ICRR 10919 Report Number : ICRR10919 ICR Review Operations Evaluation Department 1. Project Data: Date Posted : 06/14/2001 PROJ ID : P002156 Appraisal Actual Project Name : Dev. Communication Project Costs 10.23 8.87 US$M ) (US$M) Country : Nigeria Loan /Credit (US$M) Loan/ US$M ) 8.03 8 Sector (s): Board: ED - Pre-primary Cofinancing .40 0 education (100%) US$M ) (US$M) L/C Number : C2481 Board Approval 93 FY ) (FY) Partners involved : UNICEF, BVL Closing Date 12/31/1998 06/30/2000 Prepared by : Reviewed by : Group Manager : Group : Helen Abadzi Nalini B. Kumar Alain A. Barbu OEDST 2. Project Objectives and Components a. Objectives This pilot project was to provide, disseminate and reinforce instructional materials for preschool children to (a) promote early childhood development, sensitize parents to early childhood needs and care, and enhance caregivers' knowledge and competencies; (b) create an institutional and infrastructural framework for quality educational and developmental television programming and introduce replicable modalities of educational and social program development, along with, monitoring and evaluation; (c) support the establishment of a replicable model to manage the production, distribution, reinforcement and evaluation of instructional materials and social messages. b. Components The project was to finance: (a) the production and acquisition of videos for instruction and social messaging and printed support materials; (b) the distribution of these materials through network transmission, video-on-wheels and local viewing centers; (c) the production of videos to train caregivers; (d) institutional framework for a television production facility; (e) research, monitoring and evaluation. c. Comments on Project Cost, Financing and Dates The project was extended by two years. 3. Achievement of Relevant Objectives: The objectives and expected outcomes were not achieved . Though an institutional framework was established, most programming activities were not carried out . Studies also showed that the very poor were unlikely to benefit from educational television, so the model developed was of limited relevance for poverty alleviation purposes . 4. Significant Outcomes/Impacts: The project created an institution for educational television and established programming capacity . It constructed an educational television studio, and trained staff . Staff became knowledgeable and capable in educational television . They produced the first 13 scripts for children's' programs, and they identified target communities and schools for such programs. Also a methodology for testing and evaluation of broadcasts and materials was prepared . 5. Significant Shortcomings (including non-compliance with safeguard policies): Many activities envisaged were not carried out . Though some training videos for children's caregivers and other persons involved in childcare were prepared, most were not purchased by any entity for use . For the few programs produced, print materials were not prepared . Compared to the target of 130 episodes of preschool programming that were to be acquired for broadcast, only 13 were acquired. The deteriorating macroeconomic situation resulted in counterpart under-financing. The steering committee responsible for quality control never became very active . Procurement approvals were held up for long periods of time, and delays became long . Expenditure on civil works was 57% higher than estimated. The Bank did not bring into supervision missions specialists on educational television and did not give technical advice or set more realistic goals for this pilot project . 6. Ratings : ICR OED Review Reason for Disagreement /Comments Outcome : Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory Institutional Dev .: Modest Modest Sustainability : Likely Non-evaluable The ICR states and OED agrees that sustainability is uncertain, but this rating no longer exists Bank Performance : Satisfactory Satisfactory Albeit without much expertise, the Bank supported an innovative project . Performance was marginally satisfactory . Borrower Perf .: Satisfactory Satisfactory Performance was marginally satisfactory, but given the implementation difficulties in Nigeria, considerable work was carried out. Quality of ICR : Satisfactory NOTE: NOTE ICR rating values flagged with ' * ' don't comply with OP/BP 13.55, but are listed for completeness. 7. Lessons of Broad Applicability: - In countries with large poor populations, the size of the audience that can be reached through educational television is limited. Though efforts should be made to develop institutional capacity for it, the programming may mainly reach the well-to-do children. A cost-effectiveness analysis should be made to determine the minimum age of the audience and whether similar results could be achieved through means that are accessible to poor children . - Project design should ensure the sustainability of the institutional frameworks when projects build capacity . Having a state-of-the-art studio is of limited use if there are no funds to create programs . 8. Assessment Recommended? Yes No 9. Comments on Quality of ICR: The ICR was clear and frank in its opinions . However, cofinancing arrangements were very unclear .