On 23 March 2017, the World Bank Group hosted a workshop focusing on how to improve skills in South Africa and thus enhance employability of South Africans, with the ultimate goal to reduce poverty and inequality.
... See More + This paper provides an overview of the South Korean job training system which participants discussed and examined for potential lessons for South Africa. It is a background note for the South Africa Systematic Country Diagnostic.
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Albania’s labor markets improved between 2014 and 2016 where more people than before found jobs and unemployment rates fell. However, many challenges remain to channel the jobless into jobs.
... See More + Efficient and effective public employment services aimed at fostering successful job matching can make a significant difference in reducing unemployment rates. Certain types of job matching might be especially valuable for the poor and vulnerable, who tend to be less connected with economic opportunities. The role of Albania’s National Employment Service (NES) is to assist jobseekers in job search and increase their employability or capacity for entrepreneurship, through skills training and other active labor market programs (ALMPs). The services offered by the NES include registration of jobseekers, job intermediation, counseling services and guidance for jobseekers, preparation of and checking eligibility documents for unemployment benefits, vocational training, and employment promotion. A core part of Albania’s current reform program is to increase the capacity of public institutions to provide effective public services, including modern performance management of the NES. This overview note provides a summary of the main findings of the analysis, with a focus on providing policy-relevant insights. This note provides a brief description of the labor market challenges and constraints facing the NES (Section 2), an overview of the methodology (Section 3), and a summary of key findings (Section 4). Section 5 concludes.
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Working Paper 127218 MAY 01, 2018
Honorati,Maddalena; n de Silva,Sara JohanssoDisclosed
The objective of the Strengthening Institutional Capacity and Management of the Education System Project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training for improved management of the education system.
... See More + The restructuring entails the increase of funds allocated to the activity for the provision of school grants under component one (Reinforcing Institutional Capacity and Performance of the Education System). The proposed modification to the Project would result in the revision of the results framework, project description, and disbursement estimates. The restructuring will also introduce changes in the implementation and disbursement arrangements. This will be the second restructuring for the project. The PDO will remain unchanged. Due to savings from other parts of the Project, the Ministry of Economy and Finance requested an increase of the total amount allocated to school grants from US$50,000 to US$150,000 (equivalent to SDR 108,500), which will enable schools to make more significant improvements not only at the primary level but also at the lower secondary level. A level two restructuring was approved by the Country Director in May 2017. As a result, the Project closing date was extended by 12 months from August 31, 2017 to August 31, 2018; the scope of component one was expanded to include a new activity on the provision of grants to selected primary schools; project costs were revised to reflect the loss in available funds due to fluctuations in the exchange rate of XDR to US dollars; the results framework and disbursement estimates were revised and an adjustment was made to the project’s institutional arrangements to incorporate the above-mentioned activity on the provision of school grants.
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Severe weather conditions can undo even the best efforts of families to break free of poverty. Households that rely on subsistence or small-scale farming are especially at the mercy of severe weather.
... See More + Droughts and floods wipe out crops, leaving families hungry or without anything to sell to pay for essentials such as school fees or medicines. Indeed, empirical evidence from many parts of the developing world has established large welfare losses following weather shocks in developing countries. Climate changes have made weather even more variable in many countries, exacerbating problems such as droughts, extreme temperatures and flooding. In Nicaragua, the second poorest country in Latin America after Haiti, poverty is compounded by weather conditions. To understand what might allow families to better manage risks, the World Bank supported an evaluation of a pilot program in Nicaragua to encourage rural households to diversify beyond small-scale farming. This poverty and equity notes covers the conditional cash transfers to cope with severe weather conditions in Nicaragua as of March 2018.
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Ratings for the Chongqing Urban-Rural Integration Project for China were as follows: outcome was moderately unsatisfactory, Bank performance was moderately unsatisfactory, and monitoring and evaluation quality was modest.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: having alternative subprojects ready to go will have reduced the long delays seen between the decision to drop a subcomponent and appraisal of a replacement. Another way to increase flexibility is to avoid listing the specific sectors to be included under access to services but to let the key performance indicators (KPIs) and Intermediate Outcome Indicators (IOI) define those service areas. During preparation, the Bank brought in expertise from these disciplines, but this was less the case for supervision. Selecting fewer project sites and supplying each with more inputs will demonstrate the intensity of impacts possible with a multi-sectoral approach, rather than focusing on a widespread area which diluted effects. Care needs to be taken during restructurings to make sure the theory of change remains clear, and indicators cover outcomes from the revised project.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4173 FEB 08, 2018
Improving the classroom effectiveness of teachers is a key part of improving student learning. How to get this right is a core challenge for education systems.
... See More + Teacher quality varies widely and teachers may not know the best teaching practices and how to keep students on task and engaged with the material. Especially in low-income countries or regions, teachers may not have the resources, knowledge or motivation to teach effectively.Governments and development partners invest heavily in teacher training. Evidence on which approaches raise student learning is crucial for education progress.In Brazil, policymakers from the Ceará state government worked with the World Bank and the Brazilian nongovernmental Lemann Foundation to design a program to improve secondary school teacher effectiveness. The program provided feedback to teachers on their classroom practices and gave them access to expert educational coaching through one-on-one sessions delivered via Skype. With support from the World Bank’s Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund, the World Bank team incorporated an impact evaluation into the program to test the effectiveness of the approach. The evaluation found that over the course of the year, teachers’ classroom practices improved, teachingtime increased, students were more engaged, and students’standardized test scores improved. Based on the results,the Ceará government made the program’s curriculum and technology available to municipal schools in 2017.
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Youth unemployment rates in the Middle East and North Africa region currently 31 percent are the highest in the world. For female youth in the region, the figure rises to 48 percent.
... See More + Along with the need for more jobs, a major factor is the mismatch between the type of skills being taught in the classroom, which are largely theoretical, and those required by the private sector. In Jordan, the Luminus Education Group is addressing this issue with support from IFC. Luminus continues to grow and adapt to the changing context in Jordan and the region, while remaining committed to its goal of providing quality and job focused education. By 2020, Luminus aims to enroll 16,000 students and increase its graduate employment rate to 90 percent. It has plans to build new campuses in the Jordanian cities of Zarqa and East Amman, as well as expand into Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq. By 2022, distance learning courses will expand Luminus’s reach even further. Alongside increasing enrollment, Luminus will introduce more courses, diplomas and degrees so that it can meet the changing needs of the region’s economies and continue to effectively prepare youth for employment.
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Ratings for the Vocational Education Project for Nepal were as follows: outcome was satisfactory, Bank performance was satisfactory, and monitoring and evaluation quality was substantial.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: given the fragmentation of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) provision across different government agencies and ministries, sustained political commitment and strong ownership from the government is critical for a successful implementation of a TVET project when the project requires collaboration across several agencies to achieve results. Capacity building of project staff and implementing partners is essential for a smooth project implementation. Monetary incentive scheme to training providers, performance grants to institutions, and a targeted approach, such as a special women’s window and pro-poor targeting, can be effective in improving equitable access and participation of women and youth from marginalized and disadvantaged groups. Under the follow-on project, performance grants will be linked to some quality indicators with set parameters on how and for what the institutions can use the funds for, as was done under the matching grants with the institutional improvement plan (IIP). Ensuring participation of women in nontraditional trade requires extra effort beyond monetary incentives to training providers, hence the introduction of a special women’s window. Transfers based on outputs, either directly to short-term training providers or through vouchers given to trainees can generate greater accountability with respect to objectives, especially enrollment, completion, and employment. The approach of providing free training, without offering stipends to trainees, worked and was instrumental in ensuring the trainee’s ownership of the opportunity. The joint monitoring mechanism was one of the key factors contributing to the success of the short-term training activities under the project.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4135 DEC 28, 2017
