The World Bank Somalia Education for Human Capital Development Project (P172434) Project Information Document (PID) Concept Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 02-Mar-2020 | Report No: PIDC28113 Jan 13, 2020 Page 1 of 8 The World Bank Somalia Education for Human Capital Development Project (P172434) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data OPS TABLE Country Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Project Name Somalia P172434 Somalia Education for Human Capital Development Project (P172434) Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) AFRICA Jun 01, 2020 Sep 15, 2020 Education Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Investment Project Financing Ministry of Finance Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education Proposed Development Objective(s) In unserved areas of selected Federal Member States, increase access to grades 1-4 with a focus on girls and improve quality of instruction. PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY-NewFin1 Total Project Cost 40.00 Total Financing 40.00 of which IBRD/IDA 40.00 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing International Development Association (IDA) 40.00 IDA Grant 40.00 Environmental and Social Risk Classification Concept Review Decision Jan 13, 2020 Page 2 of 8 The World Bank Somalia Education for Human Capital Development Project (P172434) Substantial Track II-The review did authorize the preparation to continue B. Introduction and Context Country Context 1. Somalia remains one of the most fragile countries in the world.1 With an estimated per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of US$511 in 2017, it is also one of the poorest countries. Despite the substantial challenges the country faces due to conflict, instability and environmental risk, the economy has grown at a moderate pace, averaging 2.5 percent between 2013–17. Somalia’s population is estimated at 14 million — about 40 percent between the ages of 6 and 18 years. It is growing rapidly, with a fertility rate of 6.6 children per woman, and is likely to double in 23 years. Nearly 8 out of 10 live in poverty and many live just above the poverty line, vulnerable to shocks and even modest changes in consumption levels. Poverty is most acute in rural areas and among Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs). 2. Since 2011, Somalia has had a sustained period of political, economic, and security-related progress. Consequently, the country has a unique opportunity to escape from decades of conflict and fragility, and the Government is demonstrating a strong commitment to wide-ranging institutional and economic reforms. Yet, substantial challenges remain, including access barriers to services enabling economic opportunities, reconciliation, security sector reform, widespread malnutrition, recurrent drought, and poverty. Limited fiscal space constrains service delivery by the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) leading to low trust in the state. 3. With 75 percent of the population under the age of 30, the lack of educational attainment not only constrains future economic growth and poverty reduction but also puts youth at risk. Two generations of Somali children have missed out on education. Only 55 percent of Somalis can read and write; only 16 percent of Somalis have completed primary school (compared to 34 percent in low-income Sub-Saharan countries), and only 7 percent have finished secondary school (compared to 19 percent in Somalia’s regional peers). Given very low or non-existent public funding, the private sector and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have provided most primary education supplemented by household income, remittances, and foreign grants. Sectoral and Institutional Context 4. School enrolment rates in Somalia are among the lowest in the world. The share of children of primary school age (6–13) enrolled in school is 33 percent, which is less than half the unweighted average of low-income sub-Saharan countries (74 percent). The number of out�of�school children and youth (aged 6–18 years) is estimated to be around 3 million,2 most of whom are located in states in the less wealthy and secure southern and central parts of the country. 5. Factor impacting participation in education: • Conflict in states in the southern and central parts of the country has impacted enrolment levels. There is a strong correlation between the Composite Security Indicator3 and levels of enrolment across the regions: Enrolment rates are higher in Somaliland where the security index is higher (48 percent with an index of 44 percent) and lower in states in the southern and central part of the country, where the security index is lower (18 percent primary net enrolment with an index of 32 percent). 1 Ranked among the most fragile states by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 2 Data from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 3 The Composite Security Index is a measure provided in the UNDP Human Development Report of 2012 regarding the attainment of physical, mental and spiritual peace and security of individuals and communities at home and in the world. Jan 13, 2020 Page 3 of 8 The World Bank Somalia Education for Human Capital Development Project (P172434) • Girls face critical barriers to achieving equity in education due to social pressures for early marriage, expectations that girls support households and rearing of younger siblings. The Gender Parity Index (GPI) at primary school level across states in the Southern and Central part of the country, Puntland and Somaliland range from .72 to .79 at primary level and even lower at the secondary level, ranging from .53 to .66. • There are significantly fewer educational opportunities for rural children. The extent of the discrepancy at the primary level is nearly 2 to 1: 65 percent of students are enrolled in urban schools, while only 35 percent of students are enrolled in rural areas. This discrepancy points to significant inequities in the distribution of educational resources (e.g. schools, teachers, learning materials, water facilities) between rural and urban areas. • Children from internally displaced persons (IDP) populations are at a distinct disadvantage. Primary school Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) for IDP children is roughly half the national average, while the secondary school GER for IDPs is only 12 percent.4 • Distance from schools and costs are significant factors affecting enrolment. For one out of three Somali households, school is at least 30 minutes walking distance. Being more than 30 minutes away from school is negatively associated with enrolment for primary school-aged children. • Provision of education depends heavily on fee-paying schools, particularly in the central and southern states, putting poor students at a disadvantage. Poor households are twice as likely to report lack of resources as the main reason for not sending their children to primary and secondary school. 6. Years of conflict and weak government have given rise to a patchwork of educational institutions. The share of students enrolled in government-managed primary schools across all of Somalia is 47.9 percent. In Banadir and the four FMS, only 7.4 percent of primary students are enrolled in government schools with the remainder in some form of private or community schools. The limited availability of public schools handicaps those who cannot afford private fees. Often private schools are not even an option since operators do not find it viable to run schools in poor and disadvantaged areas. This has resulted in highly unequal access rates for the disadvantaged, who are served neither by state nor nonstate schools. 7. More than 75 percent of schools that existed before the civil war were destroyed and those that remain are not of a high-quality construction. In Banadir and Federal Member States (FMS), 55.9 percent across all types of infrastructure, are regarded as being in ‘poor’ condition, 40.7 percent in ‘fair’ condition, and only 3.4 percent in ‘good’ condition. In order to accommodate more students many schools operate on a double-shift system. 8. The teaching force is largely uncertified and predominantly male. Only 37.9 percent of primary teachers across all Somalia are qualified, with the lowest number qualified in Banadir and FMS (20.8 percent) and less than 15 percent of primary teachers are female. A teacher proficiency test administered to over 800 teachers in Banadir5 shows that pedagogical knowledge of teachers is extremely low and content knowledge is not much better. Over 70 percent of teachers could not correctly answer at least half of the questions in their subject areas including English and Math. There is an inequitable distribution of teachers between rural and urban areas, particularly in the central southern states. In the central southern states 86 percent of all primary school teachers are in urban areas. This is clearly a misallocation given the population distribution between rural and urban areas, with rural and nomads combined at 51.7 percent compared to urban and IDPs combined at 48.3 percent.6 4 ESSP, p. 32. 5 A Teacher Proficiency Test of teachers in Banadir was undertaken under the Recurrent Cost and Reform Financing project in 2019. 6 ESA, p. 125. Jan 13, 2020 Page 4 of 8 The World Bank Somalia Education for Human Capital Development Project (P172434) 9. Accountability and quality assurance mechanisms are nonexistent or weak. The low level of resources available to regional and district officers limits their ability to systematically supervise schools. The difficulty of quality assurance is complicated by the large number of nonstate and informal schools. In the absence of meaningful government funding for education, School Management Committees and Community Education Committees have emerged as important actors in school monitoring and accountability. 10. Financing of Education. National revenue in Somalia is low, and what revenue is available is often prioritized away from education, which accounts for less than 5 percent of total government spending. This is well below the 20 percent recommended by the Global Partnership for Education, and below neighboring countries (as well as the 7 percent allocated by the Government of Somaliland). However, Government revenue has increased in recent years and the National Development Plan (NDP) 8: 2017–2019 commits to increasing the national budget allocation to the education sector by 3 percent per year. The current budget allocation, however, is insufficient to support core functions of an effective public education system including payment of teachers and school construction. Government efforts 11. An Education Sector Plan has been developed by the government following a consultative process. In order to address the above challenges, MoECHE with financial and technical support from DPs has developed a three-year education sector plan (ESSP 2018-2020). The ESSP is aligned with the recently approved Somalia NDP-9 (2020-2024) which serves as the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Both the NDP-9 and the ESSP, identify equitable access to quality education, effective and accountable public service delivery and oversight institutions and establishment of partnerships to reach the most vulnerable groups and communities as key priority areas. Somaliland and Puntland have prepared separate Education Sector Strategic Plans with no specific coordination process or harmonization. 12. A new National Education Curriculum Framework is being phased in. The Government launched a multiyear effort to develop a new national competency-based curriculum which integrates notions of conflict-sensitivity and peace building. Importantly, the new curriculum also introduces a consistent use of languages. In primary school, this will be Somali, while Arabic and English will be used in secondary school, which could have a positive impact on textbook production and the examination system. 13. Progress has been made in establishing an annual school census, particularly in terms of coverage . The current system involves visits to schools in accessible areas by trained data collectors supervised by regional personnel. This data is now published in the MoECHE annual report of education statistics. C. Proposed Development Objective(s) 14. In unserved areas, increase access to grades 1-4 with a focus on girls and improve quality of instruction. Key Results (From PCN) a. Girls enrolled in project supported schools (number); b. Teachers using the technology-based learning platform for classroom instruction (number); c. Baseline for learning achievement across Somalia established (yes/no); and d. Students benefiting from direct interventions to enhance learning (boys and girls) D. Concept Description 15. The proposed project will focus on establishing and strengthening systems at the FGS MoECHE and the FMS level, to successfully implement the government’s ESSP. A key focus area will be to strengthen the stewardship role of the Jan 13, 2020 Page 5 of 8 The World Bank Somalia Education for Human Capital Development Project (P172434) federal government, specifically as it relates to standard and policy setting in relation to teachers and school management and strengthening its role in monitoring of the sector. It will also focus on strengthening government capacity to coordinate sector activities through stronger intergovernmental engagement in the sector and to coordinate external support. To enable the federal government to effectively play a stewardship role for the sector, the project will invest in building the capacity of MoECHE to monitor sector outcomes effectively and strengthen education system governance and accountability. The support will be fully aligned with other efforts in the sector. 16. The project will also support implementation of high potential, short term interventions that can rapidly increase schooling opportunities with a focus on the most disadvantaged communities in Somalia, specifically girls. The project proposes to leverage Somalia’s strengths, including its high mobile penetration to test innovative approaches to enhancing teaching quality and provide effective teaching and learning material to students using digital technology. The project will also support development of essential foundations for the system, i.e. a robust system for regularly and reliably collecting data on sector outcomes, specifically student learning, and enhanced institutional capacity for service delivery. 17. The proposed project would have a specific focus on improving girls’ participation in schooling. This will be integrated throughout project design, for instance by introducing incentives for increasing and maintaining girls’ enrolment in school, encouraging recruitment of female teachers and prioritizing support for female teachers and schools. 18. The use of digital technologies will be an important cornerstone of project design. The expansion of affordable mobile phone and internet connectivity provide a unique advantage to Somalia. Mobile penetration is high and continues to increase. Approximately 90 percent of Somalis above the age of 16 years have a phone with 30.8 percent being smartphones.7 19. The proposed project will focus on increasing supply of schools through partnerships, with a focus on accessible, rural communities. In localities that have low school coverage, the project will support establishment of new schools where the community is able to meet minimum enrollment requirements, and there is no girls’ school in the vicinity. The establishment of schools will follow a partnership model with communities playing an active role in management and supervision of the school. 20. The project proposes to leverage the high levels of connectivity in Somalia to provide a low marginal-cost, blended instructional model that enables teachers to deliver learner-focused education. This will include continuous training for teachers while in service using a digital platform designed to improve their ability to teach at the right level and to systematically build their qualifications while in service. It will also be used to provide teaching resources such as scripted lesson plans (based on the curriculum) to teachers which have proven to be successful at improving education quality. The digital platform is also proposed to provide complementary learning modules for students. Legal Operational Policies Triggered? Projects on International Waterways OP 7.50 No Projects in Disputed Areas OP 7.60 No 7 Altai Consulting, “Mobile Money Ecosystem in Somalia,� June 2017. Jan 13, 2020 Page 6 of 8 The World Bank Somalia Education for Human Capital Development Project (P172434) Summary of Screening of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts . 21. The envisaged environmental risks and impacts include solid waste generation and disposal issues, air and noise pollution, fire hazards, spread of communicable diseases among children, and outbreak of pests and vermin. The project is designed to have a positive social impact, purposely targeting poor and vulnerable population including IDPs, rural, pastoralists communities. On a preliminary assessment of potential social risks and impacts; direct risks from project activities relate to civil works from construction and rehabilitation of classrooms which could lead to land acquisition, restrictions on land use, resettlement and labor influx. In addition, the use of local labor and the reliance on community partnerships and management could lead to cases of child labor. The risks of gender-based violence (GBV) including sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) is assessed as substantial based on the predominantly rural sites, proposed scope of works, weaker mitigation systems and lower absorption capacity. . CONTACT POINT World Bank Huma Ali Waheed Senior Education Specialist Borrower/Client/Recipient Ministry of Finance Implementing Agencies Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education Ahmed Yusuf Director General dg@moe.gov.so FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects Jan 13, 2020 Page 7 of 8 The World Bank Somalia Education for Human Capital Development Project (P172434) APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Huma Ali Waheed Approved By APPROVALTBL Practice Manager/Manager: Country Director: Jan 13, 2020 Page 8 of 8