44291 DATASHEET PROJECTRESTRUCTURING - PROJECT PAPERFORTHE EDUCATIONPROJECT(PASEN) Date: June 5,2008 Team Leader: Alexandria Valerio Country: Nicaragua Sector Manager: Eduardo Velez Bustillo Project Name: EducationProject (PASEN) Country Director: Laura Frigenti Project ID:PO78990 Environmentalcategory: C L P Borrower: The Government of Nicaragua P Responsible agency: Ministry of Education - - Revised estimated disbursements (Bank FY/US$m) Revisedproject development objective/outcomes Project objectives aim to (i)Improve institutional management capacity and information systems to improve service delivery; (ii)improve systems of governance and accountability, including measures to strengthen community participation in the education sector; (iii) improve the quality of education through monitoring and disseminating student learning outcomes; and (iv) harmonize donor assistancein the education sector. Does the restructured project trigger anv new safeguard policies? N o Revised Financing Plan (US$m.) Source I Local I Foreign I Total Borrower 0.0 0.0 0.0 IBRD/IDA 4.50 1.oo 5.50 Total 4.50 1.oo 5.50 NICARAGUA NICARAGUA - EDUCATION PROJECT (PO789901 L O A N (IDA-39780) PROJECT PAPER IntroductoryStatement 1. This Project Paper (PP) seeks the approval of the Executive Directors to restructure the Nicaragua Education Project (PASEN) and accompanying Development Credit Agreement. The extension of the Credit's closing Date from June 30, 2008 to December 30,2009 i s also presentedfor consideration inthis PP. 2. The proposed restructuring would support the institutional strengthening of the Ministry of Education (MINED) through the establishment of a decentralized and participative education management model and the improvement of the quality of preschool, primary and secondary education through provisionof textbook and classroom materials, targeted programs to raise the profile and qualifications of teachers in rural areas and disadvantaged schools, and development of strategies and systems to monitor and disseminate learning outcomes. The proposed restructuring would align programmatic interventions with the education policies and priorities recently adopted by the Government of Nicaragua, the Government of National Reconciliation and Unity (GoN). These policies are spelled out more concretely in the Ministry of Education (MINED)Institutional Strengthening Plan 2008-2011(ISP)'. The proposed restructuring would make revisions to the following project elements: (a) development objectives; (b) number and content of components, sub-components and corresponding intermediate indicators; and (c) component costs and financing plan and allocation of Credit proceeds, while keeping the total project cost and Credit amount unchanged. BackgroundandReasonsfor Restructuring 3. An SDR 10.4 million Sector Investment Credit (SIC) was approved on September 2, 2004 to support the implementation of an Education Sector Project in Nicaragua. The project became effective on March 17, 2005 and began implementationshortly thereafter. The project was designed to support the implementation of the Government's National Education Policy and Sector Program, including the Education-For-All Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) goals. The project objectives included the following: (a) increase 1 The Institutional Strengthening Plan 2008-2011 (ISP) supports the following five pillars. (1) More Education to reduce high levels of adult illiteracy; (2) Better Quality of Education through the improvement of curricula, in-service teacher education, classroom facilities and school infrastructure, student learning outcomes; (3) Alternative Education to strengthen other channels and types o f education to leverage education services; (4) Participation Education to strengthen community participation; and (5) Broad Education to guarantee incorporation o f dimensions of the sector into a unified educational system. The Ministry's Annual Common Work Plan (ACWP) for 2008 supports the implementation of the ISP's five pillars. 1 enrollment for preschool, primary and secondary education; (b) improve attention to quality and relevance of learning; (c) improve systems of governance and accountability, including measures to strengthen community participation in monitoring the education sector outcomes; and (d) harmonize donor assistance in the education sector. To date, 48 percent of the Credit proceeds have been implemented and corresponding objectives and indicators achieved satisfactorily. 4. Key project achievements, under the four original components, are outlined below2. 5. Component 1: Strengthening the Ministry of Education Stewardship Capacity. (a)-Institutional strengthening at municipal level was achieved through the establishment o f 46 performance agreements between MINED and municipalities (compared to a goal of 51 to be accomplished during the life of the project) and the associated training was completed to improve pedagogical supervision of schools and institution-based planning, budgeting and management; (b) Implementation o f the first-phase of a reengineering plan for the Ministry which encompassed an in-depth institutional assessment, conceptual design o f a reengineering plan, design of organizational systems aimed at improving functions, institutional processes and transactions to improve: planning and management, quality assurance mechanisms, communication flows, human resource planning, regulation and certification of educational programs and learning institutions; and (c) Strengthening supervision capacity and logistical support to implement decentralization policies and programs. 6. Component 2: Program Monitoring, Evaluation, and Continuous Auditing Systems. (a) Evaluation of student competencies and learning outcomes in Spanish and Mathematics for rimary education through the implementation of standardized student tests in 3`d and 6t grades and participation in the UNESCO regional student assessment R test to benchmark student performance vis-&vis other Latin American countries; (b) Strengthening school-base planning capacity to develop school development plans using information from the Ministry's education statistical data base and self-evaluation tools to reflect on strengths and weaknesses in the quality o f service delivery; (c) Strengthening the Ministry's analytical capacity to collect and analyze their annual educational statistics and develop action-oriented reports on the state of education in Nicaragua; and (d) Development of a School Report Cardinitiative to measure the impact of different types o f information and the role o f technical assistance on school changes and student performance over time. 7. Component 3: Implementation of the School Autonomy Program. (a) Incorporation of primary and secondary schools into the Autonomous School Model through provision of school-based technical assistance, financial support and revitalization o f School Management Councils. By the end of 2006 almost 80 percent o f Informe de ejecucidn fisico financiero periodo enero a septiembre 2007 (versidn final). MINED, Managua Nicaragua; Informe de ejecucidnfisico financiero periodo de enero a diciembre 2006 PASEN. MINED, Managua Nicaragua. 2 the total number of primary and secondary had been incorporated, registering an additional net increaseinenrollment of 21,000 in a two year period; and (b) Development of a program to support children aged 6 to 9 who were identified as at-risk of dropping out in the first two years of primary education. The program, which was implemented during school holidays, reached and retained 55,000 students in 2005 and 2006. The programwas focused in very poor neighborhoods inManagua and inselected rural areas. 8. Component 4: Pilot program for community preschools. (a) Development of a "primary school readiness program" to prepare students aged 5 and 6 who were identified as at-risk of not enrolling on time in the first grade. The program reached about 17,000 children and ensuredmost of them enrolled on-time; and (b) Preparation of a draft action plan to consolidate and improve community preschool programs. 9. The project performed well and was rated satisfactorily, from effectiveness until October 2006 when uncertainty set in within MINED senior technical staff with the changes in Government that resulted from the elections held in November 2006. However, implementation slowed down significantly starting in January 2007, mainly as a result in changes in some of the key policies that had been supported by the project. UntilOctober 2006, the physical targets established to meet the Development Objectives were met for all components (as mentioned in the paragraphs above). The Implementation (IP) rating oscillated between Moderately Satisfactory (MS) and Satisfactory (S) primarily as a result of the challenges that were experienced early on in the transition from reliance on a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) to mainstreaming implementation, including fiduciary responsibilities, within the institutional structures of MINED. Dated legal covenants due before October 2006 were met satisfactorily. The financial audits were submitted and, while one received a qualification, the issues surrounding the qualification were redressed adequately. The details, specific indicators and supporting documentation on PDOs, IP rating and legal covenant compliance are includedinthe Implementation Supervision Reports (ISR) archived inthe system. 10. The Government administration that was elected in November 2006 made the decision to revise educational policies and strategies, which resulted in the discontinuation of some of the programs and projects that were underpinned by previous sector policies. Key among the discontinued policies and initiatives were the School Autonomy Model? the municipal decentralization model, the establishment of municipal service contracts, and the School Report Cards initiative. The School Autonomy Model, which consisted of the provision of capitation grants channeled directly to schools to finance all recurrent expenditures, including teacher salaries and minor investment expenditures, was discontinued and replaced with centralized financing. The municipal decentralization model, originally planned to strengthen municipalities to undertake selected education planning functions and technical support to schools, was replaced with a decentralized and participative education management model with more concrete linkages to the Ministry's headquarters. The School Report Cards initiative was discontinued altogether. The School Autonomy Model beganas apilot in 1993 and was underpinned in 2002 by an official legal framework with the Ley 413 de Educacidn Participativa. ProposedChanges 11. The proposed Project Development Objectives (PDO) are revised from the original objectives, see Table 1 below. The restructured PDOs remain aligned to the EFA-FTIinitiative and indicative framework indicators inNicaragua. The key change is the emphasis placed on institutional strengthening and quality improvements. The objective of increasing enrollment was dropped from the project and was thus eliminated from the PDOs. It should be noted, however, that although the objective of increasing enrollment was dropped from the restructured project, it remains an imperative for MINED and there are programs aligned to accomplish this objective inthe context of the Annual Comrnon Work Plan, which receives multiple sources of financing. The Project will continue to be supervised bi-annually under the umbrella framework of joint review sessions with participation of all donors and lenders who provide support to the education sector in Nicaragua. Leadership o f the joint review missions remains the full responsibility of MINED, while its Annual Operation Plan and Budget continue to be used as a tool to guide the joint implementation reviews. This i s consistent with the Paris harmonizationframework to improve development effectiveness. Table 1- Project Development Objectives Original The project aims to bring together donors and lenders to help GoN implement its National Education Policy, including the Education For All (EFA) goals. Project objectives aim to: - Increase enrollment of preschool, primary and secondary education; - Improve attention to quality and relevance of leamirig; - Improve systems of governance and accountability, including measures to strengthen - community participation in the education sector; and Harmonize donor assistance in the education sector. Restructured The project aims to bringtogether donors and lenders to help GoN implement its Institutional Strengthening Plan 2008-2011, including the Education For All (EFA) goals. Project objectives aim to: - Improve institutional management capacity and information systems to improve - service delivery; Improve systems of governance and accountability, including measures to strengthen - community participation in the education sector; Improve the quality of education through monitoring and disseminating student - learning outcomes; and Harmonize donor assistance inthe education sector. 12. In addition to the changes in the PDO and associated project outcome indicators (see Table 2), the proposed restructuring introduces adjustments in the number and content of components and in intermediate indicators associated with the new components. Changes to the procurement plan and categories o f disbursements were adjusted to the restructured design. An 18-month extension of the Credit's closing Date, 4 from June 30, 2008 to December 30, 2009 i s also being sought to undertake the restructured activities successfully. Annex 1 of this PP summarizes in table format the details o f the proposed restructuring by comparing the original design, by component, with the proposed restructuring, including output and intermediate outcome indicators. Similarly,Annex 2 provides a revisedResults Framework for the restructuredproject. able 2 -Expected Project Development Outcome Indicators 3riginal I.Increasedenrollmentinschoolsinpreschool, primary andsecondaryschool -- # of students enrolled in schools # of dropouts at primary and secondary levels 2. Improved attention to quality and relevance of learning - Measurement of student achievement on National standardized tests in Spanish and Mathematics for 3'dand 6" grades 3. Elaborated government strategy regarding preschool that: --- I s articulated with the policy regarding age at entry into primary school Secures coordination between different government agencies Makes adequate financing available for providing adequate coverage and quality 4. Regulatedand coordinateddonor financing - Formalacceptance of 3 year rolling CommonWork Program (CWP) evidencedby signed MOUby all donors - - % of donor financing that shares harmonizedFMarrangements # donors attendingjoint supervisionmissions expressed as a % of total number of active donors 5. Improved systems of governance and accountability - ## of autonomous schools as a % of all schools - % of MINEDemployees hiredby public recruitment process Restructured Baseline indicators and targets are included in Annex 3 - 1. Improved quality and relevance of learning - Measurement of student achievement on National standardized tests in Spanish and -- Mathematics for 3rdand 6" grades Textbooks to student ratio improved for grades 1to 3 of primary school Percentage of unqualified teachers inrural schools and disadvantaged regions reduced 2. Improvedsystems of governance and accountability -- National student assessment strategy developed and inoperation Institutional capacity strengthened and communications flows with departments and - schools improved Average time lag (in number of days) to complete key processes and common - transactions in the sector reduced Strengthened Autonomous Regional Education System (SEAR) to improve service 5 I delivery in the Autonomous CoastalArea Regions(RAAN/RAAS) 3. Improved coordination of donor financing - Formal acceptance of 3 year rolling Common Work Program (CWP) evidenced by -- signedMOUby all donors % of donor financing that shares harmonizedFMarrangements # donors attendingjoint supervision missionsexpressed as a '4% of total number of active donors 13. It is expected that the project restructuring would contribute to the implementation of the following activities included in the MINED ISP 2008-2011: (a) strengthening of administrative and institutional management capacity at all levels; (b) implementation of a management information system to improve the transparency and accountability of sector outcomes; (c) improvement in the quality of education through the application and dissemination o f student assessments, consistent with the new curricula; (d) provision of educational materials and textbooks in key subjects; and (e) improvement of teacher classroom practice in rural schools through in-service teacher education programs. 14. The proposed restructuring involves a reduction in the number o f components from four to two, and in their scope, see Table 3 below. The restructured project would concentrate the resources to finance the following two components: (a) Institutional Strengthening o f Administrative and Management Capacity in the Sector, and (b) Improving the Quality of Primary and Secondary Education. 'able 3 - Project Components and Sub-components Original Components Indicators 1.Strengtheningthe - Implementation of Action Planfor modernization MECD of MINEDStewardship - Reducedcentralized expenditures of MECD Capacity - Increasedsignedperformanceagreements - Number of municipal supervision visits to autonomous schools - Number of qualified technical staff in municipal supervision teams 2.ProgramMonitoring, - School council member's awareness of the contentsof their Evaluation, and school report card Continuous Auditing - Increased# schools with development plansusingeducational Systems statistics - Increased# of municipal agreements with educational statistics as part of agreement - Periodic testingof studentsin SpanishandMath carried out in primary and secondarylevels - Fulldissemination of student testing to all classroomsand school communities - Periodic observation of teacher methodology and interaction in the classroom 6 - Results of teacher observation disseminated to all classrooms and school communities 3.Implementation of the - Study that analyzes the variation inperformance among School Autonomy autonomous schools Program - Study that analyzes the variation inperformance of autonomous schools across municipalities 4.Pilot Programfor - Enrollment of children inpilot preschools Community Preschools - Evaluationof the pilot Restructured ~~ ~ Component Indicators 1.Institutional - % of departmental delegations and municipalities implementing Strengthening of the new Decentralized and Participatory Education Management MINED'SManagement Model Capacity - % of departmentaldelegations and municipalities linked with IT to implement the National Management InformationSystem - Improvement inthe % of budget execution - Number of modules of the National InformationSystem integrated at the end of 2008 and number of modules implemented at the end of 2009 2.- Quality Improvement Dissemination of 2006 national and international student of preschool, primary assessmentsresults and secondary Percentage of teaching force and school principals trained inthe education results, analysis and weaknesses identified in the national and international student assessments Proportion of preschools with classroom and didactic materials Proportion of primary schools with new teaching guides on Spanish and Mathematics to improve teacher pedagogical and classroompractices Implementation round of student assessmentsin Spanish and Mathematics for 4th and 6th grades of primary school and 9th and 1lth grades in2009 in at least 30 percent of the schools participating in the results, analysis and weakness identification courses Developed national strategy on student assessment Increasedpercentage of primary schools receiving new textbooks (grades 1-3) in Spanish and Life Skills Increasedpercentage of total number of pedagogical advisors trained and delivering training in classroom techniques, statistics management, communication and leadership Increasedpercentage of teachers in rural areas receiving in- service training on pedagogical techniques for multi-grade settings Increasedpercentage of secondary school teachers receiving in- service training inMathematics and SDanish subiects 7 15. The details o f the restructured project components, including the amount of the undisbursed balance (SDR 6.1l), outlined below. are 16. Component 1 Institutional Strengthening of Management Capacities of the - MINED (SDR 0.428 million, 7.09% of total amount of undisbursed funds). This component supports the institutional strengthening of the Ministry o f Education (MINED) through the establishment of a decentralized and participative education management model. The main activities that would be financed b y this component include: (a) institutional strengthening workshops at department and municipal levels to implement and monitor the Decentralized and Participative Education Management Model, including the Autonomous Regional Education System (SEAR) which i s in charge o f the Autonomous Coastal Area Regions (RAANRAAS); (b) provision of a technological platform (software and hardware) and equipment for the establishment of the National Management Information System at central and departmental level; and (c) technical support and planning tools to map the demand and supply of educational services to allow for a more effective and efficient allocation of resources and extension or upgrade o f school infrastructure. 17. Component 2 - Quality Improvement of Primary and Secondary Education (SDR 5.687 million or 93.0% of total amount of undisbursed funds). This component supports the improvement o f quality in preschool, primary and secondary education through the provision of textbook and classroom materials, targeted programs to raise the profile and qualifications of teachers in rural areas and disadvantaged schools and development of strategies and systems to monitor and disseminate learning outcomes. This component is organized infour sub-components as follows: 18. Sub-component 2.1: Establishment and implementation of a national strategy for learning assessments that would finance the development of a national strategy for student assessment, including the collection, dissemination and use o f student learning outcomes for decision-making processes on quality improvement interventions. In addition, a baseline o f learning outcomes will be constructed to evaluate the depth and effectiveness of the curricula transformation process, currently underway. 19. Sub-component 2.2: Development o f learning materials and provision of textbooks, including classroom materials for preschools (workbooks and story books) and primary schools, developing textbooks for grades 1-6 in Spanish and Literature, Life and Environmental Sciences, Social Studies, and Life Skills and provision of textbooks in grades 1-3 in Spanish & Literature and Life Skills. The sub-component includes the provision o f primary school libraries. 20. Subcomponent 2.3: Quality improvement interventions in targeted rural schools through the development of teacher education workshops for multi-grade schools, provision of classroom materials, development of training workshops for pedagogical advisors at departmental level, and planning workshops for rural schools communities to develop local work plans to tailor activities to the local issues and circumstances. 8 21. Sub-component 2.4: Quality improvement interventions targeted to the last two grades o f secondary education through the design, development, and distribution of study-guides for 4thand 5`h year o f secondary education in the areas o f Mathematics and Spanish, and the associated training for teachers in their use and classroom application. 22. Proiect Cost and Financinc The proposed restructuring would result in adjustments in the project costs and financing plan, and would require a reallocation of the Credit proceeds. The total project cost and loan amount will remain unchanged. The proposed changes do not have a significant effect on the original economic, financial, technical or institutional aspects (Annex 4 contains a revised project cost by component and the proposed allocation of Credit proceeds on the undisbursedbalance). 23. Implementation arrangements. As established in the original project design, MINEDwill continue to be responsible for implementation of technical components and fiduciary compliance. The MINED has prepared a revised procurement implementation plan acceptable to the Association. Financial Management compliance is rated satisfactory and the project has never received qualified financial audits. The proposed changes do not involve any exceptions to Bank policies or changes in implementation arrangements. Analysis 24. The new education policies and priorities o f the GoN make a clear statement on the need to increase enrollment and retention, improve the quality of education at the primary and secondary levels, and strengthen institutional capacity at all levels to improve planning and implementation of programs (as registered in the MINED'SISP 2008-2011). There is also a strong emphasis on targeted interventions in rural areas where education indicators are well below urban averages and the need to place greater emphasis on the RAAN and M A S , whose indicators are at very low levels. Although the GoN acknowledges the importance of decentralization and promotion of community participation in school governance and accountability, their proposed interventions and implementation approaches are different from those of previous administrations. The original project design does not fit the new administration's implementation approach. The task team has made a careful review o f new policies and strategies in the ISP 2008- 2011 and considered them an adequate platform from which to: (a) build a new programmatic response with a restructured project; and (b) maintain the sector dialogue. The restructuring proposal aims to adjust interventions to the new education policy environment, as laid out by the GoN, to achieve greater coverage and improve the quality of pre-primary, primary and secondary education in Nicaragua. The economic and financial viability of the proposed restructuring was assessed and deemed adequate. The new components do not include school construction or infrastructure rehabilitation, therefore, there are no environmental triggers involved, which i s the same as in the previous design. Finally, the restructured project places greater emphasis on improving the quality o f service delivery in remote rural communities and in the R A A N R A A S which i s expected to reach indigenous communities with a larger package of services compared to the previous design. The latter has been actively involved in the 9 development of targeted interventions that are culturally relevant and that would ensure implementation readiness upon receiving official notification o f approval to the restructuring. 25. The proposed restructured project eliminates all the activities in Component 3 of the original design (Implementation of the School Autonomy Program) because the previous policy of direct financing to schools i s no longer consistent with the policies of the current Administration. Component 4 of the original design i s also eliminated in the restructure because it has been fully implemented during the first two years of implementation and the indicators associated to the Component have been achieved. It should be noted that the activities under Component 4 were not o f recurrent nature, hence the possibility of removal once completed. 26. Activities that are being kept include those in the original Components 1 and 2, although with modifications, including strengthening of the Ministry o f Education at all levels and the evaluation of competencies in Spanish and Mathematics. The first activity was modified to introduce a new institutional capacity and information management system model instead of the reengineering of the Ministry o f Education and the establishment of service contracts with municipalities. The second activity will be modified to accommodate the development of new tests that reflect the revised curricula inprimaryand secondary education, currently under development. 27. New activities added to the project in the restructuring package include the development and distribution of textbooks for preschool and primary education, implementation o f targeted quality improvement programs in rural schools, and introduction of quality improvement activities targeted to the last two grades of secondary education. These additions are included to strengthen the project development objective on quality improvement. BenefitsandRisks 28. The main benefits from the proposed restructuring will be the focus on quality improvement interventions, the continuation of the promotion of a culture o f results, particularly learning outcomes, and the ability to remain engaged in the sector dialogue, along with other partners. The risks identified and the proposed mitigation measures are described inthe following paragraphs. 29. Continuous institutional reorganization in MINED: The change of Administration brought about substantial staff turn over, particularly among midto senior level officials. Although the rate o f turnover and change has by now subsided as the Administration's reorganization is in its final stage, the current institutional capacity is stretched thin. Careful attention will need to paid during project supervision to assist MINED counterparts to identify implementation bottlenecks and devise solutions to maintain a steady rhythm of implementation. As a mitigation measure, MINED has identified overall responsibility for the sub-components as well as for the day-to-day operations within Directorates to ensure timely implementation. Moreover, MINED hired 10 a qualified technical officer to look after project related processes and coordinate within the Directorates with direct responsibility of activities under the restructured project. An information system i s being developed to accompany implementation, improve transparency o f processes and identify potential delays in time. The Bank technical and fiduciary teams have been working closely with MINED technical staff in the restructuring and on actions needed to provide just-in-time support and strengthen planning and implementation capacity. Risklevel: Moderate. 30. Implementation of components in the restructured project design: The restructured project includes two activities that are central to the improvement o f quality of education, namely textbook development and provision and development of new student assessment tools aligned with the new curricula. It should be noted that a new test with new curricula will likely not be comparable to those carried out in 2002 and 2006. However, efforts will be made to ensure a minimum level o f comparability, even if it i s on a limited basis, b y selecting some comparable items that will be measured with the instruments. Another concern lies with the implementation o f the component on institutional strengthening, in particular with the provision of IT equipment at sub- national level. It would be imperative to ascertain an appropriate level o f training on new IT equipment, including strategies to provide and finance regular equipment maintenance. International experience on IT provision is clear on the need to establish a strategy to ensure new IT equipment becomes a platform for the articulation o f functions, standard operating processes and transactions, and the maintenance and staffing required to support IT equipment i s in place. Given the complexity o f procurement processes of textbooks, the specialized technical know-how needed to develop proper student assessment tools, and the need for specialized IT staff, the restructuring proposal includes financing for technical assistance to accompany the implementation o f these activities. There i s a risk, however, that MINED would not be amenable to contracting specialized technical support, an action in line with the Administration's objective o f reducing reliance on consultants within Ministries. While the essence o f the Administration's concern is valid and fully understood, these activities call for specialized knowledge and skills in order to achieve satisfactory implementation. Risk level: High. Institutional Capacity to cover fiduciary aspects of the Credit: The MINED staff assigned to procurement functions hold appropriate qualifications and have several years of experience under previous Bank-financed operations in Nicaragua. Similarly, the staff responsible for financial management hold appropriate qualifications and are performing financial management duties satisfactorily. The Bank's procurement and financial management specialist staff based in the Country Office will continue to support MINED closely on all fiduciary aspects associated with the Credit and will provide refresher training as needed to strengthen fiduciary capacity. Risk level: Low. 3 1. Monitoring of indicators and outcomes: The monitoring of education indicators and outcomes has been one of the constant weaknesses inMINEDfor a number o f years. Inorder to improvethe situation, MINEDincluded key indicators to be monitored as part of the Annual Work Program. These indicators are universally shared with partners and include student tests and the EFA FTIIndicative Framework, both o f which are central to 11 the restructured project. However, project specific indicators on institutional strengthening, textbooks and in-service teacher development programs (i.e., physical targets, financial flows and quality o f implementation) will need to be monitored separately to ensure compliance with the restructured project. While the capacity in MINED to undertake the task is adequate, because technical staff is stretched thin, there are a risk of not keeping track o f indicators as regularly as required, which is consistent with previous implementation experience. As mitigation, the restructured project includes financing to develop an implementation module to keep track o f implementation targets, indicators, and outcomes. Risk: Moderate. IndigenousPeople's Plan(IPDP) 32. The original Indigenous People's Development Plan (IPDP) supported the GoN's efforts to decentralize various responsibilities to Regional Governments, including the Education Sub-system o f Autonomous Regions (SEAR) in the Atlantic Coast. The implementation o f IPDP-specific activities mirrored the pace and pattern o f the overall implementation, which had a relatively slow start. It should be noted that for the activities that were accomplished, student evaluation and education data collection and analysis, included interventions in the Atlantic Coast which is consistent with the original IPDP agreement. 33. The implementation of the original IPDP brought some lights regarding operational issues that narrowed down the scope o f the original plan specifically with respect to the legal framework that was not enforced completely and delayed some activities in M A N and RAAS and hence have to be improved. These lessons were taken into account in the design of the IPDP for the restructured project. The main issues considered were the fulfillment of Law No. 28 (October 2003) "Framework for the Autonomy of the Regions of the Atlantic Coast o f Nicaragua", and Law No.582 (August 2006) General Law of Education; both of them granting the autonomous regions with the responsibility to manage financially the provision o f education services in an active and systematic coordination with the line ministries at central level; as well as the juridical capacity to rector, organize, and regulate the education system for the geographic areas of their coverage. Many of these responsibilities were not completely transferred to the autonomous regions in the past, nor was a model to do so put in place. The decentralization of the education policy and the model that i s being supported b y the restructuredproject aim to strengthen the capacity o f the regional authorities to guarantee an active coordination, alignment, and unification of the interventions and education policies as well as education systems with the central level. 34. Inorder to leverage this, in the past couple years, MINED has been adjusting project design and allocation of resources for the autonomous regions in order to promote a participative planning and budgeting schemes, and high coordination among other actors such as NGO's and other donors interventions in the autonomous regions. Likewise, MINED has identified measures that will mitigate the gaps and speed up the implementation pace of the IPDP, among those there are: (i)to put in place an Intercultural Bilingual Education Office, with the mandate to coordinate and develop a 12 program to support the organizational capacities of the SEAR, (ii) develop a common to work plan for the strengthening of SEAR that i s achieved through a participatory and decentralized scheme and a result of the alignment and coordination of central and regional interventions, (iii) to reactivate the M i x Parity Commission as stated by article No. 12 of the Law No. 28, (iv) to integrate representatives from the two autonomous regions in the work program of the education commissions actually in place, and (v) to strengthen the operational capacities and the organizational structures of SEAR in order to implement the decentralization model. 35. The GoN held meetings, technical discussions and consultations with SEAR staff to agree on a restructured IPDP to ensure consistency with the strategic direction and policy framework set forth by the current Administration, and to consider the lessons learned from the implementation of the original PDP. The IPDP for the restructured project i s expected to leverage the ongoing large-scale investments financed by the EFA- FTI Catalytic Trust Fund. The implementation of the restructured IPDP will be monitored and evaluated by the MINED and SEAR. An ex-post evaluation will be accomplished at the end of the project. The activities that will be financed by the restructured IPDPinclude the following: 36. Component 1 Institutional Strengthening of Management Capacities of the - MINED Institutional strengthening workshops at department and municipal levels to implement and monitor the Decentralized and Participative Education Management Model, including the Education Sub-system of Autonomous Regions (SEAR) which i s in charge of the Autonomous Coastal Area Regions ( R A A N M S ); Logistical support for indigenous delegations; Development of a technical support and planning tools to map the demand and supply of educational services at municipal level that include the coastal region; and Provision of a technological platform (software and hardware) and equipment for the establishment of the National Management Information System. 37. Component2 Quality Improvement of Primary and Secondary Education - (a) Establishment and implementation of a national strategy for learning assessments that includes the Coastal Region System ,for the development of a national strategy for student assessment, including the collection, dissemination and use of student learning outcomes for decision-making processes on quality improvementinterventions; and (b) Teacher training workshops for multi-grade schools and provision of classroom materials. The activities also include: training workshops for pedagogical advisors and planning workshops for rural schools communities to develop local work plans to tailor activities to the local issues and circumstances. 13 e0 Y % 3 C .I a i a e I I I I I I L 0 ru 0 i 5 .e 3 Yv) c e, e, '"0% I I I I I I I I 3 ? i ri N N I I I I I , c - #o Ss I: I , I I I I I c - #is o s co 8r- E Annex 2. ResultsFrameworkfor the RestructuringProposal PDO ~~ Outcome Indicators Use of outcomeinformation Project objectives aim to: (a) Improved quality and relevance IIMonitoring these indicators will Improve institutional of learning informMINEDon the following: management capacity and - Measurement of student (i) wellthesectorlevel how information systems to improve achievement on National approach is working; (ii)what service delivery; (b) Improve standardized tests in Spanish needs to be done to further reduce systems of governance and and Mathematics for 3rd and donor discordance problems and accountability, including 6th grades enhance government measuresto strengthen - Textbooks to student ratio for accountability; and (ii)how well community participation in the grades 1to 3 of primary students are performing. education sector; (c) Improve the school quality of education through - Reduced percentage of monitoring and disseminating unqualified teachers in rural student learning outcomes; and (d) Harmonize donor assistance schools and disadvantaged regions in the education sector. I Improved systems of governance and accountability - National student assessment strategy developed and in operation - Institutional capacity strengthened and communications flows with departments and schools improved. - Reduced average time lag (in number of days) to complete key processes and common I transactions in the sector - Strengthened Autonomous Regional Education System (SEAR) to improve service delivery in the Autonomous Coastal Area Regions (RAANIRAAS) Improved coordination of donor financing I - Formal acceptance of 3 year rolling Common Work Program (CWP) evidenced by signed MOUby all donors - % of donor financing that shares harmonized FM arrangements - # donors attending joint supervision missions expressed as a % of total number of active donors 16 PDO Outcome Indicators Use of outcome information Intermediate Results per Results indicators for each Use of Results monitoring Component component 1.Institutional Strengthening of - % of departmental delegations The implementation of the Management Capacities of the and municipalities Decentralized and Participative MINED:improvements inthe implementing the new Zducation Management Model governance and accountability for Decentralized and dlallowMINEDtomanage the education sector Participatory Education :fficiently and in a transparent Management Model Nay the resources allocated to - % of departmental delegations :ducation. and municipalities equipped with information technology (printers, fax machines, computer furniture, cellular telephone plants) to implement the National I Information System - Improvement in the % of -budget execution Number o f modules of the National Information System integrated at the end o f 2008 and Number of muddles implemented at the end o f 2009 2.- Quality Improvement of - Dissemination o f 2006 The National strategy for learning primary and secondary national student test results in assessmentswill allow the education: improvement in the 768 schools feedback to the classroom and the quality of basic and secondary - Dissemination of 2006 school communities. In order to education national and international improve educational processes, student test results in239 MINEDwill support in-service schools teacher training, and the - Number of teachers and development of a curricula for the school principals participating integration o f the SEAR and the in the disseminations Basic and Secondary National workshops for national tests Education System. - Number of teachers and school principals participating inthe disseminations workshops for international tests - Number of schools receiving teaching guides on Spanish and Mathematics for the third and sixth grades in primary, to improve the pedagogical practices o f teachers I - Round of student tests for Spanish and Mathematics for grades 4 and 6 o f primary school and 9th and 1lth grade (3rd and 5th year o f secondary school) at the beginning o f 2009 in 30% o f schools participating in 17 Outcome Indicators Use of outcome information - training courses Development of a baseline for 2009 student test results to improve the curricular transformation initiative - National strategy for learning assessmentsdeveloped that includes rounds o f national tests according to MINED criteria - Number of authors participating in the design and validation o f the textbooks design for 1st through 6th grade o f primary schools in the areas o f Spanish and Literature, Life and Environmental Sciences, Social Studies, and Life Skills - 1st to 3rd grade textbooks in Spanish and Life Skills printed and distributed - # of departmental and municipal staff members trained according to the formation plan - # of pedagogical advisors trained in classroom techniques, statistics management, communication and leadership - # of rural teachers trained in pedagogical techniques for multi-grade settings. - # of secondary teachers trained in Math and Spanish in the usage of study guides. - Study guides for 4th and 5th year of secondary education inthe areas of Mathand Spanish developed and - distributed. Number o f workshops for rural multigrade teachers in planning and evaluation o f curricular activities (Strategic planning workshops to improve the quality o f education -TEPCE) 18 - e W c (0 0 W E- a c e0 .-.--c 0 m '0 c) In In 3 K a I n w z 2 -n - f C aE Q, .-cL 0 0N i cLE aa ! f OD u. 2 0 0 N !! .-Cc e -a 'z: c ?E P- O 0 N -i cf 'z: n U -W Et xm W 0 0 N =l tt 2 I- c - >a f v) 4 0 0 N w 0 0 N 2 c. 0 .-m0 .-E '0 OD 0 0 N 8 W 0 0 IC 0 N g 8 0 N 8 v) N Tt a, 0 N se.. r- 8 cu 0 w E u z 5 sz 3 E I I 2 m I E a -wwo U O .E m I n n W z w z I I - P- O a 0 - (D a 0 0 - In 0 a 0 - e 0 a 0 - I xcu 0 I n a W z W z z2 Annex 4: Project Cost and Financing Arrangement Original Restructured Component Project cost Component Project Cost (SDR) (SDR) 1.Strengthening the MINED 2.19 1.Institutional Strengthening 0.428 Stewardship capacity of Management Capacities of the MWED 2.ProgramMonitoring, 2.43 2.Quality Improvement of 5.687 Evaluation, and Continuous Primary and Secondary Auditing Systems education 3. Implementation of the School 5.71 Autonomy Program 4. Pilot Program for community - 0.078 Preschools IDR conversion date is April 11, 2008 Category Amount of the original % of expenditures to be loan allocated (SDR) financed (1) Goods (a) under part A of the project 235,000 100% of foreign expenditures and 87% of local expenditures (b) other 865,000 100%of foreign expenditures and 87% of local expenditures (2) Consultant Services (a) under part A of the project 790,0003 100% of foreign expenditures and 91% of local expenditures Other 310,000 100%of foreign expenditures and 91% of local expenditures (3) Training (a) under part A of the project 25,000 100% Other 1,775,000 100% (4) Grants for beneficiary schools 4,100,000 100% of grant amount (5) incentives (severance 400,000 100% payments) under Part A.1of the project and bonuses under Part D.1 of the project (6) incremental staff salaries (a) under part A of the project 620,000 91% untilwithdrawals have 27 Category Amount of the original % of expenditures to be loan allocated (SDR) financed reached an aggregate amount equivalent to 370,000; 70% untilwithdrawals have reached an aggregate amount equivalent to 525,000; and 50% thereafter (b) underpart B of the project 280,000 91% until withdrawal have reached an aggregate amount equivalent to 165,000; 70% untilwithdrawals have reached an aggregate amount equivalent to 240,000; and 50% thereafter (7) other non consultant services 700.000 91% (8) Unallocated 300,000 I TOTAL 10,400,000 XDR convertion date is April 11,2008 Table 3: Allocation of proceeds (Revised) Amount of the Category loan allocated % of expenditures to be (inSDR) financed (1) Goods (a) under Part A of the Original 195'521 100% of foreign expenditures and Project Description 87% of local expenditures (b) other, underthe Original 100% of foreign expenditures and Project Description 118,425 87% of local expenditures (2) Consultants' services 100% of foreign expenditures and (a) under PartA of the Original 310,000 91% of local expenditures Project Description (b) other, under the Original 100% of foreign expenditures and Project Description 0 91% of local expenditures (3) Training (a) under Part A of the Original 19,200 Project Description 100% (b) other, under the Original 674,000 100% Project Description (4) Grants for Beneficiary Schools under Part C of the Original 2,102,979 100% of the Grant Amount Proiect DescriDtion (5) Incentives (severance payments under Part A.l and bonuses 218,000 100% under Part D.1of the Original Project Description) (6) IncrementalStaff Salaries 91% untilwithdrawal have reached (a) under Part A of the Original an aggregate amount equivalent to Project Description 752,000 370,000; 70% until withdrawals 28 have reached an aggregate amount equivalent to 525,000; and 50% thereafter (b) under Part B of the Original - 91% until withdrawal have reached Project Description 0 an aggregate amount equivalent to 165,000; 70% until withdrawals have reached an aggregate amount equivalent to 240,000; and 50% thereafter (7) Other "non-consultant" services under the Original Project 503,300 91% Description (8) Unallocated 0 (9) Goods, Consultants' services, and Training under Part 1of the 428,116 100% Project (10) Goods, Consultants' services, 100% non-consultant services and Training 5,078,459 underPart 2 of the Proiect TOTAL 10,400,000 29