DAs will be organized during the first quarter of project implementation. Close monitoring of procurement plans by PARSE (read GPE) on a quarterly basis will ensure progress on the projected time lines, as well as quality control on all aspects of the procurement process, including evaluation, selection and award. Ex ante and ex post controls will be guided by the manual of procedures will include adequate measures to ensure adequate controls can be exercised. Safeguards: Regular bank implementation support missions will include environmental and social development staff. Missions will include field visits to sites to ensure that any environmental or social issues are being properly addressed. Missions will ensure that implementation adheres to the guidance in the ESMF, RPF and IPPF and especially that civil works do not have major adverse environmental and/or social impacts. ESMPs and IPPs will be prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed during project implementation; RAPs will be prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed as and when necessary during project implementation.Implementation support and skills needed (including resource estimates)TimeFocusSkills NeededResource EstimateFull projectClose supervision and implementation support (co TTL) Education specialist$240,000First 12 monthsMonitor technical aspects of the procurement of textbooks Textbooks specialist$40,000Monitor performance of procurement Procurement$40,000Monitor performance of financial managementFM$40,000Assess performance of M&E M&E specialist$40,000Design and baseline of Impact EvaluationIE specialist$40,000Assess implementation of in-service teacher training Teacher Education expert$25,000Supervise and support the school building componentSchool construction specialist$40,00012-48 monthsAssess performance of environmental and social issues$20,000Follow up on restructuring of school management offices Management specialist $40,000Monitor compliance to agreed FM/procurement and M&E reportingFM/procurement/M&E$30,000Supervise and support the school building componentSchool construction specialist$40,000Total$635,000Annex 8: Governance and Anti-corruption Action PlanDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOSUPPORT TO BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMUNDER THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION FUNDThe main objective of the GAC plan is to ensure that use of the project proceeds result in the expected outcomes including improving learning achievement, promoting gender, income and regional equity and are used efficiently by adopting agreed fiduciary standards in a transparent context with the participation of beneficiaries and civil society. This is however challenging in the DRC because of a number of challenges described below. The MEPSP has limited experience in managing and coordinating externally funded operations, including Bank projects, and will require capacity building for effective project management. The MEPSP Secretariat General is part of the administration working in an environment of low motivation and accountability, with lengthy processes. The overall structure of the system is also complex comprising the central and provincial governments and school management agencies overlapping at various levels and represented by Provincial education offices and committees PROVEDs, sub-PROVEDs and local school management offices. This is compounded by underfinancing of the system by the state and reliance on the communities through schools for part financing of government and school management offices. The roles and responsibilities of the various units and levels are also unclear. In addition management capacity is weak at all levels. The MEPSP does not directly execute budgets and consequently lacks experience in financial management and reporting. Capacity at the PROVED and Local Executing Agencies (LEA) level for implementation and oversight of construction and other components is highly variable. LEA will be recruited under a competitive basis with specific and tight fiduciary criteria. TA will also be brought to PARSE fiduciary specialists for their oversight of the implementation of the infrastructure component. Implementation of the in-service teacher training component could also be threatened by lack of capacity in the DIPROMA and SERNOFOR to manage in-service training and to prepare training modules.Similarly, weak capacity to administer procurement of textbooks, and pedagogical content could hamper the speed and efficiency of textbook distribution. Supply chains in rural and conflict affected areas could be even more difficult and undermine distribution and service delivery.All of this creates a very difficult environment for effective governance and fiduciary management. Significant management, oversight and implementation capacity weakness is evident across the education system. Decision making in the administration of education in the DRC tends to be centralized, with less than optimal communication lines. The decentralized execution of project activities in a system with coexistence of central and local government structures and a hybrid education sector structure (state-run and church-run) adds to the complexity of information flows and potentially undermine transparency. In light of this the project design is relatively simple, focused largely on one reform related to restructuring the management offices closest to schools while strengthening in-service teacher training and improving the system for provision of textbooks nationwide. Project management will however be mainstreamed in MEPSP structure to help strengthen management in the sector in the medium term and this could be a challenge given the context.Financial management and procurement capacity is also weak and could lead to delays in implementation or significant leakage which could seriously undermine achievement of project outcomes. Fiduciary systems, training and TA will therefore be essential to ensure that there is the required capacity to implement the project effectively. A parallel requirement for effective implementation is transparency and proper monitoring and evaluation. However, the culture of monitoring and evaluation in the DRC, utilizing evidence-based information, is under-developed. The capacity to collect sector data to produce annual statistics is adequate, and the information is not used for analytical purposes. Moreover, the process is not institutionalized and is dependent on external support. Weaknesses in data management and analysis, as well as the decentralization of delivery, could result informational delays for the PIU. Impact evaluation of interventions is seldom undertaken. Monitoring of implementation will therefore need to be ensured for each component as well as for fiduciary issues. Given the above challenges, the GAC plan has been designed to address the size and complexity of the country, the administrative complexity, weak administrative and fiduciary capacity and lack of proper oversight by the state and beneficiaries.Key AreaProposed ActionIndicators of PerformancePerson/Unit ResponsibleMonitoring MechanismsPolitical Commitment/Support and Leadership for GAC Continued strong political leadership in MEPSP and mainstreaming of measures to improve GAC in the Ministry The political and administrative leadership provide clear and agreed GAC rules and procedures to units and staff at the central and decentralized levels as well as agencies managing schools and monitor use of these directives. The Minister and Secretary-General of the MEPSP and Heads of Provincial Governments.Review and confirmation of these guidelines by the steering committee and adoption by the Technical Committee Governance in the Education SectorClarification of roles and responsibilitiesThe roles and responsibilities of the various oversight and steering committees, the S-G and units of the MEPSP at the central and decentralized levels as well as those of the school management offices are clearly described in the implementation manual. The implementation manual contains descriptions of the various roles and specific responsibilities of all parties involved in implementation as agreed The S-G and CATThe Steering and technical Committees will verify the contents of the implementation manual and monitor the exercise of the various functions at their respective meetings and through progress reports.Transparency in implementation and dissemination of informationOpen and complete communication of project contents, resources and results to all parties involved especially beneficiaries Agents at the PROVED, sub-PROVED and school levels as well as other beneficiaries receive regular and complete communication on project contents, resources and results. The S-G, heads of PROVEDs, sub-PROVEDs and schools and school management officesProject oversight committees, beneficiaries and civil society monitor and confirm access to the requires information. The COGES is actively involved in approving and monitoring the local implementation plan. Technical auditsTechnical audits will be conducted regularly to assess the impact and the quality of the public service deliveryHigh quality audits conducted regularly on all project components The S-G, PROVEDs and school managing agencies.The reports disseminated widely and discussed by the technical and oversight committees, CGS and management anizational EfficiencySector performance and performanceindicators for the implementationagenciesThe performance of units at the central, PROVED, sub-PROVED and school management offices are evaluated using Partnership Agreements between the center and the PROVEDs and Performance Agreements between the PROVEDs and sub-PROVEDs Partnership agreements signed between the centre and the PROVEDs setting the norms and the key results indicators for programs.Results-based agreements defining clear results indicators and reporting mechanisms in line with work plans and essential tasks signed between the PROVED and the sub-provincial offices. The Secretary-GeneralThe Heads of PROVEDsThe S-G will report to the Steering Committee whether the contracts have been signed and the status of execution.The PROVEDs will report to the S-G whether the contracts have been signed and the status of execution based on implementation progress reports. Internal performance management and accountabilitysystemsSpecific lines of authority and accountability chains established between and at the various administrative levels and approved by the respective authorities. Accountability mechanisms including monitoring mechanisms and remedies developed and agreed for each level The S-G and heads of PROVEDs, sub-PROVEDs and schoolsAll agents monitored by their supervising entities using the accountability chains and the results reported up the chain of command to the S-G. The construction, textbooks, in-service teacher training and strengthen of school management offices components pose unique challenges that will require special attentionThe challenges posed by the construction component include identifying, rehabilitating and rebuilding community owned schools using a decentralized approach A detailed operations’ manual will be developed with mechanisms for working with communities and management agencies in identifying staffing and managing schools to complement the fiduciary arrangements described below. The manual is prepared and agreed with IDAPARSE/PROVEDs/CATThe Technical Committee verifies that the manual is used in the management of the component.There is substantial experience in the DRC on textbooks procurement and distribution, however the system for distribution will be further decentralized and this requires given the capacity issues and geographic challengesDetailed guidelines will be prepared for distribution of textbooks in including numbers of books by school, the key units responsible, methods for using local resources for distribution, reception at schools and feedback through the sub-PROVEDs, PROVEDs to the center. Technical audits of the process will also be conducted to complement the fiduciary arrangements described below. The guidelines are prepared and approved by the Technical Committee in collaboration with the Bank and other partners. CAT/PARSE/Bank/PartnersThe TC will ensure that the guidelines are prepared and implemented as agreed. It will also request and review progress in the implementation of the component at agreed intervals The teacher training component relies largely on local initiatives and capacity with backward linkages for technical support and quality control to the center. This would challenge capacity and weak communication systems.Develop a manual to complement the fiduciary manual which describes clearly the roles, responsibilities and chain of command for the program as well as the monitoring and accountability mechanisms that will ensure quality outcomes The manual is produced and agreed by all from the center to the school levels including IDA and other partners.CAT/Directorate for teacher Training/USAID/PartnersThe TC will require regular reports from the CAT and TT Directorate on the quality of implementation and the results. Technical audits will also be carried out at agreed intervals.The restructuring and financing of the management offices also requires careful planning and monitoring A manual of procedures will be prepared describing the agreed staffing norms and other institutional changes that will justify financing of these offices by the state. This will complement the fiduciary arrangements for this component in the project. The manual is prepared and approved by the Technical Committee and IDA in collaboration with the other partners.SECOPE/CAT/Bank/PartnersProvision of the funding will be linked to respecting the provisions of the manual during implementation. Progress reports will also be requested and discussed by the TC at agreed intervalsStrengthening Financial and Procurement ManagementExisting FM manual of procedures do not include the new project specificsRevise the existing FM manual to include the new project specifics and ensure adequate ownership by the new players including the LEAs. The FM manual is revised in the manner agreed prior to negotiationsPARSEThe revised manual is reviewed and approved by the Technical Committee and its use is regularly monitored in FM managementNational budget execution and accounting procedures at the decentralized level suffers from bottlenecks in the expenditures chain which could hamper execution of project components at the decentralized level. Review the public expenditure chain at the decentralized level with the aim to issue a new decree that will standardize the process as well as key control in line with the new PFM organic Law.The new decree is issued in line with the new PFM organic lawMoF/MEPSP/IDA/Provincial Governments/PROVEDsThe Steering Committee will confirm the issuance of the decree and the MEPSP/Provincial Governments and PROVEDs will regularly verify that it is appliedWeak FM and Procurement capacity at decentralized levels could undermine the school construction programRecruit TA (FM and Procurement) to strengthen fiduciary capacity at the de-centralized level (PARSE) and LEAs that comply with minimum fiduciary requirements (seasoned FM and procurement officers working with an adequate fiduciary platform).The TAs and LEAs that are recruited comply with the required fiduciary standards MEPSP and PARSE/PROVEDsMEPSP/PARSE/PROVEDs confirm that LEAs have the required standards before contracts are signedFM and procurement capacity at the decentralized level is too weak to support effective project implementationAppoint budget/finance and procurement officers at the central and provincial levels to provide technical support at the decentralized level over budget cycle.A budget and procurement officers are appointed prior to effectivenessMEPSP/PARSE/PROVEDIDA/MEPSP verify that the appointment is made before project effectiveness is declaredExternal audit arrangements for FM and Procurement are not adequate to ensure timely production of audit reports on the use of project proceeds.Amend the ToRs of the external auditor to be recruited as agreed with IDA.The TORs of the auditor are amended as agreed prior to NegotiationsThe S-G /PARSE/IDAIDA/The Technical Committee confirms that the TORs have been amendedRisk of fraud & Corruption The current ex ante and ex post controls are inadequateEx ante controls: The revised manual of procedures will include adequate measures to ensure an adequate ex ante controls. The revised manual of controls contain the agreed ex ante measuresCAT/PARSE/MEPSP/IDAThe Technical Committee and IDA will verify that these systems are applied regularlyEx post controls: Internal technical and financial auditors will set up clear systems that would permit proper ex post reviews and external audits in line with Bank integrated fiduciary standards. Internal technical and financial audit systems set up as agreed with Bank MEPSP/PARSE/IDASocial AccountabilityCurrent complaints handling mechanisms are either weak or non-existentEstablishment of an effective complaint handling mechanism to capture beneficiaries concerns and track poor performance.The complaints mechanism system developed and agreed with IDAMEPSP/PARSE/IDAThe S-G/PARSE/IDA will be required to inform the Steering and Technical Committees about all complaints and how they are handled The ultimate project outcome is to benefit school children and communities. They will therefore provide the final verdict on the effectiveness of the project. The official administrative system is at least one step removed and will be responsible for implementation. The COGES comprising fifty percent parents will exercise oversight including observing the procurement process and supervising construction works and other project activitiesCOGES are elected using the agreed procedures and are regularly involved in monitoring the agreed activities Schools, PROVEDs, managing offices and sub-PROVEDsPROVEDs and sub-PROVEDs will supervise establishment of COGES and regularly monitor their involvement in implementation.In the absence of the agreed permanent and independent watchdog to monitor the quality of service delivery, this role will be played by similar but temporary units in the two provinces and associated local networks.Predefined, uniform report cards will be used by these groups to monitor implementation of key activities such as in-service training, delivery and utilization of textbooks, school fees, effectiveness of school-based management committees etc.The format of the Report Cards are designed, approved and used for monitoring project activities The TC at the central level and PROVEDs, sub-PROVRDs, management agencies, schools NGOs and COGESReports will be collected, analyzed and discussed at provincial and central levels (Secretariat General/CAT) to allow remedial action. In addition, a hot line (texting transformed into email) will be initiated to facilitate citizens’ participation in reporting on the quality of service delivery. Mobile communications have penetrated the country more deeply than other methods.School management Agencies could not effectively exercise oversight of schools as they depended on the latter for financingResults agreements with management agencies will include responsibility to verify that minimum standards that promote learning are maintained in schools School management agencies produce regular reports on school performance in line with their performance agreementsPROVEDs, sub-PROVEDs, Managing Agencies and schoolsThe central level, PROVEDs, sub-PROVEDs will monitor execution of contracts by managing agencies Managing Agencies may continue to levy fees even after they start receiving state subventions to cover their running costsRegulations will be introduced at the provincial for an immediate halt on the levying of school fees on households by these offices.Report Cards from COGES and NGOs confirm that these fees are no longer leviedCentral level, Provincial governments, PROVEDS, sub-PROVEDS, managing agencies, schools, COGES and NGOsAudits of school and management office accounts and analysis and discussions of report cards by the provincial and technical committees.Weak capacity at the local/school level to implement school projects and to manage funds The simple procedures manuals for schools developed under PARSE and other projects will be adapted and used in schools to improve fiduciary management and accountability at the school level. These tools contain ministerial decrees on management and COGES committees detailed information on allocations, eligible expenditures, book keeping procedures, reporting requirements etc. These tools have been distributed to all eligible schools and are being usedS-G, CAT, PARSE, PROVEDs, sub-PROVEDs, managing agencies, schools and COGESTechnical and fiduciary audits verify that these procedures are being used in at the local/school levels.Role Of other PartnersKey opportunities could be missed in fully assessing project outcomes or identifying issues because neither the government nor the Bank will be able to monitor all project activities especially as some components are closely related to programs implemented by other partners. Partner and civil society representatives will be members of the various platforms that coexist and serve as frameworks for dialogue and concerted action between the donors and the government including the oversight and technical committees Donors are represented and participate in the various platforms as agreed.MEPSP, Partners and civil societyDonors and civil society regularly participate formally and informally in monitoring and reporting on project implementation.Annex 9: Roadmap ................
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