75657 February 2013 · Number 94 CAPACITY BUILDING UNDER REIMBURSABLE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS: THE CASE OF OMAN’S EDUCATION SECTOR Lianqin Wang1 and Bank teams should be specified at each phase of the project. Although the Bank team Introduction: A World Bank team worked closely leads the technical aspects and brings in with the Ministry of Education (MoE) on the Oman international experience, the government Education Sector Study which was launched in should be in the driver’s seat and clearly October 2012. The Minister of Education articulate its vision and expectations. Needless expressed, at different occasions, her appreciation to say, the quality of the final product is a for both the product of this collaboration and its shared responsibility between both teams. process. It was a very rewarding experience for the World Bank team and the following is an (2) Close Collaboration between the Teams: The attempt to summarize the main lessons learned Bank and government teams should be true from this project2. partners working closely throughout the project. For this Oman project, the MoE and Under the Reimbursable Technical Assistance Bank teams worked closely on every step of the (RTA) program, the Bank provides knowledge study, starting with conceptualization, though support to a range of countries in the MENA region preparation, completion, and dissemination. and beyond. The report Education in Oman: The In-depth discussions between the teams were Drive for Quality is a product of a RTA project, held on data collection, data analysis, which provides a comprehensive review of the stakeholder consultation, report writing Oman pre-tertiary education and offers policy (including revisions), and the development of recommendations in light of international policy options. experiences. There are certain key steps in ensuring that the World Bank delivers a quality (3) A Focus on Capacity Building: Capacity product and transfers knowledge to our partners, building took place throughout the project, including: mainly through a learning-by-doing approach. Each Bank team member worked with a small (1) Clear Roles and Responsibilities for the Bank group of MoE members (3-6 people) on specific and Government Teams: The success of an areas (there were a total of 6 sub-groups), RTA project relies not just on the Bank team which resulted in in-depth discussions and skill but also on the government. The establishment transfer. In addition, members of the Bank of a government counterpart team, led by a team delivered workshops, mini-courses and very high-level and committed official, should made broad presentations to the whole of the be agreed during the project design stage. Clear counterpart team or with subgroups presenting roles and responsibilities for the government to the government counterparts on education issues and looking at the analytical 1 Lianqin Wang, Senior Education Specialist, Middle East and methodology that was being utilized. Through North Africa Region (MENA), Human Development and these exchanges, the MoE teams gained Education Unit (MNSHE), The World Bank. This Fast Brief was substantial knowledge in the subject areas cleared by Mourad Ezzine, Sector Manager for MNSHE and Jamal Al-Kibbi, Program Manager, Gulf Countries Program, The related to their on-going job responsibilities. World Bank (MNSCA5). The MoE team members learned key aspects of 2 The World Bank task team included Lianqin Wang (Task Team policy analysis, an experience which prompted Leader), Vincent Greaney, Benoit Millot, Aidan Mulkeen, Laura Gregory, Sam Mikhail, and Hiromichi Katayama the Ministry to recognize specific areas in need of further development and to seek additional validity of its findings are the most important capacity building support following the considerations. The Oman project produced a completion of the study. main report (in both English and Arabic) and a stand-alone summary report (also in both The skills and international knowledge gained languages) that took stock of the state of by the government staff during these activities education in Oman; presented a diagnostic gives them the capacity to go on and lead analysis; and proposed policy options to similar exercises within their respective address key issues. The report included a departments in the MoE as well as passing on detailed matrix of policy recommendations for their skills and knowledge to others. For MoE the MoE showing: an outline of the policy the capacity building efforts appears to have recommendation, the rationale, the responsible contributed to a sense of ownership and agencies, and the time frame. The Bank team motivation, and a commitment to follow also participated in a formal project launch in through on the findings of the study. In short, October 2012 and responded to questions emphasis on capacity building brought added value raised by some of the over three-hundred that was deemed unique to the Bank. educators in attendance, as well as a number of ministers. Subsequent communications with Budgeting for Capacity Building and government the MoE indicated the high value that it placed team’s full involvement - Since capacity building on the study’s approach, its technical takes time, especially when the counterpart soundness, and its practical recommendations. team has little experience in the methods to be used, it is advisable to budget additional Full report available in in English, along with months in the contract. In our case, the summaries in English and Arabic. counterpart team felt a strong sense of responsibility and took long periods of time to carefully review and comment on each draft of Contact MNA K&L the report. The Bank team remained supportive Director, MNAOS: Gerard Bayam and encouraged the counterpart team to spend time to digest, to reflect, to question and to Regional Knowledge and Learning Team: make useful suggestions for revisions. Omer Karasapan and Roby Fields Tel #: (202) 473 8177 (4) A Skillful, Dedicated, and Cohesive Team. Given that the project required a MNA K&L Fast Briefs: comprehensive review of the Oman education http://go.worldbank.org/OXADZV71I0 sector, we selected a number of high-caliber consultants for the team to cover the main areas The MNA Fast Briefs are intended to summarize of expertise needed and a couple of excellent lessons learned from MNA and other Bank younger consultants to support the quantitative Knowledge and Learning activities. The briefs do analysis needed. As a result, we had a strong not necessarily reflect the views of the World technical team with mixed skills which, by Bank, its board or its member countries and they virtue of experience and expertise, was well are intended for internal World Bank equipped to provide policy advice, carry out dissemination only. difficult technical discussions, offer capacity building, and help produce high quality products. The team had to be flexible in its approaches and was required from time-to- time to adjust its approaches based on the quality of available data, information gathered from stakeholder meetings, and in some instances, the government’s changing priorities. The Team had a high level of professionalism to deal with expected and unexpected demands. (5) Focus on Results. In the final analysis, the quality and relevance of the study and the February 2013 · Number 94 · 2