Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No: RES13428 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY AND CAPACITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (HEQCIP) (CREDIT NUMBER 4796-KH AND GRANT NUMBER H607-KH) (BOARD APPROVAL DATE: AUGUST 5, 2010) TO THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT/EDUCATION EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ACC Accreditation Committee in Cambodia AM Aide Memoire DHE Department of Higher Education DIG Development and Innovation Grants FA Financial Agreement FM Financial Management HEI Higher Education Institute HEQCIP Higher Education Quality and Capacity Improvement Project IDA International Development Association IPA International Procurement Agency MEF Ministry of Economy and Finance MoEYS Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports MTR Mid Term Review NGO Non-Governmental Organization PAD Project Appraisal Document PDO Project Development Objective RGMC Research Grant Management Committee POC Priority Operation Cost Regional Vice President: Axel van Trotsenburg, EAPVP Country Director: Ulrich Zachau, EACTF Sector Manager: Luis Benveniste, EASHE Task Team Leader: Simeth Beng, EASHE 2 CAMBODIA HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY AND CAPACITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (HEQCIP) CONTENTS A. SUMMARY OF PROPOSED CHANGES 5 B. PROJECT STATUS 5 C. RESULTS FRAMEWORK 10 ANNEX: SUBSET OF SELECTED ACC CRITERIA 15 3 DATA SHEET Cambodia Higher Education Quality and Capacity Improvement Project (P106605) EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC EASHE Report No: RES13428 Basic Information Investment Project Project ID: P106605 Lending Instrument: Financing Regional Vice President: Axel van Trotsenburg Original EA Category: Not Required (C) Country Director: Ulrich Zachau Current EA Category: Not Required (C) Sector Director: Xiaoqing Yu Original Approval Date: 05-Aug-2010 Sector Manager: Luis Benveniste Current Closing Date: 31-Dec-2015 Team Leader: Simeth Beng Borrower: Kingdom of Cambodia Responsible Ministry of Education, Youth, Sport Agency: Restructuring Type Form Type: Full Restructuring Paper Decision Authority: Country Director Approval Restructuring Level 2 Level: Financing ( as of 16-May-2014 ) Key Dates Approval Effectiveness Original Revised Project Ln/Cr/TF Status Signing Date Date Date Closing Date Closing Date P106605 IDA-47960 Effective 05-Aug-2010 07-Sep-2010 30-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2015 31-Dec-2015 P106605 IDA-H6070 Effective 05-Aug-2010 07-Sep-2010 30-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2015 31-Dec-2015 Disbursements (in Millions) % Cancelle Disburse Undisbur Project Ln/Cr/TF Status Currency Original Revised Disburse d d sed d P106605 IDA-47960 Effective XDR 7.85 7.85 0.00 2.79 5.06 35 P106605 IDA-H6070 Effective XDR 7.85 7.85 0.00 4.47 3.38 57 Policy Waivers Does the project depart from the CAS in content or in other significant Yes [ ] No [ X ] 4 respects? Does the project require any policy waiver(s)? Yes [ ] No [ X ] A. Summary of Proposed Changes The proposed project restructuring will facilitate measuring progress towards achieving the PDO and provide adequate funding for additional fellowship and capacity building activities, which support meeting the project objectives. The proposed changes include: (i) revision of the results framework to provide clearer targets for the project supported entities and cover a wider range of quality aspects including teaching, management and research; and (ii) reallocation of funds from the unallocated and under-spent categories will enable the project supported entities to use the IDA funds in a more efficient manner for the proposed additional activities. Change in Implementing Agency Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change in Project's Development Objectives Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change in Results Framework Yes [ X ] No [ ] Change in Safeguard Policies Triggered Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change of EA category Yes [ ] No [ X ] Other Changes to Safeguards Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change in Legal Covenants Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change in Loan Closing Date(s) Yes [ ] No [ X ] Cancellations Proposed Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change to Financing Plan Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change in Disbursement Arrangements Yes [ ] No [ X ] Reallocation between Disbursement Categories Yes [ X ] No [ ] Change in Disbursement Estimates Yes [ X ] No [ ] Change to Components and Cost Yes [ X ] No [ ] Change in Institutional Arrangements Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change in Financial Management Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change in Procurement Yes [ ] No [ X ] Change in Implementation Schedule Yes [ ] No [ X ] Other Change(s) Yes [ ] No [ X ] Appraisal Summary Change in Economic and Financial Analysis Yes [ ] No [ X ] Appraisal Summary Change in Technical Analysis Yes [ ] No [ X ] Appraisal Summary Change in Social Analysis Yes [ ] No [ X ] Appraisal Summary Change in Environmental Analysis Yes [ ] No [ X ] Appraisal Summary Change in Risk Assessment Yes [ ] No [ X ] B. Project Status Overall implementation progress has been rated as Moderately Satisfactory (MS), most project components have made good progress since the July 2013 MTR. Project implementation has been able to catch up from the initial start-up delay and is now on track, with a solid work plan in place for 2013-2014. Especially activities related to the Development and Innovation Grants have recovered very well, while 5 fellowship programs, other capacity development programs and the scholarship component all continue to show outstanding progress. Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS) activities and fiduciary capacity development have also moved forward significantly. As of May 31, 2014, overall disbursements have also significantly increased to US$11.1 million (including the advance made to the designated account of US$2 million), which represents 48.2 percent of the total financing of US$23 million and represents an impressive 25.06 percent increase since July 2013. PDO is comprised of two parts. The first part aims to improve the quality of teaching, management, and research in project-supported entities’. The second part seeks to pilot the targeting of disadvantaged students to enhance rates of retention. Each of the two parts has been addressed through the following ongoing activities. PDO 1: Improve the quality of teaching, management, and research in project-supported entities. A series of workshop, training sessions, and fellowship programs for HEI teaching staff contributes directly to the improvement of teaching and management. Meanwhile, implementation of an institutional accreditation scheme by ACC contributes to improving the overall quality of the teaching and management context. To date, over 1,000 of MoEYS and HEI staff participated in Project supported workshop/training session, 41 of MoEYS and HEI staff joined fellowship programs and official Institutional Accreditation has been provided to 5 HEIs. Strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation capacity including Higher Education Management of Information Systems (HEMIS) development will also contribute to improving quality of management. In addition, implementation of Development and Innovation (Research) Grants to sub-projects and a series of methodological training for researchers are contributing to improving research. To date, 45 sub-projects have been selected and currently are implemented by 24 HEIs, while 22of HEI staff have attended methodological training. PDO 2: Pilot the targeting of disadvantaged students for enhanced retention. Implementation of Special Priority Scholarship (SPS) and careful impact evaluation is contributing to enhanced retention of disadvantaged students. Currently 904 students out of the 999 awarded beneficiaries continue to be enrolled, of which only 28 students have repeated once during the two and a half academic years. This figure is better than anticipated and quite impressive: more than a half of those under the government scholarship scheme for poor students have dropped out. The impacts of the pilot SPS program and government scholarship program will be rigorously evaluated with a technical support from DEC. Some challenges remain, including: (i) activities connected with the Development and Innovation Grants still struggle to positively impact Higher Education Institutions’ (HEI) research activities due to weak capacity of HEIs to carry out procurement and financial management responsibilities on their own; and (ii) activities related to strengthening M&E capacity for Department of Higher Education (DHE) staff due to weak incentive structures within the ministry. The project was restructured to include the Priority Operating Cost (POC) scheme in March 2011, in accordance with the Royal Government of Cambodia's Sub-Decree No. 66 on Establishment and Implementation of the Priority Operating Costs within the Framework of Development Cooperation. However, the government decided to discontinue the POC in mid-2012 as it had been envisaged to be only a transitional scheme to eventually linking to the broader civil service reform currently underway. There are no procurement or financial management issues. Audit reports have been unqualified (clean) and there are no outstanding audit reports. C. Proposed Changes Development Objectives/Results Project Development Objectives Original PDO 6 The development objective of this higher education project is to: (a) improve the quality of teaching, management, and research in project-supported entities; and (b) pilot the targeting of disadvantaged students for enhanced retention. Change in Project's Development Objectives Change in Results Framework Explanation: Explanation: To facilitate measuring progress towards PDO achievement, the following changes are proposed: (i) changing PDO Indicator 1 from “50 percent of Sub-projects approved under the first round of proposals completed by the Closing Date, and 70 percent of Sub-projects approved under the second round of proposals completed by the Closing Date” to “40 percent of HEIs supported under Components 1 and 2 showing an increased aggregate score against a modified subset of ACC accreditation criteria”. The original indicator only tracks research related activities while the revised indicator more adequately assesses the quality of teaching, management and research. The ACC is currently using accreditation standards of which a subset of 13 criteria have been selected and adjusted for the purposes of tracking and monitoring the revised PDO Indicator 1 (see attachment for details on the 13 selected criteria). These changes were discussed and agreed upon with the government project team. (ii) Revising PDO Indicator 2 to indicate that it measures the “average annual retention rate”, rather than just the “annual retention rate” to measure the average retention rate over the five years project period. Therefore, the proposed revised PDO Indicator 2 reads as follows: “An average annual retention rate of 95 percent of project-supported scholarship recipients”. The restructuring also intends to sharpen the intermediate indicators and proposes the following: (i) reduce and streamline Component 1 indicators from 4 to 2 indicators; (ii) measure both absolute numbers as well as % related to Component 2 indicators to provide clearer information and elimination of Y4 and Y5 targets for Intermediate Indicator 4 (“Proportion of proposals reviewed, evaluated and awarded”); (iii) under Component 3, dropping of Intermediate Indicator 1 “Share of scholarship beneficiaries who receive stipend funds in their bank account within a month of scheduled payment” and refining wording of the 3 remaining indicators for that component; and (iv) revise both Component 4 indicators and add 1 new indicator to be more in line with the components' activities. The detailed proposed modifications are described in the Annex. Financing Reallocations Explanation: Reallocation of funding is made possible by using unallocated funds and utilizing project savings due to an over-estimation of the costs to finance SPS under Component 3 and consulting services under Components 2, 3 and 4 at the time of appraisal. The balance of the now discontinued Priority Operating Costs (POC) will also be used for this reallocation. Project proceeds will be reallocated as follows: (i) IDA Credit: SDR 722,800 from the Category 5 “Unallocated” and SDR 17,200 from Category 6 “Priority Operating Costs” to Category 1 “Goods, Works, CS, Training and IOC”; (ii) IDA Grant: SDR 900,000 from Category 3 “Scholarships” to Category 2 “Fellowships”. The reallocation will finance additional fellowships as well as additional capacity building activities in responding to higher unit costs of post-graduate programs (all fellowship programs are organized with universities in Australia and New Zealand) as well as higher demands of training opportunities from HEIs. The additional capacity development activities are planned based on the project’s Human Resource Development Plan and do not represent new activities but are expected to 7 improve the technical capacity of academic staff and management capacity of government officials. These activities are fully in line with the original project description and support the achievement of the PDO. In addition to the proposed reallocation, some measures are also being taken to tackle slow disbursement: (i) additional implementation support to Innovative Research Grant activities as Component 2 is the most complex to implement and Ministry fiduciary capacity – together with individual HEIs- is still not fully developed, and (ii) close monitoring of the completion of fellowships and effective implementation of various training sessions. Current Category of Disbursement % (Type Ln/Cr/TF Currency Allocation Expenditure Total) Current Proposed Current Proposed GOODS, WORKS, CS, 7,020,000.0 7,760,000.0 IDA-47960 XDR 100.00 100.00 TRAINING & IOC 0 0 UNALLOCATED 722,800.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Priority Operating Costs 107,200.00 90,000.00 100.00 100.00 (PCO) Designated Account 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7,850,000.0 7,850,000.0 Total: 0 0 2,146,000.0 3,046,000.0 IDA-H6070 XDR FELLOWSHIPS 100.00 100.00 0 0 3,524,000.0 2,624,000.0 SCHOLARSHIPS 100.00 100.00 0 0 COMPETITIVE 2,180,000.0 2,180,000.0 DEVELOPMENT 100.00 100.00 0 0 GRANTS Designated Account 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7,850,000.0 7,850,000.0 Total: 0 0 Disbursement Estimates Change in Disbursement Estimates Explanation: Disbursement estimate is changed for two reasons: (i) reallocation of funds across components, and (ii) slow disbursement to date. Now increased disbursements are projected in the FY 2015. Fiscal Year Current (USD) Proposed (USD) 2015 4,000,000.00 8,300,000.00 2016 2,000,000.00 1,200,000.00 Total 6,000,000.00 9,500,000.00 Components Change to Components and Cost Explanation: 8 Unallocated funds (Contingencies from Component 2, 3 and 4) and under-spent funds (scholarships from Component 3, Technical Advisers from Component 2 and 4, POC from Component 4) are reallocated to Component 1 to finance additional fellowships and additional capacity building activities in responding to higher unit costs of post-graduate programs and higher demands of training opportunities from HEIs. Current Component Proposed Component Current Cost Proposed Action Name Name (US$M) Cost (US$M) Strengthening the Capacity of the Higher 7.46 10.76 Revised Education System Provision of Competitive Development and 4.58 4.08 Revised Innovation Grants Provision of Special Priority Scholarships 5.85 4.55 Revised (SPS) to Disadvantaged Students Project Management and Monitoring and 5.11 3.61 Revised Evaluation Total: 23.00 23.00 9 C. Results Framework Project Higher Education Quality and Capacity Improvement Project Project Restructuring Status: DRAFT Name: (P106605) Stage: Team Requesting Simeth Beng EACTF Created by: Tsuyoshi Fukao on 08-Jan-2014 Leader: Unit: Product Responsible IBRD/IDA EASHE Modified by: Tsuyoshi Fukao on 04-Jun-2014 Line: Unit: Country: Cambodia Approval FY: 2011 Lending Region: EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC Project Investment Financing Instrument: Project Development Objectives Original Project Development Objective: The development objective of this higher education project is to: (a) improve the quality of teaching, management, and research in project- supported entities; and (b) pilot the targeting of disadvantaged students for enhanced retention. Results Core sector indicators are considered: Yes Results reporting level: Project Level Project Development Objective Indicators Status Indicator Name Core Unit of Measure Baseline Actual(Current) End Target Revised 40 percent of HEIs supported Percentage Value 0.00 0.00 40.00 under Components 1 and 2 Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 showing an increased aggregate score against a modified subset Comment of ACC accreditation criteria. Revised an average annual retention Percentage Value 0.00 95.20 95.00 rate of 95 percent of project- Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 supported scholarship recipients Comment Intermediate Results Indicators Status Indicator Name Core Unit of Measure Baseline Actual(Current) End Target Revised Number of staff (MoEYS and Number Value 0.00 2006.00 1500.00 HEIs) who participate in Date 03-Jan-2011 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2015 training courses which improved their professional Comment (HEIs 1,000, competencies MoEYS 500) *fields related to: HE quality, management, assessment, and accreditation, English, computer proficiency, university administration, fiduciary, curriculum development, and research methods. Revised Number of staff (MoEYS and Number Value 0.00 10.00 54.00 HEIs) who were conferred with Date 03-Jan-2011 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2015 a Master or Doctor Degree in academic specialty, educational Comment (HEIs 9, MoEYS (HEIs 48, management or related fields 1) MoEYS 6) Marked for Number of faculty at HEIs who Number Value 0.00 0.00 48.00 11 Deletion receive a Master's Degree in an Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 academic specialty Comment Marked for Number of staff who receive Number Value 0.00 655.00 1000.00 Deletion training in areas related to: Date 12-Jul-2013 university administration; FM; procurement; curriculum Comment 114 in 2011 development; or research 341 in 2012 methods 200 in 2013 Revised Number and percentage of HEI Percentage Value 0.00 0.00 100.00 academic staff in participating Date 31-Dec-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 institutions completing training in research methodologies and Comment Number: design 180/180 Revised Number and percentage of Percentage Value 0.00 73.00 70.00 eligible HEIs submitting Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 proposals to RGMC competing for funds Comment Number: 25 (HEIs -Round 1 and 2) Revised Number and percentage of Percentage Value 0.00 0.00 100.00 complete research projects Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 (competitively selected) funded by the project Comment Number: 45 (sub-projects) Revised Within RGMC/DHE, number Percentage Value 0.00 47.00 47.00 and percentage of proposals Date 03-Jan-2011 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2015 awarded after review and evaluation in accordance with Comment 45/95 Y3 is the last project processing timeline updates as no more round of 12 proposals. Marked for Share of scholarship Percentage Value 0.00 0.00 100.00 Deletion beneficiaries who receive Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 stipend funds in their bank accounts within a month of Comment schedule payment/transfer date Revised Pass rate of retained Percentage Value 0.00 91.40 97.00 scholarship recipients at each Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 grade categorized by: female; rural; poor (not cumulative Comment Female, Poor, rate) Rural Revised Drop out rate of scholarship Percentage Value 0.00 6.40 19.00 recipients categorized by: Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 female; rural; poor Comment Female, Poor, Rural Revised Completion rate of scholarship Percentage Value 0.00 0.00 67.00 recipients, categorized by: Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 female; rural; poor Comment Female, Poor, Rural Marked for Number of Project Number Value 0.00 195.00 1080.00 Deletion Management Team staff who Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 have received training on monitoring and evaluation Comment 103 in 2011 93 in 2012 no report in 2013 Marked for Number of Project Number Value 0.00 338.00 1080.00 Deletion Management Team staff who Date 03-Jan-2011 12-Jul-2013 31-Dec-2015 13 have received training on Comment 175 in 2011 financial management and 78 in 2012 procurement 85 in 2013 New Higher Education Governance Yes/No Value No No Yes & Finance Policy Paper Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2015 adopted by the MoEYS Comment New Higher Education Vision and Yes/No Value No No Yes Strategy 2030 adopted by the Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2015 MoEYS Comment New HEMIS developed and piloted Yes/No Value No No Yes Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2015 Comment 14 Annex: Subset of the selected ACC accreditation criteria for the PDO 1 “40 percent of HEIs supported under Components 1 and 2 showing an increased aggregate score against a modified subset of ACC accreditation criteria” Cumulative Target Values Data Collection and Reporting Project Outcome Baseline YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 Frequency Data Collection Responsibility Indicators 2008/2009 and Reports Instruments for Data Collection Standard1: Governance, Planning, and Evaluation Sub-standard 1-1: HEI 6 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS result-Based plan Reports developed and submitted to MoEYS Sub-standard 1-2: HEI 10 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS Annual Operation plan Reports developed and submitted to MoEYS Sub-standard 1-3:HEI 0 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS Monitoring and Evaluation Reports framework developed and submitted to MoEYS Standard 2: Academic Program Sub-standard 2-1: Curriculum development: 2-1-1. Committee for 14 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS Curriculum Development Reports established, implementation 15 plan developed, funds allocated, and progress report submitted to MoEYS. 2-1-2. Each HEI has a 6 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS Handbook on curriculum Reports publicly available Sub-standard 2-2: Research 2-2-1. Research Promotion 0 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS Policy (Allocation of Reports Human resource, financial resource and facilities to support research ) developed Sub-standard 2-3: Internal Quality Assurance 2-3-1: IQA function 10 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS Established, physical office Reports set up, implementation plan developed, funds allocated, and progress report submitted to MoEYS. 2-3-2. IQA framework 6 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS (standard, Guideline, and Reports Key Performance Indicators)developed and introduced within HEI 16 Standard3: Academic and Administrative staff Sub-Standard3-1: HEI 7 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS Capacity development Plan Reports created and fund allocated Sub-Standard 3-2: HEI 7 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS policy on incentives for Reports capacity building developed Standard 4: Financial Management Sub-standard 4-1: HEI financial plan developed and Implemented 4.1.1. Strategic financial 0 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS plan in place Reports 4.1.2. Annual financial 0 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS report reflecting the annual Reports operational plan in place Standard 5: Dissemination of Information Sub-standard 5-1: 7 14 Annual DHE/MoEYS DHE/MoEYS Information disseminated Reports publicly. The following information is shared in public: 17