Document of the International Development Association Report No. 17056-CE PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT ON A PROPOSED CREDIT IN AN AMOUNT OF SDR 51.4 MILLION TO THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA FOR A SECOND GENERAL EDUCATION PROJECT NOVEMBER 13, 1997 Education Sector Unit South Asia Regional Office SRI LAiNKA SECOND GENERAL EDUCATION PROJECT CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit SLRupees (Rs) USs1.00 = Rs 58.58 (June 1997) FISCAL YEAR (FY) and ACADEMIC YEAR January I -December31 ACRONYMS USED ADB Asian Development Bank CAS Country Assistance Strategy CD Curriculum Development CPCU Cumiculurn Process Coordination Unit CPPR Country Portfolio and Perfornance Review DDG Deputy Director General DFID Department for Intemational Development (UK) EBMU Education Budget and Monitoring Unit (FC) EDCC Education Development and Coordination Committee EMIS Education Management Information System EPD Education Publications Department (MEHE) ERD Extemal Resources Department FC Finance Commission FMS Finance Management System GEPI First General Education Project (Credit No. 2072-CE) GEP2 Second General Education Project GOSL Government of Sri Lanka GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft fair Technische Zusammnenarbeit (German Technical Assistance) HEI Higher Education Institutions ICTAD Institute for Construction Industry Training and Development IDA Intemational Development Association (World Barnk) ISA In-Service Adviser JICA Japan Intemational Cooperation Association MEHE Ministry of Education and Higher Education MOFP Ministry of Finance and Planning MPPE Master Plan for Primary Education Project (DFID) NATE National Authority for Teacher Education NBDC National Book Development Council NCCC National Curriculum Consultative Committee NCOE National College of Education NEC National Education Conunission NIE National Institute of Education NILIS National Institute of Library and Information Science NLDSB National Library and Documnentation Services Board NLSB National Library Services Board NPB National Publications Board PCU Project Coordination Unit PEA Provincial Education Authority PIAC Project Implementation Advisory Committee PIP Project Implementation Plan PPMC Policy, Planning and Monitoring Committee (reorganized structure) PPR Policy Planning and Research (MEHE) PSC Public Service Commission PTA Parent Teacher Association SDS School Development Societies Sida Swedish International Development Agency SLFO Sri Lanka Field Office (World Bank) TC Teacher Center TETD Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project (Credit No. 2881-CE) UGC University Grants Commission ZEA Zonal Education Authority ZEO Zonal Education Office Vice President : Mieko Nishimizu Directorof Operations : Robert Drysdale Country Director Roberto Bentjerodt Education Sector Manager: Ralph Harbison Task Leader Albert Aime SRI LANKA SECOND GENERAL EDUCATION PROJECT TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE PROJECT FINANCING DATA ..........................................................1 BLOCK 1: COUNTRY AND SECTOR BACKGROUND ......................................................2 1. Country Overview and Education Sector Characteristics .2 2. Project Objectives and Anticipated Outcomes .4 3. Project Components .5 4. Benefits and Target Population .6 5. Institutional and Implementation Arrangements .8 BLOCK 2: PROJECT RATIONALE ......................................................... 10 6. CAS Objectives Supported by the Project ....................................................... 10 7. Main Sector Issues and Government Strategy ....................................................... 10 8. Sector Issues to be Addressed by the Project and Strategic Choices ........................1 1 9. Project Alternatives Considered and Reasons for Rejection .................................... 12 10. Major Related Projects Financed by the IDA and/or Other Development Agencies ....................................................... 13 11. Lessons Learned and Reflected in the Project Design .............................................. 15 12. Indications of Borrower Commitment and Ownership ............................................. 15 13. Value Added of IDA Support ....................................................... 16 BLOCK 3: SUMMARY PROJECT ASSESSMENTS ........................................................ 16 14. Economic Assessment ...................................................... 16 15. Financial Assessment ...................................................... 17 16. Technical Assessment ...................................................... 18 17. Institutional Assessment ...................................................... 18 18. Social Assessment ...................................................... 18 19. Environmental Assessment ...................................................... 19 20. Participatory Approach ...................................................... 19 21. Sustainability ....................................................... 19 22. Critical Risks ...................................................... 20 23. Possible Controversial Aspects ...................................................... 22 BLOCK 4: MAIN CREDIT CONDITIONS ..................................................... 22 24. Board and Effectiveness Conditions ....................................................... 22 25. Disbursement Condition ...................................................... 23 BLOCK 5: READINESS FOR IMPLEMENTATION ...................................................... 23 BLOCK 6: COMPLIANCE WITH IDA POLICIES ........................................................ 24 PAGE LIST OF ANNEXES Annex 1: Project Design Summary ..................................... 25 Annex 2: Project Description ..................................... 37 Annex 3: Estimated Project Costs ..................................... 48 Annex 4A: Financial Summary ..................................... 51 Annex 4B: Financial Assessment and Sustainability ..................................... 52 Annex 5: Processing Budget and Schedule ..................................... 53 Annex 6: Procurement Plan and Schedule ..................................... 54 Annex 7: Project Implementation Schedule ..................................... 63 Annex 8: IDA Supervision Plan ..................................... 66 Annex 9: Key Indicators ..................................... 68 Annex 10: Status of Bank Group Operations in Sri Lanka ..................................... 71 AnnexI 1: Sri Lanka at a Glance ..................................... 73 Annex 12: Documents in Project File ..................................... 75 Annex 13 Cost Effectiveness Analysis Summary ..................................... 76 Appendix 1 National Education System Reform Policy Initiatives .............................. 84 INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION EDUCATION SECTOR UNIT South Asia Region Project Appraisal Document Sri Lanka Second General Education Project Date: 10/22/97 1 Draft [x Final Task Manager: A. E. Aime Country Manager: R. Bentjerodt Project ID: 10525 Focal Area: POC: Lending Instrument: SIL PTI: [1 Yes [X] No Project Financing Data I Loan [ X] Credit [ Guarantee [ Grant [] Other [Specifyl For Loans/CreditslOthers: Amount (US$m/SDRm): US$70.3 million/SDR 51.4 million Proposed Terms: [] Multicurrency [X] Single currency Grace period (years): 10 [] Standard Variable [ Fixed [] LIBOR-based Years to maturity: 40 Commitment fee: NA Service charge: .75 percent Financing plan (US$m): Source Local Foreign Total Government - 8.2 8.0 IBRD/IDA 40.9 29.4 70.0 Cofmanciers: DFID Mathematics 0.6 4.3 4.0 Total 49.7 33.7 83.4 Borrower: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Recipient: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Guarantor: NA Responsible agency: Ministry of Education and Higher Education Estimated disbursements (US$M): 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Annual 10.5 14.8 17.1 16.0 11.9 Cumulative 10.5 25.3 42.4 58.4 70.3 For Guarantees: [ Partial Credit I ] Partial risk Proposed coverage: NA Project sponsor: NA Nature of underlying financing: NA Terms of financing: Principal amount (US$) NA Final maturity NA Amortization profile NA Financing available without guarantee?: NA [ Yes [ ] No If yes, estimated cost or maturity: NA Estimated financing cost or maturity with guarantee: NA Expected effectiveness date: 2/98 Closing Date: 6/30/2003 Project Appraisal Document Page 2 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project Block 1: Country and Sector Backgrounds 1. Country Overview and Education Sector Characteristics: Sri Lanka is a low-income developing country with a per capita GNP of US$710 in 1996. The economy grew at an annual average rate of 4.5 percent during 1985-95. Growth declined to 3.8 percent in 1996 due to a prolonged drought that adversely affected agriculture and caused an energy shortage. The economy is expected to grow at over 5 percent in 1997 and thereafter. The present Government has stressed its strong commitment to promoting human development through rapid economic growth, investment in education and targeted social safety nets. Past investments in education and health have contributed to the achievement of relatively good social indicators. An infant mortality rate of 19 per thousand, adult literacy of 88 percent, and life expectancy of 76 years for females and 72 years for males, compare well with social indicators in countries at considerably higher levels of per capita income. The General Education System The general education system in Sri Lanka, with an enrollment of 4.2 million in 1996 (of whom 50 percent were females), consisted of three cycles: primary education (grades 1-5) with an enrollment of 1.9 million children, secondary education (grades 6-11) with 2.1 million children, and collegiate education (grades 12-13) with 0.2 million students. Under a recent proposal of the National Education Commission (NEC), the Government plans to consolidate the education system into two types of schools: Junior Schools, covering grades 1-9, and Senior Schools, covering grades 10-13. Additional objectives are to implement compulsory education for ages 5-14 (to grade 9) and to adjust the management and financing of the education system. Education Sector Enrollment The gros enrollment ratio in primary education (grades 1-5) is high (101 percent of age cohort). The ne primary enrollment rate is 92 percent, and universal primary education is likely to be achieved before the year 2000. This is substantially faster than the rest of South Asia. Secondary enrollment (grades 6-11) reached 75 percent of the age cohort in 1996, far above South Asian averages. At the higher education level, Sri Lanka has the lowest participation rates in Asia, less than 3 percent of the age group, in contrast to the Asian average of 8 percent. During the 1996-2005 period, the total number of students is expected to decline from 4.1 million to about 3.5 million due to the fall in fertility rates. This will have a substantial impact on the system cost. Sri Lanka has a unique position among developing countries to have reached equitable female participation in general and university education. Almost all girls complete primary education and most complete grade 11 (GCE O/L). Female participation at GCE A/L and university education equals that of males. In 1996, women comprised over 80 percent of primary and 60 percent of secondary school teachers and averaged over 70 percent of teachers at all levels. Education Sector Expenditure By intemational standards Sri Lanka spends comparatively little on education with the proportion of GDP spent on education in 1996 being 2.9 percent. Over the past decade, the average share of education expenditure in the GDP has been approximately 3 percent, which is less than the 3.5 percent mean for Asia and the 3.9 percent mean for developing countries. The sector budget is projected to increase by 1.4 percent per annum, a rate which is below the projected GDP growth of 5 percent. Low Expenditure on Quality Inputs The central problem of the Sri Lankan education system is low quality. This is seen by the large failure rates in public examinations and high rates of repetition. At the main public examination, the GCE O/L, taken at age 16 after 11 years of schooling, the failure rate, in most subjects, is 80 percent. Moreover, 20 percent of students fail all subjects. The average grade repetition rate is 12 percent per year, representing a substantial degree of internal inefficiency. The low level of quality is mainly due to the minimal expenditure on quality inputs in the education budget and the high level of untrained teachers. In 1996, 76 percent of the central and provincial recurrent budget was allocated to salaries, 16 percent for subsidies and welfare programs, 7 percent for travel and other expenditure, leaving only 1 percent for quality inputs such as essential teaching materials, equipment, materials and supplies, and maintenance. Project Appraisal Document Page 3 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project Issues in the Education Sector The quality of the education system has suffered drastically as a result of the continuously low level of expenditure on quality inputs. That in turn has created inefficiencies in the operations of the different components of the sector. * Inappropriate and outdated school curriculum. The existing school curriculum has largely not been updated for over ten years. It is not based on modem learning and teaching methods and contains significant gaps in information in a variety of subjects. The curriculum is considered by the Government to be unresponsive to labor market needs. * Poor quality textbooks. Textbooks have been a Government monopoly for over fifteen years. This has led to high cost production by a rigidly structured Government department, the Educational Publications Department (EPD). The textbooks are produced with inferior paper, poor binding and weak covers. Hence, the durability of textbooks is low, causing re-use rates in Sri Lanka to be approximately one-third of those of comparable developing countries. Low re-use rates add approximately US$1.7 million dollars per year to book production costs. The content of textbooks fails to reflect the school curriculum adequately and has generally not been updated for over ten years. There is a single mandatory textbook per subject per grade, preventing choice and quality competition. With a multiple textbook option, teaching and learning would be more effective. * Inequalities and shortages in physical capital and basic services. A substantial deficit exists in facilities and services with only a minority of schools possessing the necessary facilities. There is a shortfall of science rooms, libraries and book storage facilities, particularly in rural and urban slum schools. In addition, much of the equipment, in the majority of schools, is not in working order due to inadequate maintenance and replacement policies. • Shortages of quality inputs. Under investment in quality inputs has led to an acute shortage, with over 90 percent of schools lacking adequate equipment and materials to match curriculum needs. Schools are poorly endowed with items such as teaching equipment, resource materials, library books, duplicating machines, technology and audio-visual equipment. This is especially true of rural and urban slum schools. Even where schools possess such items, quantities are very small. It is estimated that needed quality inputs are available in less than 20 percent of the schools. * Inequalities in resource allocation. Sample surveys of 120 schools in 1996-97 revealed wide inequalities in the availability of facilities and equipment among different types of schools. Further, over 7,000 schools outside the North-Eastern Province have no permanent libraries. Including the North-Eastern Province raises this number to about 8,000 schools or about 80 percent with no libraries. Nearly all the remaining 2,000 schools have just one room, containing a few book cupboards and shelves stocked with mainly outdated books and periodicals. * An inefficient and inflexible management structure. The current management structure of the education system does not match the operational needs of the system. The chains of command within the national and provincial education departments are long and complex, slowing the pace of decision-making and administration. There is duplication of roles and functions among officials in various divisions within the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) and the Provincial Ministries and Departments of Education. Record keeping and administrative operations in MEHE and among the Provincial Education Authorities (PEAs) are mainly performed manually, data on students and teacher- related information required for educational planning are weak, and accounting information needed for financial management is poor. Further, skills in data processing and analysis of information are inadequate at MEHE and among PEAs. These factors lead to inefficient planning and an increase in the education system's administration costs. * Excessive teacher recruitment. The teaching force grew from 146,974 in 1989 to 187,579 in 1994. This caused an increase in education salary expenditure of Rs 1.2 billion (18 percent) during the period. A 48 percent salary increase was granted to teachers in 1995. This increased the education sector budget by Rs 2.8 billion. Teacher salaries presently take up approximately 25 percent of the total public service salary bill. The large-scale recruitment of teachers during 1989-94 was mainly a political job creation mechanism. It did not match the needs of the education system and exceeded the capacity of teacher training institutions to provide pre-service training. In consequence, the education system experienced a substantial inflow of untrained, inexperienced teachers lacking commitment and professional capability. This problem was compounded by an over-generous retirement policy, which caused a substantial number of trained, experienced teachers to Project Appraisal Document Page 4 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project t retire. As a result, the average productivity of the teacher force declined and was compounded by high teacher absenteeism. * Inefficient teacher deployment. Schools located in remote rural areas experience a shortage of teachers, while schools in areas with attractive living conditions receive an excess supply. Existing teacher deployment mechanisms lack adequate incentives to cause teachers in over-staffed regions to move to needy areas. Overall, poor teacher deployment is causing considerable wastage in the allocation of educational resources. * Inequitable financial allocation. The present devolved funding of primary and secondary education to the provinces through a block grant has resulted in funds not being allocated appropriately. Most funds are allocated for teacher salaries leaving little for quality inputs and sustainability of the system. Two finance studies (ADB and IDA) indicate that the present allocation of resources varies greatly among schools (up to 300 percent more, per student, is given to elite schools). Thus, the Government has decided to increase equity of resource allocations and to implement a norm-based unit cost allocation of resources. IDA has been asked to assist. 2. Project Objectives and Anticipated Outcomes (see Annex 1 for key performance indicators): The project is linked to the Government's national education reform aiming to modernize the sector based on the National Education Commission's vision which focuses on improving the quality, equity, internal and external efficiency and fnancing of the Sri Lankan education system. The project objectives are to improve the quality, access, management and financing of existing education programs, and so increase education's responsiveness to economic needs and reducing poverty. Progress of the project will be evaluated on the basis of the following outputs: Improving quality by: (i) revising syllabi for all subjects in grades 1-9 and in use by 2002 with sequential and cyclical updates done every five years; (ii) producing about 20 million textbooks of improved physical quality, content, better linkages to the curriculum by 1999 allowing the book life expectancy to be increased from one to about three years; (iii) training about 100,000 teachers, 10,000-principals and about 3,000 In-Service Advisers (ISAs) in the revised curriculum; (iv) distributing primarily to rural schools, education equipment and materials matching the curriculum and reaching about 55 percent of present needs, on a per capita basis; and (v) adding about 2,000 libraries and supplying another 2,000 existing school libraries with additional books to reach about 50 percent of the schools having libraries, training of about 4,000 teacher librarians to improve learning, and enhancing the reading habits of about 2 million students. Improving access and equity by: (i) re-organizing schools to match the new education structure forjunior (grades 1-9) and senior (grades 10-13) schools; (ii) allocating facilities on the basis of enrollment and demographic changes and training staff in school maintenance; (iii) improving the equitable and cost-effective allocation of educational facilities in primary and secondary schools matching the new education structure recommended by the NEC, national education reform and curriculum needs with main focus given to rural and urban slum areas; (iv) increasing, as part of the Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project (TETD), the equity of teacher education opportunities among provinces and applying a norm- based teacher deployment mechanism. Strengthening management and promoting sustainability by: (i) assisting MEHE implement the new functions outlined by the 1997 re-organization of the central ministry (MEHE), PEAs, Zonal Education Offices (ZEOs), National Institute of Education (NIE) and the University Grants Commission (UGC); (ii) reducing duplications between the central ministry and 8 provincial and 87 ZEOs and establishing standardized management, planning and monitoring procedures; (iii) improving the equitable distribution of resources to grades 1-9 by establishing, by 1998, a separate budget based on a unit-cost allocation mechanism and thereby increasing equitable provision of education services; (iv) training central, provincial and zonal staff in the application of the norm-based unit cost fnancing formula; (v) launching public awareness programs, improving monitoring capacity and undertaking studies for the preparation of future projects in the education sector. Project Appraisal Document Page 5 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project 3. Project Components: (Annex 2 summarizes the project components, Annex 3 gives estimated project costs and allocation of credit proceeds, Annex 4 lists the financial summary and summarizes the financial assessment and its sustainability and Annex 5 outlines the project processing budget and schedule). Implementation readiness has been analyzed and found suitable. The project components are: Components Category Cost Incl. Percent Contingencies of (US$M) Total 1. Curriculum Development: Prepare a national strategy to implement a Policy update, sequential and cyclical curriculum in all subjects for junior cycle (grades 1-9) institutional and to improve management of the curriculum process. Training teachers in and capacity 14.2 17.0 the use of the new curriculum. building and quality inputs. 2. Textbooks/Educational Publications: Increase the Education Publication Capacity Department's (EPD) contracting thresholds, allowing it to operate more as a building, semi-autonomous body and in partnership with the private sector. Improve the private sector content and physical condition (paper, cover and binding) of textbooks participation 12.3 14.7 increasing life expectancy and allow the introduction of a re-use policy and and quality multiple textbook option. Teachers would be trained in the use of the new inputs. books. The project will increase private sector participation and upgrade, through the use of criteria, the already totally commissioned textbook writing to produce at more responsive and integrated textbooks and teacher guides; increase the present 40 percent of private sector printing to about 70 percent; and continue 100 percent private sector delivery. 3. School Facilities Rationalization: Increase equitable and cost-effective Rationalization allocation of education facilities and libraries to match the proposed NEC's of inputs, new education system structure ofjunior (grades 1-9) and senior schools capacity 23.9 28.7 (grades 10-13). Project inputs will be based on updated facility norms and building and existing architectural designs for both Junior and Senior Schools. management strengthening. 4. Quality Inputs: Supply of sufficient quantities of educational materials and Rationalization equipment matching the curriculum and syllabi needs on a per capita basis of inputs, annually. The project inputs will be focused on core subjects in junior schools capacity 18.3 21.9 aiming to arrive at the supply of essential quality inputs required by teachers, building students and schools to effectively teach the curriculum. 5. Libraries: Develop libraries (according to school sizes) and provide them Policy with adequate books, shelves, resource materials, furniture and trained staff in development, library management. The project will begin the implementation of a national institutional 5.9 7.0 library policy and establish a National Institute of Library and Information and capacity Science (NILIS). building and training. 6. Education Management and Planning: Strengthen education management Policy through rationalization of roles and functions exercised by the MEHE, PEAs, clarification, NIE and UGC. Planning capacity will be upgraded and national, provincial management 6.4 7.7 and institutional plans developed. Quality assurance and financing strengthening mechanisms will be strengthened and clear policies and lines of authorities will and capacity be defined for the planning divisions. building. Project Appraisal Document Page 6 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project Components Category Cost Incl. Percent Contingencies of (US$M) Total 7. Education Financing: Implement an equitable normn-based unit cost Capacity financing formula to improve resource allocation and assist with the building and sustainability of quality inputs. Staff training and allocation of management management 0.8 1.0 tools and equipment would be funded at the central and provincial levels. The strengthening. fornula has been prepared and agreed to and has been discussed with the provinces, with three provinces volunteering to implement the pilot phase. This activity is being coordinated with ADB-supported financial reforms. It aims at increasing equity through the application of norm-based unit cost allocations applied to teachers, facilities, quality inputs and maintenance of the system and assisting funds to be consistent with the devolved responsibilities of junior and senior schools to the provinces while increasing their accountability for such resources to better sustain the education system. 8. Studies: Support impact analysis studies of inputs from the First General Capacity Education Project (GEPI), to assess the impact of GEPI and GEP2 and building, 0.7 0.8 identify future investment needs in the education sector and to monitor project impact inputs. assessment 9. Project Coordination Unit: (PCU) Support for rehabilitation, furnishing, Management 1.0 1.2 equipping of PCU office, funds for site visits and monitoring and short-term and training of staff. monitoring TOTAL _ 83.4 100 4. Benefits and Target Population: The project's direct beneficiaries will be four million primary and secondary students; about 180,000 teachers; curriculum and book sector management staff, textbook writers, printers and publishers; and education sector management and fmancing staff. Improved education sector and fnancial management, together with reformed relevant curriculum and improved textbooks, will increase the overall quality of students' learning outcomes. The following project benefits have been identified: Economic Benefits * Better educated and more skilled and productive labor force will result from the upgraded sequential curriculum, updated every five years, allowing schools to respond more appropriately to national workforce training needs. * Books of improved physical quality will reduce the annual book replacement rate of 70 to 80 percent to be reduced to about 35 percent allowing the introduction of a re-use book policy, resulting in better quality books and teacher guides for some four million students and about 180,000 teachers. Savings will be used to sustain better quality books. * Through competitive contracting, private sector participation will be increased and the book production contracting gradually increased to reach about 100 percent of book writing; 80 percent publication; 70 percent printing and continue over 90 percent distribution by 2002. Competition between public and private sector will improve the quality and timely production of textbooks allowing MEHE to have book replacements match the curriculum cycle (about every five years for each subject). * A better allocation of facilities, improved to better match enrollments, the demographic situation and the new education structure, will increase the cost effectiveness of facilities use, and ensure that all schools have the pre- required resources to teach the curriculum effectively. Duplication of service-s will be reduced and where uneconomical schools exist alternative access will be piloted (busing, transport vouchers, etc.). * Training of central, provincial and zonal management, planning and financial officers to fit the re-organized MEHE, Project Appraisal Document Page 7 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project NIE, and PEAs will increase staff skills, improve records and monitoring practices of the education sector and, through the introduction of technology, enable MEHE to adjust the number of staff employed and thus improve efficiency and cost effectiveness of the education system. * Unit cost allocation of resources by MEHE and the Finance Commission (FC) will improve the allocation of resources for teachers' salaries, quality inputs and services and maintenance. FC will pilot the monitoring of the provincial block grants and ensure allocation of funds shall be criteria and priority-based and more equitable. This will be the first effort to address resource allocations within the devolved system. It will form a basis for other sectors and is expected to result in more efficient allocation and use of resources. Social Benefits * Modernization of the education system will increase responsiveness of programs to 21st century employment needs and increase Sri Lanka's economic development potential. * System approach will strengthen all of MEHE structures and programs, enabling it to address in an integrated manner sector priorities and to better balance its resource allocations. * Textbooks' coverage of curriculum content will be increased from the present range of about 40 to 70 percent to 100 percent by 2002, thereby enhancing student leaming opportunities in schools and ensuring that the textbooks contain all the examination content, thus reducing the present reliance on costly out-of-school tutoring. 1 The allocation of quality inputs matching the curriculum on a per capita basis to meet actual schoolclassroom requirements replacing the present ad hoc system will increase equity and allow schools to meet the curriculum quality needs by 2002. * Physical facilities matching the new school structure and responding to the curriculum needs will, by focusing on the rural and urban slum needs, increase access and equity of educational opportunities in all-parts of the country, and enable Sri Lanka to implement its compulsory education policy. - Establishment of 2,000 new libraries and the supply of additional books to 2,000 existing libraries will benefit over one million students and 60 thousand teachers and allow teachers to apply more active leaming methods and improve the reading habits of the students. The training of about 4,000 teachers as librarians and of about 2,000 public librarians will improve the use of both the school and public libraries. = Establishment of a NILIS will formalize the certification of librarians and enhance the professional status of all librarians. Benefits on Unemployment * The project investment in revising the curriculum, improving textbooks and libraries, and improving quality of education, along with the Government's policy of restructuring the system into junior and senior schools, will have a direct impact on the type of graduates. Curriculum revision will be based on social and economic needs and will address issues that will improve productivity and labor market needs. This in turn will produce graduates that are better prepared for post secondary education and graduates would gain greater employment skills that will in tum have an impact on easing the unemployment of the school leavers. Benefits on Poverty * The project approach in providing facilities and quality inputs, targeting the deprived schools in rural and urban slum areas, will bridge the gap between poor and affluent schools. Furthermore, the application of a unit cost based formula for resource distribution under the project will ensure that poor provinces and schools will receive their share of expenditure for quality inputs and school maintenance. A reduction of these inequalities will be pro-poor and will increase the participation of poor children in schools and raise the quality (and hence the market value) of general education for them. Benefits of Quality Inputs * Investment in quality inputs under the project will have a substantial impact on quality and equity among schools. Per capita expenditure for these items for the needy schools (types IC, 2 and 3) will increase from Rs 27 to Rs 173 by the end Project Appraisal Document Page 8 Sri Lanka (LKPAIO525) Second General Education Project of the project period, a level that is comparable to national schools' current expenditure. This will raise the quality level of rural and small schools and abridge the gap in resource distribution between national and type IAB schools and types IC, 2 and 3 schools. On the other hand, the provision of equipment and materials to needy schools will motivate teachers to teach in school rather than get private tuition fees from students. This in turn will bring about, not only a more cost- effective general education system, but also result in cost savings for parents. Other Benefits * Improved curriculum and textbooks and the availability of related educational materials will increase teacher interest, thus reducing absenteeism and in turn improving the number of contact hours taught. The increased contact hours will in turn give the students more learning opportunities and should reduce drop-out rates particularly in the rural and slum areas where schools lack the needed resources. * Clarification of the roles of the central and provincial planning offices will improve the information system and help produce clearer and more analytical reports, increase monitoring of inputs and the development of 3-5 years plans. * Strengthened capacity of planning staff to better implement the Education Management Information System (EMIS) will result in improved management of the data base which will be used by senior managers for informed decision making, thus allowing more informed ad hoc decisions. * The implementation of a more responsive, equitable, transparent and sustainable unit cost financing fornula would increase equitable allocation of teachers, quality inputs, services and maintenance for all schools and increase opportunities for the poor. 5. Institutional and Implementation Arrangements: ,tMpkmentation pariad: The time frame for this project is five years, from 1998 to 2002 with a completion date of December 31, 2002 and a closing date of June 30, 2003. Fxecuting aggncies: MEHE, PEAs, NIE, UGC, FC and the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MOFP) will all assist with execution, with the main coordination resting with the MEHE Education and Development Coordination Committee (EDCC). Based on the lessons learned during GEPI the activities will be implemented by already existing operational or administrative units with each being responsible for specific project activities. These units are all functioning with varying ranges of abilities, and the project inputs will assist with their strengthening. The project inputs will address system issues in an integrated manner, while taking into consideration recent successful education reforms in both developing and developed countries during the last decade. Implementation Capacity and Financial Analysis: Various implementation options were reviewed and in that process, it was found that central MEHE capacity, where the project coordination Unit (PCU) will be located, was suitable with sufficient technical assistance available to cover weaknesses. However, due to the plans to gradually decentralization civil works, the procurement of quality inputs, and to increase the planning and financial responsibilities of the PEAs some staff training will be necessary. Procedures for the management of the project activities were defned and training activities included to ensure suitable transfer of skills to the PEA staff. Reporting steps have been identified and standard reporting procedures were agreed. The procurement summary and schedule are detailed in Annex 6. Project coordination: The PCU which successfully implemented the First General Education Project (GEPI) will be strengthened to manage this project and will be responsible for coordinating all the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), IDA and bilateral donor inputs for this project. PCU will be given the-responsibilities to: (i) coordinate the project funds; and (ii) coordinate the monitoring and reporting aspects of the project. PCU will work closely with the National Authority for Teacher Education (NATE), MOFP, NIE, PEAs, the Director of Library Services and UGC, all of which are responsible for the implementation of education activities. The project will cover PCU costs for project coordination, on- site supervision, purchase of furniture and equipment and for the office and staff-related implementation costs. The implementation of this project will be undertaken by the various implementation units of MEHE, PEAs, and GOSL. Such responsibilities will be assumed by: (i) NIE for curriculum; (ii) the EPD for textbooks and publications; (iii) the National Project Appraisal Document Page 9 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project Book Development Council and the Director of Library Services, within the MEHE, for the library component; (iv) the PEAs for the school rationalization with some involvement from Policy and Planning Research (PPR) of the MEHE; (v) the EPD jointly with FC and the PEAs for the first two years of the project, and totally by the PEAs and FC thereafter for all quality inputs; (vi) the MEHE, EPD, PEAs, NIE, UGC, and the FC for education management; (vii) the FC and PEAs for the application of the norm-based unit cost financing for block grant funding and MEHE, MOFP and PEAs for the capital expenditures; (viii) the MEHE/PCU, NIE and UGC for studies; and (ix) the PCU, MEHE, PPR, PEAs, ZEOs, NIE and UGC for processing and monitoring. For this project all implementation responsibilities will rest with the various responsible units, with increased participation from the PEAs. The PCU will be more of a processing and monitoring unit than a management unit. The project implementation schedule is included in Annex 7. Project oversight and guidance: National project oversight will be the responsibility of the existing Education Development and Coordination Committee (EDCC) chaired by the Secretary of MEHE in cooperation with ERD which oversees all the donor and intemational agencies' projects. The EDCC will meet every quarter or as needed, to ensure that the implementation responsibilities are clearly communicated to the various units and that effective decision making and implementation takes place and suitable reports are prepared for ERD and IDA. The MOFP/ERD, FC and MEHE will ensure adequate and timely budget allocations, suitable staff, and appropriate procurement and payment procedures as defined for timely project implementation. The roles of the various parties involved with implementation, particularly that of the provinces to which education responsibilities have been largely devolved, will be reviewed annually. IDA oversight will be provided jointly through the World Bank Sri Lanka Field Office (SLFO) and headquarters' staff, in accordance with the supervision plan outlined in Annex 8. The approval of bidding documentation and overview of civil works, procurement and day-to-day implementation activities will be the responsibility of the field office staff. The responsibilities of headquarters' staff will be gradually devolved to the SLFO staff, including the coordination of the technical assistance, professional and educational aspects of the project. These roles will be reviewed every year and during the annual and mid-term reviews. Accounting. financial reporting and auditing arrangements: The MEHE, MOFP and the PCU will establish and maintain a separate account for the project. The account will be maintained in accordance with sound accounting practices acceptable to IDA. Auditing will be performed annually by a qualified auditor in accordance with procedures satisfactory to IDA, and an audit report, including separate statements on disbursements against statements of expenditures and on the Special Account, submitted to IDA every year. During appraisal the financial capacity of the MEHE and PEAs was assessed; in order to strengthen that capacity, particularly at the provincial level, the project will cover the employment of consultants, related training and monitoring activities. Monitoring and evaluation arrangements: Sector and project performance will be monitored in the following ways: * Arrangements are built into the project to monitor outcomes of the Second General Education Project (GEP2). MEHE and MOFP will monitor quarterly the project's fiscal impact. As part of the proposed education reform, MEHE has asked each subsector to prepare routine assessment strategies (outlined in PIP for each component). Such implementation will enable the Government to better monitor the effectiveness of the proposed project in improving education quality. * A semi-annual progress report on the implementation of the project's policy, status of project activities and financial situation (including disbursements) will be prepared by the PCUIMEHE and submitted to IDA in July and January every year. These semester reports will be standardized by the Government, IDA and other donors so that MEHE/PCU can prepare a common report satisfying the needs of all parties. One exception will be the annexed financial status for each of the donors. The reports will include information such as: (i) a component-by-component summary of implementation (actual versus planned); (ii) a financial summary by component including the status of commitments and of disbursements; (iii) an updated implementation schedule and implementation plan and key indicators; (iv) a list of issues and problems faced with options for resolution; (v) status of the studies; (vi) status of technical assistance; and (vii) a work plan for the following period. * PCU will coordinate with other departments of MEHE, MOFP and PEAs the semi-annual update, the Project Appraisal Document Page 10 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project implementation plan and the review of key indicators (Annex 9) prepared and updated by NIE, EPD, PEAs, MEHE Units and UGC. In the later years of the project, the reporting will include monitoring of the impact of the project activities. Annual implementation reviews will be held and the monitoring reports discussed with the authorities concerned and with other donors participating in the project. During the annual review, the status of the components will be examined and plans for the following year's goals set. This joint review will be held about February of each year. Government will give assurances that it will: (i) maintain policies and procedures to enable it to monitor and evaluate on an on-going basis, in accordance with benchmarks and indicators satisfactory to IDA, the implementation of the project and the achievement of the project objectives; (ii) prepare, under terms of reference satisfactory to IDA, and furnish to IDA by the mid-term review, a report integrating the results of the monitoring and evaluation activities of the project and setting measures to ensure the efficient implementation of the project; and (iii) review with IDA the progress reports and take all measures to ensure the efficient completion of the project. Block 2: Project Rationale 6. CAS Objectives Supported by the Project: (CAS Report No. 15633-CE, Dated May 21, 1996) The CAS objectives for human resources development (discussed by the Executive Directors on June 13, 1996) center on: (i) improving education quality and school efficiency by focusing on the rationalization of teacher education; (ii) improving the quality and responsiveness of curriculum and textbooks; and (iii) increasing the system's efficiency by strengthening management and fnancing capacity in implementing a more equitable distribution of resources. The Project is consistent with these objectives. 7. Main Sector Issues and Germent Stratey: As a result of the NEC report, a national vision to modernize and increase national responsiveness for 21 st century needs has been developed. That vision is embedded in the project with Sri Lanka aiming to achieve universal primary education by year 2000 and improve the system's efficiency. Sri Lanka already enrolls about 75 percent of the secondary education cohort; however, the quality of education remains low affecting the quality and efficiency of the education system. The system issues consistently identified by the 1994 IDA Education Sector Report, the 1996 NEC report and the 1997 President's Education Task Force are: • The general education curriculum is outdated and not responsive to socio-economic needs and not prepared with sufficient participation of users or private sector/parents. * Textbook content does not reflect the curriculum content; development and production are uncoordinated. Because of the poor physical quality of the textbooks' paper, binding and covers, about 70 to 80 percent of the textbooks have to be replaced annually. * Facilities and resources are not distributed equitably to schools throughout the nation. Shortages continue to exist in difficult areas while surpluses exist in others. The poorer groups typically receive lower allocations. * Expenditures on quality inputs (e.g., equipment, textbooks, 3upplementary materials, library books, school supplies, facilities and maintenance) are not allocated equitably and are declining, due to the fact that provinces are spending on average only about I percent of block grant allocation for quality inputs largely due to teacher over-staffing and over-generous social welfare allocations. Shortages of quality inputs are negatively affecting education quality. * Teachers are poorly trained, and training programs are not run in a cost-effective manner. Teacher training institutions are poorly maintained and not located according to population and regional needs. The capacity of teacher training institutions is inadequate to train large,: umbc: of teachers and the country relies heavily on in- service distance education services. * The unplanned teacher recruitment during 1989-94 (student:teacher ratios fell from about 28:1 in 1989 to 24:1 in Project Appraisal Document Page 11 Sri Lanka (LKPA1052S) Second General Education Project 1995) raised teacher salary costs to an unsustainable level. Yet teacher distribution does not respond to demand, resulting in shortages in rural and slum areas and especially in subjects such as Tamil, English and mathematics. * Vocational and technical education is not responsive to the labor market needs and suffers from low internal and external efficiency resulting in fragmentation, duplication and costly programs. * Educational sector management remains weak as a result of almost annual ad hoc changes during the last five years. The MEHE, PEAs, NIE and UGC do not have clearly differentiated or defned roles, and there are no measures for career advancement for staff from lower echelons. In addition, some education sector decisions are not always made on the basis of merit. * Expansion of private education is officially not permitted although there has been a rapid growth of "international" primary and secondary schools attended by the elite. Similarly, a few private universities, associations or organizations, have recently been allowed to operate privately at the post-secondary level. The Government needs to rethink its policies on private education although this is highly political. * Enrollment rate is less than 3 percent for the higher education age cohort, contrary to the average of about 8 percent in ot.er Asian countries. Sri Lanka urgently needs to develop responsive higher level training programs and increase the percentage of graduates to boost industrial productivity. Higher education policy requires urgent attention to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Government Strategies: In August 1995, NEC prepared a National Education Strategy and a Teacher Education Strategy. It further prepared a Higher Education Strategy in 1996 and is now addressing Vocational and Technical Education. The general education strategies adopted by the Government in 1996 expressed the NEC vision to address 21st century system needs and identify the following priorities: (i) increase equitable access and the availability of trained teachers particularly in rural areas; (ii) upgrade the quality and quantity of educational materials (textbooks and library materials in particular) and increase the equitable supply to all schools; (iii) rationalize teacher training and employment and deployment practices; (iv) supply adequate educational facilities, science laboratories and libraries, particularly in the urban slums and rural areas where shortages are serious; (v) increase the system's efficiency by strengthening management capacity and implementing an equitable resource distribution mechanism; and (vi) increase the responsiveness of technical and tertiary education to address skill shortages. These policies are consistent with the recommendations of the IDA 1994 Education Sector Strategy Report. They are fiscally sustainable, so long as the Government strictly controls teacher employment and deployment to allow increased spending on quality-related inputs without significantly increasing the education budget. The Govermnent strategy of concentrating first on teacher ssues and subseque..iiy on wider education sector issues is also consistent with the IDA Country Assistance Strategy. The teacher training and teacher deployment issues are being addressed by the ongoing Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project (TETD, Cr. 2881-CE) with combined efforts from Sida and GTZ. In April 1997, the President of Sri Lanka announced the need to reform the education system. This declaration is very consistent with the NEC and IDA positions. The system approach of the present project will assist GOSL in maximizing its reform efforts, to arrive at a more balanced allocation of resources. The status of the Bank Group operations in Sri Lanka are listed in Annex 10, and Sri Lanka at a Glance can be found in Annex 11. 8. Sector Issues to be Addressed by the Project and Strategic Choices: In 1995, IDA and GOSL had agreed that unless the teacher education and teacher deployment issues were dealt with, as a priority, limited benefits would occur from further civil works, quality inputs and management training. Thus, the choice was made to proceed in two stages, addressing teacher issues first through TETD, leaving this, the Second General Education Project, to focus on improving education quality, as part of a national reform and in an integrated system approach. Based on the past project, experience shows that focused inputs through an investment project often starve other essential parts of the system and do not always result in the desired impact. The system approach has been utilized in the most successful education reforms undertaken during the last decade in various developed and developing countries. Thus, a system approach integrating sector inputs has been taken for this project. Project Appraisal Document Page 12 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project Issues being addressed by this project (and as phase one of the national reform) are: * Supporting the development of a national consolidated sequential and cyclical curriculum strategy for junior schools (grades 1-9) to address the socio-economic needs of the country to meet the demands of the 21st century. To keep pace with the changing world, the cuniculum will be updated every five years. This would also replace the outdated curriculum and increase students' learning outcomes. * Addressing the shortcomings in quality, content, production, distribution, use and cost effectiveness of textbooks by: (i) reducing public sector monopoly; (ii) increasing private sector involvement and competition for quality improvement; and (iii) providing training to writers, editors, printers and publishers. The quality of textbooks would be assured by monitoring the paper, various types of book covers, binding, printing and duration of book usage. * Improving the quantities and quality of educational materials needed to teach the revised cunriculum, based on a more equitable per student allocation, would improve education equity and quality. * Supporting the supply of improved educational facilities according to demographic and enrollment patterns to reduce the urban and rural gaps in access to schooling. Equitable and cost effective distribution of educational services would contribute to equalizing the overall quality of students' learning outcomes. * Providing libraries, library books and training to the teachers and librarians to improve students' reading habits. * Addressing sector management issues by clarifying and defining roles of the national, provincial and zonal education offices to improve management efficiency and to eliminate duplications. The EMIS system will be strengthened to improve the national database and flow of information to facilitate effective decision making. *Implementing a unit cost fnancing formula by the project to address the inequitable distribution of educational resources and increase the cost effectiveness of educational expenditures. 9. Project Alternatives Considered and Reasons for Rejection: Various options were considered during project preparation, the main ones being: a) A fist Qption was to continue GEPI format. However, the sector work and studies undertaken led to the conclusion that the continuation of GEPI, as originally envisaged was premature. As stated above, the most crucial priorities identified were teacher education and teacher deployment issues. Joint TETD and GEP2 project preparation was continued with the focus put on the TETD. Once TETD project was started, the preparation of a system based project was continued, in cooperation with DFID and GTZ during appraisal when parallel inputs were defined. b) A second option considered and rejected was GOSL's request to include all the subsectors in a system based project. It was determined that the main focus of this project should be basic education (primary and lower secondary) and efforts should be concentrated on three aspects of education quality. These were: (i) improving the content, sequence and range of curriculum; (ii) improving the links between the curriculum and the textbooks and improving the physical qualities of textbooks to introduce a re-use policy; and (iii) increasing efficiency of education management and resource distribution. The vocational and higher education subsectors were not included because policy directions are still being developed. c) A third Qotion, to address a specific or single project activity (e.g., only textbooks - an approach used by most donors in Sri Lanka due to small amounts of funding) rather than a system approach, was also rejected. It was clear that the difficult fiscal situation of the country demands a system approach which addresses interlinkages between the various activities. An integrated, interrelated approach is also needed to improve the balance of resource allocations and increase the sustainability of the system. d) A fiurth option was to adopt a short-term operational approach which would involve the Government stabilizing its education administrative structure and halting the almost annual changes of recent years. To strengthen the system's capacity, the administrative structure needed to be more stable; and to increase equity the allocation of resources needed to be strongly linked to actual needs (programs and curriculum), demographic changes and enrollment numbers (an early 1996 survey indicated that elite schools were receiving up to 300 percent more Project Appraisal Document Page 13 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project resources). There was a need to equate and stabilize the allocations of the resources within the sector. An agreement was reached with the Government to address these issues. e) In addition, for most components various options were assessed and examples of such analysis are: three management structures and about six production options were assessed for the supply of textbooks with EPD; total quality inputs were estimated and implementation capacity and alternatives were discussed with three provinces and it was decided to phase implementation; two re-structuration of libraries options were examined and the scope was determined following various costs analysis; various sector management and training options were discussed and adjusted when provinces were consulted; and the preparation of the new financial mechanism was adjusted three times and in spite of all provinces asking to be included from the start of the project, it was determined that a pilot phase was necessary. As a result of the above analysis crucial staff and system incentives were established. f) Finally, although the project was focusing on ways to improve education quality and focusing on upgrading teachers (through ongoing TETD project), updating of textbooks and improving the suitability educational materials and facilities and strengthening management and financing the project will have an important impact on reducing poverty. 10. Major Related Projects Financed by IDA and/or Other Donors (completed, ongoing and planned): Bank-funded Credit Number Purpose Latest from ICR and 590 Project title (bank-financed only) IP DO Credit No. 1130-CE Increase the supply of trained manpower and improve S S Vocational Training Project (US$25 the management expertise so that the construction million, effective date 1981, closing industry can better meet the demands of Sri Lanka's date December 1986). investment program. Credit NO. 1698-CE Establish the Institute for Construction Training and S S Second Vocational Training Project Development (ICTAD) and support an intensive (US$13 million, effective date management training program, increase the supply of 1987, closing date of June 30, skilled and semi-skilled workers for construction 1996). industry, provide extensive training programs for managers and supervisors in the public and private sectors, increase the number of qualified skill trades and management instructors to improve the quality of construction training, establish a system for monitoring project inputs, and institute a cost recovery system in the construction trades. Credit No. 2072-CE Upgrading schools (focus on rural Type 2 and Type 3 S 5 General Education Project schools) where the largest shortages of facilities existed (US$49 million, effective date through the supply of classrooms, latrines, multipurpose March 1990, closing date of rooms, staff rooms, zone education offices and the December 31, 1996). supply of teaching materials, strengthening the management of the MEHE and its EMIS operation. Credit No. 2881-CE Improve educational attainment and equity by having S S Teacher Education and Teacher better trained teachers widely available, particularly in Development Project (US$64.1 disadvantaged schools; make the system more efficient million, effective date August by rationalizing teacher recruitment, deployment and 27,1996, closing by December 31, training policies; rationalize structure and organization; 2001). upgrade teacher education program; increase equitable allocation of teacher training institutions and resources; and establish linkages between teacher education and other parts of the education system. Project Appraisal Document Page 14 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project Bank-funded Credit Number Purpose Latest from ICR and 590 Project title (bank-financed only) IP DO Other Donors' Projects in the Sector ADB ADB is supporting the development of secondary na na Secondary Education education and assisting with teacher education facilities, examinations, curriculum development and staff training through its Secondary Education Development Project. ADB has just started a technology project and plans to appraise a second secondary education project (a reason why IDA is limiting its inputs into senior secondary schools). GTZ a) GTZ continues to fund the establishment of the Sri na na Teacher Education Pada National College of Education and has developed teacher training materials and pilot schools linkages/teacher training activities. Training element and curriculum inputs of this project are being used for the TETD project. This project was recently extended into 1999. b) GTZ is scheduled to ratify a complementary project in teacher education which will focus on the strengthening of the staff at the Teacher Centers and the various continuing education programs conducted at Teacher Centers (TC) and National Colleges of Education (NCOEs) for the basic education cycle (grades 1-9). This project is scheduled to begin about July 1997. Sida Sida continues to fund, in parallel and in coordination na na Distance Education with the TETD project, the in-service teacher training program and the upgading of plantation schools. DFID (ODA/UK) DFID is running a primary English teacher training na na upgrading program in the provinces (done in coordination with TETD) and has just approved a mathematics project (complementing this project). A Primary Education Master Plan was started in January 1997 and is assisting with the strengthening of provincial planners and will be complemented by this project's inputs. Japanese Govermment (JICA) JICA is supporting the construction and rehabilitation of na na a teacher training institution and the strengthening of certain university faculties. They have expressed interest in supporting the rationalized facilities for junior schools and the supply of quality inputs. UNICEF education activities Is supporting curriculum development activities and na na short-term teacher in-service programs primarily in the disadvantaged rural schools, and school-based education for conflict resolution. Overall, donors' support is complementary and has been facilitated by two recent donor conferences (November 1996 and July 1997). Project Appraisal Document Page 15 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project 11. Lessons Learned and Reflected in the Project Design: Three education sector projects financed by IDA have been completed, the First and Second Vocational Training Projects which were limited to the construction industry (Credits 1130-CE and 1698-CE), and GEPI (Credit 2072-CE) for which an ICR was finalized on June 9, 1997. Experiences from these projects identify the following lessons, each of which was taken into account in the design of GEP2: * Lesson 1 (see ICR, Cr. 2072-CE): The importance in Sri Lanka of ensuring ownership of the project by a wide range of senior officials, including the provinces and obtaining their commitments up front, without which implementation is difficult. All project components have been prepared by national committees with both MEHE and IDA using intensive participatory and consultative processes with all the concerned parties. All conditions have been detailed and discussed and realistic targets set within the political and economic situation of the country. * Lesson 2 (see ICR, Cr. 1698-CE): The establishment of the Institute for Construction Industry Training and Development (ICTAD) as a semi-autonomous institution, with sufficient authority to use flexible staffing and contracting procedures, was very successful; and the use of private sector and NGOs for project activities proved to be an efficient way to implement training activities and increase the cost effectiveness of the operation. ICTAD lessons regarding the organization of a semi-autonomous body have been taken into consideration in the case of EPD. * Lesson 3 (see ICR Cr., 1698-CE): The benefits of ICTAD's surveys and effective monitoring have led to adjustments in training programs and increased responsiveness of programs. Increased participatory approach of users is envisaged for curriculum development and surveys and monitoring for the management and financial activities of the project. - Lesson 4 (see ICR, Cr. 2072-CE): Need for the Government to reduce length of time required for staffing and procurement activities. Procurement steps are being redefined and the appointment of a project coordination officer designate and staff was undertaken following pre-appraisal. * Lesson 5 (see ICR, Cr. 2072-CE): Project performance and sustainability increase when operational responsibilities are given to the implementation units. The project plans to continue the practice of having the responsible units undertake the work. MEHE also plans to continue the monthly consultative meetings with the provinces. * Lesson 6 (see ICR, Cr. 2072-CE): Need for the Government to address the annual timing of resource allocation to ensure that implementation occurs all year rather than at the present spurt-and-stop approach. Also, the authorization of totally donor-funded project activities should be clarified to prevent present delays. MOFP, FC and MEHE are willing to adjust the timing of funding to better match the education cycle. Various approaches will be applied as part of the unit cost financial mechanism being piloted by the project. • Lesson 7 (see ICR Cr. 2072-CE): Firmer application or adherence to training selection criteria by MEHE would ensure that appropriate staff would be trained to apply training skills and maximize investments. Training selection criteria are being prepared including the monitoring of the application of the trainee skills. MEHE has agreed to allow training covering more than one session or annual follow-up to be implemented during the project. 12. Indications of Borrower Commitment and Ownership: The Government has demonstrated its commitment by fully participating in the school facilities analysis and the textbook study; undertaking two finance studies to better understand the flow of funds within the devolved powers to the provinces; and supporting management and planning studies to find options to improve the responsiveness of the education sector. To ensure full understanding, MEHE established coordination committees with wide participation (including private sector) in curriculum, libraries, textbooks and educational materials. MEHE tested the allocation of facilities to fit the new education structure in one zone and prepared plans for national application. All the conclusions of these activities have been discussed with provincial representatives. The Chairman of the NEC has outlined the need to address these issues and education quality requirements during public television addresses. National consensus has been reached and the President of the country has announced support for the reform of the education system. Sri Lanka wants to prepare itself for the 21 st century, and with its already strong base in education backed by national commitment, the time is right to undertake a system reform. Project Appraisal Document Page 16 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project Government's commitmen. is also evidenced by its agreement to adjust the structure of its system and to reorganize the management and financial structures of MEHE, PEAs, NIE and UGC to match its operational needs (shift from a person- based organization to one that better matches the services). MEHE, NIE and UGC have also agreed to adjust staff functions and numbers to better fit the activities, thus putting this project in a positive position to address changes identified by the GOSL. Additional activities which demonstrate the government's commitment are: (i) setting-up the Sri Lanka Teacher Educator Service, improving work conditions, career paths and salaries of teacher educators and with future staff selection being more merit based; (ii) further strengthening the Sri Lanka Teacher Service which increases teacher recognition, salaries, and career path, making teaching more attractive and in turn inhibiting the recruitment of untrained and politically appointed teachers; (iii) organizing a special National Task Force chaired by the President to ensure that education reforms are implemented in accordance with plans. To ensure the latter, an education sector reform unit has been set-up within MEHE; and (iv) the President reaching agreement with the opposition parties that education reform is a priority and needs joint support. The potential success of this project is increased because MEHE, NIE and PEAs' operational units designated to implement the project activities are all in existence (devolution to provinces was legislated almost ten years ago). Although still weak, the provinces and other units have the capacity to execute the proposed activities. MEHE and PEAs demonstrated their imnplementation capacity during GEPI. Government's commitment has also been demonstrated by its agreement to jointly prepare with IDA the system-based Policy Matrix outlined in Appendix 1 and in the PIP. 13. Value Added of IDA Support: Until recently, few donors were active in the education sector in Sri Lanka. IDA, through the preparation of the Education Sector Report and studies largely funded by GEPI and PHRD grants has, since 1994, been assessing the education system in consultation with NEC. The participatory assessments have led to important consensus. Most of the studies were undertaken with the participation of national staff and consultants. IDA's participatory approach has resulted in an effective dialogue, with all sector issues examined, thereby enabling MEHE and IDA to assess existing policies. Initial efforts were directed towards teacher training, recruitment and deployment policies. These resulted in the preparation of the TETD project in 1996. That project is now being implemented with a good start (the number of teachers was reduced in 1997 by about 9,000 through attrition and retirement packages) and efforts to allocate funds saved for quality inputs are underway. Following the project effectiveness of the TETD project, MEHE and IDA continued to address system policy matters. These joint efforts have placed IDA in a very positive situation to assist with system reform. In addition, GOSL had indicated that it needed to work with IDA since it was the only source which could assist them with sufficient funding and technical capacity to undertake the system reform advocated. To assess other donors' support GOSL/MEHE, with IDA assistance, called a donor conference in November 1996 and a follow-up conference in July 1997, during which potential support and cooperation among donors were examined. During the July conference agreement was reached to hold an annual consultative meeting. IDA has proceeded to prepare in cooperation with DFID and GTZ, the necessary inputs for a system reform. The dialogue has resulted in increased donor interests in the education sector and will result in ADB, DFID, GTZ and potentially JICA and two or three other donors undertaking complementary activities. IDA expects to continue to play a catalyst role for policy development and capacity building within the education sector and is favorably positioned to assist the Govermnent with its planned education system upgrading. IDA's presence influenced a review of the total education system and assisted the Government in developing a rational national plan for the future. Block 3: Summary Project Assessments (The list of selected documentation used to prepare this project is listed in Annex 12 and these documents can be found in the project files) 14. Economic Assessment (see Annex 13): Comparative analyses and alternatives were undertaken for each project component. These include: * The economic benefits generated by the strengthening of NIE and curriculum process which will ensure that the curriculum will cover a wider range of content, support the application of active learning processes, enable MEHE to bridge the gap between curriculum and economic needs and lay a foundation to increase the responsiveness of the education system. This is not quantifiable but is expected to assist in producing a better level of human capital Project Appraisal Document Page 17 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project required for a modem economy and in the long-term will increase productivity of the labor force and increase Sri Lanka's export-oriented economy. * Improvements of links between the curriculum, textbooks and teacher guidebooks will facilitate the learning of some four million students, increase cost effectiveness through the implementation of a re-use policy (resulting from improved physical composition of books) and with the additional investment of about US$9 million, about US$1.8 million annually in savings could result from the re-use policy making it possible to regain all the investment costs for improved textbooks within a six-year period. * Quality inputs of about US$15.4 million are intended to address the inequities of the system and increase educational opportunities of the rural and slum areas. A recent national study (Aturupane, 1996) indicates that quality inputs necessary to teach the curriculum are available at less than 20 percent of the rural schools because of the low per student allocation of around Rs 27, when an input of about Rs 203 is required. A norm-based unit cost allocation will gradually redress these acute shortages and through the combination of GEPI and GEP2 it is expected that 100 percent of the mathematics and science kit needs will be completed and about 25 to 30 percent of other needs covered. The balance will have to be covered by the GOSL and future projects. The goal of the project is to establish suitable mechanisms that will allow inputs to be made annually on the basis of identified needs in the schools, replacing the sporadic and ad hoc approach now used. The per student allocation will also redress the present inequity of elite schools receiving allocations which range of about 300 percent greater than rural schools. The planned allocation of inputs in response to actual needs and for priority needs will assist management to better determine the actual school needs and assist with the preparation of a 5-10 year supply strategy. This input is directed at capacity building for future sustained resourcing. This input is intended to improve student results and reduce teacher absenteeisrn. As part of the Finance Study an analysis of examination results found that the largest cause of poorer results in rural areas was the lack of necessary equipment; and if such equipment were available, it is estimated that repetition rates of about 12 percent could be lowered below 10 percent, greatly reducing system costs. - Based on international research, the supply of library books facilitates the adoption of more active teaching methods and increases the quality and accuracy of teacher presentations; therefore, the library inputs are expected to have positive impact on the quality of education. ' The allocation of facilities on the basis of enrollment, demographic changes and of matching curriculum needs is expected to reduce the trend of oversupply of facilities at favorable locations, to have facilities built at locations with serious shortages and to increase the use of existing facilities which would result in a more cost effective allocation of resources. * Adapting organizations to their intended operational functions will increase the responsiveness of the system and reduce management costs. The planned reorganization of MEHE, PEAs, NIE and UGC will increase responsiveness of the education sector and will have a positive impact on the use of resources. • Giving management suitable monitoring, supervision and fnancing skills are known to greatly enhance performance. Upgrading of management skills will enable managers to be more responsive and efficient. * Improving the fnancial procedures and making these more transparent, together with the allocation of funds to better match the actual needs, will greatly improve the efficiency of th'e education sector and increase the system's sustainability. 15. Financial Assessment (see Annexes 4 and 13): The fiscal impact of GEP2 on the overall government budget is relatively small. The project will account for 0.2 percent of the budget in 1998, rise to 0.4 percent as implementation accelerates in 1999, and decline gradually to about 0.1 percent by the end of the project in 2002. Such a marginal effect on the budget is well within the fiscal capacity of the Government and is sustainable. Within the education sector budget, the share of GEP2 is estimated at 1.6 percent Project Appraisal Document Page 18 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project at project commencement in 1998, reaching a peak of 4 percent in 1999 and gradually decreasing to 1.5 percent by 2002. In financial terms, this is a relatively small share of the education sector budget of Rs 25 billion in 1997 which is expected to reach Rs 36 billion in 2002 and is within the absorptive capacity of the sector. 16. Technical Assessment: * The project is technically sound. Within the context of equity and alleviation of poverty agenda, it addresses the issues of quality and equity on the basis of needs, opportunities, and comparative advantages. Project components (curriculum reform, textbook and materials, rationalizing schools, strengthening management and implementing an equitable resource distribution mechanism ) will be focused on poor rural areas and urban slums and designed on the basis of international and regional norms and practices, and implemented in accordance with acceptable standards. * Investment and recurrent cost estimates for the project are realistically based on prevailing market unit cost estimates, with appropriate allowance for inflation. A reasonable level of physical contingencies has also been included as part of the cost estimates. * The system based project is designed to work within the Government structures and financial mechanisms and focuses on strengthening existing and generally sound implementation units within the MEHE, PEAs and NIE. The project uses a comprehensive approach and ensures that the impact of all the interrelated investments are taken into account. The system approach thus addresses sector wide policies within a coherent framework. Since the project was defined with stakeholder participation, ownership has been realized at the sector and political levels. * Common sector goals have been agreed upon by the various participants, including the donors, and in that context, joint implementation arrangements and reporting mechanisms have been developed. Considering the above, the technical assessment of the project has been well analyzed. 17. Institutional Assessment: (a) Executing agencies: The first project on vocational training gave IDA an entry into the sector and much of the ongoing work has been a major building block for future operations. Based on the experiences of GEPI, which assigned the implementation responsibilities to the different management units within MEHE and provincial authorities, implementation roles are well defined. However, MEHE's implementation capacity is still too reliant on seniors (about to or retired on contract), but its present mid-level manager recruitment training program should facilitate future implementation. The appointment of younger and qualified staff with promotions better linked to merit should enhance the MEHE's and PEAs management capacity. Project management will be further facilitated by training and technical assistance included in the project to assist MEHE strengthen its procurement and management skills (latter is also a need for the entire Public Service). (b) Project management: The project will be managed by the MEHE in cooperation with the PEAs. Key project decisions will be made by EDCC, chaired by the Secretary of Education (or nominee) with membership including representatives from the MOFP, two PEA representatives, NIE, UGC, NATE, FC, N4EC, National Planning, ERD, and Chamber of Commerce. Implementation would be delegated to a PCU (focus IDA links); and implementation units within MEHE, PEAs, NIE and UGC will undertake the actual implementation of decisions made by the EDCC. An important feature of this project will be its integration into the national budget process. Project inputs aimed at improving the quality, responsiveness and cost-effectiveness of textbooks and civil works will supplement the actual budget line items, rather than create different or new activities. 18. Social Assessment: The project takes into account the access to and quality of education for poor rural and urban slum children (where the highest student teacher ratios exist). To increase equal access to quality education, the project will implement a more responsive, equitable, transparent and sustainable allocation of textbooks, facilities and quality input linked to unit cost Project Appraisal Document Page 19 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project financing formula. This will also increase the learning outcomes of school children in an equitable manner. An important focus of the project will be to increase equity and to focus assistance to the rural poor. The project, through its per capita allocation of quality inputs and unit cost formula, will fall within the GOSL's goals to increase equity. 19. Environmental Assessment: [ ]A [ ]B [X] C This is a Category C Project. The project will have no adverse impact on the enviromnent as there will be limited construction activities; individual project building designs will be reviewed from an environmental impact viewpoint. Increased quality of student achievement skill contribute to enhanced environmental awareness. A recent study (1996) commissioned by Sida, with assistance from the IDA Environment Unit, that reviewed the inclusion of environment in all subjects in the general education curriculum showed that the content taught is not fully responsive to the required environmental subjects. The planned curriculum review will address this shortfall. 20. Participatory Approach: Groups Consulted Implementation Operation Beneficiaries/commnunity groups CON, IS Inter1 ediary NGOs IS IS Academic institutions CON, COL, IS CON, COL, IS National/provincial and zonal CON, IS, COL CON, IS, COL governmenments commher Associations/Unions CON, IS CON, IS Finance Commission CON, COL, IS CON, COL, IS tNational Library Service Board CON, COL, IS Book Development Council and CON, COL, IS Book Sector Steering Committee o Other donorsg CON, IS, COL IS: information sharing, CON: consultation, COL: collaboration 21. Sustainability: The GEP2 project is expected to add about Rs 3.2 billion th the annual education budget at the end of the project. It will increase the average annual growth rate of the sector budget marginally from 1.1I to. 1.4 percent. The fiscal imnpact is estizmated at about 0.2 percent of the budget in 1998, rising to 0.4 percent as imnplementation accelerates in 1999 and then declining gradually to about 0.1I percent by the end of the project. Such marginal effect is well within the fiscal capabilities of the Government and is readily sustainable: witoin the education sector budget, the share of GEP2 is 1.6% at project commencement in 1998, reaches a peak in 1999 at 40% and gradually decreases thereafter to 1.5% by 2002. In fmancial terms, this is a relatively small share of the sector budget and within the absorptive capacity of the sector. Sustainability will also be aided because: * The updating and publishing of the sector's policy finamework will give clear directions to all managers and the public and assist with the sustainability of the project inputs; * The re-organization of MEHE, PEAs, NIE and UGC structures to better match the operational activities and development of clearer job descriptions will greatly increase the efficiency and cost effectiveness and assist with Institutional sustainability; * The involvement of the private sector will improve the quality and efficiency of the supply of the textbooks and assist GOSL improve long-term sustainability of education material supply in response to society's needs; * The efforts to allocate teachers, facilities and quality inputs more strictly on the basis of formnulae that take into account the enrollments, demographic changes and program needs will increase sustainability and equity. Other structured Project Appraisal Document Page 20 Sri Lanka (LKPAI 0525) Second General Education Project allocations of quality inputs on a per capita and needs basis and application of a unit cost financing mechanism will improve equity and its sustainability; and Implementation of staff development training programs based on criteria and training needs will assist MEHE to gradually implement a merit proniotion system, increasing the sustainability of the ongoing and planned activities. 22. Critical Risks: (see fourth column of Annex 1): Project Outputs to Development Objectives Risk Rating Risk Minimization Measure Financial allocations and staff sustainability to Moderate If NIE budget allocation is sustained and it retains the continue with updating the sequential present salary allocation combined with its intent to replace curriculum revision every five years after the retiring staff with part-time teachers and teacher educators project period. and if the recruitment and training of new staff occurs as planned, it is expected that sufficient resources will be available. NIE will continue its present recruitment Moderate NIE has indicated that it will adjust its recruitment to pattern, not increase the participation of the knowledge and merit base. Project will monitor this users (teachers) in syllabus design and might recruitment pattern. With over 50 percent of staff reaching have difficulties meeting the curriculum cycle, retirement age within the next three years NIE is confident In addition, some of the existing staff might it can address staff resistance. In addition, since NIE is a resist the proposed staff adjustments. semi-autonomous institution it can more readily address such matters. Life-expectancy of textbooks and educational Low A condition of disbursement against books funded by the materials might not be increased up to 3 years project will be the testing of paper ensuring that at a due to government's bureaucratic measures minimum paper of 80 gsm is used. Based on existing (e.g. tendering procedure) and some parties paper tenders and procedures being defned it is expected desire to continue to support poor quality paper that timely availability will occur. purchases from the national pulp mills. Upgraded EPD staff might leave for better paid Low As part of the MEHE planned re-organization of EPD, staff private sector jobs and EPD staff might resist cadre is scheduled to be adjusted downwards. The the transfer to private sector competition. In introduction of technology will enable EPD to improve its that context, the production cycle might not be output. Project is also taking advantage of the age factor of met unless the status of publication staff is EPD staff, with about one third scheduled to retire during more equitably defined. the next three years. To reduce the risks, skill of all remaining staff will be upgraded. Private sector will, through the planned contracting targets, become an integral part of EPD's production with threat being marginal. It is assumed that the private sector will facilitate meeting the development cycle. The creation of a school library budget might Moderate If the allocation of 6 percent of the provincial education be delayed by the provinces due to a lack of block grant is granted to education quality inputs (condition resources. of TETD project) this target should be met. The distribution of facilities to schools Moderate Project will only fund facilities once zonal plans are according to needs assessment or new completed within the allocation criteria established and education structure may not be implemented following evidence that consultation has occurred. equitably or on time due to political pressures from elite schools and communities. Insufficient funds exist to cover needs analysis Low Project will allocate the needed resources for the initial required to develop an equitable per capita assessment and then finance on a declining basis. based quality input program. Some managers believe that insufficient Low Upgrading opportunities will be given to about 40 thousand numbers of untrained teachers will apply for untrained teachers, and it is expected that sufficient interest re-training to be librarians. will occur. Project Appraisal Document Page 21 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project The status of librarians will not be further Low Appointment of a Director of School Library Services in clarified. the MEHE, the acceptance of a formal policy on school libraries and the proposed establishment of a cadre of Librarians through a Service Minute will all ensure enhanced status of the librarians. The structural changes in the management of Low Following extensive regional consultations there is the education institutions that involves widespread agreement on the need to rationalize structures reorganization of central, provincial and zonal and functions. (including the consolidation of zonal and division offices) will be resisted by some Government bureaucrats and politicians. Project Components to outputs Risk Rating Risk Minimization Measure The revised sequential curriculum will not be Low Presidential Task Force for reform has mandated clear developed, published and distributed on time deadlines which include curriculum development. Targets are to be monitored quarterly with staff being required to meet such deadlines. Textbooks might not reach content and Low Based on past decade's experience of EPD meeting annual physical quality planned or numbers estimated. textbook requirements it is expected they will be able to In addition, linkages to curriculum might not meet the target since the annual quantities will be reduced be fully met. due to re-use. The provision of facilities for the rationalized Moderate The preparation of facilities plans based on established schools may not be implemented according to criteria which include parent committee consultation will the facilities analysis and fully match the new assist in avoiding such problems and reduce the political education structure and in some cases may not influence. In addition, IDA will only fund facilities be targeted towards schools in disadvantage included in the zonal plans and within the agreed criteria. areas. The latter because facilities allocations have been controlled politically. The libraries might not be utilized as expected Low MEHE has indicated that it will send a circular defining use due to school administrators not adjusting their of libraries, and zones will be asked to monitor the use and timetables to accommodate their use. address the issue at schools where use is unsatisfactory. Various management units will resist the Low With national and Presidential declarations that the civil reduction of services and staff duplications and service output needs to improve, it is expected that few others resist the implementation of specific job staff will offer such resistance. descriptions. Application of unit cost financing formula Moderate to All provincial directors consulted support the need to re- monitoring will be resisted by provincial high establish administrative control of the budget. If unit cost ministries which have had 10 years of no depending on financing is suitably transparent the political resistance will control. individuals be minimized. and provinces The main risk of the project is that potential Moderate to The risk can be minimized if GOSL gives MEHE and IDA savings and efficiency improvements resulting high because assurances that it will reward efficiency and allow the from MEHE's efforts could be penalized by this is the first MEHE to re-allocate funds towards urgently needed quality the lack of action or cooperation of other system reform inputs as long as it remains within the budgetary targets. Ministries rather than complemented. It could effort of the IDA will ask the GOSL to give such assurances during lose funds while other Ministries, which decade. negotiations. continue to operate without adjustments, are not made to address their inefficiencies. This particularly applies to civil service appointments and procedures relating to procurement. If that situation occurs, all the proposed improvements could be halted and project goals not reached. Project Appraisal Document Page 22 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project Although the education sector has been Moderate Although the risk continues to exist its imnpact is minimnized partially protected from major budgetary cuts based on the if past sector support continues combined with the during the last decade of internal conflict, any last decade important efforts the Government is making to end the unforeseen expansion of the hostility could conflict. result in losses of funds and affect the availability of needed recurrent funds for the education sector and negatively affect the sustainability of this project. 23. Possible Controversial Aspects: Based on the intensive participatory approach utilized to prepare the project and general agreement that quality, equity, management and resourcing of the education sector have to be addressed, the appraisal team does not believe that there are any major controversies. That position was supported by the decision, in July 1997, of the Presidential National Education System Reform Committee to utilize GEP2 PIP documentation as the main documentation for the national reform. GOSL/ MEHE should be congratulated on the determination they have expressed to strengthen the education system to meet the needs of the 21st century. Block 4: Main Credit Conditions 24. Board and Effectiveness Conditions: During Negotiations Government provided assurances that it will: a) By June 1, 1998, implement its National Curriculum Policy which shall include sequential and cyclical plans satisfactory to IDA; b) Confrm that EPD budget will be maintained, at the minimum, at the current level and contract thresholds will be increased and thereafter maintained, starting January 1, 1999, to allow it to sign contracts at financial levels that allow sufficient funds for contracting private sector writers, publishers, printers and distributors to produce better quality textbooks, in accordance with contracting procedures satisfactory to the Association (management and implementation); c) Confirn its agreement that following project effectiveness, all textbook publishing and printing contracts will match the book cycle throughout the project and thereafter (management and implementation); d) That EDP will utilize a minimum grade of paper of 80 gsm for all books funded by the project. Reimbursement for book printing will follow GOSL provision to the Association, of paper test results certification that a minimum paper quality of 80 gsm has been used (financial, reporting, implementation) e) Confirm its agreement to undertake facilities surveys and resources inventory in all zones and provinces to prepare facilities plans that respond to the new education structure of junior (grades 1-9) and senior (grades 10-13) levels. In that context to undertake by September 30, 1998, the physical facilities survey/inventory in all provinces and develop zonal facilities plans for IDA review and comments by December 1, 1998 and implementation started by January 1, 1999 and continued throughout the project ( implementation and management); f) Prepare and submit annually a status report starting October 1, 1998 and every year thereafter, of how the allocation for quality inputs was used and to submit next year's plan of funds designated for quality inputs from the recurrent block grant (given to PEAs by FC) and for school maintenance inputs from the capital grant (given PEAs by MEHE); g) Ensure that the administration and budget allocations of junior and senior schools (grades 1-9) and of senior schools (grades 10-13) are separately maintained throughout the project (financial and management); h) Confirn its agreement to organize by June 1, 1998 a middle management training program for MEHE for about 60 Project Appraisal Document Page 23 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project future managers, who will be recruited and assigned at the national and provincial levels on the basis of merit, in a manner satisfactory to the Association, and will cause that program to be continued throughout the project (management); i) Finalize by June 1, 1998 its national and school library strategies satisfactory to IDA and thereby implement such strategies beginning January 1, 1999 and thereafter in accordance with a timetable satisfactory to IDA. j) Starting June 1, 1998, implement the 1997 updated and agreed management organizational structures of MEHE, PEAs, NIE, and UGCs and sustain these throughout the project (management); k) Starting January 1, 1998, pilot the application of the agreed norm-based unit cost financing mechanisms in North Western, Central and Southern provinces and implement, with terms of reference satisfactory to IDA, the mechanism in all provinces starting January 1, 1999 and sustain such application thereafter (fmancial and management); I) Develop by January 1, 1999, and furnish to IDA for review, a national plan for the application of the NEC and sector reforms, with complementary provincial plans prepared by June 1, 1999 and zonal plans including institutional (school) plans by March 1, 2000 (management and policy); m) Prepare and furnish IDA with a budget monitoring system, satisfactory to IDA, which ensures the application of norm-based unit cost financing by January 1, 1999. Assign staff from MEHE and PEAs to develop monitoring procedures (satisfactory to IDA) of the effectiveness of the quality and maintenance inputs from the recurrent and capital block grants to provinces by June 1, 1999; n) Project related technical assistance and training programns will be prepared and carried out by MEHE according to terms of reference and time schedules satisfactory to IDA. Block 6: Readiness for Implementation The Project implementation readiness has been assessed and found satisfactory with the following status of readiness: (i) The engineering and architectural design for the first year's activities are complete and ready for the start of project implementation; (ii) The draft procurement documents for the first year's activities are complete and ready for the start of project implementation; and (iii) The Project Implementation Plan has been appraised and found to be realistic and of satisfactory quality. This project will make efforts to integrate its fnancing to the Government's budget, and project funds will be linked to the national, MEHE and PEAs budget line items. The PEAs through Memorandums of Understanding with the MEHE have agreed to the provisions of the Development Credit Agreement. To ensure effective project financing through the MOFP, MEHE, FC and PEAs, the following financing steps have been agreed to and will be implemented: * Civil works activities will be based on agreed zonal plans approved by the PEA and MEHE and reviewed by IDA. Only plans matching the new education structure will be funded by the project. Once approved, the zonal plans will outline annual implementation and resource needs and these will receive funding on the basis of progress implementation reports (execution, expenditures and architectural certifications) in block allocations paid on a quarterly basis. To reduce the inequities in facilities allocations, the proceeds of the Credit will be granted on the basis of needs (zonal plans) and on a per student allocation. Payments will be made following receipt of progress reports of contracted activities with IDA replenishing the special account quarterly; * Proceeds from the Credit will be used to supplement the funds needed to ensure that writer, publication and printing Project Appraisal Document Page 24 Sri Lanka (LKPA10525) Second General Education Project contracts are sufficiently funded to produce books of improved content and physical quality. The contracts will supplement the present EPD budget allocation to ensure better quality products (scope and quality of book writing and publication) are made available to increase life expectancy of the books. In this context, the project will fund the supplement to the present budget based on the curriculum cyclical plan. EPD contracting thresholds will be increased to allow sustainabilty of the book sector by the end of the project; * Funding for quality inputs will be linked to the PEAs' block grant allocation and the agreement reached under the TETD project that starting 1998, 3 percent of the education block grant will be allocated to quality inputs with that amount increasing by 1 percent yearly until it reaches 6 percent by 200 1. Funds from the Credit would supplement the block grant allocation with the objective being to have all schools equipped with the essential equipment and educational materials to teach the curriculum by the end of the project. Credit funds would be allocated on an equitable per capita basis for all schools aiming to redress, during the first three years of the project, the present imbalance in resource allocation between national and other schools. An annual review of the availability of essential resources will be undertaken and credit funds with specific provincial allocations will be determined. Allocation of funds will be conditioned on the receipt of the previous year's school-by-school match of needs, and once orders are prepared, using competitive procedures acceptable to the Association, the credit will fund the determined amount for quality inputs directly to large suppliers to reimburse, on the basis of documentation, satisfactory to IDA, purchases for quality inputs at both the national (larger and special inputs) and the provincial level. The project will initially concentrate on the supply of essential inputs for the core subjects (numeracy/mathematics, languages, social/environmental studies and science). For the above, IDA will replenish the special account on the quarterly basis. * Training cost will be paid every semester on the basis of annual training programs (start-up costs initially and then remaining costs following certification of course attendance and course costs) agreed to prior to the start-up and the necessary submission of supporting documentation acceptable to MEHE, PEA and IDA. The annual training program could include courses run at and by the MEHE, PEA and institutions. Block 6: Compliance with IDA Policies This project complies with all applicable Bank policies. Sector ager: alph Harbison Country Manager: Roberr, Benterodt Education Sector Unit Sri Lank. South Asia Region South Asia R'E 3a f t ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 Task Leader: Albert E. Aime Education Sector Unit South Asia Region Annex 1 Page I of 12 SRI LANKA SECOND GENERAL EDUCATION PROJECT ________________ Project Design Summary_________ Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions Narrative Summary Indicators Supervision and Risks CAS OBJECTIVE Overall economic growth 1 Budget deficit down to 4% of 1.1. Budget statements and GOSL will reduce subsi- boosted and poverty re- GDP by 2000; elimination of wheat government reports reviewed dies and increase cost- duced by (a) achieving a and flour subsidies by 1997; and by IDA recovery. macro-economic balance cost-recovery for irrigation, urban through fiscal reforms, water, electricity and railways im- GOSL will continue and (b) establishing appro- proved sustain pension reforms, priate public and private 2 Civil Service and pension system 2.1 Law reforms and Acts of privatisation, etc. sector roles, (c) encour- reform; more rapid privatisation; Parliament reviewed by IDA aging efficient social improved legal framework for GOSL will apply the services, and (d) improv- business; elimination of govern- Ready Reckoner formula ing project implementa- ment interventions in agricultural agreed in TETD to im- tion markets; and introduction of a land prove equity and alloca- market tion of teachers. 3 Rationalisation of teacher re- 3.1 Ready Reckoner formula cruitment and deployment by 2001 for teacher deployment re- GOSL will adjust subsi- viewed annually by MOFP, dies so that they are better FC, MEHE and IDA directed to the poor. 4 Reduction of poverty through 4.1 Reports of poverty alle- Samurdhi and Janasaviya pro- viation programs reviewed There will be agreement grams annually by MOFP and IDA on the CPPR annually. 5.1 Annual review under- 5 Implementation of CPPR action taken jointly by GOSL and plan and improved disbursement IDA ratio PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE The quality, equity and 1 Student achievement rates in 1.1 Student assessment re- Improvements in the de- efficiency of the educa- Grades 1-9 increased significantly sults monitored by MEHE livery of public education tion system improved, by 2003 and IDA lead to economic growth, particularly for grades 1- 2 Systematic allocation of physical 2.1 ZEO and PEA records and contribute to the re- 9, referred to by GOSL facilities, furniture and equipment monitored by MEHE and duction of poverty. as the Junior Cycle in all schools by 2003 IDA 3 All schools resourced on a per 3.1 ZEO and PEA accounts capita basis by 2003 monitored by MOFP, FC, MEHE and IDA 4 Policy of compulsory education 4.1 Information in provin- for 5-14 year olds in force by 1998, cial and central EMIS re- with 100% enrolment and retention viewed by MEHE and IDA in grades 1-9 by 2002 CAS: Country Assistance Strategy; CPCU: Curriculum Process Management Unit; CPPR: Country Portfolio and Performance Review; DDG/CD: Deputy Director General/Curriculum Development; DTP(U): Desktop Publishing (Unit); EBU: Education Budget Unit; EMIS: Education Management Information System; EPD: Education Publications Department; FC: Finance Commission; GEPI: first General Education Project; GOSL: Government of Sri Lanka; GSM: grams per square metre; GTZ: German Technical Assistanee; 1DA: International Development Assistance (World Bank); MEHE: Ministry of Education and Higher Education; MOFP: Ministry of Finance and Planning; MPPE: Master Plan for Primary Education project; NCCC: National Curriculum Co-ordinating Committee; NCOE: National College of Education; NEC: National Education Commission; NIE: National Institute of Education; NILIS: National Institute of Library and Information Science; NLDSB: National Library Documentation Services Board; NLSB: National Library Services Board; NPB: National Publications Board; DFID: Overseas Development Administration (UK); PCU: Project Co-ordinating Unit; PEA: Provincial Education Authority; PPR Policy Planning and Review Unit (MEHE); PSC: Public Service Commission; PTA: Parent Teacher Asso- ciation; QS: Quantity Surveyor; TC: Teacher Centre; TETD: Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment project; UGC: University Grants Commis- sion; ZEO: Zonal Education Office. 2 5 Annex 1 Page 2 of 12 OUTPUTS Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and Indicators Supervision Risks 1. National sequential 1.1 Revised curriculum and syllabi 1.1.1 Curriculum approved The revised curriculum and cyclical curricu- for all subjects in grades 1-9 in use by NIE/NEC and MEHE and will be of international lum for grades 1-9 by 2001 its use monitored by PEAs, standard and will lead to developed, produced MEHE and IDA improved learning out- and implemented 1.2 Curriculum and syllabi updated 1.2.1 Syllabi production and comes. in a five year cycle after initial pro- revision monitored by CPCU duction, starting in 2002 and MEHE and reviewed by IDA 2. Textbooks of im- 2.1 Multiple textbook policy to 2.1.1 Policy approved by Improved textbooks will proved quality, range, begin in 1999 MEHE and reviewed by IDA cover the whole curricu- availability and life 2.2 20 million textbooks of up- 2.2.1 Book use monitored by lum and thereby increase expectancy in use in graded physical and content quality PEAs and MEHE and re- learning in schools. grades 1-9 in use in grades 1-9 by 2003 viewed by IDA 3. Rationalised 3.1 Schools reorganised into Junior 3.1.1 Rationalisation moni- Improved physical facili- Junior Schools operat- or Senior Schools by 2001 tored by PEAs and MEHE ties in deprived areas will ing with adequate and 3.2 Disadvantaged urban and rural 3.2.1 Zonal plans for, and lead to increased retention suitably maintained Junior Schools renovated and re- records of, civil works ap- rates and thus facilitate the facilities and furniture furbished by 2003 and maintained proved by PEA and reviewed implementation of com- to match the new annually by MEHE and IDA pulsory grades 1-9 school structure schooling. 4. Sufficient and rele- 4.1 Sufficient quantities of educa- 4.1.1 PEA and ZEO distri- Increased quality inputs vant educational qual- tional equipment and materials, as bution records and norms with appropriate training ity inputs in use in all recommended in the grades 1-9 reviewed annually by MEHE will improve teacher moti- grades 1-9, and in syllabi, distributed equitably accord- and IDA vation and thus lead to a some Senior Schools ing to enrolment throughout all 4.1.2 Utilisation survey re- reduction in reliance on (grades 10-13) classes by 2002 sults reviewed by MEHE and private tuition for increas- IDA ing student performance. 5. Reading habit en- 5.1 Student borrowing and book 5.1.1 School library records Improved school libraries couraged in students circulation to classrooms from monitored by ZEOs and re- will encourage the reading and new curriculum school libraries doubled by 2002 viewed by PEAs habit and will stimulate an complemented by 5.2 4,000 teacher-librarians trained 5.2.1 Course records re- activity-based curriculum. school libraries and in post by 2002 viewed by MEHE and IDA staffed with trained 5.3 National Institute of Library & 5.3.1 CPU & IDA inspect teacher-librarians Information Science teaching new NILIS buildings and courses by early 1999 courses 6. Management of 6.1 Education development plans 6.1.1 ZEO, PEA and MEHE Strengthened management the education sector and annual action plans imple- annual reports reviewed by capacity within restruc- improved mented on schedule and within IDA tured organisations will budget in all provinces by 2003 improve sector and insti- tutional policy analysis, planning, and decision making and will increase cost-effectiveness of pro- gram implementation. 7. Equitable financ- 7.1 Resources distributed equitably 7.1.1 PEA and MEHE distri- Equitable resource alloca- ing and distribution of to all grades 1-9 classes through the bution and financial records tion will provide equal educational resources application of a norm-based unit scrutinised by FC and MOFP learning opportunities for achieved cost allocation mechanism by 2000 and reviewed by IDA all students regardless of location. 26 Annex I Page 3 of 12 ACTIVITIES | Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and ACTIVITIES I Indicators Supervision Risks 1. Curriculum Development: The objectives of the component are to develop and produce a sequential framework for the design, development, assessment and revision of the curriculum, syllabi and associated materials in all subject fields for the Junior Schools (grades 1-9) according to a consolidated ten-year Plan; to refme, develop and distribute syllabi for this Cycle; and to improve the management of the curriculum process. 1.1 Update national 1.1.1 Policy formulated by July 1.1.1.1 Policy documents National curriculum policy curriculum policy 1997; revised & agreed by Negotia- reviewed by NIE, NEC and will be followed as agreed and stimulate public tion; implemented by mid-1998; and MEHE with stakeholders suffi- awareness disseminated through public aware- ciently informed for effec- ness campaigns to schools, PTAs and tive application. public by 1999 1.2 Improve cur- 1.2.1 DDG/Curriculum Develop- 1.2.1.1 DDG/CD verified in NEC/NIE has the appro- riculum manage- ment post filled by September 1997 post by MEHE and IDA priate expertise in curricu- ment at NIE 1.2.2 NEC/NIE, CPCU and DTPU 1.2.2.1 NEC/NIE minutes lum development. established and operational by July reviewed by NIE and IDA Government will fund its 1998 share to NECSNIE on an increasing annual basis. 1.3 Develop and 1.3;1 Ten-year sequential and cycli- 1.3.1.1 Plan, scope and se- Sequential syllabi for each implement a curricu- cal plan developed and detailed quence approved by NIE subject and grade will be of lum plan scope and sequence prepared for all Council and reviewed by international quality and subjects, involving NCOEs, TCs and MEHE and IDA will be responsive to social teachers, by December 1998 and economic needs. 1.3.2 Detailed grades 1-9 syllabi 1.3.2.1 Systematic review and MEHE will adjust the fi- prepared and tested by 2002 & dis- issuance of syllabi by NIE nancial support from 3% to tributed with updates every five Academic Affairs Board 6% allocation for quality years 1.3.3.1 Reports from advisers inputs as agreed in TETD 1.3.3 Mechanisms established for on use of syllabi in classrooms to provide adequate and regular feedback from teachers and reviewed by NIE, MEHE and equitable resources to teach principals starting in 1998 IDA the revised curriculum. 1.4 Prepare, pilot 1.4.1 Teacher survey prepared and 1.4.1.1 Survey results re- Revised curriculum will and conduct surveys conducted by MEHE in at least one viewed by NIE, MEHE and significantly improve stu- and diagnostic tests zone per province assessing impact IDA dent learning. of the relevance and of new syllabi introduced each year effectiveness of the starting in 1999 revised curriculum 1.4.2 Diagnostic tests prepared and 1.4.2.1 Survey results re- for student learning conducted by MEHE in at least one viewed by NIE, MEHE and zone per province for new syllabi IDA introduced annually starting in 1999 1.5 Develop and 1.5.1 Recruitment policy based upon 1.5.1.1 Draft policy reviewed NIE recruitment will meet implement a staffing subject specialisation and merit ap- by NIE, MEHE and IDA curriculum needs. policy at NIE which proved by NIE Council by June 1998 Risk: NIE might continue matches curriculum 1.5.2 About 10 new, young staff per 1.5.2.1 Recruitment matching its current recruitment needs year recruited to replace retiring staff curriculum needs reviewed practices. for three years from 1998 annually by NIE 1.6 Prepare and 1.6.1 Plan for international and local 1.6.1.1 Plan reviewed by Staff and curriculum assis- conduct curriculum training prepared by September NIE, MEHE and IDA tance of link institutions staff development 1997, and implemented by 2002 will be suitably adaptive to program 1.6.2 Formal agreements established 1.6.2.1 Agreements reviewed Sri Lankan needs. with overseas curriculum institutions by NIE, MEHE and IDA Training is responsive to by July 1998 1 the country's needs. 27 Annex I Page 4 of 12 ACTIVITIES Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and Indicators Supervision Risks 1.7 Train teachers, 1.7.1 Training of about 70,000 1.7.1.1 Training records and Teachers and administra- principals, advisers teachers, 10,000 principals, 3,000 course evaluations co- tors will implement the and teacher educa- advisers (PEAs and ZEOs) and ordinated and monitored an- revised syllabi and increase tors in use of the teacher educators (NCOEs and TCs) nually by Junior and Senior participatory learning. new curriculum planned by July 1998 and imple- DDGs in MEHE with assis- mented over five years in new sub- tance from PEAs, IDA, DFID jects and teaching methods (IDA), in and GTZ mathematics' and English (DFID), and for in-service advisers (GTZ) ___ 2. Textbooks and Educational Publications: The objectives of the component, within an integrated textbook and publica- tion policy and through the strengthening of private sector participation, are to improve the content, physical quality, range and availability of textbooks catering for all subjects in grades 1-9 and to increase the life expectancy of textbooks from one to three years. This component, closely linked with the Curriculum Development component, contributes towards improving the quality of education. 2.1 Update the inte- 2.1.1 Policy statement prepared by 2.1.1.1 Policy draft approved Multiple textbook policy grated textbook and September 1998; reviewed by No- by MEHE and reviewed by will be accepted by those publication policy, vember 1998 and distributed (and for IDA with a vested interest in a incorporating a sale to the public) by January 1999 single textbook monopoly. multiple textbook 2.1.2 Book authorisation adjustment 2.1.2.1 Records of book se- Risk: Some public sector option from a single textbook to multiple lection by zones/schools kept staff might resist changes textbook options for each grade and by EPD and monitored by in policy. subject piloted in 1999, and fully NPB and MEHE operational by 2002 2.2 Co-operation 2.2.1 EPD staff and heads of cur- 2.2.1.1 EPD operational Affiliation will improve between Education riculum teams work jointly to a structure reviewed by MEHE co-ordination with curricu- Publications De- planning and production schedule. and IDA lum activities and will en- partment (EPD) and 2.2.2 EPD general and testing 2.2.2.1 Receipt of equipment able EPD to operate as a curriculum teams in equipment purchased during 1998/9 verified by PCU. semi-autonomous unit. NIE. Equipping 2.2.3 About20EPD stafftrainedin 2.2.3.1 Staff training records EPD and training use of DPD and testing equipment reviewed by MEHE and IDA staff from 1998 to 2000. 2.3 Improve the 2.3.1 Fees for writing books match- 2.3.1.1 Annual review of Improved physical quality content and physical ing curriculum scope and sequence books to ensure coverage of of books will increase book quality of textbooks supplemented for five books per year the curriculum undertaken by life expectancy from one to MEHE, EPD and NIE three years. 2.3.2 Quality of paper, page format, 2.3.2.1 Records of all types of Funds saved from re-use binding and cover of textbooks im- paper, page format, binding will cover quality im- proved, with private sector participa- and cover used maintained by provement costs of revised tion, starting in 1998 EPD textbooks. 2.4 Upgrade skills 2.4.1 125 editors/subject specialists, 2.4.1.1 Training programs By upgrading staff skills of EPD staff and 60 writers and 10 EPD quality con- and course evaluations re- EPD will move towards a contracted writers trol and contracting staff trained by viewed by NIE, MEHE and more competitive and cost- and editors June 2000 IDA effective operation. Risk: Upgraded EPD staff might leave for better paid jobs in the private sector. See Appendix 2 for the DFID Primary Mathematics Project framework. 28 Annex I Page 5 of 12 ACTIVITIES Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and Indicators Supervision Risks 2.5 Strengthen pri- 2.5.1 Private sector selection criteria 2.5.1.1 Criteria and contract- Combination of public and vate sector partici- and contracting mechanisms devel- ing mechanisms reviewed private sector efforts will pation covering all oped during 1998 and tested within annually by EPD, MEHE, NIE expedite textbook produc- stages of textbook 1999 and IDA tion and improve quality writing, publishing, 2.5.2 Starting January 1998, EPD 2.5.2.1 Contract performance and cost-effectiveness printing and distri- contracting gradually increase to records established by EPD through competition. bution reach 100% writers and 80% publish- Risk: EPD staff are fearful ing, 70% printing and 100% distri- of private sector competi- bution by 2002 tion due to their level of X______________ _____________________ qualifications and skills. 2.6 Print and dis- 2.6.1 Five revised and two existing 2.6.1.1 Number of books EPD and NIE will be able tribute textbooks textbooks and teacher guides printed, produced and distributed to organise book produc- and teacher guides using a minimum paper quality of 80 monitored by EPD, NIE and tion within the curriculum gsm, and distributed per year, result- MEHE cycle and each subject ing in about 18 to 20 million up- book replaced every five graded textbooks being made avail- years. able by 2002 3. School Rationalisation: The objective of the component is to ensure an equitable and cost-effective allocation of edu- cational facilities for schools to match the new school structure of Junior Schools (grades 1-9) and Senior Schools (grades 10-13), school libraries and the new curriculum. The focus will be upon Junior Schools where there is an agreed need for new classrooms, renovation and furniture to facilitate the policy of compulsory education for 5-14 year olds. 3.1 Support appli- 3.1.1 Rationalisation implementation 3.1.1.1 Implementation plan Policy is implemented at cation of the new plan drawn up by MEHE and PEAs reviewed by IDA prior to Provincial and Zonal lev- government policy by September 1997 funding this component els. to restructure schools into Junior and Senior Schools 3.2 Conduct com- 3.2.1 Detailed costed Zonal plans for 3.2.1.1 Zonal/school reor- Parents, communities and prehensive school school restructuring prepared in all ganization plans and civil the general public are fully rationalisation sur- provinces, with civil works, services works requirements approved consulted during plan vey based upon ini- and furniture requirements for Junior by PEA and MEHE and re- preparation. tial survey in Sa- schools, prioritized on the basis of viewed by IDA PEAs will have the baragamuwa and enrollment and demographic needs, wity have the Western Provinces by June 1998 authority to prevent school construction, renovation and refurbishment which falls outside approved Zonal plans. Risk: Efforts at rationali- zation might run into op- position from former stu- dents of elite schools. 29 Annex I Page 6 of 12 ACTIVITIES Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and Indicators Supervision Risks 3.3 Construct, 3.3.1 Classrooms constructed, reno- 3.3.1.1 Quarterly architects' PEAs' budgets are pre- renovate and refur- vated and furnished and with wa- and Quantity Surveyors' re- pared in time to incorpo- bish classrooms, ter/sanitary facilities, according to ports reviewed and agreed by rate capital expenditure multi-purpose agreed plans, by 2002 PCU, MEHE and IDA prior to needed for facilities to rooms & staff rooms continued disbursement match reform goals 3.4 Construct, re- 3.4.1 About 1,520 surplus class- 3.4.1.1 Architects' reports The school library policy habilitate, furnish rooms rehabilitated as libraries and verified by PEAs and PCU clarifies staff roles in all and equip school 480 new libraries constructed, ac- types of libraries and the libraries on the basis cording to agreed plans, by 2001 use of libraries during and of enrollment num- 3.4.2 New and existing school librar- 3.4.2.1 Procurement and dis- after school times to en- bers ies furnished and equipped, accord- tribution records reviewed by of the investment. ing to agreed plans, by 2001 PEAs and PCU . Risk: The creation of a school library budget line in provincial budgets might be delayed owing to lack of resources. 3.5 Develop school 3.5.1 Records and plans prepared by 3.5.1.1 Zonal records and Records and plans will physical facilities schools and Zones in cooperation plans approved by PEA and facilitate systematic maintenance records with provincial civil works office and reviewed by MEHE/SWD and maintenance in schools. and plans at school SDSs by June 1999 and annually IDA and Zonal levels thereafter 1% of provincial capital 3.5.2.1 Training course rec- budget for education is Train Junior School 3.5.2 About 10,000 Junior School ords examined by PEAs and designated to, and is avail- principals in build- principals trained by the MEHE PCU, and reviewed by IDA able for, school mainte- ings, services and School Works Division and the pro- nance as agreed in TETD. furniture mainte- vincial civil works office by 2000 nance (to be inte- Availability of funds, to- gratedwith ther .5.3 5,000 opiesof th MEHE 3.5.3.1 MEHE records exam- gether with training, will granced witiobeither 3.5.3 15,000 copies of the MEHE ie yPU n eiwdb nraesho ane training activities Maintenance Manual of Educational med by PCU, and reviewed by increase school mainte- under Component 6: Facilities distributed by 2000 IDA nance activities resulting Education Manage- in an extension of ex- mEduction Manage- pected school building life ment) from about 20 to 35 years. 30 Annex 1 Page 7 of 12 4. Quality Inputs: The objective of the component is to supply in a timely manner to Junior Schools (grades 1-9) and to selected Senior Schools (grades 10-13), on a per capita basis, a sufficient quantity of essential educational equipment and materials which match the requirements of an evolving and sequential curriculum. The component is closely linked with the Curriculum Development component and the Financing component and, together with these components, aims at a maxi- mum utilization of 6% of the provincial block grants to be devoted to quality inputs by the year 2001. ACTIVITIES Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and Indicators Supervision Risks 4.1 Draw up and 4.1.1 Schedule for drawing up and 4.1.1.1 Review of plan by Essential equipment and regularly update reviewing costed lists produced by MEHE and IDA materials costs will meet costed lists of qual- NIE/CPCU by January 1998 norm based, unit cost re- ity inputs matching 4.1.2 Costed lists, updated by NIE 4.1.2.1 Costed lists approved source allocations. the current and re- following extensive consultation, by NIE and reviewed by Risk: NIE staff have lim- vised curriculum identifying essential and desirable MEHE and IDA ited access and funds to (see Component 1, quality inputs for core subjects in obtain sufficient data from Activity 1.3), grades 1-9, and for selected subjects schools on relevant equip- in grades 10-13, by March 1998 ment and materials. 4.2 Complete inven- 4.2.1 Based on lists and identified 4.2.1.1 Inventory received in PEA, ZEO and MEHE tory of school needs, gaps in essential resources, schools schools, completed and sent to officers are trained and identify resource and zones prepare inventories and zone for consolidation able to complete inventory gaps and develop consolidated needs by July 1998 and to use unit cost for- three-year revolving 4.2.2 Quality input resourcing plans 4.2.2.1 Plans approved by mula to develop plans. zone and provincial drawn up by ZEO officers by Sep- PEAs and reviewed by MEHE plans tember 1998 and updated each June and IDA 4.3 Develop and 4.3.1 Project Implementation Advi- 4.3.1.1 Strategies presented to Policy, plans and strategies implement strategies sory Committee confirms strategies IDA by Negotiations will be approved and fol- and a unit cost for- by September 1997. lowed by MEHE and mula for equipment 4.3.2 Formula devised by MOFP, 4.3.2.1 Formula reviewed by PEAs. and materials allo- FC and PEAs and agreed by March MEHE, MOFP, FC and IDA Junior Schools have budget cation 1998 and revised annually thereafter for requisition and alloca- tion of resources, inde- pendent of Senior Schools 4.4 Procure and 4.4.1 Procurement documents ac- 4.4.1.1 Procurement completed Timely requisitions made distribute equipment cepted by GOSL and IDA by end satisfactorily early in budget cycle. and materials to 1998. School gradually allowed schools in response 4.4.2 Equipment and materials pro- 4.4.2.1 PEA and ZEO distri- greater budgetary and pro- to actual needs; train cured progressively from early 1999 bution records and norms re- curement discretion. teachers in the use and delivered to schools. viewed annually by MEHE and In view of foreseen TETD and maintenance of IDA savings of 6% of recurrent equipment and re- 4.4.3 Teachers and principals 4.4.3.1 Zonal and PEA subject expenditures, FC ensures plenish consumable trained in the use and maintenance specialists' training reports part of savings are used for materials and dam- of equipment and materials supplied reviewed annually by MEHE replacement or replenish- aged equipment by early 1999. and IDA ment of quality inputs. 4.4.4 Principals and PEA procure- 4.4.4.1 Procurement checked PEAs will establish a ment officers trained in procure- by PCU and IDA and proceeds budget line for consumable ment by August 1998. satisfactorily materials supply and 4.4.5 Required consumable materi- 4.4.5.1 PEA and ZEO records equipment replacement, als supplied annually to schools, show percentages spent on con- replenishment and mainte- utilizing about 35% of quality input sumable supplies nance costs. allocation of provincial block grants from 1999 31 Annex 1 Page 8 of 12 ACTIVITIES Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and Indicators Supervision Risks 4.5 Conduct moni- 4.5.1 Monitoring surveys on re- 4.5.1.1 ZEO annual reports Results of surveys and re- toring and research source distribution conducted by reviewed by PEAs and PCU search, shared with NIE, activities on re- ZEOs annually from June 1999 are fed back by NIE into source utilization 4.5.2 Surveys on resource utiliza- 4.5.2.1 Survey results re- the system to inform policy and consequent im- tion conducted by NIE by Decem- viewed by MEHE, NIE and on quality input resource pact on student ber 1999 and annually thereafter IDA distribution, and PEAs and learning (linked with 4.5.3 By December 2000, prelimi- 4.5.3.1 Research results and MEHE take necessary ac- Component 7 and nary research on impact of im- action plans of PEAs and tions. Studies, Component proved quality inputs conducted, MEHE, reviewed by NIE and 8) and continued more extensively by IDA December 2002 5. Libraries: The objectives of the component are to support and stimulate an activity-based curriculum and to encourage the reading habit in school and community by expanding, professionalising, and strengthening the management of, the school library sector. This component is closely integrated with the Curriculum Development, Textbooks and Educational Publications, School Rationalisation and Quality Inputs components. 5.1 Strengthen 5.1.1 Post of Director of School Li- 5.1.1.1 Director in place School library policy clari- school library serv- brary Services (MEHE) filled and verified by PCU and IDA fies the roles of staff and ices duties clarified by September 1997 the use of libraries during 5.1.2 Policy, including role, func- 5.1.2.1 Draft and fnal policy and after school times to tions, staffing and financing of, and documents reviewed by PEAs, ensure maximum utilisa- access to, school libraries developed MEHE, NLDSB and IDA tion of the investment. by April 1998 Risk: Insufficient support 5.1.3 Service Minute and Librarians' 5.1.3.1 Proposals approved by to confirm librarians as a Cadre prepared by April 1998 Cadre Committee & Cabinet professional group 5.2 Provide library 5.2.1 About 180,000 books provided 5.2.1.1 Provincial distribution Library books will facili- books and reading to 2,000 existing school libraries by records reviewed by MEHE tate learning under the new materials (facilities 2001; and 460,000 books provided to and IDA activity-based curriculum. are provided as part 2,000 new school libraries by 2002 Risk: The creation of a 3.4) school library budget line in provincial budgets might be delayed owing to lack of resources. 5.3 Expand the 5.3.1 National, provincial and zonal 5.3.1.1 Assignment and By designating people to reading habit pro- co-ordinators designated and trained training of co-ordinators veri- promote the reading habit, motion program in by December 1998 fied by MEHE and IDA library use will be maxi- schools 5.3.2 Seed money for distributing 5.3.2.1 Records of funds dis- mised and parental in- books with PTA support, and for bursed maintained by PCU volvement in the education translations of selected books, com- and reviewed by IDA of their children will be mences from July 1998 encouraged. 5.4 Improve library 5.4.1 Training of about 5,000 school 5.4.1.1 Course attendance Trained staff assume duties management skills librarians and about 400 public sec- records reviewed by MEHE for which they have been for school and pub- tor librarians in library management and IDA trained. lic sector library completed by 2002 Risk: Insufficient numbers staff 5.4.2 Up to 1,000 surplus teachers 5.4.2.1 Course attendance of teachers will apply for retrained as certificate librarians by records reviewed by MEHE re-training unless condi- 2003 and IDA tions of service comparable to those of trained teachers are guaranteed. 32 Annex I Page 9 of 12 Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and ACTIVITIES Indicators Supervision Risks 5.5 Support the 5.5.1 Facilities to accommodate 5.5.1.1 Site inspections and UGC will allocate staff development of the NILIS constructed, furnished and procurement records reviewed cadre and operating ex- National Institute of equipped by the end of 1998 by MEHE and IDA penses as indicated. Cabi- Library and Infor- 5.5.2 Link institutions identified by 5.5.2.1 Contracts reviewed by net will approve Ordinance mation Science September 1998 UGC and IDA submitted by UGC. 5.5.3 Certificate and short courses 5.5.3.1 NILIS courses re- designed and operating by June 1999 viewed by UGC and IDA 5.5.4 Key NILIS staff appointed by 5.5.4.1 Selection, training and May 1998. 13 regional/international assignment of staff monitored and 12 national fellowships in Li- and verified by UGC and brarianship awarded by 2001 MEHE and reviewed by IDA 6. Education Management: The objective of the component is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of system-wide policy development, planning, decision-making, implementation, monitoring and communications, by strengthening the management capacity of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Provincial Education Authorities, the National Institute of Education and the University Grants Commission. 6.1 Support the 6.1.1 MEHE, PEAs, NIE and UGC 6.1.1.1 Modified structures Agencies implement re- application of re- structures adjusted in accordance verified by PSC and IDA structuring and gradually vised organisational with endorsed organisational charts dissolve surplus positions. structures and staff by June 1998 Agencies have the author- cadres, and for pro- 6.1.2 MEHE, PEAs, NIE and UGC 6.1.2.1 Job descriptions ap- ity to recruit on the basis of curement of equip- staff recruited on the basis of job proved by cadre committees job descriptions matching ment descriptions starting June 1998 of concerned agencies institutional needs. 6.1.3 Computers and office equip- 6.1.3.1 Procurement records Computer skills will im- ment procured by June 1999 reviewed by PCU and IDA prove efficiency, record keeping and use of infor- mation in decision making. 6.2 Upgrade man- 6.2.1 About 1,435 senior/middle 6.2.1.1 Selection, training Upgraded management and agement and techni- management staff, 1,180 administra- programs and records re- administrative staff and cal skills for exist- tive staff, 60 Management Associ- viewed by PCU and IDA selection of future manag- ing and designated ates, 320 procurement and disburse- 6.2.1.2 Career track of Asso- ers on merit will improve staff ment staff, 40 civil works staff and ciates reviewed by PEAs, the efficiency of the edu- up to 10,000 principals trained by MEHE and IDA cation system. 2001 - 6.3 Assist in devel- 6.3.1 Draft plans completed by June 6.3.1.1 Draft and completed Plans will adequately re- oping national, pro- 1998, and cycle for national plans plans reviewed by IDA flect national policy and be vincial, zonal and completed by December 1999 linked to the budget. institutional plans 6.3.2 About 175 planning staff 6.3.2.1 Course outlines and Provincial/zonal plans will for MEHE, trained by December 1998 training records reviewed by be developed in coopera- PEA/ZEOs, NIE and PCU, IDA and DFID tion with MPPE project UGC 33 Annex I Page 10 of 12 ACTIVITIES Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and Indicators Supervision Risks 6.4 Strengthen 6.4.1 150 officers trained and EMIS 6.4.1.1 Course outlines and Compatible Government MEHE/PEA/ZEO system operational with a common training programs reviewed by databases and software will planning capacity finance database by December 1999 MEHE, IDA and DFID enable analysis for plan- and financial man- 6.4.2 315 staff trained in financial 6.4.2.1 All databases re- ning and decision making. agement with an management by December 1999 and viewed by MFOP, FC and Risk: ZEOs will be insuf- integrated EMIS, in FMS systems installed and integrated MEHE ficiently staffed to sustain co-operation with with EMIS in MEHE, PEAs, NIE 6.4.2.2 Delivery and use of the overall amount of the DFID MPPE and UGC. EMIS verified by PEAs, training within the time- MEHE, IDA and DFID frame. 6.5 Strengthen su- 6.5.1 Staff performance appraisal 6.5.1.1 Updates and instruc- Setting up a transparent pervisory and report- policies for MEHE/PEAs, teachers, tions for implementation is- staff performance appraisal ing tools NIE and universities updated by De- sued by MEHE, PEAs, UGC system will result in pro- cember 1999 and NIE, and reviewed by motion on merit and re- 6.5.2 Staff performance appraisal IDA ward for good perform- manuals prepared and distributed and 6.5.2.1 Use of manuals in ance. about 2,000 staff trained by late 1999 institutions verified by MEHE X__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and U G C 6.6 Support com- 6.6.1 About 1,400 persons trained 6.6.1.1 Draft materials and Materials will focus on munity awareness and materials produced and dissemi- training reports reviewed by major issues. program nated by April 1999 IDA Staff in NIE will respond (MEHE/PEAs), re- 6.6.2 About 15 research studies 6.6.2.1 Research studies re- positively to opportunities search and devel- completed each year from June 1999 viewed systematically by to undertake research. opment activities onwards MEHE, PEAs, NIE and IDA Research studies are dis- (NIE), and review 6.6.3 UGC report on overseas study 6.6.3.1 Resultant action plans seminated widely and ac- examination proc- visit completed by December 1998 reviewed by IDA tion is taken as a result. esses (UGC) 7. Education Financing: The objective of the component is to improve efficiency, equity and transparency in the distribu- tion of educational resources. The Government will be assisted gradually to apply nation-wide a norm-based, unit cost allo- cation mechanism, outlined in previously commissioned studies. This mechanism will be reflected in central and provincial education budgets that separate expenditures on salaries, quality inputs, services and maintenance activities. Resources will be distributed according to a cost per student formula responsive to system needs. 7.1 Support GOSL 7.1.1 Education Budget & Monitor- 7.1.1.1 EBMU and MEHE The resource distribution policy to implement ing Unit in FC staffed to monitor quarterly progress reports re- mechanism will be imple- a norm-based unit block grant (recurrent) budget and viewed by MEHE, MOFP and mented at central and pro- cost resource alloca- MEHE financial staff re-assigned to IDA vincial levels. tion mechanism for monitor capital budget inputs of the education sector PEAs by February 1998 Risk: Provincial officers 7.1.2 Standardised allocation for- 7.1.2.1 Formula reviewed by will view central monitor- mula developed by FC, MOFP, IDA ing of resource distribution MEHE and PEAs by March 1998 as inconsistent with the 7.1.3 Provincial budgetary formats 7.1.3.1 New budgetary for- devolution process and adjusted by FC to reflect the norm- mats reviewed by MEHE, resist its implementation. based unit cost allocation mechanism MOFP and IDA by March 1998 34 Annex I Page 11 of 12 ACTIVITIES Key Performance Monitoring and Critical Assumptions and Indicators Supervision Risks 7.2 Strengthen skills 7.2.1 About 450 MEHE, MOFP, 7.2.1.1 Training and atten- Training programs are at- of finance staff in PEA and ZEO staff trained by dance records reviewed by tended by staff responsible MEHE, MOFP, FC, EBMU (FC) during 1998, with fur- IDA for education finance who PEAs and ZEOs to ther training in 1999-2000 will continue working in use the allocation their areas of specialisa- mechanism tion. 7.3 Provide equip- 7.3.1 Equipment and supplies pro- 7.3.1.1 List of equipment Equipment will enable FC, ment and supplies vided by December 1998 reviewed by MEHE and IDA MOFP, MEHE, PEAs and needed to use the ZEOs to perform tasks resource allocation more efficiently. mechanism 7.4 Field test the 7.4.1 Survey of resource allocation 7.4.1.1 Survey report re- Risk: The process of ad- allocation mecha- to and within schools in 3 provinces, viewed by FC, MEHE, PEAs justing a standard formula nism in Central, after applying the formula, com- and IDA to each province might be North Westem and pleted by MOFP by January 1999 more complex than envis- Southem Provinces aged. 7.5 Refine and im- 7.5.1 Allocation formula refined in 7.5.1.1 Seminar report re- Resource distribution will plement the alloca- seminar for FC, MOFP, MEHE and viewed by IDA become more transparent tion mechanism na- PEAs held in February 1999 and responsive to system tion-wide 7.5.2 Formula applied by each PEA 7.5.2.1 PEA and MEHE dis- needs and less influenced and by MEHE from 1999 onwards tribution and financial records by political interference. scrutinised by FC and MOFP and reviewed by IDA 7.6 Conduct moni- 7.6.1 Studies to assess how the fi- 7.6.1.1 Study findings re- The results of surveys and toring and research nancial allocation mechanism has viewed by PEAs, MEHE and studies are fed back by activities to evaluate enabled MEHE and PEAs to meet IDA MOFP and MEHE into the the impact of apply- norms set for teachers, quality inputs, 7.6.1.2 PEA annual plans for system to inform policy ing the allocation services and maintenance, school 2001 and 2002 reviewed by making on resource alloca- formula on financ- enrollment and attendance pattems MEHE and IDA to assess how tion, and FC, MOFP, PEAs ing education and completed by MOFP with technical much study findings are in- and MEHE take necessary resource distribution assistance, by March 2000 and again corporated into plans actions. by end of project (2003) 7.6.2 Studies of the impact of im- 7.6.2.1 Reports reviewed by proved quality of education upon MEHE, FC, PEAs and IDA employment/unemployment, dura- tion of job searches, labour produc- tivity etc., conducted by MOFP with technical assistance, during 2001 and 2002 35 Annex I Page 12 of 12 8. Studies: The objective of this component is to support impact analysis studies which will focus on performance out- comes of the previous and current projects, to assess emergent issues for future investment needs in the education sector, and to monitor current GEP2 project inputs. 8.1 Impact analysis 8.1.1 By 2002, consultants complete 8.1.1.1 Results and of each Impact analysis will be- of performance out- studies on about six major areas out- study reviewed by appropriate come one critical input in comes and ongoing lined in the PIP authorities and IDA and spe- decision making project monitoring cific actions initiated 8.2 Assist in assess- 8.2.1 For the mid-term review, 8.2.1.1 Following informed Involvement of many in- ing key emergent identified possible issues presented discussion and prioritization, terested parties will stimu- issues by any agency and synthesized by Government presents key ar- late concern for key issues PCU to identify follow-up studies. eas to IDA for possible study and the need for further and future investment. investigation and invest- ment 8.3 Monitor project 8.3.1 Semi-annually, PCU reports to 8.3.1.1 PCU semi-annual re- Continuous monitoring of surveys, studies, and MEHE on progress and recommends ports endorsed by Government on-going activities influ- inventories actions relating to project activities and discussed with IDA ence project imnplementa- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ tion 36 Annex 2 Page 1 of 11 SRI LANKA SECOND GENERAL EDUCATION PROJECT Project Description 1. Curriculum Development (estimated base cost: US$8.356.700) 1.1 The objectives of the component are to develop and produce a sequential framework for the design, development, assessment and revision of the curriculum, syllabi and associated materials in all subject fields for the Junior Cycle (grades 1-9) according to a consolidated ten-year plan; to refine, develop and distribute syllabi for this Cycle; and to improve the management of the curriculum process. Details of each of the activities for the component are given in the Project Implementation Plan (PIP) and are summarized below. 1.2 A statement on curriculum policy has been prepared by the National Institute of Education (NIE). Limited technical assistance will guide further formulation of this Policy to include detailed goals, strategies and priorities within a clearly defined work plan for curriculum developers. An associated publicity effort will ensure that all schools and parent teacher associations are fully aware of the policy by the end of 1998. Anticipated costs are US$37,500. 1.3 To co-ordinate the process of curriculum development in accordance with the Presidential Task Force recommendations on curriculum, NIE will put at least three managerial structures in place: (i) the post of Deputy Director-General, Curriculum Development (DDG/CD) to oversee all activities associated with the curriculum; (ii) a Curriculum Process Co-ordinating Unit (CPCU), and its associated Desk Top Publishing Unit (DTPU), to lead and integrate the process of curriculum development within and outside NIE; and (iii) NEC/NIE would establish a mechanism for involving other institutions and private sector in curriculum development process. Costs associated with these activities, including training, equipment and supplies, would be about US$190,500. 1.4 In order to make the curriculum process more efficient, a ten-year sequential and cyclical Curriculum Plan for curriculum design and development will be fmalised by mid-1998. For the implementation of the Plan, NIE will develop a detailed scope and sequence chart for each subject syllabus for each of grades 1-9, in collaboration with staff of the National Colleges of Education (NCOE) and Teacher Centres (TC) and with teachers themselves. Following this and in continued collaboration, the main bulk of curriculum development work will be carried out over the project period. The details within topics or themes for each grade and subject will be revised, incorporating the Presidential initiatives, together with suggestions on teaching methods, means of assessing student achievement, and lists of references and of materials and equipment essential and/or desirable for teaching each topic or theme. Mechanisms for regular feedback from teachers and principals will be developed early in the process. Annual work plans will be prepared and followed jointly by NIE and the Education Publications Department (EPD) to ensure that textbooks and teacher guides reflect the revised syllabi and are published and distributed to schools on time. Part of the curriculum development process will be the preparing, piloting and conducting of evaluation exercises, including teacher surveys and diagnostic tests, to ascertain the relevance and effectiveness of the revised curriculum for student leaming in the Junior Cycle. The estimated cost of these activities is US$402,500. 1.5 Many permanent curriculum developers at NIE are due to retire within the next ten years. To ensure that suitable staff are employed, a new recruitment policy based upon subject and merit will be initiated to attract young, qualified graduates. At the same time, a policy for broadening participation in the curriculum process will encourage teachers and teacher educators to work at NIE for short periods and for NIE staff to teach in other schools and institutions. It will be essential to carry out a staff development program, based on revised job descriptions, for new recruits as well as existing curriculum developers 37 Annex 2 Page 2 of 11 both in NIE and elsewhere. Staff will be brought up-to-date through studies in curriculum theory and practice and from overseas visits and work experiences in key link institutions (both academic and curriculum centres). To support work on the curriculum as well as staff development, the NIE Library will be supplied regularly with international curriculum resource materials. Estimated costs for these activities are US$2,423,000. 1.6 Training will be designed and delivered to teachers on the content and methods of the revised subject syllabi. In collaboration with bilateral donor agencies (DFID and GTZ), these new syllabi will be presented to in-service advisors who will pass on the methods, content and materials to teachers through a series of zonal level workshops organized by the PEAs. At the same time, curriculum developers will be trained in computer skills and will be provided with hardware to assist them in preparing syllabi, teacher guides, materials, and assessment measures. Estimated costs are about US$5,303,200. 2. Textbooks and Educational Publications (estimated base cost: USS10.982.000) 2.1 The objectives of the component, within an integrated textbook and publication policy and through the strengthening of private sector participation, are to improve the content, physical quality, range and availability of textbooks catering for all subjects in grades 1-9 and to increase the life expectancy of textbooks from one to three years. This component, closely linked with the curriculum development component, contributes towards improving the quality of education. Details of each of the activities for the component are given in the PIP and are summarized below. 2.2 An integrated national textbook and publication policy will be updated and implemented in order to clarify the roles of both public and private sectors regarding all aspects of textbook production and, supply. The policy will include a multiple textbook option to expand the range of textbooks available from the present single book, per subject, per grade, to two or more books. The goal will be for schools or zones to be able to select either an Education Publication Department (EPD) or a privately produced suitable free textbook, matching the curriculum framework. This will encourage competition for the best textbook. The costs of printing, distributing and disseminating the revised policy are estimated at US$40,000. 2.3 EPD will remain as a separate budget authority but will have its contracting thresholds adjusted upwards so it has sufficient funds and authority to allocate, following competition, writer, publisher and printing contracts to ensure that the physical quality of textbooks is upgraded and matches the curriculum/syllabi. EPD roles and co-ordination with NIE will be strengthened to ensure linkages at the writer specification and manuscript design stages to improve textbook quality. EPD will move from a production type unit to a quality control and contracting unit for most of the work. To enable EPD to improve its work practices and gradually transfer book production and distribution activities to the private sector, it will be supplied with computers, new types of records/filing systems, fax and phone equipment (office and cellular), modems/internet, and modern desk-top publishing and paper testing equipment. In addition, an EPD resource library will be stocked with all the necessary reference books and materials to enable staff to be informed on international standards and to ensure that the curriculum, syllabi and textbooks are produced at the content and quality levels required in the 21st century. Estirnated costs of these inputs and activities are US$502,000. 2.4 The EPD will be staffed by about 75 persons jointly having skills in writing, editing, contracting and quality control. For about 45 of these staff, there will be international and national skills training and upgrading in desk-top publishing, contracting, monitoring and quality control; for about another 30 staff and for up to 120 private sector representatives, the project will support skills training in subject- based editing and textbook writing. Estimated costs for this training are US$500,000. 2.5 The component will establish with technical assistance, selection criteria, time frames and mechanisms for contracting of textbook editing, publishing and printing to private and public contractors, with multi-year contracts for the initial print and with reprints fitting the textbook fife cycle of 38 Annex 2 Page 3 of 11 3-5 years. This approach will (i) strengthen the capacity of private publishers and printers; (ii) increase competition and the cost effectiveness of textbook supply; (iii) ensure that the preparation of teacher guides is combined with the respective textbooks and contracted to the same party to achieve consistency of content and methodology; and (iv) adjust the book, printing and supply cycle so that book production and delivery to schools match the school academic year. This proposed adjustment will not increase cost but will necessitate the EPD to receive their budgets in a more timely manner-to allow annual printing or re- printing of textbooks prior to school opening. Estimated costs for technical assistance are US$45,000. 2.6 To promote the production of textbooks and teacher guides of international content quality, the project will supplement the current low commission fees for writers. Only writers or teams of writers or individual firms who are able to produce, within a specific timeframe, the total book and teacher guide in direct response to the curriculum framework will be contracted. Following training (see 2.4 above), writers will be asked to write textbooks and teacher guides of international standard to match the curriculum at the rate of five textbooks per year for five years. Textbooks and teacher guides will be prepared on the basis of criteria prepared jointly by EPD and the NIE/Curriculum Process Co-ordination Unit (CPCU) committee. 2.7 The project will support an improvement in the physical quality of textbooks by adjusting the quality of paper to a minimum of 80 gsm, page size to international standard and types, and by upgrading the quality of covers and binding to increase the durability and subsequently the re-use of the books. This will reduce textbook reprints from being annual to every three years. Estimated costs of supplementing writers' fees and of equipment, vehicles and technical assistance for improving quality are US$895,000. 2.8 The project will support the production of textbooks and teachers' guides in response to the sequential curriculum cycle (Component 1). In that context it is estimated that about five revised and two existing textbooks and teacher guides would be produced each year, resulting in between 18 and 20 million textbooks being made available during the project period. Estimated costs of production are US$9,000,000 (project would supplement existing budget to improve content and physical quality). 2.9 For special subject needs, such as English as a second language, the MEHE/EPD may opt to purchase pre-published books from various international publishers, with the caveat that the book would be adapted to the country's needs at the earliest possible date. 2.10 Book distribution will continue to be done through competitive tenders with private suppliers, and books will continue to be transported to the 1,000 bulk distribution centres scattered throughout the country. However, from the start of the project, private printers and government printers will be given the option to quote a total price which would include delivery of the books directly to accessible schools or to the existing distribution centres. Areas affected by the civil strife will continue to use government delivery methods. The application of control mechanisms for book delivery and records of receipt by the existing 1,000 delivery centres and schools would begin during the 1998 book delivery. 2.11 Implementation responsibilities will be assumed by the EPD, in consultation with the Book Sector Steering Committee chaired by the MEHE. Based on the EPD's implementation performance of the last decade, combined with the proposed strengthening of management, improvement of linkages with the curriculum, training of staff, supply of necessary equipment to improve book content and physical features, it is expected that the sustainability of this component will be high and that it will have a very positive impact on the quality of education in Sri Lanka. 3. School Rationalization (estimated base cost: US$20.428.500) 3.1 The objective of the component is to ensure an equitable and cost-effective allocation of educational and sanitary facilities to match the new structure recommended by the National Education Commission (NEC) and the new curriculum. The focus of the project will be for Junior Schools where there is a need for new classrooms and school libraries, renovation, services and furniture to facilitate the 39 Annex 2 Page 4 of II policy of compulsory education for 5-14 year olds, agreed on the criteria of enrollment, demographic shifts and relative deprivation. The expected impact of the component will be greater learning opportunities for children in deprived areas (urban and rural) through a raising of the standards of the physical environment in which learning takes place. Details of each of the activities of the component are given in the PIP and are summarized below. 3.2 The project will support the application of the new government policy, recommended by the NEC and the Presidential Task Force, of reorganizing the school structure into Junior Schools (grades 1-9) and Senior Schools (grades 10-13) commencing from 1998. The restructuring of schools will necessitate the separation of the Junior School and Senior School grades into distinctive schools or grouping of students with a separate budget allocation and separate management. It will also necessitate a revision by MEHE of the norms and standards applicable for catchment areas, facilities, quality inputs and teachers. Thus, the first input within this component will be to fund, using information gathered from the school facilities review conducted in 1995 under GEPI, the survey of all zones in each province, as well as a continuation of activities following the initial survey conducted in Sabaragamuwa and Western provinces during project preparation. This survey will enable the MEHE/SWD/PPRD, PEAs and ZEOs to prepare zonal plans for the reorganization of schools into Junior and Senior Schools by the year 2001. 3.3 The project will only fund facilities in zones and provinces where zonal plans have been prepared (i) which meet the requirements of the new school structure of Junior and Senior Schools; (ii) where the school location, type and size meets the projected demand; (iii) where the space requests fit the revised and agreed MEHE norms for the provision of facilities; (iv) where there is no duplication of schools in the immediate location of the catchment area; (v) where there is evidence of ongoing consultation with teachers, parents, and local communities; (vi) where both surplus and deficit facilities are identified and costed options are produced either for their more efficient utilization or to meet the gap; (vii) where there is evidence of agreement to separate the budgets and management responsibilities of Junior and Senior Schools; (viii) which include an implementation plan for the period 1998 to 2001; and (ix) which indicate a ranking for facilities provision in order of priority according to greatest need, generally in rural and urban slum areas, together with a clear and objective rationale. Such ranking could include a limited number of Senior Schools (2-5) per zone. Following a review of the zonal plans, IDA will give priority support to those schools which will undertake immediately clear administrative and budgetary separations to fit the new school structure. 3.4 To achieve the above zonal plans, the project will support the survey starting in January 1998. The survey will also contribute to the development of a school map and individual school profiles. Each profile will include the concept of a school catchment area which matches enrollment with local demographic patterns for the existing and forecast 5-14 years and 15-18 years age groups. The school reorganization planning process will be complemented by the DFID funded Master Plan for Primary Education Project (1997-2000). Technical assistance and other support will be provided for survey preparation and implementation, related data and policy analysis, and updating present MEHE standards for school facilities, at an estimated cost of US$121,000. 3.5 Upon submission of detailed plans for school rationalization by each zonal office and agreement by the PEAs, MEHE/SWD and IDA, civil works, furniture and equipment will be provided as part of a three to five year plan. Each plan will have a list of priority sites with justifications and on that basis project funds will be allocated. The goal of the project is to have fully operational schools with the facilities and services required to deliver the curriculum effectively. It is expected that school development societies (parent teacher associations) will remain involved in the monitoring of the school's operations to ensure that the requirement of essential resources is met and the quality of education services is improved. 3.6 School rationalization criteria will also ensure the availability of adequate facilities for children in grades 1-9 where they are most needed and a curtailment of the practice of constructing facilities in an unplanned manner for political convenience. At this stage an amount of US$10,500,000 will be set aside to cover the priority needs of the new education structure and to increase equity, with 50 percent available 40 Annex 2 Page 5 of 11 before the year 2000 and the priority distribution of the remainder to be determined at the mid-term review. This figure may be adjusted following the results of the school rationalization survey. The Japanese government through JICA may also address some of the shortfalls in physical facilities. 3.7 Dependent upon the results of the survey and agreement on zonal plans, civil works, furniture and equipment will be provided for libraries in about 2,000 schools. Libraries are available in only 30 percent of the schools in the country. Since reading has been proven to be a major determinant in learning, the objective is to provide about half the schools with a library. The project will finance renovation for existing classrooms in about 1,520 schools and construction for about 480 new school libraries, together with appropriate furniture and equipment, to be selected by each zone according to criteria being developed by MEHE. An amount for US$9,500,000 will be set aside for school libraries. 3.8 To ensure that school physical facilities function to their designed objectives for their economic life span, it is necessary that schools are systematically maintained. To this end, the training of junior school principals and concerned staff in buildings, services and furniture maintenance will be supported, as will be the revision and distribution of the MEHE Maintenance Manual of Educational Facilities. In addition technical assistance will be provided for developing school physical facilities records and plans at provincial, zonal and school levels. Estimated costs of technical assistance, training, printing and distribution are US$370,000. 4. Quality Inputs (estimated base cost: USS16.172.000) 4.1 The objective of the component is to supply in a timely manner the needed quality inputs for the core subjects in Junior Schools, and to a limited number of Senior Schools, on a per capita basis. The goal is to arrive at an essential quantity of educational equipment, consumable supplies and educational materials to supply schools with the requirements of an evolving sequential curriculum. The focus will be to address shortages in Junior Schools where the greatest quality input resource gaps exist. Priority will be given to filling the requirements for science and mathematics equipment, in continuation of the provision made under GEPI, and for language and social/environmental studies teaching. For Senior Schools, each of the 87 zones should provide justification for the inclusion of between two to five schools in order of priority and identified as the most needy schools to provide greater equity to students. Senior Schools will be assigned about 20 percent of the total allocation from the component. 4.2 The component is closely linked with the curriculum development and education financing components and, together with these components, aims at maximum utilization of the designated 6 percent of the provincial block grants for education to be devoted to quality inputs by the year 2001 . The expected impact of the component is improved pupil achievement and enhanced teacher motivation, leading to a reduction in reliance on private tuition and increase pupil performance. 4.3 Each school, subject and grade requires three major types of quality inputs to facilitate effective pupil learning: (i) essential and supplementary reading materials related to the curriculum; (ii) instructional equipment and aids which are considered essential for teaching the content of the syllabus for each subject; and (iii) basic consumable materials such as chalk, paper, pens, pencils, etc. together with equipment maintenance. The Libraries component (Component 5) will contribute funds for books to alleviate (i) above. The MEHE and PEAs will estimate the costs associated with (ii) and (iii) above, and provide a specific line item in their budgets. Based upon an inventory of current stock, this component will contribute funds to meet the immediate resource gap needs in essential equipment and consumables for each subject. These needs will be revised in accordance with the curriculum cycle. A Condition of the TETD project is to allocate 3percent of the block grant to quality inputs in 1998 and to increase this allocation by Ipercent per year to reach 6percent by the year 2001. 41 Annex 2 Page 6 of 11 4.4 To ensure that specific individual school needs are met and prior to any substantial investment for quality inputs, an inventory will be carried out in conjunction with the school rationalization survey (Component 3). The following actions will be undertaken: (i) NIE in cooperation with practitioners in PEAs will update the existing detailed lists of essential equipment, consumables and materials needed for each subject and grade and for the school as a whole, thus developing a basic standard set of quality inputs linked to subjects and enrollments; (ii) the Deputy Directors General for Junior and Senior Schools in MEHE, together with the DDG Curriculum Development in NIE, will prepare a questionnaire based upon these lists to obtain an accurate inventory of existing and useable stock in each school in comparison with curriculum requirements; (iii) each school will send the completed questionnaire to the ZEO where the results will be collated to determine the current shortages/oversupply and prioritize needs; (iv) each ZEO will prepare a zonal plan listing the essential resource gaps by prioritizing and costing these needs for each year spread over three years; (v) following MEHE and PEA approval of the zonal plans, the FC and PEAs will allocate resources to zones based upon a per pupil allocation; and (vi) priority essential items which are not currently available in schools will be included in IDA-funded procurement for this component (up to about US$16 million). Estimated costs for the inventory survey are US$40,000. 4.5 From the basic standard set of equipment and materials required to deliver the curriculum, MEHE/NIE will estimate the average per pupil unit cost for quality inputs. PEAs will estimate the amount of the block grant which is equivalent to 3 percent in 1998 up to 6 percent in 2001. Using actual and projected enrollment figures each province, based on the block grant, will estimate the per pupil unit cost allocation available for quality inputs in the province for each year up to 2002. The project aims to make up the difference between the MEHE/NIE estimate and the PEA estimates from 1999 to 2002 with the expectation being that, after 2002, 6 percent of the block grant will cover the essential equipment and materials needed in each school to match curriculum requirements and the PEAs will become self- sufficient. 4.6 Support will be given for monitoring and research (both mid-term and at the end of the project) to measure both the utilization of equipment and materials and the effectiveness of such quality inputs in improving pupil performance and increasing teacher motivation. Estimated costs of these activities, including technical assistance with research design and analysis of results, are US$170,000. 5. Libraries (estimated base cost: US$5.320.900) 5.1 The objectives of the component are to support and stimulate an activity-based curriculum and to encourage the reading habit in school and community by expanding, professionalising, and strengthening the management of, the school library sector. These objectives will be achieved through a number of activities, given in detail in the PIP and summarized below. Costs for civil works, furniture and equipment for libraries are included under Component 3. 5.2 The project will support the strengthening of the school library services through the implementation of the recently developed policy framework. Fundamental to such implementation is the creation of an adequate school library cadre and Service Minute, both of which are urgently needed. Funds will be provided for a national consultant to assist in analysing library staff training needs, and preparing a five year training plan. Responsibility for school libraries will be vested in the full-time post of Director: School Libraries Services within MEHE, and for public libraries in the National Library Documentation and Services Board (NLDSB). The estimated costs for technical assistance are $15,000. 5.3 Approximately 450,000 books will be supplied to 2,000 new school libraries (see para 3.7) from lists, to be agreed by MEHE, NIE and PEAs, which will be related to the revised curriculum, for knowledge broadening and enjoyment reading. In addition, about 180,000 books will be distributed to about 2,000 schools with existing libraries to supplement their stocks with up-to-date books procured from lists approved annually by MEHE. To prepare libraries for more effective modem operation, about ten per 42 Annex 2 Page 7 of 11 cent of the larger schools being provided with a library will also be set up as information technology (IT) centres. Total book and IT costs are estimated at US$2,341,000. 5.4 Encouraging the habit of reading through the expansion of the "Books in Schools" project will be supported under this project. Junior Schools where libraries are being established will be targeted. In line with the extremely successful pilot project, national, provincial and zonal coordinators will be designated and trained in a series of workshops. The current project team at NIE will be supported in such training and advisory visits. About ten persons from each province, distributed according to the three languages, will be trained by this project team to conduct provincial and zonal seminars, to monitor book utilization and to encourage teachers to instill better reading habits. Seed money will be disbursed for books to be translated and provided in Sinhala, Tamil and English and for enhancing the reading habit with PTA participation. Estimated costs are US$251,400. 5.5 Staff development is an essential activity of this component. School libraries will be adequately staffed and operated by either a full time librarian or teacher-librarians. Advertisements will seek teachers who wish to be re-trained under the project as librarians and teacher librarians, thus not incurring additional recurrent expenditure for expanding the school library service. Library and library management skills will be developed for relevant staff from MEHE, PEAs, teachers, and principals. Selected staff will visit international institutions. Training courses will continue through existing organizations and through the new National Institute for Library and Information Sciences (NILIS). In addition, new courses will be developed in cooperation with the NCOEs, National Library and Documentation Services Board, NIE and universities. To broaden experience and expertise, four international and about seven regional fellowships are proposed for key personnel. International technical assistance will be provided to complement training and increase management experience and international exposure. Estimated technical assistance, training and fellowship costs are US$1,626,500. 5.6 A new National Institute of Library and Information Science (NILIS), adjacent to the Faculty of Education at the University of Colombo, approved by the University Grants Commission and the University Senate, will accredit and establish standards for tertiary level training of teacher librarians and librarians. NILIS will be the national umbrella for library studies. It will be an institute, independent of any Faculty, responsible to a Board of Management to be set up under the Universities Act. It will offer short intensive training, as well as certificate, degree and PG courses. In order to become largely self- sustaining, all courses at NILIS will be on a fee basis for librarians for both the public and private sectors. The project will support construction, furniture, equipment, the designing of training courses, international visits, and national and international technical assistance to the NILIS management and academic staff including linkages with overseas/regional institutions. Costs are estimated at US$1,087,000. 6. Education Management (estimated base cost: US$5.903.500) 6.1 The objective of the component is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of system-wide policy development, planning, decision-making, implementation, monitoring and communications, by strengthening the management capacity of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), the Provincial Education Authorities (PEAs), the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the University Grants Commission (UGC). This component takes account of the findings of the Education Management Stud& (1996), the responses of the MEHE Management Group and discussions with representatives from the four agencies. Details of the core activities summarised below are given in the PIP, for each of the agencies. 6.2 The project will support the application of revised organisational structures and staff cadres for MEHE, PEAs, NIE and UGC. This activity includes: (i) rationalising the structure and functions within and between agencies in order to ensure a comprehensive coverage of current and emergent management responsibilities; (ii) linking structures to major operations and upgrading key functions, such as policy development, planning, monitoring, and financial planning and management, Junior and Senior 43 Annex 2 Page 8 of 11 Schools and school library services; (iii) improving co-ordination, delegation and communication within and between the agencies in order to minimise delays in decision making and implementation, and to eliminate duplication; (iv) delineation ofjob functions; (v) adopting new recruitment policies, giving greater emphasis to merit on performance of the more clearly defined functions, to fit the revised organisation structures; and (vi) supplying equipment to improve efficiency including storing documents in modem filing systems supplied through the project. Estimated costs for technical assistance and the provision of equipment are US$2,702,500. 6.3 Staff development activities form the bulk of the component and will be directly related to the revised structures, functions, duties and cadres. In order to address the system-wide management skills deficit, a comprehensive program will be offered to: (i) some 1,400 management staff in MEHE, PEAs, NIE and UGC in management related issues with specific attention given to developing computer skills in senior and middle management; (ii) about 10,000 school principals, which will include management and curriculum areas and school maintenance, and will build on the extensive training program undertaken in GEPI (and a study of its impact on a sample of schools); (iii) about 1,180 administrative and support staff will participate in range of skills development courses, which will include procurement and disbursement, civil works school surveys, computer skills and competence in word processing, spreadsheets and databases; and (iv) a small cadre of 60 able, young officers (Management Associates) will be selected for intensive training and subsequent placement, on a merit basis to address the shortage of experienced personnel to operate at senior and middle management levels. Estimated costs for technical assistance, study visits, in-country training and printing are US$2,163,000. 6.4 Changes in government policy will have an impact on each of the agencies, particularly MEHE, PEAs and NIE. Under the coordination of the Education Development and Coordination Committee comprehensive plans at national, provincial and institutional levels will be central to effective implementation of the changes. The preparation of national and institutional plans require informed inputs from schools and zonal offices, with particular attention being given to the equitable distribution of resources for quality inputs, physical facilities and teachers to schools. In the case of NIE, the institutional plan will address both curriculum and teacher development issues and the role of NATE in responding to teacher demand and supply projections. UGC will have an important role to play in examining policy options and developing a national plan for higher education which is responsive to social and economic needs. Estimated costs for technical assistance are US$85,000. 6.5 Through the project, the planning capacity of all four agencies will be upgraded in terms of both the skills base and status (as reflected in the revised organisational structures) and EMIS. Support will be provided to develop national education planning leadership in MEHE and for a planning skills upgrading program which will build on the training undertaken through GEPI. The generic skills development progran will be carried out in cooperation with the DFID funded Master Plan for Primary Education (MPPE) project. GEP2 will focus on MEHE planners and MPPE will make provision for the training of provincial and zonal planners. To ensure consistency of approach, the training activities for both projects will need to be integrated and monitored (through the Additional Secretary, Policy, Planning and Research). Under the project, personnel from NIE and UGC will be given the opportunity to participate in generic courses as well as courses relating more specifically to tertiary planning. Considerable progress was made in the establishment of EMIS within MEHE and PEAs under GEPI. Further upgrading is required to ensure the ready availability and analysis of data to facilitate the monitoring of system performance on agreed education indicators (e.g. student:teacher ratios, quality inputs, repetition rates). While UGC -has embryonic EMIS provision, NIE has yet to embark on such a system. The opportunity now exists for developing a comprehensive EMIS, together with an enhanced policy analysis capacity, which will serve the interests of management in each agency and facilitate the interchange of information. In addition to the training program, the project will assist with the provision of a modest amount of technology to ensure that each of the key units of the agencies has access to EMIS. Estimated costs for technical assistance, training, equipment and manuals for strengthening planning capacity are US$361,900. 44 Annex 2 Page 9 of 11 6.6 The availability of a comprehensive FMS network is central to effective financial management and financial planning. Development work todate has been constrained and the results somewhat limited, particularly in regard to the preparation of program budgets, forecasting of resource requirements in relation to policy initiatives and to monitoring expenditure on key items. To assist with further developmental work on FMS, the Project will support a modest supply of equipment and the training of relevant personnel in MEHE, provincial and zonal offices, NIE and UGC. Particular attention will be given to developing a common finance database which will accommodate existing Government budget and accounting frameworks to ensure compatibility and to facilitate the tracking of expenditure of designated items (e.g. quality inputs and maintenance for schools). For purposes of financial planning and monitoring of expenditure, compatibility between EMIS and relevant FMS fields will be essential. Estimated costs for technical assistance, training, equipment and preparation of manuals for strengthening capacity are US$58,000 (equipment is included under 6.2). 6.7 Consistent with government policy on staff performance appraisal, the project will assist with the review of current policies and practices and the training of staff in supervisory positions. In the case of teaching and academic staff, considerable work needs to be undertaken, particularly in the development of equitable appraisal and reward mechanisms. For MEHE and PEAs, the project will support a review of the present system for the appraisal of schools by primary and secondary specialists responsible for quality performance in schools, and the training of designated personnel. In relation to performance appraisal in tertiary institutions (NIE, NCOEs and UGC), the project will provide technical assistance to enhance recent corporate initiatives taken by the universities, which are also relevant to NIE and NCOEs. Estimated costs of technical assistance for this activity and the production and distribution of staff performance appraisal manuals are US$150,500. 6.8 In addition to the range of activities outlined above, all of which are highly relevant to the Governments reforms, the project will assist with three specific areas of need: (i) community awareness (MEHE and PEAs): the project will support the preparation, production and widespread dissemination of information on education issues and related reforms (e.g., curriculum changes, rationalisation of facilities, teacher deployment and financing of education). The MPPE initiatives relating to primary education will need to be carefully articulated with this wider campaign; (ii) research and development (NIE): irnplementation of the Government's reforms provides timely context in which to undertake relevant applied research. NIE's charter includes research activities relating to the general education sector; its current capacity is limited. The project will, through technical assistance, seminars and associations with international research institutions, support the strengthening of NIE's capacity to undertake research and development work including the implementation of mechanisms to encourage and sustain research activity beyond the life of the Project; (iii) selection and admissions processes for higher education (UGC): Government reforms include changes to the university entrance selection criteria involving the use of scholastic aptitude testing. An associated factor is the protracted delays in the admissions procedures which some 20 months minimum between completing A level examinations and actual commencement of tertiary studies. The project will support a study visit to examine relevant practices in overseas countries. Estimated costs for this activity, including technical assistance, a seed grant and overseas travel are US$385,100. 7. Education Financing (estimated base cost: US$700,OO0) 7.1 Over the past decade expenditure on educational quality inputs, services and maintenance has been sharply reduced. Furthermore, the distribution of such expenditure has become highly inequitable, with schools in prosperous urban areas spending three to ten times more per student than small schools in rural and poor urban areas. The objective of this component, therefore, is to improve efficiency, equity and transparency in the distribution of educational resources through the gradual nation-wide application of a norm-based, unit cost resource allocation mechanism for the education sector. This mechanism will separate the education budget (excluding civil works capital expenditures) into salaries and wages, quality inputs, and services and maintenance. By adopting this mechanism, GOSL aims to ensure: (i) the delivery of resources 45 Annex 2 Page 10 of II (especially teacher allocation annually based on enrolment and demographic factors) on a rational basis, linked to the learning and teaching requirements of the school curriculum; (ii) the rationalisatiotn of capital expenditure, recurrent expenditure, and expenditure on services and maintenance; and (iii) the attaimnent of equity in resource allocation between and within schools. The component comprises a number of activities given in detail in the PIP and summarised below. 7.2 The project will support standardisation of national and provincial education budget formats, of the norm-based unit cost resource allocation formula, and of reporting and fnancial monitoring mechanisms through technical assistance to a small-Education Budget and Monitoring Unit (EBMU) to be established in the Finance Commission (FC). Estimated costs for this activity are US$51,000. 7.3 A series of workshops in the first and second years of the project will be conducted at both central and provincial levels to strengthen the capacity of education finance staff in the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MOFP), FC, MEHE, PEAs and ZEOs at central, provincial and zonal levels to use the nonn-based, unit cost resource allocation mechanism. Equipment required for financial planning and management activities will be provided, where needed, particularly in the ZEOs. Estimated costs for technical assistance, workshops and essential equipment are US$540,000. 7.4 The new allocation mechanism will be field tested in three provinces in the first year of the project. During the field test, education fnance staff from FC, MEHE and other PEAs will visit the three provinces to assess its application and replicability and a survey of resource allocation to and within schools will be conducted by MOFP. At the end of the field testing period, the mechanism will be refined. Training for key staff in all provinces, will be organised jointly by FC and MEHE and will include visits to the pilot provinces. The aim will be to implement the allocation mechanism nationwide during the second year of the project. Monitoring of implementation of the allocation mechanism and its impact on resource delivery to schools will be undertaken by means of opinion polls among education fnance staff in MEHE and PEAs and among school authorities, and an annual monitoring survey of 500 schools (approximately 5 percent of all schools). Regular feedback from the monitoring activities will be provided to the MEHE, MOFP, FC and PEAs to improve the efficiency of the implementation process and enhance the impact of the new allocation mechanism in delivering resources to schools. Studies will also be carried out by MOFP and MEHE on the effect of the mechanism on (i) the ability of PEAs to meet the norms for teachers, quality inputs, and services and maintenance; (ii) school enrolment and attendance patterns; and (iii) duration of job searches, employment/unemployment, and labour productivity. Provision is made for technical assistance in research design and analysis of findings, and for dissemination of results. Estimated costs of these activities are US$115,000. 8. Studies (estimated base cost: US$600.00O) 8.1 In addition to the surveys, studies and impact monitoring activities within specific components, the project will support a number of studies relating to the education sector. The studies will focus on the analysis of performance outcomes for selected areas of GEP I and GEP2 and on emergent issues which could be relevant to the preparation of future projects in the sector. Details for the following identified study areas for Component 8 are given in the PIP: * Impact of Principals' Training Program under GEPI; * Impact of changes to management structure and capacity building on the effectiveness of system-wide planning and financial management; * Effectiveness of project financed measures relating to career planning, selection, promotion and mobility policies and procedures within the education sector. The study will assess how policies work in the system and assess ways to make these more responsive to employment strategies; * Impact of changes to textbook policy, including participation of the private sector and improvement in education quality - curriculum coverage and relevance, durability and cost-effectiveness of the upgraded textbooks; 46 Annex 2 Page 11 of 11 * Impact of changes to school structure and compulsory education requirements on student participation, attrition and repetition rates, and enrollment and transition patterns at key stages (grades 5-6, 9-10, 11-12) by types of schools; * Analysis of school assessment strategies and trends in examination results in the context of changes to curriculum, quality inputs and professional development of teachers; * Investigations in emergent areas which could impact on future project initiatives. Areas could include: school to study/work transition; public-private partnerships in education and training; skills' needs; and post-secondary education. 9. Project Implementation (estimated base cost USS900.000) 9.1 The costs of project implementation are estimated at US$900,000. The key activities are outlined in the PIP. 47 Annex 3 Page 1 of 3 SRI LANKA SECOND GENERAL EDUCATION PROJECT Estimated Project Costs Total Foreign Base Local Foreign Total Exchange Costs (US$ million) 1. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT 5.8 7.0 12.8 55 17 2. TEXTBOOKS & EDUCATION PUBLICATIONS 10.4 0.6 11.0 5 15 3. SCHOOL RATIONALIZATION 15.3 5.1 20.4 25 28 4. QUALITY INPUTS 5.0 11.2 16.2 69 22 5. LIBRARIES 2.9 2.4 5.3 46 7 6. EDUCATION MANAGEMENT 2.7 3.2 5.9 55 8 7. FINANCING 0.5 0.2 0.7 30 1 8. STUDIES 0.4 0.2 0.6 33 1 9. PROJECT COORDINATION UNIT 0.7 0.2 0.9 22 1 Total BASELINE COSTS 43.7 30.1 73.8 41 100 Physical Contingencies 2.8 1.7 4.5 38 6 Price Contingencies 3.2 1.9 5.1 37 7 Total PROJECT COSTS 49.7 33.7 83.4 40 113 1. Basis for cost estimates: Baseline costs are estimated at June 1997 prices, at the time of appraisal. Construction costs are based on US$240 to US$270 per square meter depending on construction standards, student classroom and school norms and on specific estimates for rehabilitation. Equipment costs are based on norms agreed to during project preparation and costs based on specific estimates depending on the activities, level of training and the kind of facilities. Furniture costs are based on 8 to 10 percent of new construction costs and based on sample prices obtained from recent quotations from the ongoing GEPl and TETD projects for schools being rehabilitated. Vehicle costs are based on $20,000 per vehicle. Unit cost for fellowships are based on annual rates of US$1,000 for local, US$8,000 for regional and US$25,000 for OECD countries. In-Country workshops (US$2.7 million) costs are estimated at an average rate of $15 per day, per person. International consultant (US$4.5 million) costs are estimated at a fee of US$12,500 per month, daily allowances US$150 and travel cost US$5,500. Unit costs per month of local technical assistance (US$2.0 million) are estimated at US$2,500. Textbook writing and publication (US$9.0 million) are based on present writing, printing, publishing and distribution costs of existing and improved books, at international standards, and linkages to the national curriculum. 2. Contingency Allowances: The contingency allowances of US$9.6 million (about 13.0 percent of baseline cost) include contingencies for physical and price increases. Physical contingencies are estimated at 10 percent of the baseline costs for civil works and 5 percent for all other categories of expenditure. It is estimated that price increases will be 2.2 percent per year for foreign expenditures and from a range of 6.5 to 10 percent per year for local expenditures during the implementation period. 3. Foreign Exchange Component (excluding contingencies): The foreign exchange cost of US$30.1 million (about 41.0 percent of total estimated project base costs) has been calculated on the basis of the following foreign exchange percentages: civil works 25 percent, equipment 70 48 Annex 3 Page 2 of 3 percent, furniturelS percent, vehicles 100 percent, survey and plans 10 percent, library books 50 percent, printing and production of education materials 80 percent, textbook writing and publication 0 percent, overseas specialists 100 percent; national specialists 0 percent, external training 100 percent, in-country training 0 percent, studies 33 percent, project coordination 22 percent. 4. Disbursement: To expedite disbursements, a special account with an authorized initial allocation of US$2.5 million would be established at MEHE in coordination with MOFP and the Central Bank. When the total amount disbursed and committed reaches SDR 15.0 million, the authorized amount in the special account would be revised to US$5.0 million. Applications for replenishment of the account, supported by appropriate documentation, would be submitted regularly (preferably monthly, but no less than quarterly) or when the amounts withdrawn equal 50 percent of the initial deposit. Disbursements would be made on the basis of Statements of Expenditures (SOE) for: (i) contracts of less than US$50,000 equivalent for goods and vehicles; (ii) contracts for less than US$300,000 equivalent for works; (iii) consultant contracts of less than US$100,000 equivalent for firms and US$50,000 for individual contracts; (iv) local training; and (v) project management and recurrent costs. Documents supporting the SOEs would be retained by the project coordination unit and made available for inspection during the course of IDA supervision missions. Disbursements for all other expenditures would be against full documentation. The proposed credit of US$70.3 million equivalent would be disbursed over a period of five years (Annex 5). Disbursements would be made in the following manner: (i) civil works I 00 percent of foreign and 65 percent of local expenditures. All civil works should be completed within the first four years of the project period; (ii) equipment, furniture, vehicles, and surveys and plans at 100 percent of foreign expenditures and 100 percent of local expenditures (ex-factory) and 85 percent of expenditures for other items procured locally; (iii) library books, printing and production of education materials, and textbook writing and publication at 100 percent of foreign expenditures and 100 percent of local expenditures (ex- factory) and 90 percent of local expenditures; (iv) technical assistance and external training 100 percent of total expenditures; (v) in-country training 100 percent of total expenditures; (vi) studies 100 percent of total expenditures; and (vii) project management 50 percent of total expenditures. Disbursements of local expenditures for which 100 percent of total financing is supported by the project, e.g., equipment, furniture, vehicles, surveys and plans, library books, printing and production of education materials, and project management, would be net of taxes and other mark-up costs. 5. Accounts and Audit: The MEHE/PCU and MOFP would establish and maintain separate accounts for project expenditures. The accounts would be maintained in accordance with sound accounting practices acceptable to the Association. Auditing would be performed annually by a qualified auditor in accordance with procedures satisfactory to the Association and an audit report, including separate statements on disbursements against statements of expenditures and on the Special Account, submitted to the Association. 49 Annex 3 Page 3 of 3 6. The allocation of credit proceeds is provided below: Allocation of Credit Proceeds Amount in Excpenditure Category USS million Financing Percentage CIVIL WORKS 12.2 100% foreign and 65% local expenditures B. GOODS & MATERIALS EQUIPMENT 20.8 100% foreign and 85% FURNITURE 3.8 local expenditures o VEHICLES 0.1 equipment, fumiture SURVEYS & PLANS 0.3 vehicles and 90% local LIBRARY BOOKS 3.4 expenditures of library PRINTING & PROD. OF ED. MATERIALS 0.2 books, surveys & plans, TEXTBOOK WRITING & PUBLICATION 8.6 printing & production of ed. SUBTOTAL GOODS & MATERIALS 37.2 materials, and textbook writing & publication C. CONSULTANT SERVICES INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT 2.2 100% NATIONAL CONSULTANT 2.0 100% SUBTOTAL CONSULTANT SERVICES 4.2 D. FELLOWSHIPS & TRAINING IN-COUNTRY TRAINING 5.6 100% REGIONAL TRAINING 1.7 100% INTERNATIONAL TRAINING 1.0 100% FELLOWSHIPS & STUDY TOUR 0.6 100% WORKSHOPS & PUBLIC AWARENESS 2.5 100% SUBTOTAL FELLOWSHIPS & TRAINING 11.4 E. STUDIES 0.7 100% F. PROJECT COORDINATING UNIT 0.5 50% G.UNALLOCATED 4.1 TOTAL FINANCED BY IDA 70.3 50 ANNEX 4A Page 1 of 2 SRI LANKA SECOND GENERAL EDUCATION PROJECT Financial Summary (US$ million) Implementation Period Operational Period 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total 2003 2004 2005 2006 Price Cost Investment Costs 12.2 17.6 20.8 19.2 13.6 83.4 Recurrent Costs Total 12.2 17.6 20.8 19.2 13.6 83.4 Financing Sources (% of total project costs) IDA 12.59 17.75 20.50 19.18 14.27 84.29 DFID 1.08 1.68 1.56 0.96 0.60 5.88 Govemment 0.84 1.92 2.88 2.88 1.32 9.83 51 Annex 4B Page 2 of 2 Sri Lanka Second General Education Project Financial Assessment and Sustainability The impact of GEP2 investmnents on the sector budget are shown in following table. During the project period 1998-2002, GEP2 is expected to add Rs 3.2 billion to the education budget. This will increase the average annual growth rate of the sector budget during 1998-2002 marginally from 1.1% to 1.4%. Impact of GEP2 Investment on Sector and Government Budget 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Government Budget (Rs mil) 224,835 237,984 259,807 279,173 308,244 336,122 366,310 Sector Budget in base run (Rs mil) 23,112 23,372 23,868 24,764 26,158 25,455 24,750 Sector Budget with GEP2 (Rs mil) 24,257 25,735 26,924 26,161 25,120 % Sect to Gov Budget in base run 10.28 9.82 9.19 8.87 8.49 7.57 6.76 % Sect budg (with GEP2) to Gov Budget 9.34 9.22 8.73 7.78 6.86 GEP2 Investments (Rs mil) ____ ____ 390 971 766 706 370 % GEP2 invest to sector Budget 1.63 3.92 2.93 2.77 1.49 % GEP2 invest to Gov Budget __0.15s 0.35 0.25 0.21 0.10 Source: table bugprj2 The fiscal impact of GEP2 on the overall government budget is relatively small. The above table shows that the project would account for 0.2% of the budget in 1998, rise to 0.4% as implementation accelerates in 1999, and then decline gradually to just 0.1 % by the end of the project in 2002. Such a marginal effect on the budget is well within the fiscal capability of the government, and is readily sustainable. Within the education sector budget, the share of GEP2 is 1.6% at project commencement in 1998, reaches a peak in 1999 at 4% and gradually decreases thereafter to 1.5% by 2002. In financial terrns, this is a relatively small share of the sector budget and within the absorptive capacity of the sector. 52 Annex 5 SRI LANKA SECOND GENERAL EDUCATION PROJECT Project Processing Budget and Schedule Planned Actual Project Budget (US$000): BB 344.2 TF 410.8 Project Schedule: Time taken to prepare the project (months) 12 12 First Bank mission (preparation) 05/03/96 10/30/96 Appraisal Mission Departure 10/07/96 06/23/97 Negotiations 02/16/97 10/14/97 Planned Date of Effectiveness 02/25/98 Prepared by: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Preparation assistance: PHRD TF022592 & TF029471 Bank staff who worked on the project included: Core team members: Albert Aime, Sr. Education Planner; Mohammed Allak, Economist; Starlet Vedamuthu, Administrative Assistant (SASED); Harsha Aturupane, Consultant, Economist; Bernard Masters, Malcolm Mercer, Ralph Rawlinson, Consultants, Education Specialists. Extended team: Rozena Serrano assisted with report processing. Peer reviewers: B. Laporte (HDDED); W. Rees (EAlHR); D. Rouag (AFTH2) 53 Annex 6 Page 1 of 9 SRI LANKA SECOND GENERAL EDUCATION PROJECT Procurement Plan and Schedule Procurement 1. The procurement methods applicable to the various expenditure categories are summarized in Table A. TABLE A: Project Costs by Procurement Arrangements (US$ million) I________ Procurement Method ._ICB NCB Other N.B.F. Total A. CIVIL WORKS 3.6 14.6 - - 18.2 (2.7) (10.8) (13.4) B. GOODS & MATERIALS EQUIPMENT 12.1 8.5 2.3 0.2 23.0 (11.6) (8.1) (2.2) (21.8) FURNITURE - 4.6 - 4.6 (4.0) (4.0) VEHICLES - 0.1 - 0.1 0.3 (0.1) (0.1) SURVEYS & PLANS - 0.4 - 0.4 (0.3) (0.3) LIBRARY BOOKS - - 3.7 - 3.7 (3.5) (3.5) PRINTING & PRODUCTION OF ED. - 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.6 MATERIALS (0.2) (0.0) (0.3) TEXTBOOK WRITING & PUBLICATION - 10.1 - 10.1 (9.1) (9.1) C. CONSULTANT SERVICES INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT 2.3 - 2.6 4.9 (2.3) (2.3) NATIONAL CONSULTANT 2.1 - 0.1 2.2 (2.1) (2.1) D. FELLOWSHIPS & TRAINING IN-COUNTRY TRAINING - - 5.9 - 5.9 (5.9) (5.9) REGIONAL TRAINING - - 1.8 - 1.8 (1.8) (1.8) INTERNATIONAL TRAINING - - 1.1 1.4 2.5 (1.1) (1.1) FELLOWSHIPS & STUDY TOUR - - 0.6 - 0.6 (0.6) (0.6) WORKSHOPS & PUBLIC AWARENESS - - 2.7 0.3 2.9 (2.7) (2.7) E. STUDIES - - 07 - 0.7 (0.7) (0.7) F. PROJECT COORDINATING UNIT - - 1.0 - 1.0 l (0.5) (0.5) Total 18.0 40.2 20.2 4.9 83.4 -- I__ __ _ (16.5) (34.3) (19.4) (70.3) Note: Figures in parenthesis are the respective amounts financed by Intemational Development Association. Includes international and local shopping, direct purchase, negotiations with book and software publishers, in accordance with Association guidelines and selection of fellows under current and proposed govemment administrative procedures. b/ Not IDA financed. 54 Annex 6 Page 2 of 9 Table B: Procurement Threshold and Prior Review Requirements Procurement Threshold Percentage Type of Contract Total Costs Prior Review foreign and Project including Type of Procurement Requirement as % of Responsive Category Contract Value Contingencies ICB NCB Other Contract Value Total Agency >$1,000,000 3.8 X All Contracts MEHE Civil works =l<$1,000,000 14.6 X First 2 contracts 25 & (Packages of in each province, all PEAs =I>$100,000) contracts =/>$300,000 >$50,000 12.1 X =/'$50,000 8.5 X All ICB Contracts, MEHE Equipment package under First 2 Contracts 70 & $50,000 up to 2.3 Interational in each province, PEAS aggregate of Shopping =I>$100,000 $500,000 (3 Quota.) 0.2 DFID (ODA) Requirement First Two Tender Exceptional Documents and Fumiture 4.6 X Cases all contracts MEHE & National =fr$100,000 prior PEAS Shopping review SLFO 15 =/<$100,000 0.13 X Tender Doc. =/>$100,000 Vehicles 0.13 DFID (ODA) 100 MEHE Requirement Dir. Contract. MEHE & Surveys & Plans 0.4 _ForceAcct. =>$1 00,000 0 PEAs Dir. ContractV Library Books 3.7 Pro-frmia 51 MEHE Inv. 0.2 X Printing & Prod. of 0.1 Nat.Shopping =1>$100,000 Education Mater. 0.3 DFID (ODA) 0 ME-HE _________ __________ ______ Requirement Textbook Writing Contract Formats & Publication 10.1 X =/>$100,000 0 MEHE All TORs 2.3 Intema. TORS Firms =/>$100,000 Consultant 2.1 National . ndivid. =]>$50,000 69 MEHE Services 2.7 DFID (ODA) Requirement 3.5 TORs Annual Plans 100 MEHE Extemal Training 1.4 DFID (ODA) Requirement In-Country MEHE Training/ Workshops & 8.6 Dir. Contract. Annual Plans 0 & Public Awareness 0.3 DFID (ODA) PEAs Requirement Studies 0.7 Intma. National Yes All TORs 29 MEHE & PEAs PCU 1.0 Yes 20 MEHE 55 Annex 6 Page 3 of 9 2. Procurement thresholds and prior review requirements and the Government's procurement capacity are outlined in Table B above. The total civil works cost of about US$18.2 million will be for new construction, major extensions and renovations of schools based on zonal plans under the new school structure ofjunior and senior groupings and for NILIS at the University of Colombo and will be awarded on the basis of national competitive bidding (NCB) procedures for any contracts equal to or below US$1.0 million and international competitive bidding (ICB) procedures for any contracts above US$1.0 million. The NCB contracts shall be grouped in bid packages estimated to cost US$ 100,000 equivalent or more each. The NCB contract bids would not preclude foreign bidders. For the NCB and ICB tenders, documents based on IDA Standard Bidding Documentation were reviewed and approved by IDA in early 1997 and are ready for use (already in use for TETD project). Standard designs for classrooms, laboratories, multi-purpose rooms, latrines and furniture have been prepared and are available in the provinces, thus allowing civil works tenders to be called immediately after project effectiveness and upon review and following review of zonal construction plans By IDA. Construction plans for about eight zones will be ready by the time of negotiations and tendered immediately upon project effectiveness (illegal to do prior to effectiveness by law in Sri Lanka) and used as model for subsequent awards in the other zones. IDA's prior approval will be required for all tender documents, all contracts under ICB, the first two contracts in each of the provinces, and any contracts equal to or above US$300,000. 3. Equipment, such as computers, data processing, paper testing, mini-laboratory, mathematics, primary science, audio-visual, roneo machines & stencil cutter, duplicators, fax machine, photocopier, and printer, amounting to about US$12.1 million, will be procured using ICB (about 15 packages). Other equipment, such as telephones, office furniture and equipment, library, instructional, filing cabinets and file folders, amounting to about US$8.5 million, will be procured through NCB (about 100 packages) by MEHE and PEAs. In addition, about US$2.3 million of equipment, using 30 contracts, would be procured on the basis of international shopping. Equipment estimated to cost less than US$50,000 per package and aggregating to US$500,000 considered to be procured under international shopping would be on the basis of quotations from a minimum of three suppliers. The Department of Foreign & International Development's (DFID) US$0.2 million financing of equipment will follow DFID's procurement guidelines. 4. The threshold for IDA's prior approval will be required for all contracts that are equal to or above US$300,000 for works, US$100,000 for goods, US$100,000 for consulting firms, and US$50,000 for individual consultant services. 5. The procurement of furniture for schools is estimated at about US$4.6 million. All of this would be procured on the basis of NCB by grouping schools in the same zones. This procurement will be undertaken by PEAs following MEHE supervision and the first two tender documents and all contracts equal to or above US$100,000 will be subject to IDA prior review. In some exceptional cases, furniture will be procured by national shopping, with a cumulative value of US$1.0 million. 6. US$0.1 million of the total estimated cost of US$0.2 million for vehicles would be used to procure vehicles on the basis of NCB with the first two tender documents subject to IDA prior review, and the remaining US$0.1 million, DFID's portion, will be used following DFID's procurement guidelines. The value per contract under NCB is estimated to cost $100,000 equivalent or less. 56 Annex 6 Page 4 of 9 7. Direct contracting and force account will be used to finance the estimated cost of about US$0.4 million to carry out surveys and formulate plans. 8. Textbook Writing & Publication, Library Books, and Printing & Production of Education Materials: Textbooks supply would be tendered using NCB procedures acceptable to IDA. Contracts would be tendered for textbook writing, publishing, printing and distribution without precluding foreign bidders. Contract formats would be agreed to by IDA, and only contracts prepared using the agreed format would be funded by the project. A minimum of three proposals (pro-forma invoices) should be obtained to ensure best market prices while ensuring suitable compatibility with existing systems. The project would supplement the present MERE budget line items for writing, publication, and printing of textbooks and teacher guides (estimated to cost US$10.1 million) to ensure improvement of the quality of textbooks contracted to private sector firms or joint Government and private sector publishers/printers and in a few cases the Government printer. The goal of the project would be to reach by year 2002 the target of having 100 percent contracting for textbook writing, 80 percent for publishing, 70 percent for printing and 100 percent for distribution. Library books and educational materials including computer software (estimated to cost US$3.7 million) would be procured directly from the publishers on the basis of pro-forma invoices. Library books would be purchased following negotiations for volume/quantities. Whenever two or more similar books exist, comparative bids would be sought from a minimum of two publishers. Printing and production of education materials conracts (estimated at US$0.6 million) would be awarded on the basis of national shopping with quotations from a minimum of three printers (including regional bidders) for a total of US$0.1 million, using NCB for a total of US$0.2 million, and following DFID's procurement guidelines for a total of US$0.3 million. 9. For ICB procurement, the standard IDA ICB bidding documentation would be used, with prior review of bidding documentation by the Association. Contracts for goods and equipment estimated to cost US$100,000 or more and for civil works contracts estimated to cost US$300,000 or more will be subject to IDA prior review. Based on project experience, the Government has the capacity to undertake the procurement activities. For all NCB procurement the standard national bidding documentation (ICTAD), agreed to by IDA, would be used. 10. Consultant services: The types of consultants and technical assistance and terms of reference are outlined in the PIP. Consultant costs are estimated at US$7.1 million with US$4.4 million IDA financing, 100 percent, and US$2.7 million DFID financing, which will follow DFID procurement guidelines. IDA's portion of consultants would be selected in accordance with the Association's Guidelines for the Use of Consultants. Consultant contracts, local and international, would result from competition based on selection criteria and specific terms of reference. In order to develop shortlists, GOSL will request expressions of interest from suitable firms through advertisement in the Development Business. All international consultants will be selected using competitive procedures acceptable to IDA. The consultant TORs would be reviewed by IDA prior to tendering. Contracts with consulting firms costing equivalent or more than US$100,000 and contracts for individual consultants costing equivalent or more than US$50,000 would be subject to prior review by the Association. For national consultancies, three firms, institutions, or specialists would be sought based on advertised criteria and terms of references. For specific subjects (upgrading and on-the-job training of national teacher 57 Annex 6 Page 5 of 9 educators), international technical assistance and consultancies based on comparative cost estimates would be sought from potential link institutions and institutions/specialists located in a minimum of two countries. 11. Training and Fellowships estimated at US$13.8 million will cover in-country and out of country training, fellowships and workshops/seminars. About US$5.9 million has been allocated for in-country training of senior staff with focus on curriculum, publication, management and financing aspects; about US$1.8 million for training in the region and US$3.1 million--DFID's portion US$1.4 million--in OECF countries for fellowships, short-term training and study tours; and about US$3.0 million--DFID's portion US$0.3million--for national workshops, seminars and public awareness campaigns. Training activities will be based on TORs, needs assessments, course outlines, and criteria based proposals reviewed by IDA. Courses will be linked to MEHE, PEA and zonal reform plans prepared for the first two years of the project during appraisal and agreed to during negotiations and annually thereafter. External training will be based on agreed programs, timetables, detailed course outlines. All candidate selections will be based on the selection criteria outlined in the PIP. Annual training programs will be prepared and be subject to IDA review. All courses and workshops will be required to include monitoring measures, establish and retain training records and undertake course evaluations. Formal training agreements with link institutions will be subject to prior review by IDA. National Training proposals are outlined in the PIP, and implementation would be subject to IDA prior review. Training expenditures would be based on agreed annual rates or unit costs covering expenditures for course operation, trainee stipends, travel and lodging and for monitoring activities. Following IDA review, training activities could also cover inter- institution seminars and visits to the link institutions. Lists of seminars, workshops and expected costs, would be reviewed annually. Payments for training programs would be linked to the agreed annual plans and payment on receipts and statements of expenditures acceptable to IDA. Fellowships would be awarded under govermnent procedures and criteria acceptable to the Association and in concurrence with the staff development plan agreed during negotiations. 12. Government Procurement Capacity to handle the procurement proposed under the project is still weak although improving. All tenders undertaken for education have been decentralized to the MEHE Tender Committee. Following discussions undertaken during GEP1 and TETD, MEHE has agreed to the following adjustments during the project: * to continue to implement, as per the TETD project, the operation of three or four permanent technical committees (area and subject based). Both committees (tender and technical) should meet jointly, reducing the time lag for tender preparation and analysis. For all tenders, time periods would be agreed to and clear time limits would be given and processing steps agreed to; * The IDA bidding documentation would be used for both ICB and NCB tenders; * MEHE would establish procurement preparation and review calendars and respect the tender periods. Technical assistance would be sought to assist with the development of improved tender, contracting and delivery documentation. In addition, impact analysis of equipment and materials delivered would be undertaken to maximize investments; * Based on the availability of civil works and goods bidding documents (already agreed to by IDA); level of readiness of civil works designs, equipment and quality inputs; availability of lists of fellowships and TORs for all the proposed technical assistance; lists of training programs (except management which will depend on survey) which have all been defined and are included in the PIP; and the appointment of a National Education Reform Unit 58 Annex 6 Page 6 of 9 within MEHE, the project is judged to be suitably ready for implementation and GOSL capacity, although still weak, have been suitably addressed. 13. For studies (estimated at US$0.7 million), consultants would be recruited according to IDA guidelines. All studies will be based on terms of references included in the PIP. 14. To achieve the above, the PCU would be staffed with a director, an accountant and a trained procurement officer. These posts would be filled prior to and at a minimum by project effectiveness to ensure timely implementation of the large tender and procurement activities planned. 15. The following pages outline the procurement schedule of the project. 59 Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Second General Education Project Procurement Schedule 1998 1 1999 2000 2001 2002 ID Tas_kiame Qtr1 Qtr Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Qtr1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Qtrtr Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Otr I Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 |Qtr1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 I Civil Works t 2 Tendering & Evaluatio 6 Award i - j 10 Contract Signing I . 14 Start-up & Complete 18 19 Goods & Materials 20 Equipment 21 Tendering & Eval. 22 Award 23 Equipment 24 Tendering & Eval. 25 Award 26 Fumiture 27 Tendenng & Eval. 28 Award . 29 Fumiture 30 Tendering & Eval. 31 Award 32 Task Summary Rolled Up Progress P Project: Procurement Schedule _______ Date-. Tue 10/21/97 Progress Rolled Up Task _ X Milestone Rolled Up Milestone K o Page 1 Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Second General Education Project Procurement Schedule 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 ID Task Name Qtr Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 |tr1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Qtr Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Qtr I Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Qtr 1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 33 Vehicles 34 Tendering & Eval. 35 Award 36 Contract Signing 37 Books ; 38 Tendering & Eval. 42 Award 46 Contract Signing I , 50 Printing&Other Ed. Mat ' 51 Tendering & Eval. 57 Award 63 Contract Signing 69 Textbook Writg&Public 70 Tendering & Eval. 76 Award i 82 Contract Signing 88 89 Consultant Services _ . 90 Intenational I I 91 Tendering & Eval. Task Summary Rolled Up Progress Project: Procurement Schedule OJQ : Progress Rolled Up Task M M Date: Tue 10121197 > 0' Milestone Rolled Up Milestone 0 M Page 2 O Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Second General Education Project Procurement Schedule 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 ID Task Name Qtr I Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Otr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr I Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 97 Award 103 National i 104 Tendering & Eval. 110 Award 116 117 Fellowships & Training 118 In-Country Training _ - - _ 125 Workshops i I | i I 141 E-ttmal Training 142 Tendering & Eval. _ s 146 Award I I | 161 Studies 152 163 Project Coordinating Unit Task Summary _ Rolled Up Progress Project: Procurement Schedule P r gesRldUTs___ Progress Rolled Up Task Q Date: Tue 10/21/97 X Milestone Rolled Up Milestone K> 0 Page 3 Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Second General Education Project Implementation Schedule (See PIP for details of each component schedule) 1998 | 1999 2000 2001 2002 ID Task Name Duration Start Finish Qtr 1 |Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4JQtr 1 |Qtr 2|Qtr 3SQtr 4 Qtr 1 |Qtr 21Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 lQtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 |Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 I Curriculum Development 1304d Fri 112198 Tue 12131102 ; ' 2 Policy & Planning 522d Fri 1/Z'98 Fri 12V3199 - ! 3 Syllabi Revi.&Mat.Produc. 1240d Wed 411/98 Tue 12/31/02 4 Equipment Procurement 324d Fri 1/2/98 Tue 3/30/99 5 Fellowships Overseas 1304d Fri 1/2/98 Tue 12/31/02. 6 In-Country Training 1304d Fri 1/2/98 Tue 12/31/02' 7 Evaluation & Monitoring 1160d Mon 4/6/98 Fri 9/13102 13 Educational Publications 1272d Mon 2116/98 Tue 12131102 _ 14 Publication Policy 163d Mon 2/16/98 Wed 9/30/98 15 EPD Refurb.,Equip.&Fum. 588d Wed 4/1/98 Fri 6/30/00 _ _ i 16 Staffing Requisities 783d Wed 4/1/98 Fri 3/30/01 . _ i 17 Training 1240d Wed 4/1/98 Tue 12/31/02 18 School Rationalization 1304d Fri 1/2198 Tue 12131/02 19 Policy & Zonal Plans 261d Fri 1/2198 Thu 12/31/98 20 Equipment 64d Fri 1/2/98 Tue 3/31/98 21 Classroom Construc., ld Fri 1/2198 Fri 1/2198 22 Renova., & Fumiture 1175d Wed 7/1/98 Tue 12131/02 23 Library Construc.&Fumi. 1175d Wed 7/1/98 Tue 12V31/02 I 24 MaintenanceTraining 1042d Mon 1/4/99 Tue 12131/02 25 , 26 . Task Summary Rolled Up Progress O Project: Implementation Schedule 1h X Date: Tue 9/23/97 Progress Rolled Up Task w Milestone Rolled Up Milestone Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Second General Education Project Implementation Schedule (See PIP for details of each component schedule) 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 ID Task Name Duration Start Finish tr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 27 Quality Inputs 1304d Fri 112198 Tue 12131/02 28 Inventory & Zonal Plans 1172d Fri 112/98 Fri 6128102 29 Equip.&Materials Procure. 1304d Fri 1/2/98 Tue 12/31/02 30 Training ,32d Thu 411/99 Fri 3/29/02 i 31 Monitoring & Research 914d Thu 711/99 Tue 12/31/02 32 Libraries 1304d Fri 1/2/98 Tue 12131/02 33 Policy 129d Fri 1/2/98 Tue 6/30/98 34 Book Procurement 520d Mon 1/4/99 Fri 12129/00 I 35 Reading Stimulation 1240d Wed 4/1/98 Tue 12/31/02 36 Training & Staff Develop. 1108d Wed 4/1/98 Fri 6/28/02 a 37 NILIS 1304d Fri 1/2198 Tue 12131/02 _ 38 Design & Construc. 261d Fri 1/2/98 Thu 12/31/98 39 Equip., Fumi.&Books 66d Thu 10/1/98 Thu 12/31/98 40 Link Institutions 66d Thu 10/1/98 Thu 12/31/98 - 41 Staff Development 1304d Fri 1/2/98 Tue 12/31/02 42 43 44 |- l 45 46 47 oQ 00 Task Summary _ Rolled Up Progress -hX Date Tue 9/23/97 ~~Progress Rolled Up Task Milestone *Rolled Up Milestone