The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report CONGO - Education Sector Support Project (P152910) CONGO - Education Sector Support Project (P152910) AFRICA | Congo, Republic of | Education Global Practice | IBRD/IDA | Investment Project Financing | FY 2016 | Seq No: 7 | ARCHIVED on 24-Dec-2019 | ISR37951 | Implementing Agencies: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Literacy Education, Youth and Civic Education (MEPSAJEC) Key Dates Key Project Dates Bank Approval Date: 28-Apr-2016 Effectiveness Date: 04-Aug-2017 Planned Mid Term Review Date: 10-Jun-2019 Actual Mid-Term Review Date: 27-May-2019 Original Closing Date: 31-Jul-2023 Revised Closing Date: 30-Jun-2022 pdoTable Project Development Objectives Project Development Objective (from Project Appraisal Document) To improve education outcomes of primary and lower secondary school children and to increase the effectiveness of select management systems. Has the Project Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Project Objective? No Components Table Name Providing quality education for all:(Cost $14.00 M) Improving scope, quality and management of human resources:(Cost $8.50 M) Improving system performance:(Cost $7.50 M) Unallocated Overall Ratings Name Previous Rating Current Rating Progress towards achievement of PDO Moderately Unsatisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Unsatisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory Overall Risk Rating Substantial Substantial Implementation Status and Key Decisions Overview. The Education Sector Support Project (PRAASED) for the Republic of Congo is focuses on improving education outcomes of primary and lower secondary school children and increasing the effectiveness of select management systems. The project was approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on April 28, 2016. It became effective on August 4, 2017, and publicly launched on September 14, 2017. Due to slow progress - in part due to the lack of counterpart funding - the project was restructured on August 2, 2019 to reduce the cost (only IDA funding of US$30 million equivalent was kept) and scope of activities. Since project restructuring, some encouraging progress has taken place, but sustained efforts are needed to catch up with previous delays. Progress by Component/Sub-components: 12/24/2019 Page 1 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report CONGO - Education Sector Support Project (P152910) Component 1: Providing quality education for all Subcomponent 1.1: Revised curriculum and provision of learning materials. Revised curriculum. Implementation of activities under this subcomponent has started: both technical assistance activities related to: (i) the revision of curricula and (ii) the analysis of the national assessment system have started and are progressing according to schedule. Provision of Learning Materials. During project restructuring, some IDA funds were allocated to finance textbooks (which were expected to be fully funded by the Government). A World Bank consultant was recruited who will support the MEPSA in the acquisition/re-printing of textbooks. Subcomponent 1.2: Improved assessment and expansion of school remediation. Improved Assessment. The World Bank has agreed to cover the Government's costs to participate in the 2019 PASEC (Program for the Analysis of Education Systems in CONFEMEN countries) and the revised MoU for the implementation of PASEC 2019 which ensures Congo's participation has been signed. The SDI survey – for which the contract is about to be signed - is expected to begin in January 2020. The Service Delivery Indicators (SDI) survey will cover both primary and secondary levels and also provide information on teacher classroom practices. School remediation. Activities under this subcomponent will begin once the large-scale assessment and high-quality evaluations program are completed in 2019. It is a pre-requisite to identify department-, district-, school-level weaknesses in terms of learning outcomes to design a robust remediation program that will be custom-designed to address those weaknesses. Teachers will also be evaluated and trained so they can deliver the remediation programs which should take into account teachers' strengths and weaknesses. Component 2: Improving the Quality and Management of Human Resources. Subcomponent 2.1: Personnel recruitment, deployment, remuneration, advancement and exit. The contract for the acquisition and installation of a biometric system to register teachers is about to be signed. Once the biometric identification is realized, the team will work with the three Ministries in charge of education (MEPSA, Ministry of Technical and Professional Education, Qualifying Training and Employment (MEFPFQE) as well as the Ministry of Civil Service and the Ministry of Finance, to design and implement a system to efficiently manage personnel issues in the education system. Subcomponent 2.2: Training and professional development. This subcomponent was initially largely funded under the Government's counterpart funding. During the restructuring, some IDA funding was allocated to maintain some teacher training and teacher professional development activities given their critical importance for the quality of education. No activity has started yet under this subcomponent as it is dependent on the results of the SDI survey mentioned above. In terms of teacher training and professional development, the project financed the participation of a delegation from MEPSA in the Africa China World Bank Third Education Partnership Forum on Teacher Education which took place in Jinhua (Zhejiang) from November 12-15, 2019. The delegation comprised of the PCU Coordinator, the Director of the Teacher Training Institute (ENI), the Deputy Director of the Teacher Training College (ENS) and the Advisor to the Minister of MEPSA. A dissemination workshop will be organized by February 2020, with the participation of the three ministries (MEPSA, Ministry of Technical and Professional Education, Qualifying Training and Employment (MEFPFQE) and the Minister of Higher Education (MoHE), to discuss the important topic of teacher training and recruitment, which is also a key activity under PRAASED. Component 3: Improving System Performance. Subcomponent 3.1: Institutional strengthening and capacity building, and monitoring & evaluation. Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building. Four major strategic studies have been implemented and they are: (i) the organizational and functional assessment of the teacher training institutes (ENIs and ENS); (ii) assessment of the directorate of in-service training; (iii) assessment of the National Institute for Pedagogical Research and Action (INRAP); and (iv) the institutional analysis of the MEPSA and the DDEPSA, useful for strengthening the capacities of the DDEPSA and the MEPSA in the decentralization of delegation of authority for the School Based Management. The results of all these studies have been presented and endorsed by the government. Based on the findings of the ENI/ENS and INRAP assessments, two consultancies were launched in October 2019 to implement the recommendations resulting from these assessments. Monitoring and evaluation. Mapping/census of all Government & private teaching and learning institutions has been finalized. More than 1,400 pre- primary schools; 3,000 primary schools; 1,400 lower secondary schools; 270 upper secondary schools; and 560 qualifying centers among other institutions have received a data collection team. Detailed information on these institutions have been collected and all have been geo- mapped. This newly available information will spur the improvement of the education system performance. In addition, similar exercises will be done on a yearly basis, at least for MEPSA, to maintain a steady and up-to-date informational base on the education sector. In addition, data collection (using the electronics tablets) from the education sector (basic education, higher education and technical and vocational education) has been completed since November 2018 and the data has been used to produce the sub-sectors statistical yearbooks and will be used to update the education sector strategy. Subcomponent 3.2. Project Management. The staffing of the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) is currently complete with the presence of: a coordinator, technical coordinators for the three components of the project, a procurement specialist, a monitoring & evaluation specialist, a communications specialist, and a social safeguards specialist. 12/24/2019 Page 2 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report CONGO - Education Sector Support Project (P152910) Risks Systematic Operations Risk-rating Tool Risk Category Rating at Approval Previous Rating Current Rating Political and Governance Substantial Substantial Substantial Macroeconomic Substantial High High Sector Strategies and Policies Substantial Substantial Substantial Technical Design of Project or Program Substantial Substantial Substantial Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability Substantial Substantial Substantial Fiduciary Substantial Substantial Substantial Environment and Social Moderate Moderate Moderate Stakeholders Moderate Moderate Moderate Other -- -- -- Overall Substantial Substantial Substantial Results PDO Indicators by Objectives / Outcomes Providing Quality Education for All IN00783352 ►Primary completion rate - total (Percentage, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 73.00 -- 73.00 74.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 IN00783405 Primary completion rate - female (Percentage, Custom Breakdown) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 73.00 -- 73.00 74.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 IN00783399 ►Transition rate to lower secondary (Percentage, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target 12/24/2019 Page 3 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report CONGO - Education Sector Support Project (P152910) Value 67.00 -- 67.00 71.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 IN00783408 Transition rate to lower secondary, female (Percentage, Custom Breakdown) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 67.00 -- 67.00 71.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 IN00783402 ►Transition rate to upper secondary (Percentage, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 67.00 -- 67.00 71.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 IN00783410 Transition rate to upper secondary, female (Percentage, Custom Breakdown) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 67.00 -- 67.00 71.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 IN00783403 ►Primary repetition rate (Percentage, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 21.00 -- 20.00 18.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 Improving System Performance IN00783353 ►System for learning assessment at the primary level (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No -- No Yes Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 The analysis on the learning assessment system is underway. Comments: IN00783406 Utility of the learning assessment system (Number, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 -- 0.00 1.00 Intermediate Results Indicators by Components 12/24/2019 Page 4 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report CONGO - Education Sector Support Project (P152910) Component 1. Providing Quality Education for All IN00783354 ►Direct project beneficiaries (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 -- 0.00 302,000.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 IN00783407 Female beneficiaries (Percentage, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 -- 0.00 50.00 IN00783400 ►French and mathematics curricula revised for all primary grades (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No -- No Yes Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 The technical assistance to revise the curricula is ongoing and is expeceted to be completed in May 2020. Comments: IN00783401 ►Creation of national learning assessment instrument (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No -- No Yes Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 The analysis to evaluate the national learning assessment is underway. Comments: IN00783409 Implementation of the first national assessment (Yes/No, Custom Breakdown) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No -- No Yes Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 IN00783404 ►Percentage of public primary students who each received a textbook in French and mathematics (Percentage, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 -- 0.00 54.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 Activities related to the re-printing of textbooks is expected to start early next year (2020). Comments: IN00783411 12/24/2019 Page 5 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report CONGO - Education Sector Support Project (P152910) Percentage of public lower secondary students who each received textbooks in science and mathematics (Percentage, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 -- 0.00 20.00 Component 2. Improving Scope, Quality, and Management of Human Resources IN00783355 ►Percentage of benevoles registered with biometric data (Percentage, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 -- 0.00 95.00 Date 22-Jan-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 Contract with the firm which will provide and install the biometric system is about to be Comments: signed. Registration of teachers using the biometric system is expected to begin early next year. IN00783397 ►Number of additional qualified primary teachers resulting from project interventions. (Number, Corporate) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 -- 0.00 2,000.00 Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 Component 3. Improving System Performance IN00783396 ►Publication of annual statistics (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No -- Yes Yes Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 IN00783398 ►Annual consultation with indigenous groups (in collaboration with associations for indigienous peoples) (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No -- No Yes Date 31-Aug-2015 -- 07-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2022 The social safeguards specialist has just been recruited by the project coordination unit and will start Comments: working on these consultations. Data on Financial Performance 12/24/2019 Page 6 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report CONGO - Education Sector Support Project (P152910) Disbursements (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed % Disbursed P152910 IDA-58060 Effective USD 30.00 30.00 0.00 4.84 26.08 16% Key Dates (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Orig. Closing Date Rev. Closing Date P152910 IDA-58060 Effective 28-Apr-2016 07-Dec-2016 04-Aug-2017 31-Jul-2023 30-Jun-2022 Cumulative Disbursements Restructuring History Level 2 Approved on 02-Aug-2019 Related Project(s) There are no related projects. 12/24/2019 Page 7 of 7