Report No. PID10302 Project Name East Timor-TP-Fundamental School ... @ Quality Project Region East Asia and Pacific Region Sector EY - Other Education Project ID TPPE72647 Borrower(s) East Timor Implementing Agency UNTAET (UN Transitional Administration In East Timor) Address: United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor - UNTAET Rua dos Direitos Humanos Dili, East Timor Contact Person: Mr. Francisco J. Osler de Almeida Head Division of Education, Culture, Yourth & Sports Department of Social Services - UNTAET Tel: 61 418 802 316 Fax: 61 889 422 198 Email:et-education@un.org Environment Category B Date PID Prepared May 2, 2001 Projected Appraisal Date May 18, 2001 Projected Board Date September 28, 2001 1. Country and Sector Background The first education project financed by the Trust Fund for East Timor (TFET) the Emergency School Readiness Project (ESRP) ongoing since June 2000, rehabilitates school buildings, provides textbooks, teaching materials, furniture and school equipment, and supports community participation. At the end of October 2001, some 2,630 classrooms have been rehabilitated (125w of target), and the target numbers for furniture and textbooks have been achieved. Enrollment in the school year 2000/01 has reached the pre-1999 level in primary education (grades 1-6) but still below that level in junior secondary education (grades 7-9) and in senior secondary education (grades 10-12). This calls for the continuing support from TFET through a second-phase project. 2. Objectives The Fundamental School Quality Project as the second phase of TFET continues to focus on basic education, with attention to junior secondary education. The specific development objectives of this follow-on project are the following: (i) to support the Government to maintain the existing level of primary education enrollment (185,000 students, around 95t of the age group) and to restore junior secondary enrollment to the pre-1999 level (30,000 students, around 60t of the age group), with the possibility of increase due to return of refugees and growth of school-age population; and (ii) to continue to recover quality of primary and junior secondary education by rehabilitating physical facilities and by providing textbooks and instructional materials. 3. Rationale for Bank's Involvement The Bank has become a credible leader in the donor community, entrusted with managing TFET donor resources and in coordinating assistance to the education sector. The Bank will also undertake basic sector work in FY02, with emphasis on financing issues and options, to enhance policy assistance to the incoming government of the newly independent state. 4. Description Component 1 (Part A in the Grant Agreement), Rebuilding school physical infrastructure, includes: (i) construction of about five escolas basicas, integrated primary and junior secondary schools, at the district level; (ii) upgrading of about nine selected primary or junior secondary schools to the standard of escola basica; and (iii) upgrading of about 65 selected primary schools to fundamental quality standard. The schools will be provided with furniture, water supply, and toilets.Component 2 (Part B), Providing teaching-learning materials, includes the acquisition and distribution to primary and junior secondary schools of textbooks, workbooks, and teachers guides for language learning, learning kits in science and mathematics, and other instructional materials and minor equipment, including typewriters, computers and peripheral equipment, software and media.Component 3 (Part C), Social mobilization and communications, includes production and dissemination of promotional materials, delivery of social messages, development and carrying out of training programs, information campaigns, and monitoring, feedback-gathering, and evaluation.Component 4 (Part D), Support for policy development, includes technical and empirical studies on education issues and policy options, and data management and dissemination of knowledge regarding the development of the education sector.Component 5 (Part E), Management and implementation support, includes support to management, operational, and administrative activities of the Project Management Unit. 5. Financing Total ( US$m) Total Project Cost 13.9 6. Implementation The Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Division of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports (DECYS) of UNTAET will continue to serve as the principal implementing agency for the project. PMU will be responsible for overall project administration and coordination, implementation, and quality control, including the administration of project funds, project procurement, and technical coordination on education with other units of DECYS and with the district offices. The PMU will provide school furniture, textbooks, and other teaching-learning materials and will be responsible for construction. The PMU will also continue to implement the social mobilization campaigns and contract policy development studies with qualified individuals and groups. 7. Sustainability -2- Through the project's social mobilization and communications activities, consultations with the community and engagement of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as partners of the project on matters of school security and preventive maintenance will increase the likelihood, but will not guarantee, that the physical assets the project will be sustained over the long term. With communities still re-forming, and the nation in the process of political transition to an independent state, the chances of sustaining anything but the physical contributions of the project are low. 8. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector Effectiveness delays plagued the start-up of ESRP. This follow-on project requires that: (i) key project managers - project director, project manager, chief architect, head of procurement, and head of financial management - are appointed on full-time basis; (ii) land documentation for construction sites is obtained before Grant effectiveness. 9. Program of Targeted Intervention (PTI) N 10. Environment Aspects (including any public consultation) Issues : The World Bank's review of the environmental impact of this follow-on project required that: (i) the extent of school building demolition that would be undertaken in the project should be clarified and measures be adopted for the safe handling and disposal of hazardous demolition materials, including asbestos; and, as the project includes the provision of school toilets, and (ii) measures be adopted to mitigate the potential harmful impacts of sewage disposal on the environment. During project preparation, an action framework for the safe handling of demolition materials and toilet sewage was developed and agreed. Implementing the mitigation measures would be the responsibility governmental units in collaboration with the school community and other groups in civil society, including NGOs 11. Contact Point: Task Manager Alfonso F. de Guzman The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington D.C. 20433 Telephone: 202-473-2527 Fax: 202-522-7108 12. For information on other project related documents contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http:// www.worldbank.org/infoshop Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not be necessarily included in the final project. - 3 - This PID was processed by the InfoShop during the week ending December 7,2001 - 4 -