Document of The World Bank Report No: ICR0000925 IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT (IDA-36140-BD) ON A CREDIT IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 96.4 MILLION (US$ 120.9 MILLION EQUIVALENT) TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH FOR A FEMALE SECONDARY SCHOOL ASSISTANCE PROJECT II December 26, 2008 Human Development Sector Unit South Asia Region CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (Exchange Rate Effective August 31, 2008) Currency Unit = Taka 1.00 Taka = US$0.0144 US$ 1.00 = Tk 70 FISCAL YEAR July 1- June 30 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AD Assistant Director M&E Monitoring and Evaluation ADB Asian Development Bank MIS Management Information System ADP Annual Development Programme MoE Ministry of Education BANBEIS Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information MoF Ministry of Finance and Statistics BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics MPO Monthly Pay Order B. Ed Bachelor of Education MTR Mid-Term Review BISE Board of Intermediate and Secondary MTRT Mobile Training Resource Team Education DD Deputy Director NCTB National Curriculum and Textbook Board DEO District Education Officer NTRCA Non-government Teachers Recruitment and Certification Authority DfID Department for International Development PAD Project Appraisal Document DG Director General PCT Procurement Core Team DPHE Department of Public Health and Engineering PIP Project Implementation Plan DPP Development Project Proposal PMU Program Monitoring Unit DSHE Directorate of Secondary and Higher POU Project Operations Unit Education ESDSC Education Sector Development Support Credit PPST Pro-poor Self Targeting pilot FMS Financial Management System PPT Project Preparation Team FSSAP Female Secondary School Assistance Project PTA Parent-Teacher Association FY Fiscal Year SEQAEP Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project GDP Gross Domestic Product SMC School Management Committee GoB Government of Bangladesh SSC Secondary School Certificate HIES Household Income Expenditure Survey TDP Tribal Development Plan HSC Higher Secondary Certificate UPO Upazila Project Office IDA International Development Association USEO Upazila Secondary Education Officer Vice President: Isabel Guerrero Country Director: Xian Zhu Sector Manager: Amit Dar Project Team Leader: Irajen Appasamy ICR Team Leader: Sofia Shakil - ii - Bangladesh Female Secondary School Assistance Project II CONTENTS 1. Project Context, Development Objectives and Design ..........................................................................1 2. Key Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcomes..........................................................................4 3. Assessment of Outcomes .......................................................................................................................8 4. Assessment of Risk to Development Outcome....................................................................................14 5. Assessment of Bank and Borrower Performance.................................................................................14 6. Lessons Learned...................................................................................................................................16 7. Comments on Issues Raised by Borrower/Implementing Agencies/Partners......................................17 Annex 1. Project Costs and Financing ......................................................................................................18 Annex 2. Outputs by Component..............................................................................................................19 Annex 3. Economic and Financial Analysis .............................................................................................25 Annex 4. Bank Lending and Implementation Support/Supervision Processes.........................................27 Annex 5. Stakeholder Workshop Report and Results..............................................................................29 Annex 6. Borrower's Assessment ............................................................................................................30 Annex 7. List of Supporting Documents..................................................................................................40 MAP IBRD 36681 - iii - A. Basic Information Female Secondary Country: Bangladesh Project Name: School Assistance Project-II Project ID: P044876 L/C/TF Number(s): IDA-36140 ICR Date: 12/29/2008 ICR Type: Core ICR Lending Instrument: SIL Borrower: GOB Original Total XDR 96.4M Disbursed Amount: XDR 70.2M Commitment: Environmental Category: B Implementing Agencies: Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (MOE) Cofinanciers and Other External Partners: B. Key Dates Process Date Process Original Date Revised / Actual Date(s) Concept Review: 03/12/2001 Effectiveness: 05/01/2002 05/01/2002 Appraisal: 06/25/2001 Restructuring(s): 03/30/2005 Approval: 03/12/2002 Mid-term Review: 07/01/2004 10/21/2004 Closing: 12/31/2006 06/30/2008 C. Ratings Summary C.1 Performance Rating by ICR Outcomes: Satisfactory Risk to Development Outcome: Moderate Bank Performance: Satisfactory Borrower Performance: Satisfactory C.2 Detailed Ratings of Bank and Borrower Performance (by ICR) Bank Ratings Borrower Ratings Quality at Entry: Moderately Satisfactory Government: Satisfactory Quality of Supervision: Satisfactory Implementing Agency/Agencies: Satisfactory Overall Bank Overall Borrower Performance: Satisfactory Performance: Satisfactory C.3 Quality at Entry and Implementation Performance Indicators Implementation QAG Assessments Performance Indicators (if any) Rating Potential Problem Project No Quality at Entry Moderately i at any time (Yes/No): (QEA): Unsatisfactory Problem Project at any Quality of No Moderately Satisfactory time (Yes/No): Supervision (QSA): DO rating before Satisfactory Closing/Inactive status: D. Sector and Theme Codes Original Actual Sector Code (as % of total Bank financing) Central government administration 9 9 Other social services 22 22 Secondary education 59 59 Tertiary education 10 10 Theme Code (Primary/Secondary) Education for all Primary Primary Gender Primary Primary Rural services and infrastructure Primary Secondary Social safety nets Primary Secondary E. Bank Staff Positions At ICR At Approval Vice President: Isabel M. Guerrero Mieko Nishimizu Country Director: Xian Zhu Frederick Thomas Temple Sector Manager: Amit Dar Charles C. Griffin Ana Maria Parchuc de Jeria Project Team Leader: Irajen Appasamy Figueroa ICR Team Leader: Sofia Shakil ICR Primary Author: Sofia Shakil F. Results Framework Analysis Project Development Objectives (from Project Appraisal Document) Improve the quality of, and girls access to, secondary education in rural areas of Bangladesh, through sustaining improved gender equity, adding activities and incentives to improve the quality of education in participating schools, and improving both the management capacity of the Ministry of Education (MOE) and monitoring and accountability mechanisms at the community level. ii Revised Project Development Objectives (as approved by original approving authority) The Project Develoment Objective was not revised. (a) PDO Indicator(s) Original Target Formally Actual Value Indicator Baseline Value Values (from Revised Achieved at approval Target Completion or documents) Values Target Years Indicator 1 : Quality - Increase in % of girls and boys taking and passing the SSC exam Value quantitative or 38% 43% 63% Qualitative) Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments (incl. % The percentage of girls and boys passing the SSC has steadily increased, achievement) however the number of girls and boys taking the SSC has declined slightly. Indicator 2 : Quality - Awards for best performing girls in Class VIII and IX Value quantitative or 0 55,960 (MTR rev.) 62,360 Qualitative) Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments (incl. % Target established at MTR exceeded. achievement) Indicator 3 : Quality - Awards for girls who made the most improvement in learning achievement Value quantitative or 0 55,960 (MTR rev.) 60,711 Qualitative) Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments (incl. % Target established at MTR exceeded. achievement) Indicator 4 : Access - Increase in girls' enrollment Value quantitative or 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,176,614 Qualitative) Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments There was a trend in 2004-06 of decline in secondary girls' enrollment across the (incl. % country, but the project managed to reverse this trend in the project upazillas, achievement) and maintained an increase. Indicator 5 : Girls' enrollment as a percentage of total enrollment in project upazilas Value quantitative or 56% 57% 57% Qualitative) Date achieved 12/31/2000 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments Gender parity ratio not only maintained, but improved. iii (incl. % achievement) Indicator 6 : Access - No. of girls receiving stipends Value quantitative or 931,102 950,000-1,000,000 723,980 Qualitative) (MTR rev.) Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments (incl. % Because of more stringent monitoring against eligibility criteria, the number of achievement) girls' receiving stipends has declined. Indicator 7 : Access - Disadvantaged girls supported by the Family Attractiveness Program (FAP) Value quantitative or - 800 girls (MTR 760 Qualitative) rev.) Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments (incl. % 95% achievement of target set at MTR. achievement) (b) Intermediate Outcome Indicator(s) Original Target Formally Actual Value Indicator Baseline Value Values (from Achieved at approval Revised Completion or documents) Target Values Target Years Indicator 1 : Quality - No. of subject teachers trained Value (quantitative - 25,000 (MTR rev.) 23,484 or Qualitative) Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments (incl. % 94% achievement - shortfall due to non availability of subject teachers. achievement) Management, Monitoring and Accountability - periodic studies carried out on Indicator 2 : female education issues to inform planning of future investments in female education Periodic studies Value carried out, (quantitative - including Impact Several studies or Qualitative) Evaluation Study carried out. carried out Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments (incl. % Two performance audits completed, and a study on comparison between MTRT achievement) visited institutions and other FSSAP II institutions completed, among others. Indicator 3 : Management, Monitoring and Accountability - Establishment of integrated MIS database on all female stipends programs iv Integrated MIS Value Integrated MIS database (quantitative - database established, not or Qualitative) established fully operational due to technical reasons. Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 06/30/2008 Comments (incl. % Databases from the other stipend projects could not be converted into Oracle. achievement) Indicator 4 : Management, Monitoring and Accountability - Establishment of integrated MIS database on all female stipends programs Value Integrated MIS (quantitative - database or Qualitative) established Date achieved 12/31/2001 06/30/2008 Comments (incl. % achievement) G. Ratings of Project Performance in ISRs Actual No. Date ISR Archived DO IP Disbursements (USD millions) 1 07/19/2002 Satisfactory Highly Satisfactory 21.34 2 12/23/2002 Satisfactory Satisfactory 27.22 3 06/09/2003 Satisfactory Satisfactory 33.06 4 11/17/2003 Satisfactory Satisfactory 34.02 5 05/16/2004 Satisfactory Satisfactory 39.97 6 11/16/2004 Satisfactory Satisfactory 45.11 7 05/13/2005 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 51.88 8 11/02/2005 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 58.16 9 04/26/2006 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 63.01 10 07/10/2006 Satisfactory Satisfactory 67.84 11 01/24/2007 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 80.57 12 07/26/2007 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 85.61 13 01/29/2008 Satisfactory Satisfactory 92.75 14 06/27/2008 Satisfactory Satisfactory 101.14 H. Restructuring (if any) Restructuring Board ISR Ratings at Amount Reason for Restructuring & Date(s) Approved Restructuring Disbursed at Key Changes Made v DO IP 03/30/2005 Y S S 49.66 If PDO and/or Key Outcome Targets were formally revised (approved by the original approving body) enter ratings below: Outcome Ratings Against Original PDO/Targets Satisfactory Against Formally Revised PDO/Targets Satisfactory Overall (weighted) rating Satisfactory I. Disbursement Profile vi 1. Project Context, Development Objectives and Design 1.1 Context at Appraisal In 1991, Bangladesh had a population of about 111 million, with only about one third of the adult population, and just about one fourth of the female population, being literate. Girls' enrollment in secondary education was only 33%. Poverty, early marriage and other inter-related social and cultural factors were the main impediments for the girls to continue their education. Against this backdrop, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) embarked on a female school assistance program in 1994 to expand access to girls in secondary education in rural areas. Based on the program's success, GoB decided to continue the stipend program for a second phase, the Female Secondary School Assistance Project II (FSSAPII) in 2002 using the same geographical targeting approach under FSSAP. In addition, FSSAPII made provision for introducing targeting through a pilot but only gradually in light of prevailing political economy constraints. At FSSAPII appraisal in 2001, Bangladesh had a population of about 130 million, of which about 36 percent was below the poverty line, and only 40 percent of the adult population was literate. The Gross National Income per capita was about US$370. The overarching objective of the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) 2001 was to help Bangladesh realize its aspiration of reducing poverty substantially within one generation. The CAS supported Government plans and policies reflected in the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002), which envisaged poverty alleviation as its overriding objective. One of the key strategies to attain this objective was to consolidate gains in human development and to support initiatives to address the next generation of development challenges in education, health and nutrition. In the education sector, the major issues were: (a) low education quality and low internal efficiency; (b) weak relevance of the curriculum; (c) low learning achievements; (d) inadequate facilities; (e) inadequate teacher training and academic supervision; (f) geographic and gender inequities; and (g) weak management, lack of accountability and distorted incentives. In line with both CAS and sectoral goals, FSSAPII was designed to address the issues relating to: (a) improving secondary education quality through: (i) teacher education, training and support; (ii) student and school performance incentives; and (iii) greater community involvement in school quality issues; (b) expanding and sustaining access for girls in rural areas through (i) continuing the FSSAP girls' stipend and tuition assistance programs; and (ii) additional outreach in rural areas; and (c) improving management, monitoring and accountability, with focus at the school level. It is to be noted that in parallel MoE (with support from development partners such as the Asian Development Bank and IDA) embarked on secondary education reforms in key areas such as teacher development, curriculum and textbook development, examinations systems, school management and supervision, incentives for improving education quality, and institutional capacity-building. 1.2 Original Project Development Objectives (PDO) and Key Indicators The project development objective was to improve the quality of, and girls' access to, secondary education in rural areas of Bangladesh, through sustaining improved gender equity, adding activities and incentives to improve the quality of education in participating schools, and improving both the management capacity of the Ministry of Education (MoE) and monitoring and accountability mechanisms at the community level. According to the Project Appraisal Document (PAD), progress towards achievement of the project development objectives was to be measured by: · Percentage of girls and boys taking and passing the SSC examinations; · No. of awards for best performing girls in Class VIII and IX; · No. of awards for girls who made the most improvement in learning achievement; · Girls' enrollment; - 1 - · Girls' enrollment as a percentage of total enrollment in project upazilas; · No. of girls receiving stipends; · No. of disadvantaged girls supported by the Family Attractiveness Program (FAP); · No. of subject teachers trained; · No. of periodic studies carried out on female education issues to inform planning of future investments in female education; and · Establishment of integrated MIS database on all female stipends programs. 1.3 Revised PDO and Key Indicators The Project Development Objective was not revised. The following key indicators were revised at the Mid-Term Review (MTR) to reflect more realistic figures than appraisal estimates: (a) targets for awards for best performing girls in Class III and IX, and for most improved students were revised realistically from 64,800 to 55,960; (b) the enrollment figure of 1.45 million girls was revised to 1.2 million, given the overly optimistic appraisal estimate; (c) similarly, the number of girls receiving stipends was revised from 1.2 million to 0.95-1 million; (d) estimated girl-years under the Family Attractiveness program was converted to 800 girls; (e) the target for the number of teachers undergoing subject training was revised from 26,800 to 25,000 because of teacher vacancies and ineligibility. 1.4 Main Beneficiaries The main beneficiaries of the project were: (i) students, teachers, head teachers in secondary education, with particular emphasis on secondary school girls in 121 upazilas1; (ii) parents and communities; (iii) Ministry of Education (MoE) officials at central and upazila levels; and (iii) education professionals in teacher training institutions. The financial, educational and social benefits of providing stipends to girls and tuition to institutions encouraged parents to retain girls in school, and sit in SSC examinations, and institutions to attract more girls. This has enabled more girls to attend secondary institutions. Further, the outreach programs benefited poor and disadvantaged girls and boys by making it possible for these students to attend junior secondary schools in areas where no such schools existed before. Performance incentives contributed to improve student and school performance, as evident from increased pass rates in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations. Capacity-building has strengthened the services and accountability of institutional beneficiaries, including: Upazila Secondary Education Officers (USEO) in 121 upazilas; 6,666 FSSAPII educational institutions; and Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) as well MoE officials. 1.5 Original Components (as approved) The project consisted of three components, with a total cost of US$144.6 million: (1) Improving the Quality of Secondary Education ($12.67 million); (2) Increasing Access and Retention of Girls ($118.72 million); and (3) Strengthening Management, Accountability and Monitoring ($12.23 million). (a) Improving the Quality of Secondary Education (US$12.67 million) The expected outcomes were: (a) improving student learning; (b) attracting more girls to schools; and (c) increasing junior secondary school completion and SSC pass rates. These were to be achieved by: · increasing SSC examinations (grade 10) pass rates for girls; · training 26,800 teachers and 3,350 head teachers; · providing: (i) 860 excellence awards to institutions; (ii) 64,800 best performance awards and 64,800 improved performance awards to students; and (iii) 240 fellowships to girls to become teachers; 1FSSAPII covered 119 upazilas, which became 121 upazilas due to split of two upazilas. - 2 - · orienting about 21,000 stakeholders on education quality; and · installing about 2,000 tube-wells; constructing 2,000 latrines, and testing existing and new tube-wells for arsenic contamination. (b) Increasing Access and Retention of Girls (US$118.72 million) The intended outcomes of increased secondary school access and retention of girls were to be achieved by providing stipends to girls and tuition the educational institutions they enroll in, and piloting of outreach activities (New School Program, Family Attractiveness Program, and Pro-Poor Self-Targeting). Key project activities included: · increasing girls' enrollment in project educational institutions (Gross Enrollment Ratio to 57 percent); · implementing simplified procedures for stipends and tuition authorization and disbursement; · providing about 6.3 million girl-years of stipends (about 1,450,000 girls); · establishing 60 new outreach schools; · supporting 2,400 disadvantaged students with stipends at a higher rate; and · piloting a pro-poor self-targeting scheme (c) Strengthening Management, Accountability and Monitoring (US$13.23 million) The expected outcomes of: (i) improved capacity to plan, manage and monitor quality female education programs; (ii) reduced irregularities and wastage; and (iii) decreased fragmentation of foreign assistance, were to be achieved by: · establishing, operationalizing and maintaining a Program Monitoring Unit (PMU) within the DSHE and Project Operations Unit (POU); · providing international training (80 person-months) and in-country training (88 person-months) in areas such as educational development, school management, targeting, management, finance, and information technology; · strengthening project management and field capacity to deliver services and strengthening school level accountability; · establishing an integrated MIS database, including all female education stipends programs; · increasing DSHE's capacity to monitor all its female education stipend programs; and · conducting studies, including: (i) periodic comparative analyses; (ii) third-party auditing; (iii) monitoring; and (iv) impact evaluation. 1.6 Revised Components The original components were not formally revised. However, funds earmarked for cancellation at MTR was provided to rehabilitate flood-damaged schools under a Post-Flood Recovery Assistance Program (see Section 1.7 below), under part Z of Schedule 1 to the Development Credit Agreement. It is to be noted that a separate ICR will cover school rehabilitation under Part Z of the Project (similarly treated by GOB under a separate Development Project Proposal). Since FSSAPII was only providing funding from the Credit, supervision and implementation support was provided under the Post-Flood Recovery Assistance Program. 1.7 Other Significant Changes Given the nature of component activities (many of them through piloting), by mid-term the project faced vast challenges, two of the most critical ones being the need to seek GoB approval for much required changes, which took more than eight months to materialize, and to re-build the project management team in view of sudden departures of key experienced staff, which equally took a long time. Other significant changes are described below. - 3 - Project Extension. The project was extended twice. The original project closing date of December 31, 2006 was extended first to December 31, 2007 in order to enable GoB to complete the piloting of innovative activities such as pro-poor self-targeting (PPST) scheme, Mobile Training Resource Team (MTRT) pilot, and the SSC incentives scheme (introduced during the MTR). The second extension of the closing date to June 30, 2008 was granted following GoB's request for IDA support to allow continuity in its stipend programs in project upazilas until the formulation of a new operation. Amendments. The following amendments were made to the Development Credit Agreement (DCA): (a) a country portfolio restructuring through a legal amendment in March 2005 led to the re-allocation from the Credit of SDR9.68 million equivalent (earmarked for cancellation at MTR) for the support of the Post-Flood Recovery Assistance Program (Board Document No. IDA/R2005-0021), towards the rehabilitation of flood-damaged secondary schools; (b) in February 2006, the inclusion of boys enrolled in project upazilas in the pro-poor self- targeting pilot; and (c) the inclusion of sub-categories of expenditure under the Stipends and Tuition Category (Schedule 1 to the DCA) for: (i) Academic Year 2007 (on June 26, 2007); and (ii) the first semester of Academic Year 2008 (on November 8, 2007). Cancellation. Following the MTR, in view of: (i) the substantial appreciation of the SDR vis-à-vis the US dollar, and the Taka devaluation; and (ii) the lower number of beneficiary girls receiving stipends than anticipated at appraisal (see Section 3.2 below), a cancellation of SDR21.4 million was made in August 2005. 2. Key Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcomes 2.1 Project Preparation, Design and Quality at Entry Background analysis to support FSSAPII was sound. Project design was guided by the following: (a) the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002), which provided priorities to improve education quality, and educational management capacity, and to provide free tuition and stipend to unmarried girl students, especially in rural areas, and to strengthen school management; (b) GoB's national education policy adopted in January 2001, which emphasized strategies to improve education quality and rationalize the provision and management of secondary education; (c) the Bangladesh Education Sector Review (World Bank 2000), which identified critical issues and reform options in secondary education; (d) in-depth technical studies on the FSSAP implementation experience focusing on secondary education quality, expansion of access for girls to secondary education, and project management and institutional capacity; and (e) international experience on strategies to enhance education quality. As a follow up of FSSAP introduced in 1994 with a long-term vision for improving the education of girls, FSSAPII was designed to consolidate the gains achieved under FSSAP. The objectives and component activities were well-aligned with Government priorities, and major education sector issues. The design of FSSAPII was inevitably influenced by the context prevailing during the FSSAPI implementation, during which these factors weighed heavily: (a) coverage of all eligible girls for stipends and tuition based on geographical targeting; (b) reliance on eligibility criteria to enhance quality rather than direct interventions; and (c) monitoring of compliance with eligibility criteria through self-reporting by educational institutions instead of independent monitoring and evaluation instruments. GoB's strategy was to address the above factors gradually, primarily based on piloting. Key elements of FSSAPII design included a number of innovative approaches: (i) piloting of the outreach program to feed into the formulation of a pro-poor self-targeting scheme by MTR; (ii) piloting of the Mobile Training Resource Team (MTRT) to provide on-site support to teachers in four subjects (Bangla, English Language, Mathematics and Science); (iii) implementation of subject-based teacher training, head teacher and assistant head teacher training; (iv) training of school level stakeholders, including School Management Committees and Parent-Teacher Associations; (v) introduction of enhanced criteria to reduce - 4 - possible leakages; and (vi) establishment of a Program Monitoring Unit (PMU) within DSHE to institutionalize the monitoring of all its stipend programs. Given the above, the project design was appropriate. The Government's strong commitment to the female stipends program continued beyond FSSAP, as reflected in its ownership, and involvement project design and development. During project preparation, consultations were held with Government ministers, senior officials of line ministries, teachers, students, community members, including SMCs/PTAs. Several focused visits were made to project upazilas to discuss with field level stakeholders, including USEOs and educational institutions. While project risks identified were appropriate, one of these regarding response of the poorest girls and their families to the stipend program proved to be substantial despite mitigation through the introduction of outreach programs in few places, especially since stipend rates were too low to attract the poor girls, and the pass mark of 45 percent and 75 percent attendance acted as deterrent factors for their participation. A critical risk not identified was the deployment and retention of qualified key staff, which became a major obstacle during project implementation. The Quality at Entry assessment undertaken by the Quality Assurance Group mentioned serious design problems relating to the following: (a) targeting, i.e., reaching the low-income and remote girls most in need of stipend; (b) improving the quality of secondary education when most of the schools are privately owned and run; (c) achieving the sector reforms; and (d) successful and timely monitoring and evaluation. The last two assessments are relevant since the project design did not focus on sector reforms (undertaken through different operations), and greater focus was not placed on monitoring and evaluation through the introduction of a separate M&E sub- component. However, the project addressed the first two appropriately within the context described above in this Section (see also Section 5). 2.2 Implementation From the time of design and preparation to until mid-term, both the project development objective and overall project implementation remained satisfactory, with the achievement of the main project targets despite initial delays in the procurement of consultant services. Key problems encountered in implementation after the MTR included: (i) delay in the revision of the Development Project Proposal (DPP) to incorporate MTR agreements; (ii) the departure of key staff because of promotion; and (iii) the effect of a Government circular relating to use of additional eligibility criteria for stipends and tuition disbursement without IDA's consent, which threatened the momentum in enrollment increases. However, after the approval of the revised DPP, reorganization of the POU, and the return of key staff, project implementation picked up substantially, and planned activities were almost completed before the second closing date extension. By completion in June 2008, achievement of the project development objective was assessed as "Satisfactory" because the available data indicated that the outcome indicators in terms of SSC pass rates, enrollment, capacity- building, as well as associated output indicators showed improving trends. The project was extended to allow for completion of planned activities, and was justified on the basis of the delays in procurement of consultants which led to delayed start-up of several initiatives. The second extension was undertaken to allow for continuity before the development of the follow-on operation, the Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP: Credit No 4475-BD), approved in July 2008. MoE/DSHE achieved notable results in the implementation of many innovative activities under each of the three components, for example, performance awards for students and institutions, MTRT pilot, pro-poor self-targeting pilot, the outreach programs, and school management accountability training. Some key aspects of the project design which helped to ensure steady implementation included: (a) the partnership agreements with specialized agencies; (b) clearly specified steps of stipend and tuition disbursement, from collection of information from educational institution and preparation of award confirmation forms to actual distribution to students through Agrani Bank branches; (c) community participation in tube-well installation and latrine construction; and (d) provision of piloting and experiments to innovate strategies for quality improvement - 5 - and targeting. For example, the partnership arrangements with Agrani Bank (to deliver stipends and tuition) and with the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) for support to communities for installation of tube wells and water quality testing were extremely vital to smooth implementation. Rather than contracting out through an open competitive process, these partners were selected by the design team after careful and thorough assessment of their appropriateness to add value to the project. While Agrani Bank faced issues of capacity and the transaction costs were high to deliver the stipends, because of their close association as partners and strong ownership and sense of social commitment, they addressed the challenges, and managed to provide on-time delivery and reports. Similarly, DPHE, while keeping up the timeline of implementation, has also learnt from its partnership under FSSAPII and is keen to promote this in other projects, including in other upazilas. In 2006, a Quality of Supervision Assessment (QSA7) was undertaken by the Quality Assurance Group. The overall assessment of the period FY05-06 supervision was rated "Moderately Satisfactory." The Panel highlighted that the main implementation challenges were addressed well in the areas of procurement, financial management, and management of the stipends program, and targeting. However, the Panel pointed out some weaknesses, most of which were addressed during subsequent implementation (see section 5). 2.3 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Design, Implementation and Utilization Design: The strength of the M&E design was that the project featured built-in mechanisms to ensure that systematic monitoring systems are created that lead to coordinated reports. DSHE/PMU was given specific responsibilities ­ that of creating a database of female stipend programs, and using this database for analytical work that feeds into improved programming. The female education cell of DSHE/PMU was to undertake studies that would further enhance the evaluative nature of studies required under the project. The DSHE/POU had responsibilities for carrying monitoring and evaluation work at the central level. These units were to be supported by the Data Processing Center. In addition, performance-based monitoring included: (a) performance audit; (b) the annual stipends and tuition audit; and (c) other research. Key weaknesses were: (i) performance indicators were not well articulated though several indicators were identified in the project framework; (ii) the coordination mechanism between PMU and POU monitoring was weak; (iii) a separate monitoring and evaluation sub- component was not included, which would have given much greater focus on M&E activities; and (iv) a comprehensive EMIS was not envisaged. Nevertheless, M&E design for the purpose of monitoring and reporting for project interventions was adequate. Implementation: The PMU established at DSHE monitored compliance of eligibility criteria for all stipend projects and accountability mechanisms were strengthened. Owing primarily to stricter monitoring of compliance with eligibility criteria for stipends, there was a decline in the number of girls receiving stipends in all stipend projects under DSHE. The integrated database was developed, but could not become fully operational because of technical incompatibilities of data processing across the stipend projects. Two impact evaluation studies were carried out. Annual statistical reports covering all stipends projects were published. On the other hand, there was inadequate capacity to analyze available data resulting in delays in signaling deviations. The capacity for effective monitoring and evaluation remains inadequate despite several efforts to strengthen technical capacity at DSHE. Based on the FSSAPII experience, PMU has been upgraded to be a DSHE's Monitoring and Evaluation Wing under SEQAEP. Utilization: Data collected and processed relating to the eligibility of students for stipends were used to prepare Award Confirmation Forms (ACF), which provided the basis for disbursing stipends and tuition. The SSC results information and other examinations results were collected and used to provide various performance incentive awards. However, since the integrated database was not fully operational, DSHE could not obtain data from all stipends programs on a timely basis, and hence information-based policy decisions could not be made. 2.4 Safeguard and Fiduciary Compliance Safeguard compliance is rated as satisfactory. - 6 - Environment Aspects: The project was classified as environmental category B, which required a partial environmental assessment. The key environmental issues related primarily to provision of arsenic-safe drinking water, testing of tube-wells, provision of latrines, and an awareness program to help manage arsenic risks, hygiene and sanitation. An Environmental Analysis and Guidelines for Improvement of School Sanitation were prepared in consultation with SMCs and the Department of Public Health Engineering. The Environmental Management Plan (EMP) included indicators to help monitor activities relating to quality of facilities and services, and for their operation and maintenance. The EMP also stipulated implementation through SMC in conjunction with engineers from DPHE, and timely conducting and reporting of testing by USEOs. No issues were reported regarding compliance with the Bank's policy and procedural requirements for ensuring environmental safeguard compliance. Provision of sanitation and water facilities was highly satisfactory, as targets for tube-well installation and latrine construction were exceeded (2,039 versus target of 2,000). In addition, testing of tube-wells for arsenic contamination was carried out in five rounds, with the rate of contamination decreasing from 18 percent, to 15 percent, to 13 percent, and to now 5-6 percent. The process of testing instilled a culture of awareness of the detriments of arsenic contamination and remedies to reduce contamination incidence, by either relocating water supply schemes to safer physical areas or installing deeper tube-wells; and by marking contaminated water supply to indicate that the water was to be used only for non- drinking purposes. SMC involvement in the provision of facilities and testing was evidently effective in ensuring satisfactory compliance. Social Aspects: The project's key social issues and the social development outcomes related to enhancing the status and employment prospects for girls and women, contributing to poverty reduction, strengthening participation of communities and various stakeholders to promote participatory processes and greater ownership and awareness. The project, as evident from achievement of objectives relating to access and monitoring, has been successful in achieving the social development objectives. Several studies conducted under the project on female education issues, including impact studies, show a strong impact of the project on enhancing female participation and improving their participation in employment. Participation of communities through SMC involvement in water supply and sanitation was also a strong aspect of the project's contribution to strengthening community participation. The project piloted poverty targeting which has led to adoption of a poverty-targeting approach for stipends. Additionally, the project implemented outreach activities to target girls from remote and disadvantaged areas. The New School Program increased access of secondary education to poor boys and girls. Fiduciary compliance: Moderately Satisfactory. Financial Management: The overall performance of financial management is rated as moderately satisfactory. Initial weaknesses in the system, due to lack of adequate staff and capacity, continued to hamper effective financial management functions. Except for initial delays in submission, Financial Management Reports (FMRs) were received generally on time. Sometimes there were delays due to weak capacity to handle the computerized accounting system which prompted IDA to send reminder letters to submit overdue FMRs. In terms of accuracy and correctness, the FMRs were free from major discrepancies. Audit: The audit reports for the project were received in a timely manner, audit objections identified by IDA as material were duly responded to. The explanations provided and remedial actions taken were to the satisfaction of IDA. A number of audit objections were raised for non-availability of the supporting documents at the right location and non transparent and non competitive procurement practices. The use of project vehicles for non- project related activities by the concerned Ministry was an issue throughout the project life (a practice prevalent across the portfolio and not specific to this project). Disbursements: Disbursements, averaging about 14 percent per year, were $104.6 million as of December 10, 2008 (representing 94 percent of the revised Credit amount). The unutilized balance of US$7.1 million equivalent is being cancelled, bringing the total cancelled amount to about US$32 million equivalent. The reasons for the underutilization are explained under Sections 1.7 and 3.2. - 7 - Procurement: Performance in procurement aspects under the project is moderately satisfactory. After protracted delays in the initial years, particularly in the procurement of consultants for the quality and management/ accountability components, project procurement improved over time. During six years of the project, DSHE did not develop adequate procurement management capacity. There was a significant initial delay in procurement processing especially in the consultancy services. The selection of all major consultancy services was delayed by two years which was the key concern during the first two years of the project. Post review of contracts funded by this project was done during the past three years. Out of the contracts reviewed, no major deviation was found. However, DSHE has considerable weaknesses in terms of internal control, bid/proposal evaluation, award delays, transparency, management of procurement process, and handling complaints; more specifically selection of complex consultancy services. Under the flood component, partly financed from earmarked unutilized funds under the project at the MTR under a formal Post-Flood Recovery Assistance Program, and implemented directly by MoE through the Education Engineering Department (EED), the Bank declared mis-procurement of one prior review and two post-review contracts due to collusive practice by the bidders. 2.5 Post-completion Operation/Next Phase In August 2008, the Government launched the implementation of SEQAEP, which incorporated successful FSSAPII innovative activities such as performance-based incentive awards, including the SSC incentive awards, the MTRT, the pro-poor self-targeting scheme, the Family Attractiveness Program, the New School Program, and school management accountability. It is to be noted with appreciation the enthusiasm in the Government for taking forward the good lessons from FSSAP for expanding access to secondary education by focusing on targeting the poor, including both boys and girls. The support activities, such as the incentive awards and quality assurance schemes are important to continue, and it is encouraging that these form part of the next phase operations. It is important, however, to highlight that three areas that are included in SEQAEP need to be further emphasized: (a) improvement of quality, with emphasis on evidence-based (i.e., student achievement) analysis; (b) this would be supported by stronger and more coordinated and comprehensive monitoring & evaluation systems that track and analyze all interventions in the secondary system; and (c) greater focus on improving accountability, including through a comprehensive capacity-building program for SMCs/PTAs and more integration of the local level education officer support within the overall secondary education support system. 3. Assessment of Outcomes 3.1 Relevance of Objectives, Design and Implementation Relevance of Objectives: The project was designed to be consistent with the overarching objective poverty reduction of the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) 2001, which further supported Government plans and policies reflected in the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002). Throughout implementation, the objectives of the project remained relevant and consistent with GoB's current PRSP, Unlocking the Potential: National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction, Government of People's Republic of Bangladesh, 2005, which lays out an ambitious agenda and commitment to systemic reforms. To generate growth and reduce poverty, the PRSP focuses on: (a) employment generation; (b) nutrition; (c) maternal health; (d) quality of education; (e) sanitation and safe water; (f) justice system; and (g) local governance. They were also consistent with the Bank's Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), Country Assistance Strategy for the People's Republic of Bangladesh ­ FY06-09, Report No. 35193, The World Bank, 2006. The CAS emphasizes empowering the poor as one of the two pillars. The CAS also identifies improving educational quality to be a critical challenge. It proposes to assist in these areas by strengthening the accountability ­ as part of governance agenda its cross-cutting theme. The project's objectives were in line with those of GoB as articulated in the PRSP ­aiming to improve the quality of education at the secondary level, while enhancing access of education to the poor it can play an important role in effectively operationalizing GoB's strategy in the education sector. - 8 - Design and Implementation: The design of the project was relevant, reflecting proper diagnosis and plans to meet the above development priorities. The focus on expanding access through continued stipend support, with the introduction of quality improvement and gradual targeting approaches, was in response to maintaining the momentum on improving girls' participation in secondary education while introducing innovative ways to improve the quality of learning. With hindsight, the project would have benefited substantially from having a sub-component on monitoring and evaluation, which would have provided a strong focus on measuring the effect of the innovative activities and project outcomes. 3.2 Achievement of Project Development Objectives The project development objective (PDO) was to improve the quality of, and girls' access to, secondary education in rural areas, and to improve both the MoE's management capacity and monitoring and accountability mechanisms. Overall, project achievement was substantial under all three components, with most major targets reached. In addition, as envisaged at appraisal, the project was successful in implementing a number of innovations, which MoE has already adopted or is in the process of mainstreaming (in-service subject teacher training, head teacher training, mobile training resource teams, performance incentives to students, teachers, and institutions, outreach programs, targeting, upazila and school level capacity-building, and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation), as explained below. Progress in implementation remained steady and contributed to substantial achievement of the project development objective. Achievements in these PDO indicators were satisfactory, and included since the baseline of 2001: (a) increase from 39 percent to 62.6 percent (2008) in the SSC pass rate for awardee girls; (b) increase from 37 percent to 54.5 percent (2008) in the SSC pass rate for non-awardee girls; (c) increase in SSC pass rate for boys from 39 percent to 63.5 percent; and (d) and the absolute number of awardee girls passing the SSC increased from 23,231 to 32,282. The total number of girls passing the SSC in 2008 (at 51,223) was the highest since 2001. In terms of increasing access to secondary education, based on Household Income Expenditure Surveys 2000 and 2005, net enrollment rates have risen from 37.8 percent to 44.6 percent. Remarkable progress was made in management capacity strengthening both at central and field levels. DSHE's capacity to monitor stipends programs has increased substantially. At school level, the capacity to manage has increased primarily through training of SMCs and USEOs. The following provides an assessment of how the PDO was achieved. Development Objective 1: Quality of education improved Satisfactory. Overall, the project was successful in helping to achieve objectives relating to quality improvement. Unlike the access agenda, which was building upon the foundations of the first FSSAP, the quality component was introduced under FSSAPII to translate the gains in access into sustained improvements in secondary education. Several innovations were implemented which helped to demonstrate strategies for improving the classroom learning environment. Most notably, the project pioneered in-service teacher training and the head teacher/assistant head teacher training initiatives with follow up through the Mobile Training Resource Team (MTRT) program. In terms of achievement in implementation of the training sub-component, the project largely achieved the targets, with marginal shortfall owing to vacancies. Moreover, materials and modules developed under the project were adopted by MoE for its national training program, thus reinforcing the sustainability of these activities. Performance-based incentives ­ such as the incentive awards to teachers based on SSC results, excellence awards, and school improvement awards to institutions and performance awards for female students ­ were also introduced under the project. Improved water and sanitation facilities also contributed to an improved learning environment. Further improvement in the quality of secondary education remains a key challenge, with - 9 - special emphasis required to improve the quality of student learning. While evidence suggests that the learning achievement levels of secondary students is low due to persistent poor quality at the primary levels, the challenge in the future is to focus on improving the measures of achievement at the secondary level, and providing focused interventions to improve student learning. It is encouraging that the lessons of experience from FSSAPII have been incorporated into SEQAEP and other initiatives undertaken by DSHE, and that the Government is keen to continue to build upon the good experiences of the project, reinforcing the sustainability of achievement of objectives in the secondary sector. Development Objective 2: Access and retention of girls increased Satisfactory. The major achievement of the project was in increasing access and contributing towards greater retention of girls in the project upazilas. In particular, maintaining positive levels of gender parity at secondary level was one of the project's most significant contributions. The stipend and tuition support sub-component was the key to help achieve the development objective indicators relating to increased access and retention of girls. The stipends and tuition program initiated under FSSAP was replicated in all rural upazilas nationwide under FSSAPII and support from Government and other donors. To help enhance participation of disadvantaged children in secondary schooling, the outreach initiatives, including the Family Attractiveness Program (FAP), and the New School Program contributed to the development of the Pro-Poor Self-Targeting Scheme (PPST) for stipends and tuition introduced in the project after the MTR. The experience of PPST has led to the adoption of poverty targeting approach under SEQAEP covering disadvantaged boys as well. Although FSSAPII was not poverty-targeted, analysis of the 2005 Household and Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) shows that 30 percent of the beneficiaries were in the poorest two quintiles, compared with 22 percent of non-beneficiaries (secondary school students not receiving stipends). The project intended to support 6.3 million girl-years of education in Grades 6-10. By the end of the project, 6.9 million girl-years were supported, with the target being exceeded on account of the extension in the project period. This is a commendable achievement. Girls' enrollment increased from 1.09 million in 2001 to 1.21 million in the project upazilas in 2007. The original target of 1.45 million girls was unrealistic, since it was based on a trend analysis of enrollment under FSSAP (under which eligibility criteria were not as strictly enforced as in FSSAPII). Girls' enrollment as a percentage of total enrollment was about 56 percent, thus successfully maintaining gender parity. One disturbing trend, witnessed across Bangladesh, was the declining levels in enrollment during 2004-2006. This trend was reversed in the last two years of the project in the project upazilas ­ largely owning to emphasis on raising awareness. Preliminary analysis of the Household and Income Expenditure Survey 2005 and data from Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS)2 also indicated that girls' enrollment in all Bangladesh declined starting in 2004. Reasons for the reduction in enrollment are that: (i) the baseline figures were inflated; (ii) the application of enhanced educational eligibility criteria was efficient in weeding out uneligible or fake girls; (iii) the strict enforcement of eligibility criteria, as claimed by the Government, had the effect of discouraging of girls, who could not genuinely attend secondary education; and (iv) the use of additional criteria nationally by GoB seemingly for budgetary reasons had an inadvertently negative effect as well. It is strongly recommended, however, that BANBEIS and other units undertake a more comprehensive study to understand the decline in enrollment figures. It is important to undertake a comprehensive analysis of enrollment data beyond the confines of project data, using the national database. Development Objective 3: Strengthened management and monitoring, and accountability mechanisms Moderately Satisfactory. The project led to a reasonably reliable capacity to plan, coordinate, manage, monitor and evaluate stipend programs in the secondary education system, and performance in this development objective is assessed as moderately satisfactory. Considering that at the onset of the project in 2001 when the DSHE had only minimal capacity to oversee stipend implementation and had limited capacity to plan, monitor, evaluate and coordinate the various programs in secondary education, the project has made a respectable contribution to 2Bangladesh Educational Statistics, 2006, BANBEIS - 10 - strengthening of the system's capacity. While these capacities can be further improved over time including in terms of coordination, it is especially important to note that the program monitoring and operational units have become regular functions of the DSHE, and will continue to undertake critical planning and monitoring for the continuing programs in secondary education. Furthermore, MoE/DSHE needs to be commended for upgrading the Program Monitoring Unit established under this project to a Monitoring and Evaluation Wing, which will be able to monitor all DSHE programs, and carry out necessary program evaluation. On improving accountability, however, while good progress was made in implementing the training for various stakeholders at all levels for promoting better SMC participation, there is a lot more to be done to make SMCs effective participants in management of schools. However, reforming SMCs is beyond the purview of a single investment project such as FSSAPII; and such reforms would need to be addressed through a comprehensive reform initiative by the MoE. FSSAPII has contributed valuable lessons for the need to improve the composition and participation of SMC and the importance of PTA to oversee the performance and enhance quality of schools. 3.3 Efficiency Satisfactory. An analysis of factors affective efficiency in project implementation reveal significant efficiency gains under key activities under both the components for improving education quality and increasing access and girls' retention. These are described below. Training activities: The implementation of training activities (in-service teacher training, head teacher/assistant head teacher training, mobile training resource team and stakeholder training) was delayed due to late deployment of consultants. However, the training activities were implemented efficiently with low cost and achievement exceeded the targets in many activities. The estimated total budget saving in training activities was Tk117.8 million (appraisal estimate: Tk406.6 million versus actual costs of Tk288.8 million). A huge saving was made under MTRT activities as the Project adopted a cost-effective alternative with mobile team with intermittent use of resource persons rather than establishing a fixed resource centre deploying permanent experts. Similarly, all training activities utilized existing venues and resource persons of different training institutions, which helped develop training capacity at the field level, as well as utilize the unused capacity. Improved school facilities: Achievement exceeded targets for installing twin latrines and tube-wells with the saving of Tk18.2 million (appraisal estimate: Tk116.1 million versus actual costs of Tk97.9 million). Community participation was ensured as planned. Though arsenic testing of tube-wells by DPHE was irregular, the testing mechanism was cost-effective since the test kits were made available initially from other projects free of costs, and later on procured from the project for the last rounds, and minimum mobilization cost was provided to DPHE for testing. The formation of user group from the beginning and the introduction of a report card system also helped ensure sustainability of this activity. Stipends and tuition: Both stipends and tuition were disbursed efficiently by minimizing delays and ensuring minimal of leakages. A number of strategies were undertaken, which include: (i) adoption of additional simplified and enhanced criteria (new entry limited to Grade 6 and Grade 9, requirement of registration of respective Boards for Grade 10, and application of 45 percent mark criteria based on half-yearly and annual exams); (ii) strict enforcement of eligibility criteria (75% attendance, 45% marks, and staying unmarried); (iii) use of agreed steps with timeline to ensure disbursement of stipends and tuition in April/May and October/November each year, and (iv) regular audit of stipends and tuition from independent agency. This program was extended for three semesters not because of delays or inefficiencies but because of the decision to ensure continuity of stipends program under the follow-on project. As a result of these efficiency measures, the number of eligible girls declined substantially, which led to the saving of Tk729.7 million (appraisal estimate: Tk4,884.7 million versus actual costs of Tk4,155 million). Although this affected total enrollment, the education quality indicators (as measured by the SSC pass rate) improved because of strict monitoring activities. Outreach activities: Despite a delayed start, due to late deployment of consultant, the implementation of outreach activities (programs for family attractiveness and new school) was efficient and contributed to the development of a pro-poor self targeting scheme. This became a targeting platform for introducing the Proxy-Means Testing stipends and tuition program in the follow-on project. Community participation in the established new schools - 11 - helped economize resources and develop the ownership required for sustainability. The Government has provided Monthly Pay Order (MPO) for teachers in many new schools, and has shown commitment to provide MPO for all remaining new schools. The actual cost of this activity exceeded the appraisal target (Tk 125.9 million) by Tk 111.9 million not because of inefficiency, but because of the implementation of pro-poor self targeting scheme, which included both boys and girls based on poverty criteria, not envisaged at appraisal. 3.4 Justification of Overall Outcome Rating Rating: Satisfactory Objective Relevance Efficacy Efficiency Outcome 1. Improving the Quality of Secondary Education High High 2. Increasing Access and Retention of Girls High Moderate Satisfactory Satisfactory 3. Strengthening Management, Accountability, and High Moderate Monitoring The relevance of all three development objectives was high, and remains so in the context of the secondary education sector challenges in Bangladesh. There was substantial efficiency in working towards achievement of expanding access, and strengthening management, accountability and monitoring for the secondary education sector. Improvement of quality will take more time, but a very good foundation for improving quality, including provision of performance incentives, has been put in place. Further improvements in accountability with greater capacity building of SMCs also require more focus. The criteria of relevance, efficacy and efficiency were for the most part substantially met. The overall "satisfactory" rating of the project takes into account the achievements in the targets for almost all indicators. In the quality indicators, achievements exceeded the actual targets, including for the passing rate and for delivery of performance based awards. On the access side, the gender parity ratio maintained, and respectable progress was achieved in implementation of the outreach initiatives. Because of more stringent monitoring against eligibility criteria over the years, the number of girls receiving stipend declined. There was also a decline in overall female enrollment across the country during 2004-06, but the project managed to reverse the downward trend in the project upazilas. Several achievements were made to improve accountability, management and monitoring ­ most notably the systems developed in the DSHE which will help to sustain capacity for planning, implementation and monitoring in the secondary education sector. However, while training of SMCs remained on track, broader capacity building was not part of the project but will be required to achieve long term development outcomes in the sector relating to greater accountability through community participation. The project has rich experience to offer to continuing efforts across a broader canvas to improve access and outcomes in secondary education. Finally, many of the experiments under FSSAPII have been successful, and have shown promise of replicability. 3.5 Overarching Themes, Other Outcomes and Impacts (a) Poverty Impacts, Gender Aspects, and Social Development While more substantial impact evaluations and studies are warranted, evidence based on project data and discussions with communities shows a substantial impact of the project on improving gender parity, women's empowerment, and reaching out to disadvantaged areas. Studies conducted by the DSHE also show positive impacts of the stipend on girls and their participation in employment. In the project area, girls share in total secondary enrollment is 56 percent, which signals maintenance of gender parity. The project's greatest achievement in positively impacting poverty and gender development emerges from the demonstration impact of the many innovative interventions, ranging from outreach programs in disadvantaged areas, to piloting poverty targeting, providing fellowship support to FSSAP graduates for creating a pool of female teachers, performance based awards, etc. These types of initiatives have provided lessons for both scaling up and focusing on interventions that will have larger impacts on poverty reduction and social development in the - 12 - long term. An evaluation of the pro-poor targeting pilot indicated that under the Pro-poor self-targeting a greater percentage of beneficiaries were from the poorest two quintiles. (b) Institutional Change/Strengthening The project's greatest contributions to long-term institutional change relate to: (a) the introduction of an innovative and effective in-service teacher and head teacher/assistant head teacher training system with on-site support by an expert team; (b) putting in place mechanisms to improve school management, including establishment of USEOs and promotion of SMCs; and (c) the institutionalization of the monitoring and evaluation system introduced under the project into the mainstream DSHE. The in-service training strengthened capacity at the school level of teachers, assistant teachers and heads of institutions, and the MTRT program ensured on-site support and mentoring for trained teachers. Both of these initiatives have enabled the establishment of a foundation for quality improvement in the secondary education sector, and it is encouraging that the Government's commitment continues to strengthen and expand ongoing support for teachers as an integral part of the DSHE's mandate. Field capacity has increased with the establishment of USEOs (being transferred into revenue budget by the GoB), and through training on school management accountability for SMC and PTA members (GoB is considering to introduce reform based on the FSSAPII experience). This is further supported by ongoing support for teachers under the MTRT. While these are strong foundations for instilling an institutional change to improve quality at the school level, Government will need to focus on strengthening all of these processes to ensure long- term sustainability and integration in the mainstream system. The project has also helped to develop institutional capacity in the system to monitor all stipend programs in the country. While a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation wing in DSHE has been created based on the experience of program monitoring unit, more systemic efforts are required to coordinate among all interventions in the secondary sector, including making a fully integrated database functional to improve planning and efficiency. (c) Other Unintended Outcomes and Impacts The project was successful in achieving its development objectives. Beyond these, the project also appears to have led to greater awareness among communities for girls' participation not only in secondary education but also in gaining employment. There is also anecdotal evidence of delays in marriage age, which would also lead to decline in fertility rates. More rigorous studies in these areas are warranted. The project also has had an unintended impact on creating a demand for access to banking services, as a spillover effect of girls' maintaining bank accounts for receiving stipends. Agrani Bank plans to undertake an evaluative study to assess girls' continuing desire and demand for banking services even after they are no longer receiving stipend support. On a less positive note, there was the perception among some communities that too much emphasis on girls' education at secondary level was discouraging boys' participation. Since boys' enrollment grew from 894,594 in 2002 to 923,838 in 2008, in general the problem is not acute. Nevertheless, as indicated elsewhere, boys were also included in the pro-poor self-targeting pilot under the project. Moreover, under a new operation (Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project ­ Cr. 4475-BD), poor boys are also targeted in the stipends and tuition program. 3.6 Summary of Findings of Beneficiary Survey and/or Stakeholder Workshops Throughout the course of the project, there were several formal and informal consultations with stakeholders. At the time of project preparation, several consultations with held with various groups, ranging from parents/SMCs to teachers. In August 2005, a stakeholder workshop was organized to review interim lessons learned from project implementation, including implementation and monitoring arrangements, sustainability and long term implications for continuing with stipend support. As part of the design of the poverty targeting pilot, several discussions were held at the field level to identify appropriate elements for the design of the targeting strategy. At the time of the closing of the project, the ICR team conducted a workshop with several stakeholders including - 13 - project officials, other relevant government officials, teachers, heads, parents, USEOs, students, etc. Generally, the feedback was positive, with a large number of persons being aware of the importance of girls' education, and providing inputs on how to enhance the quality of education (use of flexible hours, provision of stipends to poor boys and girls, better provision in Mathematics and English, and greater use of learning materials) (see Annex 6). 4. Assessment of Risk to Development Outcome Rating: Moderate The risk rating is based on the moderate risk factors that exist in the longer term sustainability of the outcomes, and the remaining gaps in access which are challenged by social and demand aspects, and capacity of the system. Despite significant project achievements, especially in inputs for capacity building, and increased enrollments in secondary education, there remain several concerns for the ongoing education system which, if not addressed adequately, may result in project outcomes not being sustained, and will certainly pose a major challenge for any proposed further expansion of the education system. These include: (i) the need for strengthening capacity at the upazila level and below to support schools and communities, including through a mainstreamed USEO, through stronger SMCs which would create greater awareness and demand; and (ii) greater coordination among all the country level systems and programs for secondary education, under the leadership of the DSHE, which would also help to ensure better planning, and monitoring. Given that the stipend program has now evolved into a program to provide targeted stipend support on the basis of poverty, financial and economic risk factors are negligible. Further, the political risks are non-existent as the Government commitment to strengthening girls' participation at all levels of education will benefit from the various lessons learned from a decade of FSSAP and FSSAPII experience, including for improving quality of learning as tested in FSSAPII. 5. Assessment of Bank and Borrower Performance 5.1 Bank Performance (a) Bank Performance in Ensuring Quality at Entry Rating: Moderately Satisfactory Bank's performance in ensuring quality at entry is rated as moderately satisfactory. The Bank team worked closely with GoB to prepare the project, making conscious efforts to consult with stakeholders from the education sector as well as the ministries. Project preparation took into account lessons learned from the two previous projects, strong sector analysis, and the implementation experience of the first project. The design of the projects sought to complement and expand further the work from the previous project. Further, the project's design took into account the need to strengthen implementation and monitoring arrangements. The quality at entry assessment by the Quality Assurance Group (QAG) rightly indicated that the project design did not place greater focus on sector reforms (as this was done under other MoE activities), and monitoring and evaluation (where addition of an M&E sub-component would have been appropriate). The QAG's rated quality at entry as "Moderately Unsatisfactory" primarily because of the absence of targeting from the outset, and reportedly the difficulty of improving education quality in mostly private institutions. However, the QAG's assessment that targeting ought to have started from the beginning of the project was flawed since it did not take account of the political economy risks in a low-income country of converting overnight from a national approach of "entitlement to stipends" to one only focused on poor girls. Indeed, it took years for GoB to realize that a system of targeting for the stipends program is needed to ensure greater access to both poor girls and boys, and program sustainability. The QAG's assessment that education quality could not be improved since most schools were privately owned and run was also unfounded, since these schools received subventions from MoE based inter alia on their educational performance. (b) Quality of Supervision Rating: Satisfactory - 14 - Overall quality of supervision is rated as satisfactory. Feedback gained from the FSSAPII Project Office and the DSHE suggests that the Bank's task team was a close partner in helping to ensure effective implementation. In particular, the supervision strategy included support for preparing annual work plan and budget and strengthening the monitoring system and then relying on the regular information from the M&E system to guide implementation. Supervision of fiduciary aspects was adequate, with issues on financial management and procurement being raised in a timely manner. For example, there was consistent follow up on the delays in procurement of consultants and for putting in place stronger procurement management capacity by the Bank's procurement staff. On the financial management side, the Bank's team provided reasonable oversight on the financial reporting for the project, and in working with the project staff to resolve audit objections. More field- based supervision could help to deepen the analysis and support provided through desk-based and office-based supervision, especially in terms of identification of bottlenecks and capacity constraints encountered at the implementation level. The quality of supervision had been rated `Moderately Satisfactory' by the Quality of Supervision Assessment (QSA7) group, for supervision in FY05-06, including for focus on development effectiveness, supervision of fiduciary/safeguard aspects, and candor and quality of the ISRs. Adequacy of supervision inputs and processes was rated as `Satisfactory' by the panel. The task team's response to the QSA panel's assessment makes a strong argument against the less than satisfactory rating assigned for quality of supervision, mainly on account of likelihood of meeting of development objectives. Having reviewed the panel's assessment and the task team's response, it is the view of the ICR team that the quality of supervision on all accounts was indeed satisfactory, the strategy for supervision adequate, and that the threats to meeting of development objectives were not a failing on part of the team's performance of supervision. (c) Justification of Rating for Overall Bank Performance Rating: Satisfactory The ICR team's assessment of satisfactory rating for overall Bank performance is based on the Bank team's flexible response to the needs of the country and the education sector, working closely together on the design and implementation of the project. In particular, the task team was successful in introducing pro-poor self-targeting scheme during MTR, which proved to be a breakthrough in the implementation of a sustainable stipend program. Good and sustained relationship established with GoB made it possible to communicate from a distance and to resolve promptly any procurement and implementation issues. There was solid team work throughout the project and proactive, positive dialogue with stakeholders. The team's use of increased supervision resources was legitimate in light of the greater emphasis on targeting and M&E (including impact evaluation) soon after the mid-term review. This rating differs from QAG's lower ratings as described above. First, the ICR team has assessed Bank performance during the entire project period through June 30, 2008, whereas the QAG review was conducted in 2005/06. It is the ICR team's assessment that Bank's performance and effectiveness in supervision improved significantly in the last years of the project. Given the substantial achievement of the project development objectives, the successful implementation of many innovative activities under rather difficult environments, and MoE's extremely positive feedback on IDA's performance, the overall Bank performance rating of "Satisfactory" is justified. 5.2 Borrower Performance (a) Government Performance Rating: Satisfactory The improvement in the timely disbursement of stipends was possible because of provision of counterpart funds in time. The commitment and ownership of the GoB along with its willingness to learn from the experience of the previous projects and to place priority on national needs had a strong impact on project design. GoB's ongoing political will facilitated project implementation. The role of the MoE was critical in ensuring continued commitment to the stipend program and for creating awareness and demand for female education. - 15 - (b) Implementing Agency or Agencies Performance Rating: Satisfactory The performance of the DSHE in guiding the overall implementation and helping to improve weaknesses in the management and monitoring systems was found to be fully satisfactory. The POU/PMU had sound performance with its tasks for the overall coordination and oversight of the project, the procurement of goods and services, the management of the project accounts, liaison with the various implementation units with the MoE, and monitoring the progress of the project. There were weaknesses and certain inadequacies in financial management staffing, which continued throughout the period of project implementation, but the oversight provided by the project management team ensured timely resolution of outstanding issues in both financial management and procurement. Performance of implementation at the field level (upazila and below) was also adequate as evidenced by satisfactory achievement of targets, and timely provision of data and information for monitoring purposes. (c) Justification of Rating for Overall Borrower Performance Rating: Satisfactory The overall satisfactory rating is based on the government's strong commitment and readiness to implement the project. Sufficient staff continuity and attentiveness to various issues ensured that most of the work was carried out promptly and efficiently. Despite frequent changes at the level of the project director, the continuity of key project staff throughout the course of implementation, and their continuation in the follow on project is a strong indication of the commitment of the GoB to this important project and the overall stipend program, and also of the DSHE's keen oversight and engagement in the project. The Borrower ensured quality of preparation and implementation, complied with covenants and agreements, and ensured the project reached its development objectives. 6. Lessons Learned · Quality of education. The impact from interventions such as teacher/head teacher/assistant head teacher training, and the provision of incentives for quality education diminishes if the core problems impinging upon education quality are not tackled upfront, especially in an environment of low-quality education. Furthermore, provision of safe drinking water and toilet facilities is likely to reduce the burden of disease and increase students' aptitude to learn. · Efforts to improve quality will not succeed unless there are capable subject teachers. Teacher provisioning especially in mathematics, English and science has been a significant challenge in secondary schools. Schools which have the requisite number of teachers, the focus is now on improving teacher quality through changes in classroom practices, supported by on-site support · Maintaining gender balance and deployment and retention of capable teachers. Whilst keeping the focus on girls will always be important for various socio-economic reasons, it is equally important to consider the problem of poor boys in enrolling and completing secondary education. An area where greater emphasis is needed is in increasing the number of female teachers in secondary education, given that research has shown that parents are less willing to send their daughters to school with only male teachers. Similarly special attention should be given to deploy and retain capable teacher in critical subjects such as mathematics, English and science. · Reaching and retaining poor students in school. In order to reach and retain poor students in school, it is necessary to: (a) have a systematic method of selecting poorer students; (b) raise adequate awareness among communities; (c) provide adequate amount of stipends to meet basic school costs; and (d) conduct appropriate evaluation to assess impact. Further, provision of free textbooks and materials through secondary (Grade 10) should be considered by government as an accompanying intervention to any incentive. - 16 - · Enhancing access through demand-side interventions. The Government's strategy to promote education for girls through demand-side interventions has proven successful in expanding access to education. This approach should be extended to promote education for poor boys and girls. · Community involvement. Community involvement is essential for improving service delivery in remote and disadvantaged areas and for ensuring project sustainability. When communities have meaningful responsibilities, control over resources, and are accountable, they become actively engaged in project activities, thereby bolstering community participation. · Capacity building of SMCs/PTAs. Community participation is enhanced if school level stakeholders are aware of their roles and responsibilities, including accountability. The composition of SMC/PTA needs to be revisited and capacity of SMCs/PTAs needs to be enhanced to ensure that they play their roles effectively. · Innovations. For innovations to be successful, their design need to take account of ground realities, and they need to be piloted and implemented with greater involvement of key stakeholders, with some degree of flexibility to incorporate ongoing lessons. In this respect, legal and government documents should provide for this flexibility to ensure effective implementation. · Sustainability. It is crucial to design and support institutional partnership arrangements for project implementation (such as those undertaken with Agrani Bank for stipend distribution) to maximize institutional development impact, and ensure sustainability. This enhances ownership of the implementing agency and strengthens coordination, leading to greater possibilities of replication of successful interventions. For future programs, such as capacity building of SMCs, similar institutional arrangements/partnerships should be considered. · Ensuring rigorous project evaluation. Establishing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system is critical in ensuring that the approaches adopted by the project under various components are properly evaluated. This will help determine whether the project is meeting its goals and objective, and also provide information/data for real-time corrective action. 7. Comments on Issues Raised by Borrower/Implementing Agencies/Partners (a) Borrower/implementing agencies The Borrower has provided its own detailed ICR in Annex 7. The Borrower has also reviewed the ICR and found compatible with FSSAPII implementation. (b) Cofinanciers N/A (c) Other partners and stakeholders Stakeholder consultations are outlined in Annex 6. - 17 - Annex 1. Project Costs and Financing (a) Project Cost by Component (in USD Million equivalent) Actual/Latest Components Appraisal Estimate Percentage of (USD millions) Estimate (USD millions) Appraisal Improve Secondary Education Quality 10.8 9.6 89% Increase Access and Retention of Girls 104.1 89.1 89% Strengthen Management, Accountability and Monitoring 11.6 14.3 123% Total Baseline Cost 126.5 112.9 92% Physical Contingencies 0.4 0.00 0.00 Price Contingencies 17.7 0.00 0.00 Flood Rehabilitation (Part Z of Project) 14.3 6% Total Project Costs 144.6 127.3 86% Front-end fee PPF 0.00 0.00 .00 Front-end fee IBRD 0.00 0.00 .00 Total Financing Required 144.62 127.3 (b) Financing Appraisal Actual/Latest Source of Funds Type of Percentage of Cofinancing Estimate Estimate (USD millions) (USD millions) Appraisal Borrower 23.59 21.2 90% Local Communities - 0.24 0.24 100% International Development Association (IDA) Credit 120.90 105.8 88% - 18 - Annex 2. Outputs by Component Four sets of tables are reported here for additional information on the project's progress to support discussion in Section 3: Assessment of Outcomes. The first table (2A) reports on progress against the component activities. The second table (2B) reports on further details of progress against outcome indicators. The third table (2c) reports on further details of progress against project indicators. The fourth table (2db) reports on planned and actual schedule of disbursement. Table 2A: Project Progress by Component Component/Sub- Target Output/Beneficiary Achievement/Actual Outcome/Impact Component/Objectives/Activities (Original) Output Component 1: Improving the Quality of Secondary Education A. Teacher Education, Training and Support for Stakeholders 1. Head Teacher (HT) and Assistant 6,000 HTs and 6,698 Assistant 6,625 HTs and 3,882 · System of in-service HT Training head teachers (AHTs) (not in AHTs trained teacher training original plan) trained established, including 2. In-service Teacher Training IST provided to 26,800 teachers; 23,484 teachers trained on-site support 3. Stakeholder Training 20,695 stakeholders trained 19,000 stakeholders · Stakeholders sensitized trained on education quality 4. Mobile Training Resource Team 748 schools covered by MTRT 1,077 schools covered issues (MTRT) by 40 team of 160 members 5. Fellowship Support for FSSAP 240 fellowships awarded 125 girls awarded Graduates (HSC:54, BA-B.Ed:7, and B.Ed:64) B. Incentive Award for School Performance and Improvement 6. Excellence Awards School 860 educational institutions 646 educational · SSC pass rates in Awards (more than 5% awarded institutions awarded project educational improvement in transition, institutions increased dropout, repetition and from 39% in 2001 to completion rates for girls in 62% in 2008 secondary schools and . performance of students in SSC examination) (male and female). Number of schools receiving excellence award) 7. School Improvement Plan 424 educational institutions 415 educational Awards awarded institutions awarded 8. SSC incentive award to educational institutions receiving 3,615 educational meritorious schools SSC incentive award based on institutions awarded increase in the number of students (916 in 2005, 1,527 in passing SSC 2006 and 1,172 in 2007) C. Incentive Awards for Student Achievement 9. Best performing girls award 64,000 girls awarded 62,360 awarded · Same as above 10. Most performing girls award 64,000 girls awarded 60,711 awarded D. Improved School Facilities 11. School Facilities Construction of 2000 latrines and 2,042 tube-wells (977 · Improved physical installation of 2000 tube-wells shallow ones and 1,065 learning environment deep ones) installed and 2042 latrines constructed - 19 - Component 2: Increasing Access and Retention of Girls A. Stipends and Tuitions 12. Stipends and Tuitions 6.3 million girl years supported 6.9 girls years · Enrollment of girls supported increased from 1.15 13. Pro-Poor Self-Targeting 424 institutions covered 424 institutions covered million in 2001 to 1.18 (introduced during Mid-Term with 0.39 million boys million in 2008, and Review) and girls boys from 0.88 million to 0.92 million, despite a general decline due to demographic changes B. Outreach (FAP and NSP) 14. Family Attractiveness Program 2,400 girl-years supported 760 girls · Modest gains in (FAP) (Program merged later reaching poorer on with PPST pilot) students in poor areas 15. New School Program (NSP) Establishment support to 60 25 new schools provided the platform school's under NSP (MTR revised established for introduction of target: 25) poverty-based targeting Component 3: Strengthening Management, Accountability and Monitoring A. DSHE Program Management 16. PMU PMU: DSHE/PMU established M&E Wing established · Replication of stipend and staff trained and at DSHE program nationwide institutionalization of PMU at · Integration of stipend DSHE program in DSHE activities, especially in 17. Integrated Database Functional female education Integrated data base monitoring stipends integrated database developed, but yet to be functional B. DSHE Project Operations 18. POU management A fully staffed DSHE Project Established and · Trained staff in project Operations Unit fully established operationalized being transferred to 19. M&E Strengthened M&E Strengthened revenue budget 20. DPC DPC fully staffed and functioning Fully staffed and functional C. School Management and Accountability 21. School Management and Training packages for SMC 64,000 SMC members · SMC reform started Accountability members and other key and 64,000 PTA based on feedback stakeholders at different levels members from 6,000 from FSSAPII prepared and training provided institutions trained activities · SMC/PTA capacity improved modestly through systematic training D. Staff Development 61 domestic training courses and 8 in-country training · Despite high turnover, overseas training courses held provided to 1391 international training officials were linked to specific overseas training project activities, provided to 25 officials contributing to policy reforms such as MTRT, incentives, targeting and capacity-building Source: DSHE, FSSAPII and BANBEIS. - 20 - Table 2B: Project progress by outcome indicators v/s Revised Targets (Status of Project Development Objective as measured by the following Outcome Indicators) PDO Indicator Baseline Progress to Date End of Project Target (Revised) Number/Text Date Number/Text Date Number/Text 1. Increase in % of girls Girls 2001 Girls 2006 43% and boys taking and Awardees: 38.5% Awardees: 62.6% passing the SSC Non-awardees: Non-awardees: 54.5% Note: No of examinations 36.5% students Boys: 39.4% Boys: 63.5 % appearing in 2008 SSC showed a slight decrease over 2001 figures (see Table 2C) 2. No. of awards for best No awards existed. 2001 62,360 awards 2006 55,960 awards performing girls in Grades 8 and 9 3. No. of awards for girls No awards existed. 2001 60,711 awards 2006 55,960 awards who made the most improvement in learning achievement 4. Increase in girls' Girls: 1,090,455 2001 Girls: 1,176,614 2006 1,200,000 enrollment Boys: 885,497 Boys: 923,838 (shortfall explained in Section 3.2) - 5. Girls' enrollment as a 56% 2001 56% 2006 56% percentage total enrollment in project upazilas 6. No. of girls receiving 939,020 2001 753,095 (including PPST) 2006 950,000- stipends 1,000,000 (shortfall explained in Section 3.2) 7. No. of disadvantaged 2,400 girl-years 760 girls 2006 800 girls girls supported by the Family Attractiveness and New School Programs 8. Increased capacity to No unit under DSHE 2001 PMU established to carry 2006 PMU established plan, coordinate, to oversee stipend out this function; manage, monitor and programs MoE/DSHE upgraded this evaluated stipend Unit as a full-fledged programs3 Monitoring and Evaluation Wing within DSHE Integrated Database developed Source: DSHE, FSSAPII and BANBEIS. 3 Originally this indicator was included in Key Project Indicators table, but this was not included in the short list of indicators. - 21 - Table 2c: Project progress by indicators FEMALE SECONDARY SCHOOL ASSISTANCE PROJECT: PHASE II Quantitative Achievements (as of August 20, 2008) Target 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total 1 No of Institutes 5,556 5,853 6,110 6,384 6,528 6,666 6,666 6,666 6,666 Gov. 35 36 39 45 49 49 49 49 49 N-Gov 3,746 3,913 4,058 4,188 4,284 4,366 4,366 4,366 4,366 M 1,775 1,904 2,013 2,151 2,195 2,251 2,251 2,251 2,251 No. of girls' appeared in 2 SSC 90,927 106,219 102,171 90,688 90,010 77,836 77,671 86,319 3 No. of girls' passed in SSC 34,406 40,737 32,002 39,615 42,112 42,036 43,830 51,223 No. of boys' appeared in 4 SSC 124,551 138,275 130,348 110,197 104,535 102,699 109,543 122,306 5 No. of boys' passed in SSC Upazilas 49,018 58,880 47,382 54,740 54,669 63,896 66,843 77,623 6 SSC pass rate (Girls) 43 38 38 31 44 47 54 56 59.3 7 SSC pass rate (Boys) 39 43 36 50 52 62 61 63.5 8 Net enrollment FSSAP-II 9 Transition rate class 5 to 6 10 Transition rate class 8 to 9 95 97 86 89 79 72 95 11 Total Enrolment Girls 1,150,455 1,222,205 1,226,838 1,090,274 1,094,050 1,056,749 1,206,610 1,176,614 Boys 885,497 900,594 869,885 834,136 839,699 832,146 905,872 923,838 12 Total in ACF(Jan-Jun) Girls 1,054,385 1,131,218 1,154,141 868,294 949,052 854,415 858,621 838,015 13 Total in ACF(Jul-Dec) Girls 1,054,385 1,068,064 899,268 739,716 658,507 777,252 858,621 NR 14 Received(Jan-Jun) Girls 954,812 1,029,984 1,005,080 725,459 723,656 796,510 852,920 723,980 15 Received(Jul-Dec) Girls 939,020 982,714 666,651 661,986 600,553 694,000 852,920 NR 16 FAP Schools 41 41 41 41 41 Girls 53 517 760 690 17 NSP Schools 26 25 25 25 25 25 Girls 1500 533 1,134 1,882 Pro-poor targeting (Jan- 18 Jun) Schools 213 424 424 Girls-T 65,308 91,813 91,813 Girls-A 14,425 27,868 27,868 Boys 5,829 10,425 10,425 19 Pro-poor targeting(Jul- Schools 161 404 424 424 - 22 - Target 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total Dec) Girls-T 39,629 81,399 78,101 81,399 Girls-A 11,624 23,147 26,053 23,147 Boys 3,715 9,258 9,664 9,258 20 Teacher/stakeholder trng. Head teacher 7000 2,171 1,500 1,286 720 948 6,625 Asst. Head teacher 5000 968 2,914 3,882 IST 26000 4,891 6,852 9,795 1,946 23,484 Stake 19000 19,000 21 MTRT Schools 1077 32 520 525 1,077 Teams 40 4 20 40 Members 160 16 80 160 22 Student Fellowships HSC 54 54 54 BA-BEd 7 7 7 BEd 64 5 59 64 23 School awards Excell 860 12 212 212 210 646 SIP 424 28 119 64 204 415 SSC 916 1,527 1,172 3,615 24 Student awards Best 55961 7,826 10,135 10,797 11,341 10,917 11,344 62,360 Improved 55961 7,847 9,955 10,638 11,259 10,875 10,137 60,711 25 School facilities Latrines 2000 402 460 543 637 2,042 S-tube-wells 1000 219 200 245 313 977 D-tube-wells 1000 183 260 298 324 1,065 26 M-A training Schools 6000 6,000 6,000 SMC 66000 66,000 66,000 PTA 60000 60,000 60,000 27 Staff trained I-county 2647 122 362 763 220 1,467 International 11 10 5 26 Girls-T=Girls receiving Tuition; Girls-A=Girls receiving Incentives Source: DSHE, FSSAPII and BANBEIS. - 23 - Table 2d: Planned and Actual Schedule for the Disbursement of Stipends and Tuition for 2001-2008 Planned Disbursement Timing of Actual Disbursement Total Delays Installment Schedule as per PP Year Start End Total End Total to to days Start days Start End 2001 July-Dec. 19 Oct 30 Nov 43 n.a. n.a. - - - 2002 Jan.-June 8 May 19 Jun 43 12-Aug-02 30-Sep-02 50 96 104 July-Dec. 19 Oct 30 Nov 43 20-Jan-02 28-Feb-03 40 94 91 2003 Jan.-June 8 May 19 Jun 43 10-Jul-03 5-Aug-03 27 62 48 July-Dec. 19 Oct 30 Nov 43 19-Jan-04 15-Feb-04 28 91 77 2004 Jan.-June 8 May 19 Jun 43 10-Jul-04 30-Sep-04 80 62 100 July-Dec. 19 Oct 30 Nov 43 13-Jan-05 28-Feb-05 48 77 90 2005 Jan.-June 26 May 14 Jun 20 24-May-05 24-Jun-05 30 -2 10 July-Dec. 19 Oct 30 Nov 43 5 June 30-Dec-05 35 36 30 2006 Jan.-June 1 May 15 June 45 12 Dec 10 July 35 35 25 July-Dec. 19 Oct 30 Nov 43 14 June 10 Jan 29 53 40 2007* Jan.-June 20 April 31 May 42 20 Oct 25 Nov 36 180 145 July-Dec. 20 April 31 May 42 20 Oct 25 Nov 36 NR NR 2008 Jan.-June 1 May 15 June 45 12 June 30 June 18 42 15 Note: In view of the planned closing date of June 2007, it was decided to disburse Disbursement of stipends and tuition for both semesters at one time Source: DSHE, FSSAPII and BANBEIS. - 24 - Annex 3. Economic and Financial Analysis Efficiency The following section provides further details on the calculation of efficiency gains. Training activities: The estimated total budget saving in training activities was Tk117.8 million (appraisal estimate: Tk406.6 million versus actual costs of Tk288.8 million ­ see Table 1 below). A huge saving was made under MTRT activities as the Project adopted a cost-effective alternative with mobile team with intermittent use of resource persons rather than establishing a fixed resource centre deploying permanent experts. Similarly, all training activities utilized existing venues and resource persons of different training institutions, which helped develop training capacity at the field level, as well as utilize the unused capacity. Table 1: Training activities Taka million Training activities Target Actual Diff HT training 46.0 47.3 -1.2 AHT training 46.7 22.7 24.0 In-service training 182.2 162.9 19.2 MTRT activities 109.3 36.1 73.2 Stakeholder training 22.4 19.8 2.7 406.6 288.8 117.8 Improved school facilities: Achievement exceeded targets for installing twin latrines and tube-wells with the saving of Tk18.2 million (appraisal estimate: Tk116.1 million versus actual costs of Tk97.9 million). Stipends and tuition: Both stipends and tuition were disbursed efficiently by minimizing delays and ensuring minimal of leakages. A number of strategies were undertaken, which include: (i) adoption of additional simplified and enhanced criteria (new entry limited to Grade 6 and Grade 9, requirement of registration of respective Boards for Grade 10, and application of 45% mark criteria based on half-yearly and annual exams); (ii) strict enforcement of eligibility criteria (75% attendance, 45% marks, and staying unmarried); (iii) use of agreed steps with timeline to ensure disbursement of stipends and tuition in April/May and October/November each year, and (iv) regular audit of stipends and tuition from independent agency. This program was extended for three semesters not because of delays or inefficiencies but because of the decision to ensure continuity of stipends program under the follow-on project. As a result of these efficiency measures, the number of eligible girls declined substantially, which led to the saving of Tk729.7 million (appraisal estimate: Tk4,884.7 million versus actual costs of Tk4,155 million). Although this affected total enrollment, the education quality indicators (number of students appearing in SSC examinations and SSC pass rate) improved because of strict monitoring activities. Sustainability Financial Sustainability: Financial sustainability of the interventions initiated and implemented under the FSSAPII is ensured as the GoB has initiated Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) with IDA support as follow up of FSSAP-II. FSSAP-II piloted a Pro-poor Self-targeting scheme of stipend program for both boys and girls in pursuance of a decision of the Mid-term Review Mission in 2004. Based on the piloting experience, SEQAEP has continued the new scheme in all 121 upazilas and other - 25 - DSHE is considering adopting the targeting strategy nationwide. SEQAEP plans to (i) devise a systematic method of selecting poor students; (ii) create adequate awareness among communities; and (iii)) conduct appropriate evaluation to assess impact. FSSAP-II contributed to sustain the momentum gained in expanding the girls' enrollment at the secondary level. The Government commitment to stipends program which is a significant element of sustainability, is evident in its expansion of the female stipend program throughout the country, and its allocation of additional financial resources for SEQAEP. The Government is convinced of the rationale for its longer term support to secondary education for girls and poor boys. The commitment of the Government to girls' education is further evidenced in its decision to extend female stipend program of Grades 11 and 12. The fact that the Government is investing so much of its resources in education of girls and poor boys speaks of its ownership of the country- wide program. Community Involvement: FSSAP-II supported to promote community involvement through (i) capacity building of SMC/PTA, (ii) provision of community participation in tube-well installation and toilet construction, and (iii) involvement of community in new school program, family attractiveness program and pro-poor targeting pilot. The implementation of the Management and Accountability sub-component under FSSAP-II contributed to enhance community participation through training of school level stakeholders and increasing their awareness regarding their roles and responsibilities, including accountability. FSSAP-II Liability: FSSAP-II financed salary of (i) USEO staff (826 posts), (ii) project operation unit (POU) staff, and (iii) program management unit (PMU) staff, and operating costs of POU, PMU and 121 USEOs. The Ministry of Establishment recommended transferring (i) 6 posts (except sweeper) out of 7 posts of USEO; and (ii) 58 staff working in the POU and PMU to the revenue budget. The project liability to the revenue budget is negligible. - 26 - Annex 4. Bank Lending and Implementation Support/Supervision Processes (a) Task Team members Names Title Unit Responsibility/ Specialty Lending Ana Maria Jeria Senior Human Resource Specialist SASHD TTL Irajen Appasamy Operations Analyst SASHD Mission member Sumaiya Andaleeb Research Analyst SASHD " Habibur Rahman Education Specialist SASHD " M. Chloe O'Gara Girls' Education Specialist (Consultant) SASHD " William Darnel Management and Implementation Specialist SASHD " Shiva Raj Lohani Economist (Consultant) SASHD " Carolyn Winter Sr. Education Specialist HDNED Zafrul Islam Sr. Procurement Specialist SARPS Suraiya Zannath Sr. Financial Management Specialist SARFM Shirley Miske Consultant (Education Specialist) SASHD Md. Mokhlesur Rahman Consultant SASHD Proc/Fin Paul Martin Senior Environment Specialist SASES Khawja Minnatullah Sr. Water and Sanitation Specialist SASES Fatema Rosalynn Khan Research Assistant SASHD Burhanuddin Ahmad Sr. Financial Management Specialist SARFM Dr. M. Khaliquzzaman Consultant SASES Sofia Shakil Consultant SASHD Monitoring & Evaluation Supervision Amit Dar Sr. Education Economist SASHD TTL Irajen Appasamy Sr. Operations Officer SASHD TTL Nazmul Chaudhury Sr. Economist SASHD Zafrul Islam Lead Procurement Specialist SARPS Tanvir Hossain Procurement Analyst SARPS Harvinder Suri Procurement Specialist (Consultant) SARPS Suraiya Zannath Sr. Financial Management Specialist SARFM Burhanuddin Ahmad Sr. Financial Management Specialist SARFM Mahmudul Alam Sr. Education Economist SASHD Yidan Wang Sr. Education Specialist WBIHD Fatema Rosalynn Khan Research Assistant SASHD Shiva Raj Lohani Economist (Consultant) SASHD Nilufar Ahmed Sr. Social Scientist SASDI Dr. M. Khaliquzzaman Consultant SASDI Environment Hon Chan Chai Consultant SASHD M&E ICR Sofia Shakil Senior Education Specialist SASHD TTL Irajen Appasamy Sr. Operations Officer SASHD Burhanuddin Ahmad Sr. Financial Management Specialist SARFM Tanvir Hossain Procurement Analyst SARPS Shiva Raj Lohani Economist (Consultant) SASHD - 27 - (b) Staff Time and Cost Staff Time and Cost (Bank Budget Only) Stage of Project Cycle No. of staff weeks USD Thousands (including travel and consultant costs) Lending FY98 23.53 FY99 21.38 FY00 8 17.19 FY01 37 186.98 FY02 37 97.21 FY03 4.46 FY04 0.00 FY05 0.00 FY06 0.00 FY07 0.00 FY08 0.00 Total: 82 350.75 Supervision/ICR FY98 0.00 FY99 0.00 FY00 0.00 FY01 0.00 FY02 4 18.55 FY03 19 77.03 FY04 20 78.91 FY05 37 161.46 FY06 43 155.11 FY07 31 106.25 FY08 38 152.14 FY09 9 49.2 Total: 201 798.65 - 28 - Annex 5. Stakeholder Workshop Report and Results During the ICR mission in August 2008, a one-day stakeholder workshop was organized at the Kushura Abbas High School in Dhamrai Upazila. The attendees at the workshop included 50 persons, including Project Operations Unit officials, Upazila Secondary Education Officer, Assistant Secondary Education Officer, school principals, teachers, students, members of SMCs, and parents. The objectives of the workshop were to: (a) seek stakeholders' opinion regarding overall project implementation, including quality interventions, stipends distribution as well as the outreach programs, SMC training, and other aspects of upazila-level project activities; (b) identify key implementation issues and challenges at the field level; and (c) obtain feedback from school level stakeholders, including teaching staff, head teacher, parents/guardians, and students. The following paragraphs summarize the overall findings of the workshop, and highlight sustainability and institutional capacity issues. Access. In general, parents were found to be aware of importance of girls' education and stipends and tuition program. The majority of parents had strong views and insights about factors that help or hinder their children's participation in school ­ including why there are high levels of drop out between Grades 7 and 8, and also at Grade 9 level; about what motivates them to keep their children in school, etc. Quality. While there are improvements in the SSC results over time, quality remains by far the most important agenda for the future. Schools started to provide additional support to Grade 10 students through extra classes during vacation to improve their performance in SSC. Teachers need more support to improve their teaching practices through on-site support, and further improvement in their subject knowledge and pedagogy. From all stakeholders (including students), there were strong messages regarding the need to improve Mathematics and English teaching/learning. Head teachers and assistant head teachers require more training not only in management and administration, but also in pedagogy to enable them to provide adequate guidance to all teachers. The classroom learning environment needs improvement, including more teaching and learning material. Participation and Accountability. Stakeholders agreed that, with greater participation, and strengthened capacity, teachers and the school will become more accountable to the parents. While there is a potential for parents (the better off ones) to contribute more towards school improvement, greater active and meaningful participation of parents in the management of school affairs is needed. In order for this to happen the majority of stakeholders pointed to the need to reform SMC/PTA in terms of composition and roles and responsibilities. Some good ideas that came out, for example, included the need to engage local private sector (factory owners) in school affairs and mobilize resources for the education of poor girls and boys. Options for facilitating the provision of quality education to children include: (i) allowing the older age children (Grades 8, 9, 10) to work part time; (ii) providing stipends and tuition to both poorest girls and boys; (iii) adopting flexible school hours; and (iv) sponsoring teachers or providing learning materials for better quality. Upazila Capacity to Support Secondary Education. USEOs informed that they have maintained a record of all key implementation activities and achievements. While computer and other hardware equipment has been provided to USEOs, further capacity-building that focuses on use of the appropriate software to maintain all data is needed. To enhance effective supervision of educational institutions, USEOs stated that they would require: (i) mobility support, in particular for female USEOs; (ii) operating costs for fuel depending on remoteness of educational institutions; (iii) clear checklist of activities to be performed during supervision; and (iv) training. Stakeholders emphasized the need to enhanced USEO positions by making them full-fledged secondary education officers rather than limiting to the existing role of project staff. - 29 - Annex 6. Borrower's Assessment 1. DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES 1.1 Introduction Learning from earlier initiatives, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), with support from IDA, launched the Female Secondary School Assistance Project (FSSAP) in 118 upazilas in 1993. The introduction of this program created nation-wide enthusiasm for girls' education, which inspired GoB to undertake a nation-wide Female Stipend Program (FSP) with the same aims, objectives and implementation strategies as FSSAP. Under this program, three more stipend projects, namely GoB-financed Female Secondary Stipend Project (FSSP), ADB-assisted Secondary Development Project (SEDP) including the NORAD-assisted Female Secondary Education Stipend Project (FESP) were undertaken. In view of the tremendous success of FSSAP and the need for accelerating the pace of progress achieved by its programs, Government of Bangladesh with IDA assistance decided to initiate FSSAPII as a follow-on project of FSSAP. 1.2 Objectives of the Project: The objectives of the project are to improve the quality of, and girls' access to, secondary education in the rural areas of Bangladesh. The project also aims to improve the management capacity of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) and Ministry of Education; and monitoring and accountability mechanism at the community level. The specific objectives of FSSAP-II are to: (a) increase secondary school enrolment of girls through continuing financial assistance; (b) organize teacher education and training for qualitative improvement in secondary education; (c) create intensive mass awareness about girls education and acquire social acceptance for it; (d) provide special facilities for girls education in the inaccessible and disadvantaged areas; (e) make the environment of the institutions safe, healthy and attractive for girls by providing water supply and sanitation facilities through increased community participation; (f) enhance the efficiency of project manpower through provision of training for the smooth implementation of the various programs of the project; (g) develop effective management system for secondary education at the upazila level; (h) Above all, to help empowerment of women. 1.3 Components of the Project: The Project has three major components with ten sub-components as given below: Components Sub-components 1. Improving the quality of secondary education 1.1 Teacher Education. Training and Support 1.2 Incentive Awards for School Performance 1.3 Incentive Awards for Student Achievement 1.4 Improved School Facilities 2. Increasing Access and Retention of Girls 2.1 Stipends and Tuition 2.2 Outreach Program 3. Strengthening Management , Accountability and 3.1 DSHE Program Management Monitoring 3.2 DSHE Project Operations 3.3 School Management and Accountability 3.4 Staff Development 2. PROGRESS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMPONENTS: A. IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF SECONDARY EDUCATION: - 30 - a) Teacher Education, Training and Support: a.1 Fellowship Support for FSSAP-II Graduates: Achievement against target: 100%. A Selection Committee was constituted to select deserving FSSAP graduate girls for the fellowship. The Committee selected 65 fellows for admission in different programs of the fellowship in the first year of the Project. But the fellows selected for C-in-Ed program could not get admission in the PTIs, since PTIs provide in-service C-in-Ed. training only for primary school teachers. In view of this, these fellowships were converted to other types of fellowships during the Mid Term Review. Even these could not be implemented since the BA/BEd course duration of three years would have extended beyond the closing date of the Project. Therefore, the new target was set at 125 in two categories in the revised PP. The Project authority could provide all the 125 fellowships to FSSAP graduates. a.2 In-service Teacher Training Achievement against target: 87.62%. As per provision of PP one international consultant and one national consultant were hired to design the subject specific training program. They developed subject-wise training manuals for all the 4 subjects, namely Bangla, English, Mathematics and Science, in addition to one on pedagogy. The in-service training of subject teachers was organized in 17 venues all over Bangladesh. The venues included 11 TTCs, 5HTTIs and BMTTI. 23,484 Assistant Teachers were trained against the target of 26,800 during the Project period.. a.3 Head Teacher (HT) Training: Achievement against target: 94.6%. The international and national consultants who worked for designing the subject-specific training of assistant teachers also developed and finalized the Training Manual for the Head Teachers training. 5,678 Head Teachers were trained against the target of 6,000 during the Project period. All the project schools were covered, but due to the vacancy of Head Teacher post in many schools, the target could not be achieved. a.4 Assistant Head Teacher Training Achievement against target: 65.24. The training manual designed for training the Head Teachers were also used for training the Assistant Head Teachers. So far 3,882 Assistant Head Teachers have been trained against the target of 5,950. The target could not be achieved due to non-availability of Assistant Head Teachers, since in many schools this post remained vacant. Further, Junior High Schools do not have this post. a. 5 Mobile Training Resource Team (MTRT) Achievement against target: 144.0%. One international consultant (for 2 person months) and one national consultant (for 2 person months) were hired to design and develop the new MTRT concept for its introduction in Bangladesh. The consultants working during the period from 17 May to 30 July 2004 developed a concept paper modifying the concept of MTRT into Mobile Training Resource Center (MTRC). The introduction of this MTRC concept and postponement of international training visit on MTRT have delayed the implementation of MTRT pilot training. The IDA Supervision Mission (29 January-9 February, 2004) reviewed the concept paper on MTRC and identified it as a deviation from the original concept of MTRT. The Mission recommended that the Project authority should: i) adhere to the MTRT concept as originally designed and ii) organize international training visits for MTRT master trainers, expert teachers, and those who provide systemic support for such programs, as soon as possible. An international consultant was hired for conducting the International Visit on MTRT to China and Japan. He worked during the period from 12 May to 20 July 2003. An 11 member team of concerned officials, educators-masters teacher trainers visited China and Nepal during 15-30 June 2004.Based - 31 - on the visit, a draft MTRT training design and implementation plan was prepared and submitted to the World Bank. The draft training and implementation plan was thoroughly discussed during Mid Term Review. On the basis of discussion, MTRT piloting concept was finalized. Phase-1 piloting was completed by 12 MTRT members in September2005 covering 32 institutions. Based on the Phase-1 experience MTRT concept, implementing procedure and Operational Manual was revised. A selection committee was formed to select MTRT members through open competition. Sixty four MTRT members in16 teams visited 320 institutions and 160 members in 40 teams visited 757 institutions and trained the teachers on the spot. Thus the total institutions visited stood at 1,077. The achievement was spectacular. a.6 Stakeholder Training: Achievement against target: 91.8%. As per the revised schedule of consultancy services under the Project an international consultant (for 1 person month) and a national consultant (for 18 person months) were hired to design the training packages for stakeholder training. The POU selected 363 resource persons from different areas as potential trainers who conducted the stakeholder training in their respective areas. 19,000 stakeholders have so far been trained against the target of 20,695. b. Incentive Award for School Performance b.1 Excellence Award: Achievement against target: 75.11%. The project authority could provide Excellence Award to 646 institutions during the project period against the target of 860. Due to delayed start of the program for procedural delay, the target could not be achieved. b.2 School Improvement Plan (SIP): Achievement against target: 97.87%. An international consultant was appointed, but he did not join. But a national consultant who worked during the period from 1 June 2003 to 30 May 2004 designed the School Improvement Plan. So far 415 institutions have been awarded the SIP grant against the target of 424. b.3 SSC Incentive Award Achievement against target: NA. 3615 institutions have been provided with SSC Incentive Award based on the SSC Examination results of 2005, 2006 and 2007. This incentive award was given to encourage schools and teachers to increase the SSC pass rate through the provision of additional support to students. c. Incentive Award for Student Achievement Achievement against target: 110.0%. A total number of 123,568 girls(62,011 best performing 61,557 most improved) from Class VIII and Class X were given the Incentive Award during the project period against the target of 111763. d. Improved School Facilities for Girls: Achievement against target: 101.95% (tube-well) and 102.1 (twin latrine installation); The Project Management Unit (PMU) of FSSAP-II evaluated the effectiveness of the Water and Sanitation System (WSS) of the FSSAP institutions from time to time. The PMU officials regularly inspected the tube- wells and latrines, and submitted report to the Project Director. A total number of 2039 tube-wells (1065 shallow tube-wells + 974 deep tube-wells ) have so far been installed in 2039 institutions against the target of 2000, while 2042 twin latrines have been constructed in 2042 institutions against the target of 2000. As per provision of PP, the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) has so far completed 5 rounds of arsenic testing of tube-well water at the project institutions to ensure safe drinking water for the teachers - 32 - and students. It has tested around 19542 samples (3451+3637+3636+3763+5065) where arsenic contaminations found were 18.89%, 13.06%, 12.49%, 1.64%, 4.43% in five rounds respectively. B INCREASING ACCESS AND RETENTION OF GIRLS a. Stipends and Tuition: Getting the girls student enrolled and timely disbursement of stipends money among them had always been a challenging task since the inception of FSSAP. Disbursement of stipend money on time could never be achieved. In order to overcome this problem, implementation procedure of stipends and tuition sub-component was re-designed. i) Additional Eligibility Criteria for Stipends: With a view to eliminating ineligible girls three additional criteria was set forth for both institutions and girls. These additional criteria were introduced from the academic year 2003. The three additional eligibility conditions for FSSAP-II stipends were as follows: a) new entry is limited to class VI and class IX only; b) girls studying in class X must have registration at BISE and BMEB ; and c) the 45% marks criterion would be applicable to half yearly examination also. ii) Number of Project Institutions: Every year a small number of educational institutions sign Cooperation Agreement with FSSAP-II resulting in the increase of educational institutions under the Project. The year-wise number of FSSAP institutions (old and new) for the period from 2001 to 2008 is shown in Table 1. The number of FSSAP-II institutions was 5558 in 2001 which rose to 6666 in 2006 and remained so in 2008. Table 1: Number of Institutions (Year-wise): Year 2006 2007 2008 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Old 5258 5556 5853 6110 6383 6528 6666 6666 New 300 297 257 274 145 138 0 0 Total 5558 5853 6110 6384 6528 6666 6666 6666 iii) Enrolment of Boys and Girls in the Project Institutions The enrolment of boys and girls in the Project institutions is shown in Table 2. The enrolment of girls increased gradually from 2001 to 2003, decreased up to 2005 and then started to increase again. Table 2: Enrolment of Boys and Girls in Project Institutions (2001-2007) Grade 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls 6 235855 303821 226350 311921 217756 276040 224519 289985 224800 282645 206878 265492 7 200484 279508 197938 267081 184744 247291 184633 235367 187100 241915 214114 275340 8 170912 245073 169650 243816 164175 213007 160494 210661 157726 192774 186151 229101 9 150793 220338 145214 224181 144573 198534 147685 198227 143065 189233 143013 216508 10 136550 173465 130773 179839 122888 155402 122368 159810 119455 150182 155716 220169 Total 894594 1222205 869925 1226838 834136 1090274 839699 1094050 832146 1056749 905872 1206610 iv) Number of Stipend Recipient Girls: Since the introduction of Female Stipend Program in Bangladesh in1994, the number of stipend recipient girls increased tremendously in the secondary schools, reached the peak in 2002 and then decreased enormously from 2003 and started to increase again in2006. This is evident from Table 3 and Table 4. - 33 - It was revealed from the World Bank Supervision Mission Reports as well as internal and independent external monitoring reports that every year a huge number of ineligible girls were given stipends by inflating their attendance and marks by the head teachers. But due to the intensification and tightening of monitoring and supervision of the institutions as well as time-to-time warning against the malpractices being committed by the school teachers in falsifying the girls' attendance and performance data, the trend of malpractice has decreased significantly. It is interesting that the number of stipend recipient girls decreased by 47.41% in 2003 from 2002. Table 3: Number and Rate of Increment of Girls Receiving Stipends by Semester (2001-2008) Academic January ­June Semester July-December Semester Year ACF Stipend ACF Stipend Increase in % of Awardees Awardees Stipend Increment Recipients 2001 1.054,385 954,812 1,054,385 939,020 2002 1,131.218 1,029,984 1,068,064 982,714 43694 4.44% 2003 1,154,187 1,005,059 899,268 666,651 -316063 -47.41% 2004 868,294 732,785 831,016 661,986 -4665 -0.70% 2005 949,052 723,656 658,512 600,553 -61433 -10.23% 2006 854,415 796,510 777,252 694,000 93447 13.46% 2007 856,621 672,525 858,621 672,525 -21475 -3.19% 2008 852,920 v) Disbursement of Stipends and Tuition: The POU so far completed the disbursement of stipends to girls and tuition to the institutions against the stipend recipient girls for 13 semesters since the beginning of the Project from 1 July 2001.The disbursement of stipend and tuition for the last semester (January-June 2008) of the Project has begun already. Disbursements were always delayed for every Semester, however, the performance of Agrani Bank in disbursing the stipend and tuition money has improved significantly over the last several years. vi) Performance of Boys Stipend, Girls and Non-stipend Girls in the SSC Examination. It is seen from Table 5 that the number of students appearing at the SSC Examination declined in FSSAP-II schools over the years from 2002 to 2006 with an increasing trend in 2007. Yet the achievement of the students in the SSC Examination is gradually improving. For example, the pass rate of stipend girls increased from 38.52 % in 2001 to 60.07% in 2007. Also the average pass rates of boys of FSSAP-II schools (61.02%) and stipend girls (60.07%) in 2007 were slightly higher than the national average ( 61% for boys and 55% for girls). The pass rate of non-stipend girls was also lower than that of the stipend girls in 2006 and 2007 significantly. It is also seen that boys performed better than girls in the SSC Examination in all the years under report. Table 5: Year-wise SSC Pass Rates of Boys, Stipend Girls and Non-stipend Girls Year Boys Awardees Non-awardees Appear Pass % Appear Pass % Appear Pass % 2001 124551 49018 39.36 60316 23231 38.52 30611 11175 36.51 2002 138275 58880 42.58 61694 25566 41.44 39479 15171 38.43 2003 130348 47382 36.35 61694 19231 31.17 40477 12771 31.55 2004 110197 54740 49.67 51050 21641 42.39 39638 17974 45.35 2005 104535 54669 52.30 51532 23494 45.59 38478 18618 48.39 2006 102699 63896 62.22 45923 26718 58.18 31913 15316 48.00 2007 109543 66843 61.02 46421 27886 60.07 31250 15944 51.02 2008 - 34 - vii) Achievement: Achievement against target: 109%. During the period from January 2001 to June 2008, 6.9 million girl-years of education in grades 6-10 have been supported. . b. Outreach: Family Attractiveness Program (FAP): Achievement against target: 95.0%. Upazila level committees were formed to select girls under FAP program. Under this program, 760 girls of disadvantaged areas against the target of 800 girls have received additional money to continue their study. New School Program (NSP): Achievement against target: 96.15%. Under this program 25 Junior Secondary High Schools have been established against the target of 26 in remote and educationally disadvantaged areas. Of these schools, 11 have already been approved by the Government and the rest schools are now under process of approval. b.3 Pro-poor Self-targeting Scheme: Achievement against target: NA So far 504,126 girls and boys (463,924 poor and meritorious girls +40,192 poor boys) have received stipend at enhanced rate since 2005 under the Pro-poor Self-targeting of Scheme of Stipend Program. C. STRENGTHENING MANAGEMENT, ACCOUNTABILITY AND MONITORING a.DSHE Program Management: The Program Monitoring Unit (PMU) was established by FSSAP-II in the Planning and Development Wing of DSHE, with a total of 9 personnel headed by a Deputy Director. The PMU has, in the meantime, carried out a number of activities including revision of Stipend Operation Manual, preparation of a monitoring format for all the 5 female stipend projects, preparation and publication of a database on all the female stipend projects and a number of studies. b. DSHE Project Operations A Project Operation Unit (POU) was established to implement the Project. All the operational units of POU are carrying out their assigned activities. c. School Management and Accountability: Achievement against target: 96.0%. An international consultant ( for 3 person months ) and a national consultant ( for 36 person months) were employed who designed, developed and facilitated the training program.. 6005 orientation and training programs for DEOs, SMC chairmen/members, head teachers, and parents on school management and accountability were organized at the national, divisional and school levels. An evaluation study of the program was conducted by the consultant during March-April 2008. d. Staff Development: A national consultant was deployed on 21 April 2003 for 2 person months for the design and development of domestic as well as overseas training program. He submitted the Report at the end of his assignment. A Staff Development Plan was prepared on the basis of needs, which was approved by the World Bank. So far, 1391 trainees participated in 14 different training courses in the country; while 25 officials participated in 3 international study visits during the implementation period of the Project. 2.1 Item-wise Expenditure of the Project: - 35 - Achievement against target: 92.8%. Out of a total budget of Tk. 76,626.80, a total Tk. 71,097.50 was spent with an unspent amount Tk. 5,529.30. 2.2 Summary of Achievements against Targets: The achievements against targets of each component/sub-component have been provided to the Bank and are included in the Bank's report. 3. LESSONS LEARNED a) Project Design One of the main lessons learned from the implementation of Female Secondary School Assistance Project (FSSAP) (1994-2001) was that the Project was a total success in increasing the enrolment of girls in the secondary level (Grades 6-10) tremendously. This is evidenced by the fact the enrolment of girls in the secondary level increased from 30% in 1994 to 54% in 2000. But the quality of education at the secondary level had not been increased to the desired extent till then. Since qualified trained teachers have positive correlation with teaching quality and hence student performance, the Female Secondary School Assistance Project: Phase II (FSSAP-II) kept provision for the in-service training of Head Teachers and Assistant Head Teachers on school management and accountability and Assistant Teachers on four subjects, namely Bangla, English , Mathematics and Science. The implementation of FSSAP-II reveals that the teacher training program has increased the teaching quality of the teachers and hence the learning achievement of the students. Furthermore, the provision of safe drinking water and toilet facilities to schools under FSSAP-II has contributed significantly to improving the school environment and hence students enrolment, particularly girl students. Likewise, the "Strengthening Management, Accountability and Monitoring "component of FSSAP-II has been successful in enhancing the `capacity of DSHE in the management, implementation, coordination and monitoring and evaluation of projects. b) Project Coordination and Implementation: The management structure of the Project included (a) an inter-ministerial or National Steering Committee (NSC), (b) Implementation Monitoring Committee, (c) a Project Management Unit (PMU) under DSHE, (d) a Project Operations Unit (POU) under DSHE, (e) Upazila Secondary Education Office (USEO) and Upazila Advisory Committee (UAC) for girls' education. Within DSHE, project oversight management was the responsibility of the PMU, while operations were the responsibility of the POU and Upazila Secondary Education Office. At the national level, POU was responsible for the implementation of FSSAP-II The inter-ministerial Steering Committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Education, was responsible for facilitating the project implementation and provides policy and decision-making guidance. The PMU was responsible for overall coordination among female education projects and related secondary education activities as well as the maintenance of an integrated MIS database and monitoring and evaluation of FSSAP-II. The POU had three sections. The Operations Section (OS) was responsible for implementation of the quality, stipend and tuition and school management and accountability activities. The Finance and Administration Section (FAS) was responsible for finance, procurement, audit and monitoring and evaluation functions as well as supervision of disbursement bank. The Data Processing Centre (DPC) was responsible for processing and disseminating of school and students data and prescribed reports. The performance of all the functional units of FSSAP-II was satisfactory. - 36 - c) Policy Issues: i) Enrolment and Quality The Nation-wide Female Stipend Program (FSP) has been playing an instrumental role in promoting female education and increasing the enrolment of girls at the secondary level in rural areas of Bangladesh. The enrolment of girls at the secondary level has increased to the extent that it has now surpassed that of boys. The spectacular growth of enrolment over the years shows that the objective of the Female Stipend Program to achieve gender parity in access to secondary education between boys and girls has virtually been achieved. But the quality of secondary education has not yet been achieved. Increased girls' enrolment rates will not be sustained in the long term, if the quality is not increased. One of the main lessons from the implementation of FSSAP-II has been that the impact from interventions such as teacher/head teacher training and the provision of incentives for quality education will diminish if the core problems of education quality are not tackled upfront, especially in an environment of low-quality education. Furthermore, provision of safe drinking water and toilet facilities is likely to reduce the incidence of disease and increase students' aptitude to learn. ii) Attendance and Achievement: The continuing priority of FSSAP-II should be to ensure that girls attend school regularly. Maintaining the 75% minimum attendance is prudent. An accountability mechanism should be established to ensure that attendance and marks are being reported accurately. The girl-friendly school environment and congenial class room climate are essential for girls' attendance. Girls' attendance is also linked to teachers' faithful attendance, since students' attendance is sure to drop if teachers are routinely absent. Attendance of students is associated with teaching-learning process in the classroom. SMC and PTA play important role in ensuring girls' attendance. Trained teachers, particularly, female teachers have a positive relationship with girls' attendance. Attendance has a positive relationship with student achievement. Since attendance is increasingly important to student achievement and trained teachers are having positive relationship on both attendance and achievement, investments in professional development and training of teachers should be increased. Female trained teachers have positive correlation with girls' attendance and marks; hence more female teachers should be recruited to attain 30% target as was envisaged in the FSSAP. iii) Maintaining Gender Balance: During the last two decades, Bangladesh has been highly successful in expanding girls' access to secondary education, to the extent that the ratio of girls to boys is currently about 55 percent. Whilst keeping the focus on girls is always important for various socio-economic reasons, it is equally important to consider the poor boys in enrolling and completing secondary education, since they are suffering from a sense of deprivation for not being given any stipend support. In view of this consideration, FSSAP-II is providing stipend to poor boys under its Pro-poor Self-targeting Scheme. Greater emphasis should also be given to increase the number of female teachers in secondary education, since research has shown that parents are less likely to send their daughters to school with only male teachers. In this respect, Government of Bangladesh is implementing a policy giving priority of female teacher recruitment. iv) Reaching and Retaining Poor Students in School: The lesson from implementation of the FSSAP ­I and FSSAP-II and the recent pilot Pro-poor Self-targeting Scheme on access and retention of poor students in secondary education, revealed that it is necessary to: (a) devise a systematic method of selecting poor students; (b) create adequate awareness among communities; and (c) conduct appropriate evaluation to assess impact. - 37 - v) Community Involvement: Community involvement is essential for quality education and improving service delivery particularly in the remote and disadvantaged areas and for ensuring of project sustainability. International experience suggests that communities become actively involved in any program when they have meaningful responsibilities, control over resources and accountability. These along with good quality education for children, are the incentives for community participation in the educational programs. vi) Capacity Building of SMC/PTA: It is recognized that communities play and important role in the successful implementation of educational programs in the locality. The implementation of the Management and Accountability sub-component under FSSAP-II showed that community participation is enhanced if the school level stakeholders are aware of their roles and responsibilities, including accountability. The capacities of SMCs need to be enhanced to ensure that they play their roles effectively. This is being addressed through various initiatives under FSSAP-II.-training of SMC members on roles, responsibilities and mechanisms to ensure quality in schools. Similarly, the role of PTA has to be strengthened to establish a strong link between teachers and parents for ensuring appropriate student learning and support. vii) Student-teacher Ratio (STR) Smaller classes result in better student achievement, since large class sizes increase teachers' workload and negatively affect the quality of work. Student-teacher ratios higher than 40:1 are of concern. Therefore, STR should be kept to the minimum, lower than 40:1. viii) School Facilities: Good toilet facilities do have positive impact on female attendance, particularly that of older girls. Good tube wells have also positive correlation with attendance of girls in schools. Good classrooms are positively correlated at a significant level with attendance and achievement. SMC and PTA meetings have positive relationship with girls' attendance and performance. Parental and community involvement improves students' attendance in schools. 4. SUSTAINABILITY OF STIPEND PROGRAM: The Government commitment to girls' education, which is a significant element of sustainability, is evident in its expansion of the female stipend program throughout the country, and its allocation of additional financial resources for FSSAP-II. The Government is convinced of the rationale for its longer term support to girls' secondary education. The commitment of the Government to girls' education is further evidenced in its decision to extend female stipend program of Grades 11 and 12. The fact that the Government is investing so much of its resources in girls' education speaks of its ownership of the country-wide program. Under the present system, all eligible girls of secondary schools in the rural areas, irrespective of poor and rich, receive stipends assistance. Further the amount of stipends money is too small and hence can meet only a part of the direct cost of schooling. Since the system does not take merit and need into consideration, it does not attract girls from the poorest families who cannot meet the major cost of schooling. Therefore, it is time now to think whether or not the stipend and tuition program, which cannot meet the requirements of the girls of the poorest families, will be continued in its present form after the completion of most of the stipend projects in June 2008. There is general concern among both the donor community and the Government officials in Bangladesh as well as a large cross section of the community people, that although the female stipend program has been very beneficial to female education, it is not affordable and sustainable in its present form for the longer term, particularly when there will be no donor assistance. As the number of female students will continue to increase with the improvement in primary education, more government funds will be - 38 - required to meet the cost of stipends and tuition. Therefore, there will be fewer funds available to invest in programs to improve the quality of education. Experience from the implementation of FSSAP, FSSAP-II and study reports of other female stipend projects shows that both girls and their guardians are now more aware of the benefits of girls' education than before. This is evidenced by the fact that the girls especially from well-to-do families disqualified from receiving stipends for not being able to comply with the stipend criteria, still continue in the schools. Further, presently boys do not get any stipend. Hence they suffer from a sense of deprivation and boys particularly of poor families drop-out in the midst of their studies. Therefore, in order to bring the girls and boys of the poorer section of the community to secondary schools, introduction of a scheme of targeted intervention based on merit and needs of both boys and girls may be considered. FSSAP-II has already introduced a Pro-poor Self-targeting scheme of stipend program for both boys and girls in pursuance of a decision of the Mid-term Review Mission in 2004, and is being continued in the upcoming Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) being supported by IDA. In order to ensure sustainability and quality of girls' education, the households and communities must be involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of any girls' educational projects. Poor quality of education is an obstacle to sustainability. Further quality is a sine qua non for more efficiency. More efficiency is essential for sustainability and expansion. Quality and efficiency considerations inspire the community. If the expectations for quality secondary education and employment of SSC graduates are unfulfilled, the gains in enrollment may erode. Therefore, quality of education must be improved along with increase in enrolment. Community involvement is essential for quality education, particularly in the rural areas, for complete coverage and sustainability of the program benefits. Experience suggests that communities become actively involved in any program when they have meaningful responsibilities, control of resources, and accountability. These, along with good quality education for children, are the incentives for community participation in the educational programs. 5. BANK AND BORROWER PERFORMANCE: A. Bank The performance of the World Bank right from the identification to the completion of the Project was extremely satisfactory. The donor- borrower relationship was cordial, beneficial and productive during the entire project period. Supervision Missions were very professional, timely and constructively critical providing necessary guidance and advice for the proper and effective implementation of the Project. Both the donor and borrower were responsive positively to the practical situation and needs that arose during implementation. Problems, constraints and bottlenecks in the implementation of the Project were correctly identified and adequately addressed. The concerned officials of the donor agency, both at the local office and headquarters, were extremely generous in extending their cooperation, advice, support and guidance throughout the process of implementation of the Project. The coordinated efforts of the officials of both the donor and the borrower ultimately culminated in the successful implementation of the Project. B. Borrower All the officers and staff of FSSAP-II were very serious and sincere in accomplishing their individual tasks assigned to them during the entire period of implementation of the Project. They were responsive positively to the practical situation and needs that arose during the implementation of the Project. Both the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) were very cooperative and supportive throughout. This testifies to the level of performance of each activity of the Project. The overall rating of performance of the Borrower is "Satisfactory". - 39 - Annex 7. List of Supporting Documents Bank Documents 1. Project Appraisal Document: Female Secondary School Assistance Project II (FSSAPII), February 7, 2002 (Report No. 23594-BD). 2. Development Credit Agreement, Credit Number 3614-BD, March 28, 2002. 3. World Bank - Draft Technical Papers: Project Preparation (March 21 ­ April 8, 2001) and Project Appraisal (June 25 - July 11, 2001). 4. World Bank ­ Consultant Assessments (October 2000): (i) Implementation Considerations (Lessons Learned From FSSAP With Implications For A Possible FSSAP-II), (ii) Beyond Access: Improving Educational Quality in FSSAP Schools of Bangladesh; and (iii) Once Incentives, Now Entitlements: Examining Household and Community Factors in the FSSAP Program in Bangladesh. 5. Country Assistance Strategy for the People's Republic of Bangladesh, (February 8, 2001), Report No. 21326. 6. Bangladesh Education Sector Review, 2000. 7. World Bank, Aides-Memoire, Back-to-office reports, Management Letters, Project Status Reports/Implementation Status and Result reports of all implementation review Missions (2002-2008). 8. Project Appraisal Document: Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP), June 27, 2008 (Report No. 43955-BD). 9. Education Sector Sector Development Support Credit: Implementation Completion Report, June 24, 2008, Report No. ICR0000852. Government Documents 10. Ministry of Education, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education. Secondary Education Sector Development Plan (2000-2010). Dhaka: 1998. 11. Project Implementation Plan, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education. Female Secondary School Assistance Project II (FSSAP II)(Main Report). Dhaka: October 15, 2001. 12. Unlocking the Potential National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction, Dhaka, 2005. 13. Project Completion Report of Secondary School Assistance Project II, Dhaka, June 25, 2008. 14. Evaluation of MTRT, July 2008. 15. Evaluation of Pro-Poor Targeting, December 2007. 16. Evaluation of School Management & Accountability, July, 2008. 17. FAP/NSP Evaluation Report, January 2005. 18. A Comparative Overview of all Female Stipend Projects. 19. Statistical Reports, Nation-wide female stipend program, 1999-2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. 20. Revised Stipend Operation Manual for Nation Female Stipend Program,January-2004. 21. Annual Progress Reports, POU (various years). 22. The Socio-Economic Condition of Girls Disqualified from Stipend Program under FSSAPII, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, August 2005. 23. Performance of the Head of the Institutions for Improving Quality of Education at Secondary Level, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, April 2006. 24. Study on Comparison of Performance between MTRT-visited Institutions and Other Institutions under FSSAPII, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, December 2007. Other Documents 25. Tracer Study of FSSAP II Graduates, May 2006. 26. Study on School Quality, UCIL, Dhaka, May 2006. - 40 - 88° 89° 90° 91° 92° Tetulia Panchagar Patgram BANGLADESH Atwari PANCHAGAR FEMALE SECONDARY SCHOOL Boda ASSISTANCE PROJECT II Baliadangi Dimla Domar Debiganj THAKURGAON Hatibanda Bhurungamari NILPHAMARI 26° Jaldhake PROJECT UPAZILAS Thakurgaon Kaliganj 26° Khansama Nilphamari UPAZILA HEADQUARTERS Ranisonkail LALMONIRHAT Kishorganj Nageswari Fulbari Pirganj Aditmari Birganj Haripur Gangachara Lalmonirhat KURIGRAM DISTRICT HEADQUARTERS Kaharol Saidpur Kurigram Bochagan DIVISION HEADQUARTERS DINAJPUR Badarganj Rangpur Kaunia Razarhat Chirirbandar Taraganj RANGPURPirgachha Ulipur NATIONAL CAPITAL Biral Parbatipur Dinajpur Mithapukur Rahumari UPAZILA BOUNDARIES Chilmuri Sundarganj DISTRICT BOUNDARIES Fulbari Nowabganj Pirganj Razibpur DIVISION BOUNDARIES Sadullapur Birampur Gaigandha GAIGANDHA INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES Hakimpur Ghoraghat Palasbari Fulchari Bakshiganj Panchbibi Jhinaigati JAIPURHAT Gabindaganj Dewanganj Shapahar Dhamoirhat Jaipurhat Shaghata Sribardi Haluaghat Islampur Durgapur Kalmakanda Tahirpur Bishambarpur Dwarabazar Companiganj Jaintapur 25° Patnitala Kalai Nalitabari Dhubaura Porsha SHERPUR Gowainghat NAOGAON Khetal Sibganj Sonatola Sunamganj Kanairghat Badalgachhi Jamalganj Chatak 25° Mohadebpur BOGRA Melandaha Sherpur Purbadhala Bholahat Akkelpur Nakla Dharmapasha Dupchachia Gabtali Madarganj Phulpur NETRAKONA SUNAMGANJ SHLHET R A J S H A H I MYMENSINGH Zakiganj Shariakandi Jamalpur Netrakona Barhatta Sylhet Beani Gomastapur Niamatpur JAMALPUR Mohanganj Biswanatn Golapganj Bazar Manda Mymensingh Dirai Naogaon Adamdighi Kahalu Bogra Atpara Muktagacha S Y L H E T Shibganj Nachol Guaripur CHAPAI Raninagar Dhunot Jagannathpur Fenchuganj Nandigram Sarishabari Kendua Modan NAWABGANJ D H A K A Balaganj Barlekha Tanor Sherpur Kazipur Khaliajuri Bagmara Atrai Madhupur Ishwarganj Sulla Chapai Phulbaria Golpalpur Trisal Nabiganj Rajnagar Nawabganj Mohanpur Singra Tarail Ajmiriganj Kulaura Godagari Nandail HABIGANJ RAJSHAHI Durgapur Raiganj Itna Sirajganj Moulavibazar Natore NATORE Ghatail Baniyachang Paba SIRAJGANJ Bhuapur Hossainpur Karimganj Puthia Taras TANGAIL MOULAVIBAZAR Gurudaspur Kamarrhandi Gafargaon Kishorganj Mithamoin Rajshahi Ullapara Katihati Bhaluka KISHORGANJ Kamalganj Srimangal Bagatipara Shakhipur Pakundia Astogram Habiganj Charghat Baraigram Belkuchi Katiadi Nikli Bahubal Chatmohar Delduar Lakhai Basail Sripur Bajitpur Bagha Lalpur Bhangura Shahzadpur Tangail PABNA Chauhali Faridpur GAZIPUR Kuliarchar Nasirnagar Chunarughat Ishardi Kapasia Monohardi Atgharia Bhairab Madhappur Daulatpur Bheramara Mirzapur Sarail 24° Bera Nagarpur Kaliakoir Gazipur Sibpur Belabo Pabna Santhia NARSINGDI Brahmanbaria I N D I A 24° Mirpur Kaliganj Daulatpur Saturia Palas Raipur Sujanagar Dhamrai BRAHMANBARIA Kushtia Ghior Savar Narsingdi Gangni Kumarkhali Manikganj DHAKA Nabinagar KUSHTIA Sibalay Rupganj Akhaura Khoksa MANIKGANJ Singair Bancharampur Meherpur Araihazar Pangsa DHAKA Kasba Alamdanga MEHERPUR Harirampur NARAYANGANJ Sailkupa RAJBARIRajbari Sonargaon Nawabganj Muradnagar Mujibnagar Harinakundu Faridpur Keraniganj Baliakandi NarayanganjHomna Brahmanpara Damurhuda Chuadanga JHENAIDAH Sripur Char Dohar Serajdikhan Bandar Bhadrassan Srinagar Debiduar CHUADANGA Gazaria Jhenaidah Madhukhali FARIDPUR Munshiganj Daudkandi Burichang Sadarpur Kotchandpur Magura Mohaminadpur MUNSHIGANJ Nagarkanda Lohajang Tangibari Chandina Jiban Nagar Kaliganj MAGURA Comilla Salikha Boalmari Bhanga Sibchar Janjira Matlab Baghaichari Barura Maheshpur Kachua SHARIYATPUR Muksudpur Chaugacha Alfadanga MADARIPURShariyatpur Naria CHANDPUR COMILLA Panchari Hajiganj Dighinala Bagherpara Chandpur Jessore Lohagara Chauddagram Kasiani Madaripur Bhedarganj Laksam KHAGRACHARI Narail Rajoir Shahrasti Pashuram Jhikargacha NARAIL Goshairhat Faridganj Fulgazi Khagrachari K H U L N A GOPALGANJ Kalkini Damudya Nangalkot Haimchar Ramganj 23° Sarse Gopalganj Matiranga Manirampur Abhaynagar Kalia Kotalipara Raipur Chatkhil Senbag Feni 23° JESSORE Muladi Tungipara Agailjhara Hizla LAKSMIPUR Chhagalnaiya Daganbhuiya Ramgar Mohaichar Laigadu Phultala Terakhada Gaurnadi Begumganj FENI Kalaroa Keshabpur Daulatpur Ujirpur BARISAL Laksmipur Mollahat Sonagazi Manikchari Nannerchari C H I T T A G O N G Mehendiganj Dumuria Khulna Banaripara Noakhali Rupsa Babuganj Satkhira Tala Fakirhat Chitaimari Nazirpur NOAKHALI Companiganj Mirsharai Laksmichari Barkal Batiaghata Sarupkati Fatikchari Bagerhat PIROJPURJhalakati Barisal Bhola Kachua Jurachari Nalchiti CHITTAGONG Kawkhali Rangamati Debhata BAGERHAT Kawkhali I N D I A JHALAKATI Daulatkhan Ramgati Sitakunda Asasuni Paikgacha Dacope Rampal Rajapur Pirojpur RANGAMATI SATKHIRA Bakerganj Rauzan Hathazari Kaptai Morelganj Bhandaria Burhanuddin Sandwip Rangunia Kaliganj Betagi Tajumuddin KHULNA Mongla Kathalia Bauphal BHOLA Mirzaganj Hatiya Boalkhali Rajasthali Belaichari Koyra Patuakhali Shyamnagar Sarankhola Chittagong Mathbaria Bamna B A R I S A L Lalmohan Patia Dashmina Monpura Rowangachari BORGUNA Anwara Chandanais Galachipa Char Fasson Borguna Amtali Bandarbon Satkania BANDARBON Patharghata Ruma 22° Lohagara Banskhali 22° PATUAKHALI Kalapara Kutubdia Chakaria Lama Thanchi Alikadam NEPAL BHUTAN Moheshkhali COX'S BAZAR Nakhyangchari Ramu I N D I A Cox's Bazar Bay of Bengal Ukhia MYANMAR BANGLADESH DHAKA I N D I A 21° Teknaf 0 20 40 60 Kilometers MYANMAR This map was produced by the Map Design Unit of The World Bank. DECEMBER The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of The World Bank IBRD 0 20 40 Miles Group, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Bay of Bengal 36681 2008 90° 91° 92°