PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: 88947 Project Name Early Childhood Care and Development for Floating Villages Project Region EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC Country Kingdom of Cambodia Sector Sector: Education (100%) Theme Education For All (100%) Project ID P146085 Parent Project ID Borrower(s) Save the Children Implementing Agency Save the Children Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] Date PID Prepared June 27, 2014 Date of Appraisal June 30, 2014 Authorization Date of Board Approval N/A 1. Country and Sector Background Country Context Despite a decade of robust growth, Cambodia is still one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. Approximately 20 percent of Cambodia’s population earns less than US$1 per day, and about 24 percent of its citizens live below the poverty line. Daily life is characterized by vulnerability due to poverty, the existence of landmines, disability, and a high incidence of mortality and morbidity, the effects of which are exacerbated by the lack of effective social safety nets. One quarter of all households are headed by females, and 59 percent of the population relies on agriculture for their livelihood. The Kingdom of Cambodia (KOC) and the donor community are working together to address many of these issues, and some success has been achieved over the past five years. During this time, poverty has been reduced by more than 60 percent in Phnom Penh and 44 percent in other urban areas. However, poverty reduction was significantly smaller in rural areas – about 22 percent. Sectoral and Institutional Contexts The KOC in its efforts to reduce poverty and increase prosperity, has recognized the key importance of education within overall national development. The National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2006-13 put forth a rectangular strategy, which emphases the importance of human resource development centering on development of the education sector as the key to strengthening the foundations of the national human resources. Responding to the NSDP, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) developed the Education Strategic Plan (ESP), which has focused on two key issues: the achievement of universal access to high quality basic education; and the promotion of equity in educational opportunities to increase income and employment. This focus stems directly from recent sector trends. Net enrollments at the primary and secondary levels have increased over the past two decades (from 83.8 percent in 1992 to 96.4 percent in 2012 in primary, and from 16.6 percent in 2000 to 35.1 percent in 2012 in secondary). Similarly positive achievements have occurred earlier in the education cycle. The early childhood education (ECE) enrollment rate for 5-year old children improved from 24.6 percent in 2004 to 52.7 percent in 2012. Household data from the Cambodia Social and Economic Survey further confirms that the average entry age to Grade 1 declined from 7.8 years of age in 2004 to 6.9 years in 2011. Although socio-economic, rural and gender gaps in educational attainment exist, these gaps have generally been reduced over the last decade. This is particularly true at the primary level given the MOEYS’s prioritization of gender equity and pro- poor policies. The expansion of access and the improvement of quality in Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) that started with the adoption of the ESP have been supported by Cambodia’s Education for All Fast-Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) Project (2008-2012) and will be continuously supported by Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Second Education Sector Support Project (SESSP) (2014-2017). SESSP will follow-up on the ECCD component of the EFA-FTI. The proposed Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) for Floating Villages Project also seeks to strengthen and build on the achievements of the EFA-FTI grant. By supporting ECCD for 0-5 year olds and thus improving access to quality education for a major disadvantaged population, it will also further goals outlined in the SESSP. More specifically, the ECCD for Floating Villages Project will complement the geographic and technical gaps within SESSP related to ECCD specifically. Early Childhood Education Sub-Sector While Cambodia has made remarkable progress in expanding access and improving the quality of its basic education, fundamental gaps in provision remain, particularly in early childhood. Currently 77.5 percent of Cambodia’s three to four year-olds do not have access to ECE due to the lack of pre-school facilities. If unaddressed, this can have far-reaching consequences: children who lack access to ECCD services, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, will face lower school readiness, leading to lower student achievement, increased probability of dropout, and a decline in overall educational quality. Further, for those who lack access, there is also a lack of information on disparities on key child development indicators (weight, height, social/emotion, and cognitive development) that help gauge the efficacy, strengths, and weaknesses of the ECCD system nationwide. Overall educational attainment in Cambodia remains low and the country faces significant challenges in reaching its goal of universal basic education. ECCD is seen as one potential means of improving these conditions. Most of the recent gains made in primary net enrollment rates can be attributed to a net gain in the proportion of children that enter school for short duration, many of whom are over-age and at high risk of dropping out, rather than those who will stay longer and complete primary education. Thus survival rate from Grade 1 to Grade 6 still remains low at only 57.1%1. At the same time, repetition and drop-out rates from Grade 1 to Grade 2 remain 1 World Bank Staff estimates based on EMIS from 2007 to 2012 (MoEYS). very high 19.6%2. Internationally, ECCD has been proven to be a tool to promote right age enrolment to Grade 1 as well as to reduce dropping out during primary education cycles. 2. Objectives The Project Development Objective is to improve access to quality Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) services through community and home-based programs for 0 to 5-year- olds, particularly for those from disadvantaged background, in the targeted areas. The higher level objectives of the project are inclusive growth and the reduction of inequality. This will contribute to the Government’s efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)’s for basic education, health, and poverty reduction goals by making ECCD services available to the disadvantaged. 3. Project Description This project aims to complement activities related to the implementation of the ECCD program in particularly challenging social and geographical conditions. It also aims at extending it to provinces not covered by the recently-approved Second Education Sector Support Project (SESSP), which will contain substantial provisions to support ECCD, or other similar programs funded by other development partners. The floating ECCD model utilizes innovative strategies, is the first of its kind, and will be implemented by the experienced international NGO, Save the Children (SC). SC will be the grant recipient, and implement the project in close collaboration with the relevant local and national stakeholders. The project is comprised of the following components: Component 1: Promoting access to ECCD services (US$968,966) The objective of this component is to provide low-cost community and home-based ECCD programs for children and parents around the floating communities living on the Tonle Sap River and Lake. The project will have a special focus on disadvantaged and marginalized children. The component includes support for three activities; (i) construction of 20 ECCD centers3 for Community Based (CB) ECCD programs (10 floating centers and 10 on-shore centers); (ii) establishment of 880 Home Based (HB) ECCD programs; and (iii) creation of commune based networking for supporting and managing ECCD services in the commune. The CB ECCD program will provide center based activities for children ages 3 to 5, while HB ECCD programs are led by local “Core Mothers” to organize regular meetings with parents of children ages 0 to 5 from the village. Those ECCD programs have a holistic approach, addressing the mutually inter-dependent domains necessary for the development and nurturing of young children: education, nutrition, protection, care and development. In addition to 2 EMIS 2012-2013 (MoEYS) 3 In Cambodia, community based ECCD centers serve as venue for implementation of ECCD programs including pre-school classes, training sessions, awareness raising and other development related activities, while home based ECCD programs are implemented by trained core-mothers for neighborhood mothers who have 0 to 5 years old children. establishing these ECCD programs, this component will seek to establish village based networks and core neighborhood resource groups for extending and monitoring the ECCD programs and sharing experiences among the community members. Component 2: Providing quality child-friendly ECCD program (US$651,085) This component will focus on creating an enabling, child friendly environment that incorporates child participation, play and learning, stimulation, care and protection both at home and in the constructed ECCD centers. This component supports two activities: (i) building capacity of facilitators of CB ECCD centers as well as government officials for improving CB ECCD Program; (ii) conducting training sessions for core-mothers group leader parents on child friendly HB ECCD program implementation; (iii) organizing maternal literacy program for promoting ECCD activities, and (iv) conducting community seminar on health, nutrition and hygiene for poorest families. ECCD facilitators, formal teachers from MoEYS, volunteer teachers from the communities and health workers will be trained and provided the necessary resources for CB program to encourage children to be active through play and learning, organised arts, and reading-related activities, providing them with opportunities to participate in daily interaction with their siblings and parents related to child development, health and nutrition. Core Mothers and group leader parents will also be trained and provided the essential resources to promote better care and stimulation to young children in the neighborhood through HB program. This component also will also work to link parents' literacy with content knowledge on child rearing practices and ECCD. In addition, this component will provide health, nutrition and hygiene capacity building for poorest family representatives through NGOs. Component 3: Strengthening capacity of government and community structures (US$403,200) This component will contribute to effective implementation of ECCD policies focusing on children’s holistic development through strengthening the linkages between government and communities. This component will include support to three activities: (i) strengthening local structures and capacity of government, communities and NGOs to support ECCD program implementation, (ii) strengthening ECCD networking and coordination among all stakeholders and, (iii) facilitating advocacy activities. The existing government structure at the community level is known as the Commune Council. Each Commune Council has a Committee for Women and Children (CCWC) who is in charge of all issues related to women and children in their community. Their role includes promoting maternal and child health, community preschool, child protection and gender. The CCWC will be encouraged to hold regular meetings to discuss, update and take action about children and women issues in the community. Component 4: Project management and M&E (US$766,749) This component consists of two activities: (i) facilitating project management, including advocacy-related activities, and (ii) undertaking results-based monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the program. The Results-Based M&E plan will be developed at the start of the project implementation through a participatory process, led by the SC Education Manager. POE staff will participate in the M&E plan development together with any other stakeholders in the process (e.g. NGOs). The Results-Based M&E plan will be monitored on a regular basis. 4. Financing The project is expected to be financed by a US$2.79 million grant from the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF). The lending instrument is Investment Project Financing. The project will finance works, goods, services, and incremental operating costs. Project Cost and Financing Project cost (M Project Components Grant Financing % Financing USD) Components 1. Promoting of access to ECCD 0.97 0.97 100% services 2. Providing quality child-friendly 0.65 0.65 100% ECCD program 3. Strengthening capacity of 0.40 0.40 100% government and community structures 0.77 0.77 100% 4. Project management and M&E 2.79 2.79 100% Total Baseline Costs Total Project Costs 2.79 2.79 Interest During Implementation Total Financing Required 2.79 2.79 100% 5. Implementation Institutional and Implementation Arrangements The Early Childhood Care and Development for Floating Villages Project will be implemented at provincial, district and school levels in targeted areas in Kampong Chhnang and Pursat province. The project will run over a period of three years with the expected start date being summer 2014. SC in Cambodia will assume overall responsibility for management, coordination and implementation of the program, including procurement, disbursement and financial management. A SC project implementation team will be established, consisting of a Project Manager (new recruitment under the project) based in the Area Office West (covering Kampong Chhnang, Pursat and Koh Kong). The Project Manager will be directly responsible for the implementation of the project. The Project Manager has two Project Officers reporting to him/her, based in Kampong Chhnang and Pursat respectively. To support the financial and administrative aspects of the field implementation, a Project Administration staff and Finance Assistant will be based in the Area Office. The Early Childhood Education Department of MoEYS (ECED/MoEYS) will be working closely with project to: (i) provide technical inputs to the design of ECCD centres; (ii) developing and adopting HB ECCD training curriculum in the floating area; (iii) provide technical capacity building to Provincial Office of Education (POE) and District Office of Education (DOE), and Early Childhood Education trainers; (iv) provide technical inputs to teaching material development; (v) participate in documentation of project good practice to share with other development partners and replicate to other provinces; and (vi) conduct spot checks and monitor to get feedback from schools and communities on quality of POEs’ and DOEs’ support. The POEs will coordinate with the following groups to support project implementation: ECCD focal staff at POEs and DOEs, school principals and teachers under the POEs of Kampong Chhnang and Pursat, counterparts in other sectors (health, Women and Social Affairs), and the communities. The ECCD focal staff at POE and DOE, who receives capacity building from MoEYS and SC, will be mainly involved in on-going project training to Core Mothers and parent group leaders on relevant topics such as child development, health and nutrition, and protection. They will also build capacity of the HB ECCD facilitators and CB ECCD Centre facilitators on delivery mechanism and ECCD centre services delivery, in addition to monitoring the operation and quality of ECCD services in the centres. ECCD focal staff at POE and DOE also will conduct consultation meetings with parents, children and community/local authorities to get their feedback and progress in order to improve training delivery and ECCD services. The participation of communities, especially of parents and families, has been central in the project design and will continue to be during implementation. Commune Council and School Support Committee, both of which are composed of representatives of community members, will support the implementation team of the project, conduct annual project reviews and develop annual project implementation plan. Results Monitoring and Evaluation SC project office and relevant provincial offices of MoEYS will monitor the indicators of the project; this will be done within the Results Framework and Monitoring of the project as well as in accordance with the annual operation plan. The data related to output indicators will be provided semi-annually, while SC and MoEYS will provide outcome-related data annually. The progress in meeting target indicators will be reviewed by the Bank semi-annually. All data collected will be disaggregated by gender and in some cases by district, in order to understand and respond to specific issues. JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Cambodia office has agreed that one volunteer will be sent to Kampong Chhnang POE to be in charge of M&E of educational activities included in this project. 6. Sustainability SC will implement this project with a high level of participation and contribution from local authorities and communities in order to promote ownership and long-term sustainability. Strategic linkages with relevant Ministries, NGOs, and communities will be established to promote a holistic approach towards self-sustainable system development. Drawing on SC’s experience, a priority will be to strengthen government structures to plan, deliver and monitor these programs effectively. At the same time, strengthening community capacity will be a focus for generating further support and ownership. The local capacity of CCWC, schools and local authorities to facilitate the provision of comprehensive ECCD services will be strengthened with the support of local NGOs, Provincial and District Departments of Education, health and CCWC. These linkages between the community structures and the government systems will greatly assist coordination, sensitivity, and receptiveness to ECCD interventions in the target communities. SC has already agreed with POEs and communities that official teachers or community teachers will be assigned in each of ECCD centers. This will establish the foundation of a sustainable model. Towards the end of the project period, SC will ensure that successful interventions are integrated in the provincial departmental Annual Operation Plans (AOP). To achieve this, agreements will be made between SC and two target POEs to allocate government funds for monitoring the program. In addition, SC will support POEs and commune councils to develop simple but functioning monitoring mechanisms in order to ensure quality results during and after the closure of the project period. 7. Safeguard Policies (including public consultation) Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 X Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 X Forests OP/BP 4.36 X Pest Management OP 4.09 X Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 X Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 X Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 X Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 X Projects on International Waters OP/BP 7.50 X Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 X 8. Contact point World Bank Contact: Tsuyoshi Fukao Title: Education Specialist Tel: 5721+1373 / 855-23-861-300 Fax: 855-23-861-301 Email: tfukao@worldbank.org Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia Save the Children (Implementing Agency) Contact: Mr.Andy Featherstone Title: Interim Country Director Tel: 855-23-223-403 Email: andy.featherstone@savethechildren.org Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 9. For more information contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-4500 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Email: pic@worldbank.org Web: http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop