The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) Combined Project Information Documents / Integrated Safeguards Datasheet (PID/ISDS) Appraisal Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 25-May-2021 | Report No: PIDISDSA32081 May 09, 2021 Page 1 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) BASIC INFORMATION OPS_TABLE_BASIC_DATA A. Basic Project Data Country Project ID Project Name Parent Project ID (if any) Malawi P176751 Equity with Quality and P164223 Learning at Secondary Additional Financing Parent Project Name Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Equity with Quality and Learning AFRICA EAST 24-May-2021 28-Jun-2021 at Secondary (EQUALS) Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Education Investment Project Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Financing Economic Planning and Science and Technology Development Proposed Development Objective(s) Parent The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve quality of science and mathematics instruction in Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs) and increase access to secondary education in selected remote areas. Components Component 1. Improving the quality of science and mathematics instruction Component 2.Enhancing equitable access to secondary education Component 3.Project Coordination, Learning, Monitoring & Evaluation PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY -NewFin1 Total Project Cost 5.00 Total Financing 5.00 of which IBRD/IDA 5.00 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing International Development Association (IDA) 5.00 May 09, 2021 Page 2 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) IDA Credit 2.50 IDA Grant 2.50 Environmental Assessment Category B-Partial Assessment Decision The review did authorize the team to appraise and negotiate Other Decision (as needed) B. Introduction and Context Country Context 1. Malawi is a small, landlocked country with a population of about 18 million people. With a predominantly rural population, Malawi is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa. With a population growth rate of about 3 percent per annum, Malawi's population is expected to reach 50 million by 2058. The country is highly vulnerable to climatic shocks, and GDP has historically been correlated to climate shocks.1 Despite the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and a weak fiscal position, Malawi has a stable democratic political system and is undergoing a positive political and governance transition, following the 2020 presidential elections re-run. The new Government is set to implement a series of institutional reforms aimed at improving service delivery. 2. During the last decade, Malawi has made significant gains in its Human Capital Index (which has increased from 0.36 to 0.41 over the last 10 years).2 Key contributors include progress on infant and child mortality and nutrition. Specifically, the country saw (i) a substantial reduction in infant and child mortality (under-5 mortality declined from 234 deaths in 1992 to 63 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015, while infant mortality declined from 135 deaths to 42 deaths per 1,000 births over the same period), and (ii) a significant reduction in stunting from 47 percent in 2010 to 37 percent in 2015.3 During the same period, the national response to HIV was intensified, which consequently led to significant declines in both the number of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths4, mitigating the impact of HIV on human development and economic growth. Furthermore, access to basic services has significantly improved. For instance, access to basic water supply services has improved from 62.3 percent to 69 percent, and sanitation from 24 percent to 26.3 percent.5 1 World Bank (2003) Malawi and Southern Africa: Climate Variability and Economic Performance 2 Malawi Country Partnership Framework (FY2021 – 2025) (forthcoming) 3 Malawi DHS (2015-2016). https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-FR319-DHS-Final-Reports.cfm 4 https://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/malawi 5 https://washdata.org/data/household#!/mwi May 09, 2021 Page 3 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) 3. COVID-19 cases continue to rise, surpassing 34,000 in Malawi and causing unprecedented disruptions, including contraction of the economy with projections that this is likely to hurt funding of education6. More than 1,100 people have reportedly died from the disease or its complications in the country7. The economy is estimated to have experienced a slowed growth of 1.3 per cent in 2020, compared to a 4.4 per cent growth in 20198. This disruption has extended to losses in revenue, both tax and non-tax revenue, which inherently affects delivery of services, especially in low income countries like Malawi. The loss of businesses and employment, arising from the disruptions, led Governments to implement varied fiscal policy measures as relief to individuals and incentives to corporates, which have dented revenue collection. The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) projects that the collection of revenue in 2020/21 fiscal year is set to go down by 6 per cent compared to the collections in 2019/20. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Global Education Monitoring Report estimated that the education financing gap in low- and middle-income countries would increase by one third9, and this is highly likely to worsen with the aforementioned macroeconomic challenges, considering the abrupt expansion needs including sanitation, infrastructure demands to facilitate social distancing norms, and additional teachers to teach in the split classrooms. Sectoral and Institutional Context 4. Amidst the disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of school-going children are not expected to return to school, and this might exacerbate existing learning inequalities. Education has had a direct impact as a result of the pandemic, with more than 1.6 billion school going children and youth worldwide having been affected by closure of schools and learning institutions in March 2020. School closures affected more than 7 million10 children enrolled in formal and non-formal streams of learning. Schools reopened in September 2020 for the examination class and in January 2021 for the rest of the grades, with strict measures put in place to protect teachers and students returning to schools. In August 2020, 15 percent of children aged 6-18 were not expected to go back to school, their parents indicating with certainty that 1 in 10 children would not be returning to school11. Additional insight from the region shows return to school patterns that may be catastrophic for the sector. In South Africa, where basic and secondary schools reopened at the beginning of 2021, reopening of schools was marked with high absenteeism, with data showing that out of the 12.4 million children enrolled in public primary and secondary schools, nearly two million (15 percent) did not return to school in January 2021, and the Government fearing that the affected students would be prone to dropping out, with higher casualty expected in upper grades of secondary (Govender, 2021). 5. The protracted closure of schools exacerbated teenage pregnancy and early marriages12, and may have provided a fertile ground for the perpetuation of child labour. According to the African Institute for Development Policy, Malawi ranked eleventh globally on child marriages before the COVID- 19 pandemic, with evidence from education development and implementing partners indicating that cases of teen pregnancy and child marriages increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Malawi Health Equity Network reported 5,000 teenage pregnancies cases in Phalombe district, while more than 500 girls 6 https://en.unesco.org/news/global-education-monitoring-gem-report-2020 7 https://covid19.who.int/region/afro/country/mw 8 World Bank (2021) Global Economic Prospects-Regional-Overview-SSA 9 https://en.unesco.org/news/global-education-monitoring-gem-report-2020 10 2020 Malawi Annual Schools Census 11 GoM (2021). Malawi COVID-19 High Frequency Phone Survey Round 1-4 Report 12 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/child-marriages-skyrocket-malawi-covid-19-closes-schools-figures/. May 09, 2021 Page 4 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) had entered into early marriages since the COVID-19 pandemic. In Nsanje district, more than 300 school going girls are reported to have fallen pregnant since the COVID-19 instigated schools’ closure. In Mangochi, more than 7,000 teenage girls became pregnant in the first half of 2020, 1,000 more compared to the same period in 2019. In Mzimba district, officials report that 400 girls have become pregnant since the pandemic. Overall, early marriage and pregnancy contributes to the dropout of 1 out of 10 girls in primary and 3 in 10 in secondary13, and thus it is especially important to ensure that girls are returning to schools upon their reopening. Evidence from countries hit by Ebola in 2014 (Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, etc.) show that when the safety net offered by schools is withdrawn, as in the case of COVID-19, the immediate effects are seen in the rise in teenage pregnancy and child marriages. Elsewhere, the International Labour Organization fears that the tremendous shock in the labour market, marked by massive layoffs may have dented family earnings, and may fuel child labour, which is one of the mechanisms of coping with lost earning. According to the 2015 National Child Labour Survey, more than 2 million children (38 percent) aged 5-17 are estimated to have been in child labour, nearly 1.2 million of whom were engaged in hazardous work, and 6 in 10 children engaged in child labour principally out of need to supplement family income. 6. The learning loss that was forecasted at the onset of the pandemic has come to pass in Malawi, with only 4 in 10 students sitting the Malawi Secondary Certificate Education (MSCE) in 2020 passing the examinations. The Government released results of the 2020 MSCE, which was administered in January 2021, not long after the reopening of schools following closure for nearly a year. Unexpectedly, the results show a large increase in the number of candidates who sat for the MSCE, with nearly 138,300 students sitting for the examinations compared to about 99,000 who sat for MSCE in 2019, representing an increase of 41 percent. Considering the closure of schools in early 2020 and anxiety about the return of students to schools, the increase in candidature was a welcome relief, but remains to be seen whether this pattern can be replicated in other grades. Notwithstanding the increase in candidature, results show a dramatic drop in the overall pass rate, where only 40 percent of the candidates passed the examination, nine points lower than the 2019 results, with marked gender differentials. The results show that while nearly half of the boys passed the test, only one in three girls was successful. The Ministry of Education attributes the drop in performance to COVID-19 disruptions, where some schools are suspected of not completing their syllabus. These results underscore the magnitude of effort required to not only put the system back on its former path but to also improve learning in a system that was already struggling with learning outcomes before the COVID-19 pandemic. 7. Although the government has reopened schools, infrastructure deficit across schools may compromise the return to school and further jeopardize the efforts to recover lost learning time. The Government reopened schools for in-person learning in January 2021, after nearly one academic year marked with some online learning but mostly no learning. Infrastructure deficits in some schools, including lack of key facilities may compromise the fight against spread of COVID-19 and jeopardize return to learning. According to the 2020 school census, there were 6,500 permanent classrooms in secondary schools, translating to an average class size of 63, which is higher than the norm prescribed by the sector, as well as the recommended class size to accommodate social distancing in schools. In addition, the results show that there were about 2,900 and 2,100 functional toilets for boys and girls respectively, resulting in a student toilet ratio (SToR) of 74 and 98 for boys and girls respectively, which does not meet the minimum standard set by the Government. Moreover, only 54 percent of schools have boreholes and 43 percent 13 2018-2019 Education Statistics Report May 09, 2021 Page 5 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) have piped water, which are essential to the practice of regular handwashing – a key component of the hygiene response to the virus. There remains a huge infrastructure gap to be filled if learning is to go on as programmed. 8. Gender. School closures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in dire consequences, for both boys and girls, resulting in an increase in drop out rates. For boys, the lures of child labour and loss of income for households as a result of the pandemic have likely contributed to making a return to school more difficult, given that family responsibility contributes to more male drop out than female drop out14. 9. In addition to family responsibility, which also affects girls, girls have a compounded disadvantage, however. Specifically, early marriage and pregnancy also contribute to girls’ dropout contributing to 9.3 percent for girls, versus 1 percent for boys in Primary school, and to 31% of dropouts in Secondary School15. Considering that the protracted closure of schools has exacerbated the number of early marriages and pregnancies16 (see paragraph Error! Reference source not found.) and that this disproportionately affects girls, it is thus especially important to ensure that girls are returning to schools upon their reopening. 10. Lessons from WB projects in Zambia have demonstrated that lifting financial barriers by providing cash transfers/grants is effective in enabling girls and marginalized learners to attend school,17 and as such, the AF will provide bursaries in an effort to get both boys and girls back into school. Given that school fees were demonstrated to be the most significant reason for drop outs in Malawi in Secondary School (see Figure 2), this activity is particularly important for getting both girls and boys back into school. 11. However, lessons from other initiatives have also highlighted the importance of engaging the community through clear communication. While the cash transfer and bursary provided financial support to poor families, findings demonstrated that money alone wasn’t enough to keep girls in school. Clear communication regarding reopening schedules and disease prevention measures, as well as community engagement to address gender norms that prevent girls from returning to classes, were also key to enabling disadvantaged groups to return to school after COVID-19. Moreover, the Revitalizaing Education Development in Sierra Leone project (REDiSL [P133070]) demonstrated that within-school psychosocial support and counseling for school children orphaned by or suffering from trauma as a consequence of the Ebola pandemic was successful for ensuring students’ gradual and safe return back to school. Building on these lessons from similar context and in response to simlar crises, this AF will thus also provide guidance and counselling to such vulnerable children, especially girls who fell pregnant during the COVID-19 school closures. Specifically, in addition to the payment of bursaries, the AF will (a) facilitate mother groups to sensitize and counsel the vulnerable children to go back to school, and (b) support campaigns for readmission of students who dropped out. The AF has also included an indicator to monitor whether through this AF’s activities, there has been an increase in the number of girls that have been retained in school since the Covid-19 pandemic. 14 Analysis based on 2018-2019 Education Statistics Report. 15 Various Reasons for Learners Dropouts in Secondary School (2018-2019 Education Statistics Report). 16 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/child-marriages-skyrocket-malawi-covid-19-closes-schools-figures/. 17 https://blogs.worldbank.org/nasikiliza/lessons-zambia-how-bring-adolescent-girls-back-school-post-covid-19. May 09, 2021 Page 6 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) C. Proposed Development Objective(s) Original PDO 12. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve quality of science and mathematics instruction in Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs) and increase access to secondary education in selected remote areas. Current PDO 13. The proposed AF will maintain the original PDO Key Results 14. Expected results of the Additional Financing include: (a) improving health security of the school environment to facilitate learning under the Government’s COVID-19 recommended operations standards by (i) provision of personal protective equipment to 415,000 students in all secondary schools, and more 5,120 teachers in public and private boarding schools as well as day non-cost centers schools, (ii) orientation of teaching and non-teaching staff in public and private boarding secondary schools on the handling the COVID-19 in partnership with the Ministry of Health, and (iii) recruitment of auxiliary teachers in public secondary schools to not only ease the pressure of workload to teachers whose classes will have been split in compliance with social distancing norms but to also provide remediation for students who lost a year of learning due to COVID-19 related school closure. In the provision of face masks to students, the AF will facilitate mother groups to scale up the production of reusable/rewashable masks, which are more sustainable and in line with the initial response provided by the Government to primary schools; (b) remediation to more than 144,000 students drawn from about 300 public secondary schools, in response to the learning gaps manifested in the 2020 secondary examination results. This intervention will support: (i) the training of 4,800 teachers in the design of individualised educational programmes with intensive remedial support to help students regain lost competences, (ii) inspection visits to beneficiary schools to observe and enforce implementation of the remedial program and offer support where necessary. 15. In addition, the AF will scale up the Open and Distance E-Learning policy to ensure more students can continue learning in the event that the country experiences a third wave of COVID-19 and in-person learning becomes untenable again. This intervention will support the development and dissemination of Open and Distance Education and Learning materials, including: (a) printing and distribution of ODeL modules targeting students in open secondary schools, (b) production of radio and TV programs to complement the online modules developed under the parent project, (c) expanding access to online modules and printed materials for SNE, and (d) monitoring of implementation and evaluation of ODeL interventions. 16. Moreover, the AF will scale up the construction program by providing 100 twin-block low-cost classrooms (200 classrooms) in schools with large enrolments where effective social distancing is not practical owing to limited or dilapidated classrooms and facilities will benefit from these classrooms. D. Project Description May 09, 2021 Page 7 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) 17. The three components under the parent project will be maintained, and AF activities mainstreamed into existing subcomponents in line with the request of the Government. The AF is distributed across the three components as follows: Component 1 – US$2.13 million; Component 2 – US$2.43 million; and Component 3 – US$0.44 million. The proposed changes to the components will be as follows: a. Component 1: Improving the quality of science and mathematics instruction (Total after Additional Financing: 30.14 million; US$28.01 million Original Financing; US$2.13 million Additional Financing). Component 1 seeks to improve teacher instruction in mathematics; and enhance student learning in selected districts, with expected changes in the subcomponents being the following: i. Sub-component 1.1: Ensuring minimum standards to quality instruction of mathematics and sciences CDSSs (Total after Additional Financing: US$17.63 million; US$15.5 million Original Financing; US$2.13 million Additional Financing). Building on the design of this subcomponent, which focuses on provision of textbooks to students and guidebooks to teachers; orientation of science and mathematics teachers to the revised curriculum; and training school heads and deputies in school management and instructional leadership, this subcomponent will support (a) improving health security of the school environment to facilitate learning under the Government’s COVID-19 recommended operations standards. This intervention will include: (i) provision of personal protective equipment to 415,000 students in all secondary schools, and more than 5,120 teachers in public and private boarding schools as well as day non-cost centers schools, (ii) orientation of teaching and non-teaching staff in public and private boarding secondary schools on the handling of COVID-19 in partnership with the Ministry of Health, these schools having been identified as hotspots in the spread of the virus, and (iii) recruitment of auxiliary teachers in public secondary schools to not only ease the pressure of workload to teachers whose classes will have been split in compliance with social distancing norms but to also provide remediation for students who lost a year of learning due to COVID-19 related school closure. In the provision of face masks to students, the AF will facilitate mother groups to scale up the production of reusable/rewashable masks, which are more sustainable and in line with the initial response provided by the Government to primary schools. (b) remediation to more than 144,000 students drawn from about 300 public secondary schools, in response to the learning gaps manifested in the 2020 secondary examination results. This intervention will support: (i) the training of 4,800 teachers in the design of individualized educational programmes with intensive remedial support to help students regain lost competences, (ii) inspection visits to beneficiary schools to observe and enforce implementation of the remedial program and offer support where necessary. ii. Sub-component 1.2: Enhancing student learning in the selected thirteen districts. (US$12.5 million Original Financing; No Additional Financing). There are no additional activities for this subcomponent. b. Component 2: Enhancing equitable access to secondary education (Total after Additional Financing: US$53.88 million; US$51.45 million Original Financing; US$2.43 million Additional Financing). Component 2 seeks to increase the streams for delivery of secondary education, expand capacity of the existing streams, and increase opportunities for needy and vulnerable students. Expected changes in the subcomponents are as follows: May 09, 2021 Page 8 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) i. Sub-component 2.1: Strengthening system level strategic reforms for efficient expansion of secondary education (Total after Additional Financing: US$11.32 million; US$11.05 million Original Financing; US$0.27 million Additional Financing). Building on the ongoing policy reform to expand the landscape of secondary education delivery, where the Open and Distance E-Learning policy is awaiting endorsement from the Ministry’s management, and the foundational results in the development of online materials for junior secondary, the AF will scale up this intervention to ensure more students can continue learning in the event that the country experiences a third wave of COVID-19 and in-person learning becomes untenable again. In light of the development needs for expansion of secondary education in the country, the relatively cheaper establishment and maintenance of Open and Distance E-Learning (ODeL) may prove more sustainable in the future, when in-person learning is not practical. The AF will scale up this intervention by supporting the development and dissemination of Open and Distance Education and Learning materials, including: (a) printing and distribution of ODeL modules targeting students in open secondary schools, (b) production of radio and TV programs to complement the online modules developed under the parent project, (c) expanding access to online modules and printed materials for SNE, and (d) monitoring of implementation and evaluation of ODeL interventions. ii. Sub-component 2.2: Increasing equitable opportunities for secondary education access (Total after Additional Financing: US$11.37 million; US$10.9 million Original Financing; US$0.47 million Additional Financing). The aim of this subcomponent is to identify and award scholarships to students with exceptional academic excellence, and bursaries to vulnerable children, to enhance their chances of staying and completing school. The parent project has made notable progress on this intervention, with the first cohort of scholarship beneficiaries targeting a boy, a girl and child with special needs in the 13 intensive intervention districts, having been identified and their enrolment verified. In addition, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and CAMFED has been signed for the latter to implement the envisioned bursary scheme. Considering that the protracted closure of schools has exacerbated the number of early marriages and pregnancies, which disproportionately affects girls, and building on lessons from WB projects in Zambia, which have demonstrated the effectiveness of lifting financial barriers through cash transfers/grants in enabling girls and marginalized learners to attend school,18 the AF will provide bursaries in an effort to get both boys and girls back into school, with differentiated application for girls. This intervention also acknowledges the fact that 1 in 3 secondary school dropouts is attributed to lack of school fees, and tops the reasons for dropping out (See paragraph 18). Building on all this, the AF will provide bursaries and guidance and counselling to vulnerable children, especially girls who fell pregnant during the COVID-19 school closures, and who are willing to go back to school. In addition to the payment of bursaries, the AF will (a) facilitate mother groups to sensitize and counsel the vulnerable children to go back to school, and (b) support campaigns for readmission of students who dropped out. iii. Sub-component 2.3: Upgrading and expansion of secondary schools (Total after Additional Financing: US$31.19 million; US$29.5 million Original Financing; US$1.69 million Additional Financing). This subcomponent focuses on the expansion of capacity of secondary schools. 18 https://blogs.worldbank.org/nasikiliza/lessons-zambia-how-bring-adolescent-girls-back-school-post-covid-19. May 09, 2021 Page 9 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) Building on the design that will see 103 schools receive infrastructure packages depending on various infrastructure needs, the AF will scale up this intervention and support construction of 100 twin-block low-cost classrooms (200 classrooms) in schools with large enrolments where effective social distancing is not practical owing to limited or dilapidated classrooms and facilities. The low-cost classrooms will be premised on the norms and safety standards established under the Malawi Education Reform Program (MERP, P174329). c. Component 3: Project Coordination, Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation (Total after Additional Financing: US$10.98 million; US$10.54 million Original Financing; US$0.44 million Additional Financing. Component 3 provides coordination for all project activities, with expected changes in the subcomponents being as follows: i. Sub-component 3.1: Strengthening the human capacity to support project implementation. (US$6.63 million Original Financing; No Additional Financing). There are no additional activities for this subcomponent. ii. Sub-component 3.2: Improve and digitized secondary inspection system and digitized EMIS. (US$2.14 million Original Financing; No Additional Financing). There are no additional activities for this subcomponent. iii. Sub-component 3.3: Project monitoring and evaluation (Total after Additional Financing: US$2.21 million; US$1.78 million Original Financing; US$0.44 million Additional Financing). The AF will mainstream monitoring of additional activities in the existing monitoring frameworks. The specific activities that influence the scale up include (a) facilitation of recruitment process for the auxiliary teachers, (b) monitoring of development and use of ODeL materials, (c) monitoring the implementation of environmental and social safeguards, (d) monitoring of the remedial activities. E. Implementation Institutional and Implementation Arrangements 18. The implementation arrangement will be maintained for the AF. The Ministry of Education under the leadership of the Directorate of Secondary and Distance Education (DSDE) and the six (6) affiliated divisional offices, along with several education directorates and organs by their statutory mandates in the delivery of education services will continue to manage the Project, including the AF. Additional personnel in form of Project Support Team (PST) has been recruited by the project to complement existing staff with the MoE. For capacity development and sustained ownership of project interventions, the respective recruited personnel reports to the heads of directorates or organs whose function they complement. . F. Project location and Salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) EQUALS Project will assume a nationwide coverage but direct inputs will be mostly concentrated in Community Day (CDSS) spread out of the 28 districts of Malawi. The investments that have potential to May 09, 2021 Page 10 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) generate environmental and social risk and consequently trigger safeguards policies are in Component 2 - Increasing access to secondary education. To support the achievement of this result, the project will finance expansion of facilities at selected existing CDSS and district day schools selected from 13 remote districts including construction of laboratories, additional classrooms, gender friendly sanitation facilities and water sources. The exact schools by number and location will be determined in the course of project preparation based on an agreed criteria guided by the resource envelope. While the project’s overall technical scope will be defined by project appraisal the exact locations will require parliamentary approval and thus may not be defined during project preparation. Therefore, a framework approach to safeguards will be adopted. Potential social and environmental risks and impacts and subsequent mitigation and management measures are outlined in the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) that was disclosed on October 2, 2018. The ESMF has been updated to address potential environmental and social risks arising from the AF activities which include purchase of personal protective equipment for students and staff in public secondary schools, including boarding schools; construction of low-cost classrooms in public secondary schools with large enrolments to assist in decongesting classes; printing and distribution of COVID-19 prevention guidelines for schools; and sensitization of cluster lead schools, civil works contractors and communities. The updated ESMF has been redisclosed on May 23, 2021. G. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team Mercy Chimpokosera-Mseu, Environmental Specialist Violette Mwikali Wambua, Social Specialist Naile Mangani Salima, Social Specialist SAFEGUARD POLICIES THAT MIGHT APPLY SAFEGUARD _TBL Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 Yes Performance Standards for Private Sector No Activities OP/BP 4.03 Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No Forests OP/BP 4.36 No Pest Management OP 4.09 No Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 No Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 No Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 No May 09, 2021 Page 11 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No Projects on International Waterways No OP/BP 7.50 Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 No KEY SAFEGUARD POLICY ISSUES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT OPS_SAFEGUARD_SUMMARY_TBL A. Summary of Key Safeguard Issues 1. Describe any safeguard issues and impacts associated with the proposed project. Identify and describe any potential large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts: The investment will finance a number of interventions that will involve upgrading and rehabilitations of facilities in existing CDSSs. Physical civil works are expected to be undertaken and expected to result into environmental and social impacts including environmental, health and safety risks for communities, students and workers and impacts associated with labour influx if contractors will bring labour from outside the project area such increase in the spread of HIV/AIDS, potential GBV and Child labour. As the exact locations of project AF investments are not yet defined and the potential foot print is not yet identified, the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) has been updated, consulted upon and disclosed. The ESMF will guide specific ESMPs that will be prepared to ensure that a process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating environmental and social impacts is integrated. There are no potential large scale irreversible impacts anticipated for the project. 2. Describe any potential indirect and/or long term impacts due to anticipated future activities in the project area: There are no potential indirect or long term impacts predicted as the anticipated future activities in the project area will not generate significant environmental and social impacts that could be associated with the project 3. Describe any project alternatives (if relevant) considered to help avoid or minimize adverse impacts. There are no project alternatives considered as the project activities will be undertaken in existing Community Day Secondary School premises. 4. Describe measures taken by the borrower to address safeguard policy issues. Provide an assessment of borrower capacity to plan and implement the measures described. The project will be implemented by Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) which will have the overall responsibility to manage safeguards preparation and implementation. A Project Implementation Unit under MOEST was put in place to oversee preparation and implementation of the safeguards instruments. MOEST has prior experience on two preceding projects now under implementation (MESIP and SDP) in which safeguards instruments were prepared and implemented with relative success. MOEST has a committed Environmental and Social specialist to manage environmental and social safeguards in the project. The PIU management team has undergone environmental and Social safeguards training to strengthen their capacity and therefore it is assessed that the overall capacity is adequate. 5. Identify the key stakeholders and describe the mechanisms for consultation and disclosure on safeguard policies, with an emphasis on potentially affected people. May 09, 2021 Page 12 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) An effective stakeholder consultation process that has been generated through the project preparation phase is expected to continue and leading to successful implementation of the project. The key stakeholders are (i) parents or communities who usually have not attended secondary education themselves but need to understand the importance of the project and the environmental and social impacts and mitigation measures and so the existing Parent Teacher Association (PTA) will be utilized for safeguard consultation processes and disclosure and (ii) students themselves are at an age when they need to take increasing responsibility for their learning and the personal choices. The consultation process will also focus on students using student assembly meetings to ensure they understand the mitigation measures on environmental and social impacts proposed. (iii) Stakeholders such as parliamentary committee on education, civil societies and donors that are interested parties in education sector. The Grievances Redress Mechanism (GRM) for the Project has been developed and approved by the World Bank. Its implementation will be supported as an integral part of the AF in beneficiary secondary schools. The developed mechanism for the EQUALS Project builds on a long existing mechanism for the MESIP project being implemented in the education sector. OPS_SAFEGUARD_DISCLOSURE_TBL B. Disclosure Requirements (N.B. The sections below appear only if corresponding safeguard policy is triggered) OPS_EA_DISCLOSURE_TABLE Environmental Assessment/Audit/Management Plan/Other For category A projects, date of Date of receipt by the Bank Date of submission for disclosure distributing the Executive Summary of the EA to the Executive Directors "In country" Disclosure OPS_COMPLIANCE_INDICATOR_TBL C. Compliance Monitoring Indicators at the Corporate Level (to be filled in when the ISDS is finalized by the project decision meeting) (N.B. The sections below appear only if corresponding safeguard policy is triggered) OPS_EA_COMP_TABLE OPS_ PDI_ COMP_TAB LE OPS_ALL_COMP_TABLE CONTACT POINT May 09, 2021 Page 13 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) World Bank Adama Ouedraogo Senior Education Specialist Borrower/Client/Recipient Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Ben Botolo Secretary to the Treasury bbotolol2000@yahoo.com Implementing Agencies Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Justin Saidi Mr saidijustin@yahoo.co.uk 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 APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Adama Ouedraogo Approved By Safeguards Advisor: Peter Leonard 26-May-2021 Practice Manager/Manager: Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali 26-May-2021 Country Director: Hugh Riddell 27-May-2021 May 09, 2021 Page 14 of 15 The World Bank Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary Additional Financing (P176751) May 09, 2021 Page 15 of 15