INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET ADDITIONAL FINANCING Report No.: ISDSA12351 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 11-Sep-2015 Date ISDS Approved/Disclosed: 15-Sep-2015 I. BASIC INFORMATION 1. Basic Project Data Country: Nepal Project ID: P152377 Parent P113441 Project ID: Project Name: School Sector Reform Program Additional Financing (P 152377) Parent Project Nepal: School Sector Reform Program (P113441) Name: Task Team Saurav Dev Bhatta,Dilip Parajuli Leader(s): Estimated 19-Feb-2015 Estimated 30-Nov-2015 Appraisal Date: Board Date: Managing Unit: GEDO6 Lending Investment Project Financing Instrument: Sector(s): Primary education (70%), Secondary education (30%) Theme(s): Education for all (67%), Other social development (33%) Is this project processed under OP 8.50 (Emergency Recovery) or OP No 8.00 (Rapid Response to Crises and Emergencies)? Financing (In USD Million) Total Project Cost: 2892.70 Total Bank Financing: 0.00 Financing Gap: 22.00 Financing Source Amount Borrower 2635.00 Education for All - Fast Track Initiative 59.30 NORWAY Norwegian Agency for Dev. Coop. (NORAD) 4.00 Bilateral Agencies (unidentified) 172.40 Total 2870.70 Environmental B - Partial Assessment Category: Is this a No Repeater project? Page 1 of 7 2. Project Development Objective(s) A. Original Project Development Objectives - Parent The Program Development Objective is to increase access to and improve quality of school education, particularly basic education (Grades 1-8), especially for children from marginalized groups. B. Proposed Project Development Objectives - Additional Financing (AF) 3. Project Description The SSR Program finances both the recurrent and the development expenditure covering all of school education. The program focuses on the three pillars of Access, Inclusion, and Quality in : (i) Basic Education (Grades 1 -8), including Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) and Literacy and Lifelong Learning; (ii) Secondary Education (Grades 9 - 12); and (iii) Institutional Capacity Strengthening for delivery and monitoring of the educational services and products. These are described below : Basic Education: Access and Inclusion in Basic Education focuses on expanding access to all children in Nepal though four main mechanisms: (i) Physical expansion of schooling system, (ii) identifying and reaching the hardest to reach students from disadvantaged, marginalized and poor backgrounds, (iii) providing access to safety nets/educational guarantee schemes, and (iv) through support to traditional schools. The SSRP aims to enhance quality in Basic Schooling by (i) developing and adopting minimum enabling conditions (MECs), (ii) development of national standards for education service delivery and the establishment of the Education Review Office (ERO), (iii) teacher professional development, and (iv) moving towards a competency based curriculum. In addition to these primary tasks, the SSRP will also help expand the number of centers offering courses on Literacy and Lifelong Learning and the number of Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) centers which are both school based and community based. Secondary Education: The success of Education for All (EFA) has increased the demand for secondary education, and SSRP has to address this level of schooling as well. Though the primary aim of SSRP is on strengthening Basic Education, the program will also finance to a more limited extent, the expansion of access to, and the improving quality in, Secondary Education. At this level, the SSRP will also provide access to "soft TVET" programs that improve the students' ability to transition from school to a work environment if they choose to drop out of school after grade 10. This will at least equip them with a basic understanding of the world of work and the opportunities available to them. Institutional Capacity Strengthening: The final focus in the SSRP is to strengthen and improve the capacities of the schooling infrastructure to deliver on the above. This improves capacity development across all levels of the system, with an emphasis on improving capacities at the school level with a focus on the School Management Committees and other community level organizations, and at the district level for improved planning and execution. A major emphasis of the SSRP will be to improve monitoring and evaluation of both the program, and in particular the ability to carry out international learning standards. The GON has committed to improving its capacity to carry out high quality learning assessment by partnering with an international agency of repute. Finally, the GON and the Development Partners (DPs) have agreed on a Governance and Accountability Action Plan as a way of ensuring a committed focus on improving governance in the education sector which will Page 2 of 7 be financed through the SSRP. These components will be implemented against the backdrop of the major reforms that have already taken place in Nepal including; (i) decentralization of authority to schools and school management committees, (ii) grants based financing, (iii) decentralized recruitment of teachers by the SMC and financed by teacher grants through the provision of grants to schools on the basis of Per Capita Financing (PCF), (iv) provision of scholarship for children from disadvantaged or marginalized backgrounds who have historically been excluded from the schooling system. In addition, to be able to implement the SSRP, the GON needs to further strengthen its policy base and the GON and DPs have agreed on a Policy Matrix that aims to strengthen the GON's capacity to deliver the SSRP. 4. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) The School Sector Reform Program (SSRP) aims to provide access to, and equity in, quality basic education programs. The project activities will be implemented nationwide. No irreversible or large scale environmental impacts are anticipated. Civil works to be supported under the Additional Financing are typically small scale. Perhaps the three most important issues from safeguards perspectives include: (i) access to education for children with special needs; (ii) environment, water and sanitation issues arising from the need for drinking water and toilet facilities; and (iii) earthquake resistant building codes considering the massive earthquake that hit the country on April 25 and the subsequent aftershock that damaged more than 1000 schools and that Nepal is a seismically active country. Under the original project, an Environment Management Framework (EMF), Land Acquisition Framework (LAF) and a Vulnerable Community Development Framework (VCDF) were prepared, translated into local language and disseminated both on the Bank site and through other means. In addition, the implementation status review of EMF, SMF and other safeguard documents prepared under the parent SSRP has been done to assess and consolidate progress made under environment and social safeguard, which will serve as part of the preparation of the proposed Additional Financing for improving safeguard compliance. These same documents would be valid for activities under the Additional Financing. 5. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists Annu Rajbhandari (GENDR) Bandita Sijapati (GSURR) Drona Raj Ghimire (GENDR) Jun Zeng (GSURR) 6. Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Yes SSRP environmental concerns are mainly related to Assessment OP/BP 4.01 actions/activities under physical infrastructure, such as construction/upgrading of small scale administrative buildings or school blocks or new/additional classrooms or may be related to providing facilities suchas drinking water, toilets and sanitation as well as to their operation and maintenance. As the individual works under SSRP are small in scale and geographically spread, no large-scale, highly significant and/or irreversible impact is anticipated. Page 3 of 7 An Environmental Management Framework was prepared under the original project which would be valid for the Additional Financing as well. Natural Habitats OP/BP No 4.04 Forests OP/BP 4.36 No Pest Management OP 4.09 No Physical Cultural No Resources OP/BP 4.11 Indigenous Peoples OP/ Yes The SSRP triggers the OP 4.10 on Indigenous People (IP) BP 4.10 because of the presence of Indigenous Groups (Adivasi Janajatis) across the country. Besides the IPs, there are other vulnerable groups across the country such as Dalits, disabled, poor, females, etc. These groups, along with the IPs are direct beneficiaries of the program. The vulnerable community development framework (VCDF) has been prepared by the MOE/DOE to identify the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups in the country and ensure that they can equitably access the benefits of the program. Though the VCDF is broader than an IP specific plan, it complies with OP/BP 4.10 and ensures that free, prior, and informed consultation leading to broad-base community support, is available for IPs, and other disadvantaged or marginalized groups. The VCDF prepared under the original project would be used for activities under the Additional Financing as well. Involuntary Resettlement No There will be no involuntary resettlement under the OP/BP 4.12 project. Any needs for land will be made available through voluntary donation, direct purchase, use of public lands, etc. However, a Land Acquisition Framework has been developed to ensure that any form of land taking does not include involuntary resettlement. The same framework would be used for Additional Financing. Safety of Dams OP/BP No 4.37 Projects on International No Waterways OP/BP 7.50 Projects in Disputed No Areas OP/BP 7.60 II. Key Safeguard Policy Issues and Their Management A. Summary of Key Safeguard Issues Page 4 of 7 1. Describe any safeguard issues and impacts associated with the proposed project. Identify and describe any potential large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts: The SSRP aims to provide access to and equity in quality basic education programs. No major civil works that could potentially lead to irreversible or large scale environmental or social impacts are envisaged under the project. The civil works component will typically include construction and rehabilitation of small scale structures such as additional classrooms, buildings, libraries, etc., which will not leave environmental and social footprints. Nepal has fifty-nine officially recognized indigenous groups, which make up 38% of the population. The National Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) has classified the indigenous people (known as Adivasi Janajati in Nepal) into five different categories according to their economic and social features. Of these five sub-groups, the two most-disadvantaged are referred to as 'endangered' and 'highly marginalized groups.' While the other three groups are well integrated into the national education system, participation rates for these two groups are not proportional to their share in the national population. Besides the endangered and highly marginalized IPs, Nepal also has significant numbers of other equally vulnerable groups including Dalits, women, children with disabilities, poor, etc. These groups continue to experience marginalization, exclusion and discrimination because of their social and economic identities. The SSRP seeks to ensure inclusion and provide equal access of these groups to quality education, and as such, they are direct beneficiaries of the project. However, specific concerns to be addressed with respect these vulnerable groups, including endangered and highly marginalized IPs, are: poor access to schools, discrimination, and access to education in languages they understand and use, including in their mother tongues or linguistic groups, to name a few. To summarize, the three most important safeguards issues relating to SSRP include: (i) access to education for children from vulnerable groups, including those with special needs; (ii) environment, water and sanitation issues arising from the need for drinking water and toilet facilities; and (iii) implementation of earthquake resistant building codes considering the recent devastating earthquake of 25 April, 2015. 2. Describe any potential indirect and/or long term impacts due to anticipated future activities in the project area: No potential indirect and/or long-term impacts are envisaged under the project since the civil works will be of small-scale. Further, in terms of social issues, one of the major objectives of the project is to enhance project benefits to socially marginalized groups, including IPs, through scholarship schemes and quality education. 3. Describe any project alternatives (if relevant) considered to help avoid or minimize adverse impacts. The project will be implemented nation-wide and alternatives were not considered. However, if during the implementation of sub-projects, certain activities are deemed socially and environmentally unsound then alternatives will be considered at that stage. 4. Describe measures taken by the borrower to address safeguard policy issues. Provide an assessment of borrower capacity to plan and implement the measures described. Both DOE and MOE have a long history of working on Bank-supported project, including the parent project, SSRP. To address environmental and social issues related to the project, Land Acquisition Framework, Vulnerable Community Development Framework and Environmental Management Framework have been developed. As recommended by the review conducted during Page 5 of 7 the preparation of AF, these same safeguards instruments would be applied for activities under Additional Financing. However, to ensure effective implementation of the aforementioned frameworks, the following measures will be taken: (i) in cases of voluntary land donation, transfer of landownership to the concerned education institutions will be ensured and documented; (ii) orientation trainings will be conducted to officials from the Department of Education, the District Education Offices and representatives from the School Management Committees on the land acquisition framework and the VCDF; and (iii) periodic visits conducted by the representatives from the District Education Offices and other relevant agencies will also involve monitoring the status and compliance with the aforementioned social safeguards instruments. To ensure effective implementation of the Environmental Management Framework (EMF), prepared under the original project which would still be valid for the Additional Financing, the following measures will be taken: i) a dedicated technical person preferably an environmental specialist in the District Education Office (DEO) will be recruited and assigned to monitor the construction activities, ii) periodic monitoring by technical persons/environmental specialists from physical services section, Department of Education (DoE) and other concerned agencies (local NGOs as provisioned) will be carried out; iii) annual monitoring of EMF, LAF and VCDF performance/compliance will be conducted by an independent consultant(s); iv) Officials from DOE, DEO and representatives from SMC will be trained and strengthened to address project related safeguards issues. 5. Identify the key stakeholders and describe the mechanisms for consultation and disclosure on safeguard policies, with an emphasis on potentially affected people. The key stakeholders from the project include the local committees, district education offices, school management committees, respective schools, students and teachers, government representatives from the Ministry of Education and the students themselves. During the implementation of the project, as was done in the original project, consultations will be carried out with these key stakeholders; the safeguards instruments will be disclosed at the local levels; and orientation trainings will be conducted to officials from the District Education Offices, Department of Education and representatives from the School Management Committees. B. Disclosure Requirements Environmental Assessment/Audit/Management Plan/Other Date of receipt by the Bank Date of submission to InfoShop //// For category A projects, date of distributing the Executive Summary of the EA to the Executive Directors "In country" Disclosure Comments: Indigenous Peoples Development Plan/Framework Date of receipt by the Bank // Date of submission to InfoShop // "In country" Disclosure Comments: Page 6 of 7 If the project triggers the Pest Management and/or Physical Cultural Resources policies, the respective issues are to be addressed and disclosed as part of the Environmental Assessment/ Audit/or EMP. If in-country disclosure of any of the above documents is not expected, please explain why: C. Compliance Monitoring Indicators at the Corporate Level OP/BP/GP 4.01 - Environment Assessment Does the project require a stand-alone EA (including EMP) Yes[ ] No[X] NA [ ] report? OP/BP 4.10 - Indigenous Peoples Has a separate Indigenous Peoples Plan/Planning Framework Yes [X] No [ ] NA [ ] (as appropriate) been prepared in consultation with affected Indigenous Peoples? If yes, then did the Regional unit responsible for safeguards or Yes [ ] No [ ] NA [ X] Practice Manager review the plan? If the whole project is designed to benefit IP, has the design Yes [ ] No [ ] NA [ X] been reviewed and approved by the Regional Social Development Unit or Practice Manager? The World Bank Policy on Disclosure of Information Have relevant safeguard policies documents been sent to the Yes [ X] No [ ] NA [ ] World Bank's Infoshop? Have relevant documents been disclosed in-country in a public Yes [X] No [ ] NA [ ] place in a form and language that are understandable and accessible to project-affected groups and local NGOs? All Safeguard Policies Have satisfactory calendar, budget and clear institutional Yes [ X] No [ ] NA [ ] responsibilities been prepared for the implementation of measures related to safeguard policies? Have costs related to safeguard policy measures been included Yes [ X] No [ ] NA [ ] in the project cost? Does the Monitoring and Evaluation system of the project Yes [X] No [ ] NA [ ] include the monitoring of safeguard impacts and measures related to safeguard policies? Have satisfactory implementation arrangements been agreed Yes [ X] No [ ] NA [ ] with the borrower and the same been adequately reflected in the project legal documents? III. APPROVALS Task Team Leader(s): Name: Saurav Dev Bhatta,Dilip Parajuli Approved By Practice Manager/ Name: Keiko Miwa (PMGR) Date: 15-Sep-2015 Manager: Page 7 of 7