PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: PIDA3425 Public Disclosure Copy Project Name Global Partnership for Education - Balochistan Education Project (P144454) Region SOUTH ASIA Country Pakistan Sector(s) Primary education (60%), Secondary education (40%) Theme(s) Education for all (80%), Managing for development results (20%) Lending Instrument Specific Investment Loan Project ID P144454 Borrower(s) Government of Pakistan Implementing Agency Secondary Education Department of Balochistan Environmental Category B-Partial Assessment Date PID Prepared/Updated 14-Feb-2014 Date PID Approved/Disclosed 27-Feb-2014 Estimated Date of Appraisal 26-Feb-2014 Completion Estimated Date of Board 02-Jun-2014 Approval Decision Public Disclosure Copy I. Project Context Country Context Over the past several years, Pakistan, the sixth most populous country in the world, has been experiencing severe economic crises, displaying slow economic growth, widening fiscal deficit and rising inflation. The real GDP growth for 2012-13 was estimated at 3.6%, showing a declining trend from previous years. Rising inflation has further worsened the situation, climbing from 7.7% in 2007 to almost 12% in 2011 before declining to 10% in 2012 . Internal and external security threats and a series of natural disasters, have posed additional challenges, specifically for the provinces/ areas of Balochistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP). Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province in terms of land mass of which it occupies 44%; but the smallest in terms of population with less than 4% of the country’s population. The province, although rich in natural resources, including a large coastline, has demonstrated low economic growth relative to the other provinces. From 2001/02 to 2011/12, Balochistan’s GDP is estimated to have grown at an average rate of 3.9% a year in real terms . This rate was 0.8% lower than that of both KP and Sindh, and 1.2% lower than that of Punjab. Its performance on all social indicators also lags behind the other provinces - Net Enrollment Rates (NER) are the lowest in the country, Page 1 of 5 two out of five infants are not fully immunized and infant mortality is as high as 72/1000 live births. Although the provincial fiscal situation improved owing to the 7th NFC award, resulting in increased provincial development spending, immediate results are not expected due to weak Public Disclosure Copy governance and human resource capacity at the provincial level. The province's own revenue collection remains at a very low level (under 1 percent in 2011/12) increasing the dependence on federal transfers and indicating poor fiscal management. Balochistan has experienced several periods of internal conflict arising from a mixture of issues linked to politics, geography, religion and ethnicity. The provincial situation is further exacerbated by a lack of basic services and economic opportunities. The current security situation is volatile with an increase in the number of violent incidents over the last several years. In addition, a series of natural disasters (floods and earthquakes) have added to the vulnerability of the province. Sectoral and institutional Context Pakistan’s progress in improving its human development indicators has been uneven, marked by periods of slow growth. While there have been efforts in recent years to strengthen education service delivery, the country is unlikely to meet the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015. The delivery of education services are severely impacted by economic, political and security challenges that the country has been facing for some years. Balochistan’s outcomes for education, especially female education, have been considerably lower than those of the other provinces. The net enrollment ratio (NER) for both boys and girls at the primary, middle and higher secondary school levels is at least 10 percentage points lower than the national average and the lowest in the country. The indicators for female enrollment are exceptionally poor, especially at the rural level; the NER for girls in rural Balochistan is 33% for the 6-10 age group compared to rural boys NER of 63%, and drops to an abysmally low 7% at the middle school level, indicating very low retention rates. NER increased by 6 percentage points between 2008/09 and 20010/11, largely due to an increase in boys’ enrollment. Meanwhile, girls’ enrollment fell by 2 percentage points Public Disclosure Copy during the same time period. A high dropout rate, especially at the lower primary level further adds to the severity of the enrollment issue in schools.Access to schooling is a serious challenge in a geographically wide-spread area with small, sparsely populated communities. Out of roughly 12,000 settlements in the province, 40% do not have access to a school. Where schools are present, they are in poor shape: approximately 7% of schools lack a building and are functioning in temporary shelters or without shelter; the buildings of existing schools also suffer from severe neglect and disrepair. Schools lack teaching and learning materials and teachers are poorly equipped to support learning outcomes. Various estimates done by the education department indicate that over 1 million children remain out of school. Fiscal difficulties further compound the service delivery challenges requiring support from local stakeholders for implementation and technical, as well as fiscal support from donor partners.Institutional weaknesses, mainly due to lack of resources, inefficient planning, lack of adequate data and its use for planning, and low capacity have been a hindrance to progress in education outcomes. Additionally, the mobility constraints faced by province and district staff due to the deteriorating security situation has been a major roadblock in effective planning and implementation in education service delivery. Considering these issues the Government has been relying on community involvement to play a major role in supporting education facilities at the rural level, especially in areas that become inaccessible for the government education staff during times of conflict. A significant progress in this regard has been the establishment of new school facilities with community partnership. Recently, the government has applied the lessons learned from community supported education activities to expand Page 2 of 5 government education facilities in the province through community involvement. New school establishment is prioritized in areas where a demand is identified by the community and availability of local teachers, preferably females, is confirmed through a third party survey. This is expected to Public Disclosure Copy counter political bias in school site identification and ensure efficient utilization of resources.World Bank has a history of engagement in the province mainly focusing on community supported education activities, two Bank supported projects-Balochistan Education Support Project (BESP) and Promoting Girls Education in Balochistan (PGEB) are working with the School Education Department (SED) to improve school participation through community mechanisms. Some key reforms supported through these initiatives are: community supported school construction, teacher training, establishment of new schools through community partnership, improving monitoring through community, implementing partners and third party validation surveys. The community schools set up by the Balochistan Education Foundation (BEF) have managed to enroll almost 28,000 students over the past 5 years, out which 43 percent are girls, the government has applied the lessons learned from the establishment of community schools to expand government education facilities in the province through community involvement. New school establishment is prioritized in areas where a demand is identified by the community and availability of local teachers, preferably females, is confirmed through a third party survey. This is expected to counter political bias in school site identification, community support and interest in the education activity and ensure efficient utilization of resources. The Government of Balochistan has taken a serious note of the situation in the province and recently concluded a comprehensive Balochistan Development Needs Assessment (BDNA) to identify core areas of need and to devise a way forward. A Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) has been providing support to the Balochistan Government to support Projects for Education, Governance and a Disaster risk management Project. Additionally, with the support of key donors and local education partners, a costed and realistic draft Balochistan Education Sector Plan (BESP) 2012-2017 has been developed after a comprehensive review of challenges, issues and opportunities in the sector. The Sector Plan has been submitted to the provincial government for approval in early 2013, after consultations with the local education partners. The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has allocated an indicative amount of US$34 Public Disclosure Copy million to support the implementation of the Education Sector Plan. The World Bank has agreed to be the Supervising Entity (SE) for the proposed grant. The GPE’s stated objectives are to 1) support education in fragile and conflict-affected states; 2) promote girls’ education; 3) increase basic numeracy and literacy skills in primary school; 4) improve teacher effectiveness through training and recruitment; and 5) expand funding and support to education in GPE countries. The Balochistan’s Education Sector Plan priorities are aligned with GPE objectives 1 and 2, and with existing World Bank education initiatives in the province II. Proposed Development Objectives The proposed development objective of the Project is to increase school enrollment and retention in project supported schools, with a special focus on girls’ participation, and to develop mechanisms for information collection and use for improved management of education. III. Project Description Component Name Component 1: Access and Equity Comments (optional) Component Name Page 3 of 5 Component II: Quality and Increased Accountability Comments (optional) Public Disclosure Copy Component Name Component III: TA for improved capacity for management and monitoring Comments (optional) IV. Financing (in USD Million) Total Project Cost: 34.10 Total Bank Financing: 0.00 Financing Gap: 0.00 For Loans/Credits/Others Amount Borrower 0.00 Education for All Supervising Entity 34.10 Total 34.10 V. Implementation The proposed project will be implemented over a three year period. The Project has been prepared by the Secondary Education Department, GoB, and will be implemented by a Project Management Unit (PMU) under the guidance of the Additional Secretary (Development). The PMU was established by the Government for implementation of the MDTF supported PGEB project. The same PMU with enhanced staffing and responsibilities will implement and monitor progress and performance of the GPE-BEP project. The PMU will coordinate regularly with the Education Department and other sub-departments involved in implementation of project activities to review progress and implementation gaps. SED will coordinate with the Directorate of Education and notify Public Disclosure Copy District Focal Points (DFPs) at the district education office to facilitate implementation at the district level. DFPs will be responsible for monitoring and supporting the project activities and reporting back to the Directorate and PMU. VI. Safeguard Policies (including public consultation) Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 ✖ Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 ✖ Forests OP/BP 4.36 ✖ Pest Management OP 4.09 ✖ Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 ✖ Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 ✖ Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 ✖ Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 ✖ Projects on International Waterways OP/BP 7.50 ✖ Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 ✖ Comments (optional) Page 4 of 5 VII. Contact point Public Disclosure Copy World Bank Contact: Umbreen Arif Title: Senior Education Specialist Tel: Email: uarif@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Name: Government of Pakistan Contact: Ms. Nargis Sethi Title: Secretary Tel: 92-51-92519210 Email: secretary@ead.gov.pk Implementing Agencies Name: Secondary Education Department of Balochistan Contact: Ghulam Ali Baloch Title: Secretary Education Tel: 92-81-9201622 Email: balochga@yahoo.com VIII. For more information contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-4500 Public Disclosure Copy Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop Page 5 of 5