Read@Home: Embedding Track and Trace in Book Supply Chains Final Country Report: El Salvador Contents Glossary ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Activity Summary .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Activity Start-up .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Establishment of National Consultative Group............................................................................................... 4 The function of National Consultative Group ............................................................................................ 4 Establishing the National Consultative Group ........................................................................................... 4 Composition of the National Consultative Group .................................................................................... 4 Function of the National Consultative Group within Read@Home ................................................... 5 Working meeting 1: Mapping of El Salvador's Supply Chain .................................................................... 5 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 Interviews: questionnaires and methodology ............................................................................................ 6 Data collection schedule .................................................................................................................................... 7 Individuals/institutions interviewed ............................................................................................................... 8 Key takeaways from each level .......................................................................................................................... 10 Central Level:........................................................................................................................................................ 10 Regional Level: .................................................................................................................................................... 10 School Level: ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 Supplier / publishers level: ............................................................................................................................. 11 Technology ........................................................................................................................................................... 11 Working sessions 2 and 3: Designing El Salvador's Track and Trace System .................................. 12 Proposed Next Steps and Recommendations ............................................................................................. 12 Annexes ....................................................................................................................................................... 13 Annex 1: National Consultative Group List.................................................................................................... 13 Annex 2: Process mapping by supply chain component ......................................................................... 15 A. Forecasting ...................................................................................................................................................... 15 B. Procurement.................................................................................................................................................... 16 C. Reception, warehousing, and distribution ........................................................................................... 17 Annex 3: Diagram of El Salvador's Supply Chain - Working Draft .......................................................... 1 1 Glossary MINED Ministry of Education WB World Bank TLM teaching and learning materials PASE Programa de Alimentación y Salud Escolar (Directorate of Social Programs) TOR Terms of Reference TnT Track and Trace (Seguimiento y Rastreo) WB World Bank 2 Introduction The availability of quality textbooks is an essential requirement to enable children to learn. Yet, many countries cannot ensure their young students have reliable access to these resources. Country supply chains often struggle to keep schools well-supplied with learning materials, particularly in the hardest-to-reach places. Furthermore, many children cannot attend school, thereby missing out on many educational opportunities and programs that would otherwise be available to them. The current COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these problems, as many children who would otherwise be in school cannot access remote learning. Through the Read@Home initiative, the World Bank seeks to address these challenges by working with local education and supply systems to develop appropriate materials for home learning and deliver them directly to the families needing them, leveraging monitoring systems to ensure books are available reaching students. In recent years, several textbook distribution and track and trace systems have been piloted to assist local supply systems in ensuring that education materials reach schools at the last mile. Through this World Bank-funded initiative, John Snow, Inc. (JSI) and subcontractor World Education, Inc. (WEI) built on this global knowledge base by identifying a set of best practices in textbook delivery monitoring in low and middle-income countries. At the same time, the World Bank understands that context is vital in ensuring a successful supply chain monitoring system, so these best practices will have to be easily adaptable to different situations. To this note, JSI/WEI supported five target countries (Cameroon, El Salvador, Sudan, Niger, and Senegal) in understanding these best practices and adapting them to their contexts by developing locally- owned supply chain monitoring systems to ensure delivery of textbooks to the schools supporting children from families that need them most. Activity Summary Activity Start-up After JSI signed its contract with the World Bank and subsequently established a subcontract with WEI, the JSI/WEI team held launch meetings with the World Bank to review the program's objectives, establish communications protocols, and discuss a preliminary activity timeline. JSI and WEI then underwent a recruitment process to hire in-country consultant teams in each of the five Read@Home countries. In El Salvador, JSI/WEI worked together to hire an Education Specialist to lead the team and provide education-specific contextual expertise; a Coordinator to ensure smooth logistics of all activities, and an Information Technology (IT) Specialist to support the team in understanding the IT context in El Salvador to ensure the TnT system operates effectively. 3 JSI and WEI oriented the in-country consultant team on the project objectives and activities and JSI financial and operational rules and regulations, which were revisited throughout the project to ensure compliance with JSI policies and procedures. Establishment of National Consultative Group The function of National Consultative Group Read@Home's key partner is the NCG. The NCG, made up of key senior decision-makers from all relevant Ministry of Education departments related to government textbook and education materials supply, makes all critical decisions. Such decisions include the type of Track and Trace system to be built, its users, features, the data it needs to generate, and whom. Establishing the National Consultative Group In JSI/WEI's experience, given the high profile of the NCG members, and the high-level decisions for which they are responsible, we have found that when the World Bank establishes the NCG in collaboration with a high-level Ministry official and serves as the initial point of contact with the NCG the group is most highly motivated to carry out their mandate. JSI/WEI and the World Bank followed this procedure in establishing the Read@Home NCG at the country level. JSI/WEI communicated best practices in establishing an NCG to the World Bank. The World Bank subsequently established the NCG by working through existing points of contact for components on the broader Read@Home El Salvador activity. See Annex 1 for the list of NCG members. By following this process, identified by JSI/WEI as a best practice, we ensured the NCG was made up of the right individuals from different levels of the MINED and maximized the likelihood that the government will effectively own and manage an eventual Track and Trace system, should they implement one. Composition of the National Consultative Group Given the purpose of the NCG, JSI/WEI recommended to the World Bank that members of the group should be senior-level staff from central and regional levels, with relevant decision- making authority. Furthermore, given the multiple components of the book chain, members should represent a range of ministerial departments/agencies. JSI/WEI's suggested membership from within the Ministry of Education included the following selection (see Annex 1): ● Senior leaders from primary and secondary education departments (Gerencia Curricular). ● Key staff (from Ministry of Education, concerned with textbook/educational materials procurement, contracting, financing, and distributor payment (if Track and Trace data is to be used to determine contractor payment ultimately). In the case of El Salvador, this unit was represented by the Contracting and Acquisition Directorate. ● Key staff concerned with textbook/educational materials distribution and monitoring. (Regional MINED representatives) ● Representative from the department responsible for IT. (SIGES) ● Senior government official (for instance, Director-General level) who would be involved with the ultimate decision about government takeover, management, and any required financing of 4 annual running costs of the TnT platform. (It is understood that this official would not participate in all activities but might serve as the official Chairperson.) In the case of El Salvador, the Director-General and the Advisor to the Minister of Education. Function of the National Consultative Group within Read@Home The JSI/WEI and World Bank team convened the NCG for an initial working meeting (see section "Working meeting 1: Mapping of El Salvador's Supply Chain" below) to orient members on the purpose of Track and Trace systems, to map the existing government textbook/educational materials supply chain practices to understand the context in which they are operating and the challenges faced by all relevant actors in the supply chain, and to gather initial ideas for what they will want their Track and Trace system to be used. JSI/WEI convened the NCG for a second working meeting (see section "Workshop 2: Designing El Salvador's Track and Trace System" below) at the central level during which the NCG worked through key considerations and decisions they needed to make regarding the type of monitoring system they would like to develop. The second working meeting followed a data collection mission (see section "Data Collection" below) during which the in-country team conducted interviews (i.e. in-person, virtual, by telephone, and electronic) at sub-regional and local levels to further explore the on-the-ground reality of textbook delivery and distribution, connectivity and technology penetration and usage in key user groups across different geographical areas. Following this second working meeting and the interviews, JSI/WEI put together a final blueprint / design document (see "Development of Track and Trace Design Document" section below) that reflects the important decisions made and that maps out the specific action items needed for MINED to move forward to the implementation stage, including draft Terms of Reference (see "Development of Terms of Reference" section below) that the government can use in soliciting any further technical assistance they might need for implementation. JSI/WEI presented the draft country implementation blueprint at a national meeting to get feedback from the NCG. In the meeting, the WB point of contact for JSI/WEI and MINED staff from NCG and the Regional Directors participated, and everybody agreed with the proposed blueprint. JSI/WEI submitted this document to the World Bank for handover to the NCG, who can use it to develop a pilot program should they desire. Working meeting 1: Mapping of El Salvador's Supply Chain JSI/WEI convened the NCG for a working meeting on April 22, 2021, to review the Government of El Salvador's existing practices in book distribution and monitoring. The NCG mapped the existing supply system, from book importers and/or publishers to the last mile. This first meeting provided Read@Home project a base from which to begin refining El Salvador-specific Track and Trace design document. The meeting engaged the NCG in analyzing the supply chain and understanding how procurement decisions are made, who delivers books, how they are contracted and paid, who confirms delivery of books, and the responsibilities of each party involved in these processes throughout the chain. During the meeting, JSI/WEI also gave an 5 overview of what Track and Trace systems might involve, and solicited some very initial thoughts from the NCG about the type of Track and Trace system they think is needed, for whom and for what purpose. During the working meeting, we included the following sessions: ● Project overview. ● Brief overview of what types of TnT features, its purpose, and its users. ● Mapping of the entire TLM supply chain. ● Identifying successful as well as problem areas. ● Gathering some initial ideas/feedback about the ultimate TnT system. ● Technology considerations: assessing whether the ministry is currently using any other technology to collect data; if there is an education management information system (EMIS) in use, what platform does that use; the NCG's initial thoughts on the forms of technology that TnT might use? ● Review next steps and other relevant elements of the work plan ● Working meeting 1: Presentation of the TnT Consulting and conformation the NCG ● Working meeting 2: Processes of the supply chain of books and educational materials. ● Working meeting 3: Mapping the supply chain for TLM JSI/WEI guided the NCG through a mapping session to visualize the current supply chain in El Salvador. JSI/WEI then developed a draft supply chain map to help all stakeholders understand the flow of TLM and to make decisions around the development of a TnT system. See Annex 2 for these diagrams. The processes identified in each stage are implemented at the central, regional, and local levels and constitute the primary input for the roadmap structure for the TnT of textbooks and educational materials in El Salvador. Data Collection By convening a group of expert stakeholders with knowledge of and experience with the TLM supply chain in El Salvador, working session 1 offered JSI/WEI and World Bank crucial information on the design and functionalities of the TLM supply chain in El Salvador. To complement the information gathered during the NCG, primarily attended by central-level MINED staff, JSI/WEI undertook a data collection process at all levels to have a complete picture of El Salvador's TLM supply chain. Interviews: questionnaires and methodology JSI/WEI collected information through interviews with MINED central, regional, and local staff, including parents/families. We designed three questionnaires, structured with a set of multiple- choice and open-ended questions, aimed at identifying information on the processes of forecasting, procurement, reception, storing, and distribution of textbooks and educational materials. For the interviews, we used four modalities due to the limitations posed by the COVID-19 restrictions, which impeded the JSI&WEI team to travel to different places in the country: 6 • For the in-person interviews, individual and group discussions were conducted with staff involved in each of the phases of the supply chain. • For the data collection process, the team reviewed documents provided by MINED and the World Bank and held working meetings: virtual meetings using MIRO boards and face-to-face meetings. The Directorate of Social Programs (PASE for its Spanish acronym) was not part of the JSI/WEI team's initial meetings with MINED officials. The initial counterparts were the staff from the Curriculum Development Unit (Gerencia Curricular). However, once the JSI/WEI started collecting data on supply chain processes, PASE surfaced as a key player in the supply chain management process, as they distribute other supplies such as school packages, fabrics for uniforms, shoes, food, and starting 2023, they will be in charge of managing the logistics and supply chain for all the materials and supplies procured by MINED. During the data collection process, the team also learned about the management information system for Education (SIGES for its Spanish acronym), which collects and tracks the annual number of students enrolled in the national system, and provides the estimates to determine the quantities required to cover the needs of students for each school year in regards to textbooks, learning materials, shoes, etc. The team learned about the system's operation, the information it collects, the reports it generates, the technological capacity and connectivity, which will be a powerful system and resource for designing the TnT system for textbooks and learning materials. Planned Interviews Research modality interviews conducted In-person Virtual Digital By Phone Regional- 14 14 X X Directorates of Education Schools 100 315 X X Parents 28 20 X X Data collection schedule Once the NCG was established and initial meetings were finalized, we scheduled additional half- day working sessions to analyze the process mapping obtained in April 2021. Date and time Supply Chain Component 1. Forecasting June 16 8:30am-10:30am 2. Procurement (session 1) 7 June 18 2021 2. Procurement (session 2) 8.30am-10:30am 3. Reception, warehousing, and distribution (session 1) June 22 2021 3. Reception, warehousing, and distribution (session 2) 8:30am-10:30am Conclusions and next steps After completing the analysis of the three components with the NCG, we developed a Schedule of interviews with regional and local MINED staff from Regional Directorates and schools to learn about the supply chain processes based on their experience. Individuals/institutions interviewed In addition to NCG members, between October 21 and November 13, 2021, the team interviewed the following MINED officials: Modality Region Name In-person Virtual Sandra Aracely Ramírez de Ahuachapán Castro X Jesus Ramirez San Salvador X Luz de Zamora René Adalberto Castro Martínez Evelyn Carolina Guerra Santa Ana X Regional Norma Elizabeth Martinez MINED officials Mayra Esperanza Herrarte de Pineda Saúl Ángel Ventura Cortez Sonsonate Ma. Teresa Tiznado X Guillermo Rivera La Libertad Rosalba Renderos X William Edgardo Amaya Cabañas X Bejarano Chalatenango Armando Córdova X 8 José Alberto Aguilera San Vicente Meléndez X Melvis Haydee Garcia Cuscatlán William Mariona X La Paz Cándido Alberto Palacios X Usulután Tomas Gomez Ticas X San Miguel Héctor Mauricio Gutiérrez X Morazán Leonidas Guevara X La Unión Walter Aníbal Ventura X In- Region Name of school Name person Centro Escolar Alejandro Sotera del Socorro de Ahuachapán Humboldt Hernández Ahuachapán X Centro Escolar Benjamín Sol Lilian Jannette Cordero San Salvador Millet de García X Mirna Elizabeth Santa Ana Centro Escolar Tomás Medina Nobleau de Trigueros X Centro Escolar Presbítero Alba Griselda Siliezar Sonsonate School Director Fernando H, San Germán de Chávez X Complejo Educativo Walter A. Hugo Mauricio La Libertad Soundy Meléndez Bonilla X Centro Escolar Carlos Arnulfo Mauricio Napoleón Chalatenango Crespin Mena Guerra X Centro Escolar Dr. Sarbelio Silvia Janeth Pineda de San Vicente Navarrete Pérez X Centro Escolar Candelario Cuscatlán Cuellar Ernesto Marroquín X Complejo Educativo Basilio María de la Paz Melgar Usulután Blandón de Jaimes X Instituto Nacional Francisco Héctor Mauricio San Miguel Gavidia Gutiérrez X 9 In- Region Name of School Name person Centro Escolar Alejandro Ahuachapán Humboldt Ana del Carmen López Ahuachapán de Trejo X Centro Escolar Benjamín Sol Liseth Esmeralda San Salvador Millet Barahona de Reyes X Santa Ana Centro Escolar Tomás Medina Rebeca Lucía Quintana X Centro Escolar Presbítero Laura Elizabeth Sonsonate Fernando H, San Germán Ramírez X Complejo Educativo Walter A. Parents La Libertad Soundy Tatyanna Gallegos X Centro Escolar Carlos Arnulfo Candelaria Guadalupe Chalatenango Crespin Hernández X Centro Escolar Dr. Sarbelio Sandra Luz García San Vicente Navarrete X Centro Escolar Candelario Cuscatlán Cuellar Samuel Arias X Complejo Educativo Basilio Usulután Blandón Karen Rodríguez X Instituto Nacional Francisco Marta María Garay San Miguel Gavidia Key takeaways from each level Central Level: • The Curriculum development unit does not have the technical and human resource capacity to manage the supply chain and suggests moving this responsibility to other MINED areas. • Once textbooks and learning materials are delivered to regions, traceability of these supplies is lost. Regional Level: Forecasting: • There is a need to update the school enrollment data in the national management information system (SIGES) and consider the current enrollment data – not the data from the previous year. • Take the school annual enrollment data and increase it by 10-15% to have a buffer for late- enrollment data not included in SIGES, which affects the forecasting exercise. 10 • Generate a report that provides an accurate number of books each Region will receive to plan the distribution based on availability. • Develop a platform to consolidate enrollment reports and books distribution at the regional level. Reception and Storage: • Develop a delivery schedule with suppliers to avoid delays in receiving textbooks and learning materials. • Have a warehouse rented for the regions due to physical space limitations. • Suppliers need to implement a GPS in vehicles to avoid drivers of the cars getting lost and guide them by phone to reach the right destination. Distribution: • There is no competent staff to manage the downloading and uploading of textbooks and materials once they reach the MINED regional offices. • People with skills in supply chain management should be hired to manage the reception, warehousing, and distribution at regional levels. • Textbooks and learning materials should be delivered as part of the school packages, as PASE has experience providing these supplies to the last mile. School Level: Forecasting: • Textbooks should be delivered at the beginning of the school year, along with the school packages. • Ongoing training should be provided to school principals on the use of SIGES. • Internet connection should be available in all schools. Distribution: • Points of distribution from regions to schools should be close to the schools in rural areas, as teachers cover transportation costs from out-of-pocket (not reimbursable). Supplier / publishers level: • One of the difficulties they face when participating in a tender for the printing of textbooks and educational materials are the short times for the delivery of textbooks since they do not have all the raw material (paper) and take a long time if they order for that amount of books to print. • There is the capacity to print barcodes and other technology for tracking and tracing the supplies for MINED; suppliers can deliver at any facility, that is, those places specified by MINED. Technology According to in-person interviews, direct observation of the facilities, and digital surveys, regional staff, school directors, teachers, and parents have smartphones and use applications such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook, and communicate routinely using these applications and platforms. 11 Working sessions 2 and 3: Designing El Salvador's Track and Trace System The second and third working meetings with the NCG took place on June 18 and 22 respectively, and we were able to compile a more detailed description of each of the components of the TLM supply chain. The meetings resulted in a draft design document finalized and refined by the JSI/WEI team for the following and final working meeting and presentation. To effectively compile all project learning into a comprehensive Track and Trace Design, the session included the following topics: ● Active discussion with the NCG to work through the decisions listed in the Master Global Best Practices Guide. JSI/WEI used the Guide to help the NCG think through the decisions below: o Decision 1: Who will own the system (and what do they need from Track and Trace, and what range of budget do they have) o Decision 2: What is the goal of the system? o Decision 3: What TnT model? - Full Tracking, or First and Last Mile? o Decision 4: What additional components are desired in the system; communications and expectation management functions (messages, alerts, notifications, 1 way, 2 way etc.); ordering/requesting components; post distribution monitoring; etc. ● Collaborative design of a draft Track and Trace design based on these decisions detailing the users, Track and Trace workflow, data to be collected, technology to be used, etc. JSI/WEI used sections of the Global Best Practices Guide to help NCG think through and decide upon technology choices, dashboards/reports, approaches to user training, etc. Precise details of exact software, applications, etc., intentionally did not get decided at this point. Only basic decisions about technologies to be used include whether SMS, instant messages, an app for each different TnT function. Special software, platforms, apps, etc. may be investigated and determined later by the firm contracted to develop the Track and Trace system. JSI/WEI used the information gathered from the working sessions to develop a comprehensive Track and Trace Design Document (see below) and presented it to the MINED before the final closing project meeting on December 9, 2021. Proposed Next Steps and Recommendations The accompanying design document and the terms of reference should be sufficient to achieve three goals: 1. Assess the resources needed for implementing a TnT system, including the data and resources described in this document. 2. Estimate the financial resources to implement the terms of reference. 3. Streamline the supply chain processes for textbooks and learning materials. The proposal for developing the TnT system is based on industry standards and it interfaces with the management information system for education – SIGES. 12 Annexes Annex 1: National Consultative Group List ANNEX 1: Official list of NCG members Name Area Licdo. Gustavo Cerros Gerencia Curricular Licda. Karla Ivonne Méndez Gerente de Gestión y Desarrollo Curricular Licda. Wendy Rodríguez Área de Matemática Licdo. Félix Abraham Guevara Área de Matemática Licdo. Francisco García Área de Lenguaje y Literatura Licda. Mercedes Rodríguez Área de Estudios Sociales Central Licdo. Tonatiuh Orantes Área de Ciencias Level Licdo. Edgar Ernesto Ábrego Cruz Asistencia Técnica a Nivel Nacional Licdo. William Hernández UACI Licda. Virginia Bran Directora Nacional Interina de Gestión Ing. Alex Granados Director Nacional de Educación Media Lic. Gustavo Cerros Gerencia Curricular Licda. Margarita de Dirección Nacional de Educación Media Martínez Licdo. Jesús Ramírez Director Deptal. de San Salvador Licdo. Roger Enio Aguilar Asistencia Técnica de Deptal. de Ahuachapán Licdo. Víctor Manuel Regional Director Deptal. de Cuscatlán Ventura Level Licda. Teresa de Jesús Directora Deptal. de San Miguel Velásquez Sr. Walter Anibal Ventura Director Deptal. de La Unión Local Level Deysi Guadalupe Naves Centro Escolar Cantón San Roque- S.S. (rural) 13 Liliana Jeannette Cordero Centro Escolar Benjamín Sol Millet. S.S. (urbano) de García Nelson Alberto Aparicio Complejo Educativo Arturo Romero – Ahuachapán (rural) Ana Lilian Barrera Mejia Complejo Educativo Rafael Cabrera- Cuscatlán (urbano) Centro Escolar Profesora Lilian Isabel Peña Orellana – Pedro Antonio Gómez San Miguel (rural) Centro Escolar Pablo J. Aguirre - San Miguel Yaneth Estela Argueta (urbano) Centro Escolar cantón San Carlos, Pasaquina, Paz Fuentes Granillo La Unión - (urbano) 14 Annex 2: Process mapping by supply chain component A. Forecasting 15 B. Procurement 16 C. Reception, warehousing, and distribution 17 Annex 3: Diagram of El Salvador's Supply Chain - Working Draft 1