TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT Gujarat: Outcomes for Accelerated Learning (Goal) Project February, xxx 2021 GUJARAT: OUTCOMES FOR ACCELERATED LEARNING (GOAL) TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT 1. The Program: The GOAL Program has been designed to support select components of the Gujarat School Education Enhancement Project (SEEP) planned by the state to create a strong foundation through a realigned and consolidated school network in the K-12 segment. All schools under the Schools of Excellence program will follow a hub-and-spoke model: Schools of Excellence, at the hub, will mentor ‘spoke’ schools in improving their quality. Residential schools based on the model of Navodaya Vidyalayas will be created for deprived students. Critical reforms to enhance instructional processes and remedial measures will be introduced; teacher performance and accountability will be improved; and the foundational years will receive additional support. Teacher support will be strengthened through creation of District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) in uncovered areas. Above all, the state will strengthen its learning assessment systems with more competency-oriented teaching and learning and will prepare for participation in the Program for International Students Assessment (PISA) in 2028, which will require strong institutional support at state and decentralized levels. 2. Under GOAL, a comprehensive approach to educational reform based on a decentralized stakeholder planning and management approach will be undertaken. Planning for stakeholder ownership of the state’s vision will be supported through district planning and appraisal processes. These will be strengthened through focused support. Comprehensive training of planning teams linked to realizing key Program outcomes; covering thematic areas of social inclusion, foundational education, classroom practices, and teacher development etc. will be undertaken. Customized need-based school infrastructure packages will be supported by engaging the community and stakeholders. School environment reforms to meet international standards will also be supported. 3. Strengthening pre-school to primary grade transition will be a key area, and expansion of one- year of government provision of school-based Early Childhood Education (ECE) will be supported in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Quality assurance of ECE through effective co- location of Anganwadis and government schools will be taken up. The Program will support the state to set up a State Assessment Cell (SAC) to manage PISA participation, strengthen classroom-based assessments and improve the quality of the Gujarat Achievement Survey (GAS) through external, carefully identified partnerships. Estimation of device requirement to support assessment reforms would be undertaken and supported. Vocational education support and expansion of quality and market relevant courses at secondary and higher secondary levels including setting up of labs will be supported especially through convergence with industry, and partnerships with Special Economic Zones (SEZs). 4. The Program will support the Government of Gujarat’s (GoG’s) comprehensive response to the COVID-19 shock to ensure that the education system is “built back better than before�. The response will be aligned with the World Bank’s policy response strategies for Phase 2 (managing continuity of learning to promote learning recovery as schools reopen safely) and Phase 3 (using the crisis as an opportunity to improve and accelerate, making the education system stronger and more equitable than it was before). Large-scale efforts in Gujarat to utilize technology in support of remote learning, distance education and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are emerging and evolving quickly. Ensuring a high-quality remote learning experience for all students (Phase 2) will be predicated on the system’s ability to provide teachers with technological and pedagogical support to cope in the short term and remain resilient as the world adapts to the new normal. The Program will invest in creating peer support programs to help teachers’ transition to remote teaching, as well as provide teachers with short courses on how to teach 1 remotely. As the system emerges from this crisis (Phase 3), the GoG will increase investments in remote learning, adopting blended models when schools partially reopen, or creating remedial courses. Technological and digital pedagogies for teachers will also be developed through diversified and innovative teacher capacity-building programs such as virtual coaching, and activating regular follow-up plans to support the skills developed, using both (remote) tutors and peers. 5. The Program for Results (PforR) Program Boundary- The GOAL Program boundaries will be limited to a portion of the Gujarat education programs, aiming at improving decentralized educational management to strengthen improved education outcomes with special focus on: decentralized district- based planning and management systems for educational outcomes; improved foundational learning and assessments; strengthened teacher development; and improved school infrastructure with enhancement of child friendly learning environments. 6. Program Expenditure Framework: The Program will support the Government program in strengthening decentralized educational management for improved education outcomes. The Program expenditure will be financed by two sources of funding – the GoG and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The funding leveraged under GOAL from IBRD will support the State’s education program through Samagra Shiksha, a centrally sponsored scheme of the Government of India. The two broad categories of expenditure under the Program are (i) Infrastructure and IT non- recurring and (ii) Interventions to enhance quality education. The distribution of funds will be as follows. Program Expenditure Framework - Distribution of Funds In Million USD WB GoG Total Access and Equity: GOAL - Civil Infrastructure + IT Infrastructure (non- 301.6 132.7 434.4 recurring) Quality Education Interventions; Vocational Education and Program 198.4 81.6 279.9 Management GOAL Total 500.0 214.3 714.3 Program Financing Source Amount % of Total (USD Million) State funding 214.3 30.1 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 500.0 69.9 Total Program Cost 714.3 100 7. The Program Development Objective of the GOAL Program is to strengthen decentralized management for improved education outcomes in the state of Gujarat 8. Program Components: The GOAL Program has five Results Areas: 9. Results Area 1: Decentralized Stakeholder Owned Planning Systems Institutionalized. Support for enabling and prioritizing systems and processes for strengthening decentralized district and sub- district level planning, through planning and processes for concurrent, participatory and bottom-up planning at state, district and sub-district levels, with a view to addressing intra-district diversities in 2 access to quality education, through: a. Institutionalizing stakeholder owned planning systems; b. Enabling district-based planning systems through capacity building support for decentralized education functionaries, including implementation of school-related gender-based violence (“SRGBV�) prevention protocols, complaint and referral mechanisms; c. Enhancing school level Annual Work Plan and Budgets (AWPBs) through community participation; and d. Instituting performance grants for schools to incentivize improved outcomes. 10. Results Area 2: Improved Foundational Learning Outcomes at the Lower Primary Level. Support for the Project Implementing Entity’s efforts towards strengthening foundational learning by improving access to and quality of early childhood education (“ECE�) and early grade learning, and by strengthening the preschool to primary grade transition, through the carrying out of the following activities: a. Supporting the rolling out of a pre-school education model to enable access to ECE programs for preschoolers; and b. Strengthening state level learning assessment system. 11. Results Area 3: Strengthened Teacher Development and School-Based Assessments for Classroom Performance. Support for the enhancement of needs-based continuous professional development, pre-service teacher training, and teacher performance management to boost classroom performance through: a. Strengthening teacher training and management systems for performance tracking, including the system of teacher training needs assessments and teacher performance management systems; b. Developing and rolling out quality remedial programs based on classroom-based assessments; and c. Strengthening teacher education institutions for teacher development, including supporting the construction and operationalization of five District Institutes of Education and Training (“DIETs�) in un-served districts of the state of Gujarat, and establishing a state assessment center for managing classroom, state and international level student assessment. 12. Results Area 4: Improved Learning Environments in Schools. Support for the strategic development and rehabilitation of the school network in the state of Gujarat with the aim of reducing learning poverty and addressing the pressing infrastructure needs in the state, through the following activities: a. Supporting performance-based selection of schools for learning environment and technology infrastructure improvement, and developing an inclusive state strategy for school learning environment development; and b. Strengthening infrastructure and upgrading facilities for creating child friendly learning environments in schools. 13. Results Area 5: Resilient Recovery from COVID-19. Support for development and implementation of a large holistic home learning program, as part of COVID-19 response strategies, and for meeting similar or unforeseen events that need greater systemic resilience and rapid academic response mechanisms to address such challenges, through the carrying out of the following activities: a. Enabling technology support at local levels for students; b. Facilitating home and blended learning programs; 3 c. Strengthening remedial programs to address the pandemic-related learning losses; and d. Providing a long-term strategic plan to ensure the system is built back better with rapid academic response mechanisms. 14. Use of Disbursement Linked Indicators: Since the GOAL Program uses a PforR instrument; disbursement will be conditional on the achievement of specific results, measured by the Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs). The DLIs will be annually reviewed and verified by an Independent Verification Agency (IVA) to be contracted by the Government of Gujarat using terms of reference satisfactory to the World Bank. (See Annex 3 of the GOAL Program Appraisal Document for further details.) 15. Institutional and Implementation Arrangements- With the launch of the Government of India’s Samagra Shiksha in 2018, the management structures for elementary and secondary levels as well as teacher education were integrated into a unified administrative mechanism, pooling together existing and additional personnel at both the national and sub-national levels. 16. State Level Structure: The State Program Implementation Entity is the Gujarat Council of School Education’s (GCSE) State Implementation Society (SIS) set up under the Societies Registration Act, headed by the State Project Director, a senior bureaucrat; under the administrative control of the State Education Department. The SIS is accountable to the Governing Council headed by the Chief Minister/State Education Minister, and its Executive Committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary/Commissioner/Education Secretary of the State. The SIS, through the State Project Office, establishes linkages with district and sub- district level structures, NGOs, state government, national bureaus of school education, and other concerned stakeholders, and is also responsible for effective monitoring and training and capacity building of personnel. Additionally, the SIS is underpinned by a high degree of interdepartmental convergence. Other state-level bodies that compose the administrative structure and provide technical and academic input at the state level are the Gujarat Council of Education Research and Training, and the Program Management Unit (PMU) of the SIS. 17. District-Level Structure: At the District level, the District Project Office is responsible for implementing and reviewing the progress of the program. It is chaired by the District Collector/Magistrate/Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad1. The District Project Office is headed by the District Education Officer (DEO) and comprises representatives from the district education departments, NGOs, as well as technical specialists. The DEO, who also performs the duties of the District Project Coordinator, is responsible for preparing AWPBs, liaising with the DIETs to jointly oversee the function of the Block and Cluster Resource Centers (BRCs/CRCs), monitoring progress and status of project implementation, and ensuring regular trainings of teachers/school heads, members of the School Management Committees, and BRCs and CRCs. 18. Block-Level Administration: At the Block level, the administrative structure is headed by the Block Education Officer (BEO), who is responsible for facilitating the creation of a School Development Plan in coordination with the block/cluster resource persons, School Management Committees, headmasters, teachers, etc. Additionally, the BEO is responsible for capacity building, academic supervision, and onsite support to field-level cadre, and monitoring and implementation of school education programs at the grassroots level. BRCs and CRCs provide academic support at the block and cluster levels, respectively, and School Management Committees, comprising of members from the local authority, parents, and teachers, assist with school-level monitoring and implementation through community mobilization, preparing school development plans, conducting Social Audits, and monitoring students’ and teachers’ 1A Zilla Parishad is the third tier of the governance system. Zila Parishads are elected bodies constituted through local body elections. 4 attendance. 5