JAPAN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND (JSDF) Grant Funding Proposal (FY11 – Round 33) A. BASIC DATA Beneficiary Country: Mongolia Grant Name: ROUND 33:MONGOLIA: IMPROVING PRIMARY EDUCATION OUTCOMES FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN RURAL MONGOLIA Grant Recipient: Save the Children Japan Name of Implementing Save the Children Japan, Mongolia Program Office Agency or Agencies with Joint Implementation: Implementing Agency NGO Type: Main Sector: EP Primary education Main Theme: 65 Education for all Recipient Grant Amount: US$2,457,579 Bank Incremental Costs Grant Amount: US$180,000 Total Grant Amount US$2,637,579 (Recipient and Bank Incremental Costs): B. PROJECT SUMMARY The development objective of the project is to improve the education outcomes of some 7,500 most vulnerable children (aged 5-10) in four educationally underperforming and underserved rural provinces of Mongolia. The main focus areas and activities will include: 1) Strengthening school preparation programs for new school entrants in the remote communities (home-based curriculum development; capacity building and technical support; and community mobilization); 2) Introducing extracurricular after-school programs specifically targeting the lower-primary children living away from home (development of after-school programs ; capacity building and technical support; program delivery support; and community participation); and 3) Piloting compensatory distance education programs for lower-primary age children in rural communities (program curriculum and learning resource material development; parents’ education; capacity building and technical support; and program delivery support). Four (4) main target beneficiaries have been identified for the project: 1) 7,500 children (5-10 year olds) belonging to nomadic herder, poor, and other vulnerable families; 2) 15,000 parents and caretakers of the target children; 3) 400 school employees (primary and dormitory teachers, and social workers) and 34 non-formal education specialists; and 4) 40 soum (district) governors and other officials in the target provinces. The key development outcomes expected by the end of the four-year project period will include: improvements in target children’s access to, learning achievements in, and completion of primary education, and a reduction in the number of school dropouts and out-of-school children aged 6-10 in the target provinces. GRANT SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 1. PROJECT INFORMATION 1.1 Strategic Context Since the 2008/2009 academic year, the Mongolian education system has adopted a new 12-year school cycle in which preschool kindergarten education for 2-6 year old children is now followed by 12 years of primary and secondary education. This structural reform has lead all schools in Mongolia to lower the primary school entry-age to 6 years of age, 1 regardless of their geographical location (urban or rural), or professional and physical capacity to properly teach and care for these children. While the structural reform in itself has been widely accepted by the Mongolian public, it has brought about a new set of concerns and challenges for the nomadic families in rural Mongolia, who make up nearly 30% of the country’s total population. In the context of Mongolia being the least densely populated country in the world, rural boarding schools have consistently served as the only way of providing access to education for rural children. Nonetheless, under the new policy framework, when it comes to meeting the educational needs of their 6-8 year old children, thousands of nomadic herders living in the most remote settlements have to choose either to: 1) send their child to a boarding school at the age of 6, and be completely or partially separated with the child for 9 out of 12 months a year; 2) leave the husband (father) behind to herd animals while the wife (mother) migrates to a soum 2 center with their 6-8 year old child, so that the child can attend school without going to a dormitory; 3) send their child to live with family relatives at a soum center to attend school; or 4) delay their child’s school entry until the child is 7-8 or older. Whilst families may have faced similar choices when sending their 8 year old children to boarding school before the reform, the vulnerability and dependency of younger children means that they face additional emotional and psycho-social challenges resulting from family separation at such young age. Primary education is compulsory; and each year since 2008, thousands of herder families across the country are now faced with a difficult ethical dilemma of making such hard choices in order for their child to attend school. And for the young children, the experiences that they go through during this school transitional period will present a detrimental risk to their psycho-emotional well-being, if not carefully and adequately cared for. Furthermore, most of these remote children enroll in school without having attended formal early childhood education (ECE), thus the chance of them having learning difficulties and school failure is high. According to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (MoECS) (2011), more than 38% of all preschool-aged children in Mongolia, most of who reside in rural areas, enter into primary school without having attended formal ECE; and a significant number of these children later drop out of school. MoECS statistics indicate that 80.5% of all dropout cases (aged 6-14) occur in rural areas and the dropouts and repetition rates are disproportionally high in primary grade children, making up for 79.4% of the total dropouts. Out of the total children dropping out in primary grades, the grades 1-3 account for 52.3%. The high rates of school dropouts amongst younger primary-grade children in rural areas can be linked to the challenges they face in attending school at a young age. However the existing non-formal education (NFE) program targets children and individuals between 9-49 years of age, and is not set up nor designed to meet the educational needs of lower-primary age children (6-8 years of age). Consequently, a significant proportion of the country’s children, particularly those from herder families in remote, sparsely-settled rural areas, are placed in a disadvantaged and vulnerable position from the very beginning of their educational life. Unless something is done to mitigate the situation, they will continue to face poor learning outcomes and school failure once in school. Inequality is also widening in the country. Whilst poverty levels have fallen among urban residents, they have risen for rural populations – in particular those who depend on livestock herding for their livelihood. The current situation of preschool and primary education in rural Mongolia will only further widen the regional disparities in economic and social development, if unchecked. The Government of Mongolia is committed to alleviating poverty, reducing urban and rural disparities, and to achieving universal primary education access. Several development partners support the government’s efforts to achieve universal 1 Previously, it was 8 years of age, until the structural reform of the education system began in 2004/2005 academic year. 2 Soum is an administrative unit within a province (an average soum population is 2,000-3,000). primary education and to eliminate the rural and urban divides in children’s educational attainment. The World Bank’s READ program, for example, focuses on improving students’ access to and use of quality learning materials in rural schools. With access to the Education for All – Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) Catalytic Fund, Mongolia is making considerable improvements in school learning environment, especially with the upcoming FTI graduation grant which aims to increase kindergarten capacity (infrastructure) in urban and rural areas and to create more alternative preschool classes in rural areas. The Asian Development Bank’s Early Childhood Education (ECE) grant assistance, on the other hand, focuses on improving access to alternative ECE for rural, nomadic and migrant children aged 3-6. By contrast, the proposed JSDF project specifically targets the most vulnerable nomadic children aged 5-10 years of age, who face very specific challenges in adjusting to school/dormitory-life – an adjustment that plays a crucial role in the children’s overall development. No other project focuses on school preparation and transition of lower primary-aged nomadic children in the most remote settlements, to improve their educational outcomes and thus reduce school dropouts. By targeting interventions at the most vulnerable children at this critical age, the project will attend to the demands of parents, caretakers and children for a more accessible education service and child-friendly school and dormitory environment (demand-side issues), and will also address the need to improve the quality and relevancy of education and development program contents (supply-side interventions). While the proposed JSDF project builds upon extensive experience and achievements of the World Bank, Save the Children, and other development partners working in the Mongolian education sector, it is a unique project to comprehensively address the unmet needs and gaps in the lower-primary education delivery for the most disadvantaged children in the remote rural communities. In particular, the project will directly and systematically address key education issues affecting the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children as per the table shown below: Key Issues to be addressed Proposed JSDF Interventions Rural pre-school children (5-6 year olds) Component 1 – Rural pre-school children (5-6 year olds) Significant proportion of remote rural children who enter Introducing community-based school preparation into schools having no or limited exposure to ECE. programs for hard-to-reach children. Inflicting permanent harm to children’s psycho- Local capacity building through training and technical emotional well-being through a lack of committed and support to reduce negative psycho-emotional focused support when they move to a dormitory at a consequences on affected children. young and vulnerable age. Rural children in school (6-10 year olds) Component 2 – Rural children in school (6-10 year olds) High risk of poor learning and school dropouts at Introduction of extra-curricular after-school programs to lower-primary grades due to lack of school readiness regain competencies, to address emotional needs and to competencies and social-emotional deficits. prevent school failure. Rural out-of-school children (6-8 year olds) Component 3 – Rural out-of-school children (6-8 year olds) Lower-primary school drop outs and out-of-school Pilot a compensatory distance education program for children having difficulty accessing the NFE classes; lower-primary age children (6-8) to facilitate their early existing NFE curriculum not adequately designed for re-entry into formal school. lower-primary age out-of-school children. In short, the proposed project well complements the efforts of the government, Bank, and other development partners to improve disadvantaged rural children’s access to education and their learning achievements, with its explicit focus on the lower-primary children, their parents and communities. The ultimate aim of the project is to contribute toward executing the Government’s Education Sector Master Plan (2006-2015) and achieving the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to have all children in school by 2015, thereby alleviating poverty and reducing urban-rural disparity. The project has strong elements of civil society involvement, especially of Save the Children in promoting and piloting various community-based, culturally-appropriate innovative initiatives (e.g., school preparation and compensatory distance education programs) in improving the education services and facilities at local level, and in mobilizing the parents and community stakeholders to ensure that families remain intact. While the project directly addresses the needs of the most vulnerable children, it also promotes participation of parents, communities and various stakeholders and builds the local capacity in and ownership of the proposed initiatives. 1.2 Main Four (4) main target beneficiaries have been identified for the project: 1) 7,500 3 children (5-10 year Beneficiaries olds) belonging to nomadic herder, poor, and other vulnerable families; 2) 15,000 4 parents and caretakers of the target children; 3) 400 5 school employees (school administrators, teachers, social workers, and dormitory teachers/staff members) and 34 non-formal education specialists; and 4) 40 soum (district) governors and other local government officials in the target provinces. This multi- targeting approach is seen as the most appropriate given the nature of project interventions with active and simultaneous participation of different stakeholders. The beneficiary numbers are calculated with the assumption that the first year will be spent mainly to develop the program resource materials and the main program activities will last for 3 years. The key challenges and the characteristics shared by the target children and their families in common as the poorest and most vulnerable will include: 1) no or limited access to formal early childhood education, thereby affecting the children’s learning achievements in primary and secondary school; 2) potential negative psychosocial impacts of living in ill-equipped dormitories away from parents/home at a relatively young age (6 years of age); 3) forced family separation imposed by the necessity of sending a child to live away from home at a soum center, in an attempt to avoid sending the child to a boarding school; 4) children and their families being highly vulnerable to the problems caused by extremely cold weather during the winter months. 6 The target children will be identified by local education councils with active participation of the communities. 1.3 Project A total of 30 soums in Arkhangai, Uvurkhangai, Dornod, and Sukhbaatar Provinces, Mongolia Location The unit of operation in the project is the soum. Within the four target provinces there are 65 soums, and the project will target 30 soums. The soums will be selected in consultation with the local education department and other relevant stakeholders, and based on a similar set of criteria as the project locations. The project locations have been selected based on the following reasons: 1) One of the highest populated provinces in the country with a high proportion of nomadic people; 2) One of the lowest formal preschool enrollment rates being reported; 3) Higher than the national average school dropout rates being reported ; 4) Primary Education Teacher Training Colleges being located in Arkhangai and Dornod – strategic locations to scale up program actions and outcomes to the surrounding provinces during and after the project period; 5) Ensuring efficient project operations (i.e., ease of access from Ulaanbaatar); 6) One of the most severely impacted provinces by Dzud (winter) disaster of 2009-2010; and 7) Save the Children, the implementing agency, has working experiences in Dornod, Sukhbaatar, and Arkhangai provinces. 1.4 Project Duration: 4 years Project Start : 1/2/2012 Project End 12/31/2015 Date: 1.5 Task Team Leader Ms. Tungalag Chuluun, Human Development Operations Officer, The World Bank Mongolia Office 1.6 GRANT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE The development objective of the project is to improve the education outcomes of some 7,500 most vulnerable children (aged 5-10) in four educationally underperforming and underserved rural provinces of Mongolia. The project proposes to do this by improving access to, and quality and management of school preparation, compensatory distance education, and extra-curricular after school programs that will involve the participation of the target children, 3 The numbers of direct beneficiaries are calculated as follows: For Component 1: (an average of 20 target children per soum x 30 soums x 3 years)=1,800; for Component 2: (an average of 60 target children per soum x 30 soums x 3 years)=5,400; for Component 3: (an average total of 100 target children in four provinces x 3 years)=300. Therefore, the total number of direct child beneficiaries is (1,800+5,400+300)=7,500. These children will benefit from multiple-year interaction with the programs to maximize the positive effects of the project. 4 This figure is a doubling of the target children figure presuming that there are two caretakers per child. 5 The numbers of school employees are calculated as follows: (12 employees per school x 30 schools) + (10 education stakeholders per province x 4 provinces) = 400. 6 For example, a loss of livelihood due to deaths of animals; reduction in children’s school attendance due to increased incidents of respiratory infections; adversely affecting children’s protection and wellbeing in both the school/dormitory and home environment, etc. parents, and local community multi-disciplinary stakeholders. 1.7 DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME INDICATORS QUANTIFIED TARGET 1.7(a) Reduction in the number of school dropouts at grade 1-3 caused by learning At least 25% reduction in difficulties and problems with adjusting to school/dormitory-life, in the target the numbers against the soums/provinces. baseline year in more than 90% of the participating soums. 1.7(b) Improvements in psycho-emotional well-being 7 of children who are enrolled in the An average of at least 25% extracurricular after-school programs as reported by teachers, parents, peers, and improvements against the the children themselves in the target schools through surveys, behavioral baseline. observations, and child-friendly evaluations. 1.7(c) Improvements in the level of performance of children enrolled in the compensatory Children’s test scores education programs as compared to children at the equivalent grade in formal reaching within 15% school, as measured by the year-end, school-based standardized competency margin as compared to examinations (the 1st to 3rd grades) conducted within the target schools. average scores of children in formal education classes. 1.7(d) Increase in the number of re-enrollment to formal school by children 6-10 years More than 95% of target of age who have been out of school in the target soums/provinces. soums reporting re- enrollment of children in the appropriate grade, and children’s completion of the school year. 2. GRANT RECIPIENT AND IMPLEMENTING AGENCY 2.1 Recipient Name: Save the Children Japan 2.2 Recipient Background: Save the Children Japan (SCJ) is a child rights development organization based in Japan, whose mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. Founded in 1986, SCJ now employs 86 staff members (as of April 2011) working at its head office in Tokyo and its branch offices in Osaka, Sendai, and Iwate prefectures in Japan, as well as in Save the Children’s country program offices abroad. Its annual operational expenditure for the year 2010 was USD 13 million. SCJ is a member of Save the Children International, and is one of the most well known agencies in Japan for its work in promoting children's rights around the world and in Japan. SCJ specializes in supporting education, health and nutrition related subjects, and to a limited extent, child protection related subjects. It has extensive experience in responding to major emergencies in developing countries (mainly in Asia) and in Japan in partnership with other humanitarian and local organizations; and is considered to be one of the top 5 independent humanitarian agencies in Japan for its work in responding to emergency crisis abroad and in Japan. SCJ’s strength lies in sharing its technical and managerial resources to help support and complement Save the Children's country program operations, thereby addressing the critical gaps in delivering quality interventions and services for a variety of clients which Save the Children serves. SCJ secures funding from a wide range of donors, including the Japanese government, public/private institutional donors, and corporate donors, to support child-focused development and emergency programs as well as to deploy specialists, consultants and staff members to undertake technical assistance in 19 countries. The size of these projects ranges from as little as USD 10,000 to USD 3 million per project. 2.3 Implementing Agent Details 7 To be defined by the project working group for Component 1, in consultation with consultant and professional experts. Agency Name: Save the Children Japan, Mongolia Programme Office Address 4th Floor, Arizona Center, Khoroo #1, Chingeltei District, Ulaanbaatar City, Mongolia Contact Person in Proposed Mitsuaki Toyoda, Country Director Implementing Agency Save the Children Japan, Mongolia Programme Office Phone: +976-11-329371, Ext. 25 (work); +976-9902-1248 (mobile) Email: mitsu@savethechildren.mn 2.4 Implementing Agency Background Save the Children Japan (SCJ) is the primary implementing agency in the proposed project. Save the Children has been operational in Mongolia since 1994, 8 and has proven experience and expertise in the fields of Early Childhood Care and Development, Preschool and Primary Education, Bi-lingual Education for the ethnic minority children (i.e., Kazakh children), and Inclusive Education for children with disabilities. Save the Children’s interventions in the education sector have been directed to improve the access of nomadic, disabled and ethnic minority children to quality pre- and primary education. Save the Children led a group of civil society organizations to successfully amend the Law on Education to ban corporal punishment and discrimination in school in 2006; and supported the technical working group within the MoECS to draft the Law on Preschool Education in 2007-08. Save the Children also actively took part in the consultation process for developing the Master Plan to Develop Education of Mongolia (2006-2015). The Mongolia Program currently employs about 30 staff members, with a total annual operational expenditure (2010) of US$1,327,346. Our donors for 2010 operation included: Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA); the British Embassy (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office); the Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission (ECHO); and other private charity foundations. 2.5 Other institutions/NGOs that will be involved in implementation The National Center for Non-formal and Distance Education will take part in co-developing and delivering the lower- primary compensatory education programs being proposed in the project (see more details in the Component sections of this proposal). 3. INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY 3.1 Innovation Working within the existing education system and through mobilizing the local communities, the project will apply several new approaches to improve the educational attainments of vulnerable, lower-primary age children in rural Mongolia. School Readiness Toy and Equipment Library: The project will, for the first time in Mongolia, pilot several educational resource libraries to be operated and managed at community level, by kindergartens and enlightenment centers/schools at soum or bagh9 levels. The community library resources will be made accessible to children, parents and any other members of the remote, sparsely populated communities to support their learning at home in respective school preparation and compensatory distance education program activities (Components 1 & 3). The capacity of library (volume of resources) to be set up at each location will vary depending on needs and demands, but most likely will contain a few sets of basic educational toys, learning resources (books, workbooks, CDs/DVDs/cassettes), and possibly equipment (i.e., VCD or DVD players, cassette players) that will meet the learning and development needs of 8-15 target children/families within each catchment area. The fact that majority of herder households in sparsely populated settlement areas now have battery-stored electricity supply through solar energy and wind power supply systems to watch TV, etc., therefore the proposed library will lend such electric appliances to those families with access to electricity at affordable costs (to be determined). For some other remote herder families who do not have access to electricity, the library will lend other necessary educational resources (e.g., educational toys or printed materials such as pictorial books) for their children. If maintained properly, the library resources will benefit new families that will require such services in the future. The library resources used for the school preparation program will also be utilized in the regular summer ger kindergarten programs already being implemented by local kindergartens during the summer months to maximize the usage of the resources made available for the target children throughout the seasons. 8 First started as Save the Children UK, then later, the country program management responsibility was transferred to Save the Children Japan from August 1, 2009 onward. 9 An administrative unit below soum (district) level within a province. Compensatory distance education programs (Grades 1-3): The project will pilot compensatory distance education programs that are tailored to meet the specific, age-appropriate educational needs of lower-primary school dropouts (grades 1-3) and non-school enrollers of the same age group (6-9 yr olds) in the target provinces with more emphasis on improved parental and community involvement. With properly designed curriculum resources 10 and effective delivery mechanisms, the programs are expected to enable the out-of-school children to study at home in a distant location with minimum supervision provided by non-formal education specialists, but with greater involvement of their parents. The program resources will focus on literacy and numeracy subjects appropriate for each grade level. The program will allow the children to study at home with the aid of audio-visual and printed resource materials, where the family circumstances limit their opportunities to enroll in the 2-3 week non-formal education course organized at least 2 to 3 times a year at soum center. The proposed program will allow the children to return to school at an early age, without the need for them to reach the minimum age necessary to enroll in the existing non-formal education program, or the need to repeat grades upon return to school. The student’s academic achievements will be assessed by linking the proposed program to the standardized competency tests provided at the end of each school year by participating schools and the national primary education examination conducted at the end of the primary school education (please refer to Component 3 of this proposal for a more detailed description). Community Education Council: Community Education Councils (multi-disciplinary working structures) will be established at soum level, involving parents and community activists, school administrators and teachers, school social workers, dormitory teachers, non-formal education specialists, health workers, soum/bagh government officials, and other community- stakeholders (e.g., members of local school or kindergarten parental associations), to address the education, protection and child development needs of the target children (e.g., improved financing, targeting, tracking, and monitoring mechanisms of the primary education delivery), to promote community-wide initiatives, and to exercise community-based planning and monitoring of activities in each soum community. In order to promote community initiatives and creativity in addressing the educational needs of the target children in their communities, a small sized, results based community block grant scheme will be introduced on a pilot basis. A set of operational procedures will be established to secure the implementation of community education council activities and disbursement of community block grants. 3.2 Sustainability The sustainability of the grant outcomes and benefits as obtained by the target groups will be ensured as follows: Built upon the existing education delivery mechanisms and practices: The proposed programs are built upon the existing practices of providing basic education (formal and non-formal) to the child population in rural Mongolia. It is part of the responsibility of the kindergartens to prepare the children in their catchment area to enter into school. Similarly, it is the responsibility of the dormitory teachers and school social workers to support children’s well-being. Likewise, the enlightenment centers are responsible for providing non-formal education programs to meet the basic education needs of out-of-school children. Therefore, the project programs are designed to support the implementing actors to perform their regular duties better, and to utilize and enhance the existing education delivery structures and mechanisms to organize, manage and monitor the program activities within their means, without them being paid by the project. Save the Children and its local partners will work toward ensuring that the proposed interventions will be integrated into the corresponding schools and education authorities’ annual operational plans, which will then be fed and further integrated into local departmental plans and budgets at provincial level. By enhancing the ability of the target local stakeholders to plan and deliver their own local initiatives, the project will systematically phase out the project operations for sustainable operations after the closure of the JSDF. Respect for social and cultural circumstances: Throughout the project implementation, a high level of participation from the local authorities and communities will be maintained in order to promote local ownership of the programs. All new interventions will be tailored for the specific social and cultural circumstances of target beneficiaries; and the design of interventions will be made specific to their language and worldview. This, of course, will include the careful selection of field workers, trainers and other support staff from local areas to the best extent possible, thereby increasing the likelihood of achieving sustainable results. 10 The program will develop its own materials with due respect for their cultural appropriateness, but will also utilise pre-existing resources – in particular drawing upon relevant materials from other countries. Cost effective program to target vulnerable children: Annually, the government spends approximately MNT 826,500, and MNT 402,700 on each pre-school and primary school child’s education, respectively. 11 The proposed project will pilot interventions that will cost approximately MNT 100,000 or less per child per year, 12 to ensure primary education completion and improved learning outcomes for the target children. As part of the dissemination of project results, we will emphasize the cost-effective benefits of the proposed program approaches to the Government and will work with them to ensure the sustainability of the project outcomes and activities. Sustainability of the library services: The project will present a cost-benefit analysis to families to demonstrate how a small investment on their part (e.g., in the form of a library members fee of USD 15-20) would greatly outweigh the costs and challenges associated with the alternatives of not sending their child to formal preschool education at all, or to moving to a soum centre to support their child through non-formal school. Alternatively, community education counsels may raise the necessary funds through various channels including local government budget support. Sharing of program experiences and best practices: The project will produce resource materials and document the processes and outcomes of the models for the continued adoption by target schools and communities. It is envisioned that the second-half of the project will explicitly focus on the process of sharing the program experiences and best practices across and beyond the project province/soums. In addition, Save the Children will engage in policy advocacy at the national level to ensure that the program experiences and best practices are fed into relevant policy developments. 4. CONSULTATION WITH JAPANESE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS 4.1 Name of Mr. Hiromichi Miyashita, First Secretary Date of Meeting 5/10/2011 Representative The Embassy of Japan in Mongolia 4.2 Summary of Consultation: A copy of the grant proposal was shared with Mr. Miyashita in advance before the actual consultation appointment. On May 10, Ms. Tungalag Chuluun, Human Development Operations Officer, World Bank Mongolia Office, and Mr. Mitsuaki Toyoda, Country Director, Save the Children Japan, Mongolia, visited Mr. Miyashita in person at the Embassy of Japan, to discuss the grant proposal design and implementation arrangements in detail. Ms. Tungalag and Mr. Toyoda introduced the grant proposal to Mr. Miyashita, and explained to him the following: the key development issues to be addressed by the project, the grant development objective, the key activities being proposed, the target beneficiaries, the proposed project locations and the expected project outcomes. Mr. Miyashita, in reply, endorsed the grant proposal on behalf of the Embassy, and stated that he would inform the respective unit at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo about the Embassy’s willingness to endorse the proposal. Mr. Miyashita also stressed the importance of high project visibility, especially to the target beneficiaries, of the roles the Japanese government and people have played in financing the proposed programs and activities, should the project be approved. 4.3 Potential Collaboration: Ms. Tungalag explained to Mr. Miyashita about the joint grant monitoring arrangements being proposed in the project, and solicited the involvement of the Embassy of Japan to regularly monitor the progress of the project under the proposed collaborative framework to which Mr. Miyashita has replied very positively. 4.4 Name of Mr. Atsumu Iwai, Senior Representative, Date of Meeting 5/16/2011 Representative Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Mongolia Office 11 The average cost standards, the Mongolian Government’s Order (Resolution Numbers 85 and 342), April 1, 2009 and December 29, 2010, respectively. The costs only include teachers’ salaries and meal/snack costs, and do not consider other expenditures such as fuel/heating costs. 12 A total of USD2.6 million (the project budget) ÷ 7,500 children (the target number of children) = USD346 over 4 years; USD346 ÷ 4 years = USD86 per year (or MNT 107,500 per year at the exchange rate of USD1 = MNT 1,250). It is expected that once the program intervention models are developed and introduced to a much wider student audience, the per pupil cost will be lowered even further, thus making the programs more sustainable and viable for replication. 4.5 Summary of Consultation: A copy of the grant proposal was shared with Mr. Iwai in advance. On May 16, Ms. Tungalag Chuluun, Human Development Operations Officer, World Bank Mongolia Office, and Mr. Mitsuaki Toyoda, Country Director, Save the Children Japan, Mongolia, visited Mr. Iwai in person at the JICA Office in Ulaanbaatar city, to discuss the grant proposal design and implementation arrangements in detail. Present with Mr. Iwai in the meeting were Ms. Kazue Minami, Representative/JICA Mongolia, and Ms. Enkhzaya Purevsuren, Program Administrative Officer/JICA Mongolia. Ms. Tungalag and Mr. Toyoda introduced the grant proposal to the JICA team (represented by Mr. Iwai), and explained the following to them: the key development issues to be addressed by the project, the grant development objective, the key activities being proposed, the target beneficiaries, the proposed project locations and the expected project outcomes. Mr. Iwai, in reply, endorsed the grant proposal on behalf of the JICA Mongolia Office, and commented on the following: 1. The proposed JSDF project fits and supports the current Country Strategic Plan of the Japanese Government, and in particular, of JICA, for Mongolia, which includes education as one of the strategic focus areas. There are also no duplication of efforts with JICA’s planned interventions in Mongolia. In this regard, he supports the proposed JSDF project. 2. JICA is currently implementing the second phase of the project entitled, “Strengthening Systems for Improving and Disseminating Child-Centered Teaching Methods” in Mongolia through which training manuals on child-centered teaching methods are being developed and updated for teachers in rural Mongolia and in Ulaanbaatar. Mr. Iwai requested that the proposed JSDF project will refer to and adopt the best practices from their project in an effort to reform the teaching practices in the school education system in Mongolia. Mr. Iwai concluded the meeting by commenting that he would inform Mr. Miyashita at the Embassy of Japan of JICA’s willingness to endorse the proposal, and that he hopes this project will be approved. 4.6 Potential Collaboration Ms. Tungalag explained to Mr. Iwai about the project steering committee to be established by the project, and solicited the active participation of JICA in the functions of that committee, to which Mr. Iwai has replied very positively. He commented that once the project is approved, we will discuss further of the possibility of collaboration including the possible deployment of JICA volunteers. 5. JAPANESE VISIBILITY 5.1 Confirm that a grant signing ceremony will take place in the recipient country, including Agreed representatives from the Embassy of Japan, and that a press release would be issued in local newspapers 5.2 Confirm that the Embassy of Japan in the recipient country will be invited to participate in field Agreed visits and project events, and will receive copies of progress review mission reports 5.3 Describe the measures, other than the above, to be taken to ensure the visibility of Japan’s contribution : The visibility of Japan’s contribution will be ensure by taking the following measures: 1. Recognition of JSDF’s contribution and display of the JSDF logo (e.g., Japanese flag) at the project sites (conference or training workshop venues), on equipment, publication materials, and other educational IEC resource materials financed under the grant. 2. Verbal acknowledgements of JSDF’s contribution at official meetings and training workshops held at all levels as part of the project implementation. Periodic updates of the grant to other key donors supporting the education sector at regular donor coordination meetings. 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF GRANT COMPONENTS 6.1 Component 1: Strengthening school preparation programs for new school entrants (5-6 years of $731,731 age) in the community. This component focuses on introducing and strengthening School Preparation Programs, as part of early childhood development, for those hard-to-reach nomadic children who are required to enter into school in the coming academic year, but have been left-out from the formal and/or alternative early childhood education. The main purpose of the programs is to improve the children’s readiness 13 for school and dormitory-life, thereby lowering their chances of emotional distress, falling behind in school learning, and potentially dropping out of the primary grades. This component focuses on the specific school preparation and transition concerns as well as dealing with family separation issues for the 5-6 year old nomadic children, who will be placed in a boarding school or with family relatives in a soum center. 1.1 Development and establishment of school preparation programs This subcomponent responds to the needs of children in rural areas with low preschool coverage rates, who are about to enroll in a boarding school or to be separated from their parents in order to live with family relatives at a soum center at very young age. These children need special preparation, care and attention in addition to addressing their ECE requirements. This subcomponent aims to address such specific needs of children by introducing community-based school preparation programs that will be 3-6 months in duration, depending on the situational circumstances (i.e., whether or not a child has had access to alternative preschool education and/or is planning to enroll in a school dormitory), and will be carried out by kindergartens and coordinated by a local community education council. The school preparation programs will mainly focus on improving the child’s social and communication skills (including speech and language skills), cognitive and attention skills (e.g., children’s approaches to learning), and fine motor development skills (e.g., a child’s ability to use his/her hand properly). One of the key features of the programs will be relationship- building between the school principal, the 1st grade/dormitory teachers, and the concerned children and their families, with the prime objective of preparing individual children to start school and to lead dormitory life away from parents/home. The key activities under this subcomponent will include: 1) participating kindergartens and schools, in consultation with parents and Community Education Councils (please refer to the subcomponent 3 for more information), develop program contents and curriculum based on their experience of the context. Utilizing this local expertise, the project team will then 2) develop relevant training modules, and corresponding information, education and communication materials on school readiness and transition for parents, caretakers and community members, building on existing ECE curriculum and related materials developed by MoECS and other development partners, but with a specific focus on meeting the special preparation and care needs of target children; 3) develop relevant learning resource materials for children that include printed materials and self-instructive audio-visual multimedia programs (e.g., DVDs, VCDs) that can be utilized at home by parents or caretakers; and 4) develop relevant training modules and materials for school administrators, kindergarten/primary teachers and dormitory staff, to enhance their understanding of the subject, and to improve their skills in interacting with the families and children. These activities will be conducted during the first year of the project period. 1.2 Capacity building of local community stakeholders on school preparation programs This subcomponent builds the capacity of local community stakeholders to implement the school preparation programs. The key activities will include: 1) conduct training of trainers; 2) organize a series of training and feedback sessions to local community leaders/decision makers (i.e., soum governors) on school readiness/preparation, and on the piloting of community education councils to plan, coordinate and facilitate the school preparation activities at the community level; 13 Readiness in social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, communication and other general knowledge, as per the standards set by the Mongolian Ministry of Education, Culture and Science for children of that age group. and 3) organize a series of interactive training and feedback sessions to selected kindergarten, primary and dormitory teachers on school readiness/preparation, and on the piloting of community education councils to plan, coordinate and facilitate the school preparation activities at the community and household levels. These activities will be conducted during the second-half of the first year to the second year, with repeat visits to the target soums for conducting feedback sessions throughout the implementation period. The community leaders and decision makers (i.e., soum governors) who have significant influence in mobilizing community support will be trained to actively participate in the community education councils and to engage in joint planning exercises to plan for community-based school preparation and transition programs for target children. The relevant preschool and primary school teachers, as well as dormitory teachers, will also be trained on the contents of school preparation programs, and on how to plan and deliver the school preparation programs in consultation and coordination with the local community education council members. The community education council members will be trained by the project team, experts, and/or master trainers (i.e., provincial-level preschool and primary education methodologists), and provided with on-site technical support throughout the project period to counsel and work with parents/caretakers, and to respond to diversity in children’s backgrounds and educational needs through appropriate school and dormitory-life preparation activities. This will ensure that each child is able to begin his or her schooling and lead a dormitory-life at the readiness level as close as possible to those children with formal early childhood education. 1.3 Mobilizing community and piloting school preparation programs This subcomponent pilots and supports the school preparation programs in target soums through community mobilization. The key activities will include: 1) establish a School Readiness Toy and Equipment Library at target soums/baghs; 2) establish a Community Education Council at soum level composed of soum/bagh governors, local educators, parents, and representatives of other community stakeholders; 3) promote community initiatives in school preparation programs through a small-scale, results-based community block grant scheme; and 4) pilot and improve the school preparation programs. The activities 1 and 2 will take place in the first and second years of the project period while the activities 3 and 4 will take place from the second year onward. To facilitate the program delivery at home by parents and caretakers in distant locations, a School Readiness Toy & Equipment Library will be piloted at 30 kindergartens. The Toy & Equipment Library will allow a short-term lease (up to 2 months) of educational toys and equipment (i.e., simple musical toys, portable chalkboards, cognitive games, portable VCD/DVD players, etc.) to herder parents/caretakers to facilitate the school preparation and learning experiences of their children at home. The library services will be made available predominantly to those herder families with target- aged children, and a family will be required to make a deposit or usage fee of an agreed amount (to be decided) in order to hire and use the library resources. To facilitate and strengthen the program coordination and collaboration between the parents, education stakeholders, and local authorities at soum level, a Community Education Council (CEC) will be established at each target soum to support the target children during the school preparation and transition processes. Under this approach, key stakeholders (i.e., kindergarten, school, hospital, soum/bagh governor’s offices) will engage in joint planning exercises to ensure that the school preparation activities will be well-targeted and coordinated, and are complementary to other relevant, child-focused community development interventions. Regular meetings will be organized between the stakeholders to share key information concerning the individual children, to develop shared plans to support their school preparation and transition processes, and to monitor the progress. The project team will develop a set of recommended operational procedures and rules for the Community Education Councils upon consultation with the relevant stakeholders. A small-scale, results-based community block grant scheme will be introduced on a pilot basis to support the community initiatives and mobilization activities which promote the school preparation programs at community level. The grant recipients could be kindergartens, schools or community groups (e.g., CECs), but the CEC is to take overall accountability for the usage and management of the funds. The eligibility criteria for accessing the sub-grant will be as follows: 1) CEC is established with participation of all relevant stakeholders, including parents and community members; and the purpose is well-known to the community; 2) target children in the community are fully identified with active participation of community members; 3) needs for providing support to target children as well as community resources and strengths are clearly identified, analyzed, and mobilized for community interventions; and 4) target results are defined and agreed upon for the project implementation period, and specifically for the first 2 years. The project will support a continuous exposure of target children to alternative forms of ECE, including summer ger kindergartens. It is intended that during the program piloting phase, parents and trained (mobile) kindergarten teachers will periodically and jointly monitor the readiness of each child who is registered in early spring to enter into school (and a dormitory) in the coming academic year in September. Parents and caretakers, especially the fathers, visit soum centers regularly to conduct business (i.e., to sell animal products) or bring a child to the summer ger kindergartens for a short duration during the summer months; and so the trained kindergarten teachers will be taught to maximize these contact opportunities to establish and facilitate rapport between the children/parents and the concerned school/dormitory teachers in cooperation with the education council members. Together, the parents and kindergarten and school/dormitory teachers can plan a schedule for these visits to fit in with the parent’s work/herding duties, and then utilize these visits as a regular opportunity for the children to be introduced to other children at kindergarten to enable the development of their social interaction skills and to prepare them for leading a dormitory-life away from parents. The trained teachers will also introduce and promote the usage of the library and the basic home-based teaching/learning resources to parents/children during these encounters. Outputs: • Training modules and materials on school readiness developed for parents, school administrators, kindergarten/primary teachers, and dormitory staff; • Learning resource materials on school preparation produced for 10,000 children/families; • 30 Toy and Equipment Libraries set up at 30 target kindergartens/schools; • 40 soum governors and local government officials trained on school readiness/preparation; • 30 community education councils formed at soum level and conduct regular operations; • Capacity of at least 210 kindergarten/primary/dormitory teachers on school preparation built through training; • Up to 30 CECs provided with community block grants to promote the program delivery and reach; and • At least 3,600 parents/caregivers contacted to share knowledge and skills on caring for 5-6 year old children’s psychosocial and development needs. 6.2 Component 2: Introducing extracurricular after-school programs in schools for vulnerable $623,913 children (6-10 years of age) living away from parents/home. This component focuses on introducing a constructive, enabling, and child-friendly environment in rural schools that incorporates child participation, play and learning, stimulation, care and protection during extracurricular hours. The component interventions are designed to reduce the target children’s emotional and psycho-social challenges resulting from family separation at a young age, and to improve their school transition experiences, thereby ensuring their optimal development. Within this component, the target rural schools will organize extracurricular after-school programs to provide a mix of regularly scheduled academic, recreational, cultural and developmental activities for the following target children: 1) new school entrants who have had limited or no exposure to early childhood education; 2) students (grades 1-5) with learning difficulties; and 3) lower-primary children who are living in school dormitories or with relatives away from parents and home. The main purpose of introducing the programs is to help these children grow and acquire important social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills appropriate to their age, so that they are adequately prepared for and supported through this critically important transition period in their life. It is anticipated that through the combined effects of the Components 1 and 2, the project will accelerate the target children’s learning experiences and will improve their educational attainments in primary school, in addition to preventing them from dropping out of school. 2.1 Developing extracurricular after-school programs This subcomponent consists of the following key activities: 1) development of the actual contents and curriculum of the program activities at participating school level, under the general technical guidance provided by the project team and master trainers; 2) development of the program guidelines and facilitators manual on extracurricular after-school programs in consultation with the working group members, including children, based on the field experiences; and 3) compilation of the best curriculum and program practices in after-school programs for publication, wider circulation and adaptation. The suggested program contents will include, but are not limited to: academic enrichment and homework help (with a particular focus on Mongolian language and mathematics); art, music, media and drama; and recreational games, sports and outdoor group activities with a focus on building the children’s life skills. It is envisioned that the audio-visual learning materials developed for the compensatory distance education programs promoted under Component 3 of this project will also be utilized in the academic enrichment and homework help sessions in the after- school programs. 2.2 Capacity building of local community stakeholders on extracurricular after-school programs This subcomponent consists of the following key activities: 1) training of primary education methodologists from provincial education departments, selected professors and lecturers from Dornod and Arkhangai Teacher Colleges, selected school social workers, and other experienced local teachers to then become master trainers on extracurricular after-school programs; 2) training of relevant primary and dormitory teachers as well as school social workers in target schools to acquire the core skills needed to plan, organize, and facilitate the after-school programs, with the possibility of involving community members as academic tutors, story tellers, music/dance/art or handicraft teachers, outdoor instructors, etc.; 3) training of community volunteers by trained teachers; 4) provision of basic equipment and minor renovation of dormitory recreational rooms for program implementation; and 5) capacity building of community education councils to coordinate and support the program activities (combined with the capacity building program under Component 1). This subcomponent supports the schools in developing program plans, in establishing a suitable environment for program activities, and in strengthening community involvement in supporting the after-school programs. 2.3 Piloting extracurricular after-school program activities The key activities will include 1) piloting of the after-school programs; 2) promoting the involvement of community education councils in supporting the after-school programs; and 3) provision of small-scale, results-based community block grants to promote community initiatives in extracurricular after-school programs. It is anticipated that the actual program activities will be facilitated by trained dormitory teachers and school social workers, and will be scheduled in line with school activity calendars on a monthly/quarterly basis in consultation with and with active participation of the target children, other teachers, and pre-trained community volunteers. The program activities will be carried out in a recreation room of the dormitory, a classroom which is not in session, outdoors, or in a school gymnasium; and will be offered after school in the afternoons/evenings, during weekends or holidays, capitalizing on those talents that exist within each school and/or on available community strengths and resources. The quality of the after-school programs will be sustained across the target provinces by the project staff and project- trained master trainers providing technical and practical guidance and on-site support to participating schools on: 1) selecting consistent, committed, and caring school teachers to facilitate and coordinate the programs; 2) ensuring developmentally and culturally appropriate programming designed around the target children’s interests and needs; 3) providing full attention to children’s safety, health, and well-being; 4) having sufficient basic equipment and materials; 5) promoting strong commitment and engagement of school management; 6) having effective partnerships with community education councils and other relevant stakeholders; and 7) undertaking ongoing evaluation and improvement with the active participation of children. A small-scale, results-based community block grant scheme will be introduced to identify and train the community volunteers in facilitating the extracurricular after-school programs. The same eligibility criteria as introduced in Component 1 will be applied for accessing and managing the sub-grant; but with a specific focus on promoting innovative extracurricular after- school programs with the increased participation of community members. • A school guidance manual on after-school programs developed and 30 soum schools (5 teachers per school, including primary and dormitory teachers and school social workers) receive relevant training; Outputs: • At least 60 target children regularly attend and benefit from the after-school programs per school each year during the second year to the fourth year; • At least 5 community members are identified, trained and act as after school program facilitators at each school; • 500 copies of an “After-School Program Best Practices Manual” developed and circulated to all schools in Mongolia; • Up to 30 CECs provided with community block grants to promote the program delivery and reach; and • 30 school dormitories supported with basic equipment and renovation. 6.3 Component 3: Pilot compensatory education programs for lower-primary out-of-school children $573,287 (6-9 years of age) in rural communities. This component will contribute to universal primary education enrolment and completion by piloting compensatory education programs for the lower-primary out–of-school children (school dropouts and non-school enrollers between the ages of 6-9) in the target provinces. Currently the Mongolian government’s non-formal education program targets illiterate persons, school-dropouts, or those who have never attended school and who are between the ages of 10-49; and offers both primary and secondary education equivalency programs to these individuals at soum, aimag and Ulaanbaatar city levels. 14 The existing non-formal education program is not set up nor designed to meet the educational needs of lower-primary age children. This component of the project, therefore, aims to enhance the substance and reach of the existing non-formal education program of the government by targeting the lower-primary age children (6-9) in the target provinces who have either dropped out of school before completing grade 3 education, or do not have the opportunity to study in the formal school system, despite the project’s planned efforts (Components 1 & 2) to prevent such situations from occurring. It seeks to enable these children to return to formal school at a grade appropriate for their age level, without the need to repeat schooling from grade 1 again, or to prevent these children having to wait until later years to enroll in the non-formal education program. 3.1 Development and establishment of compensatory distance education programs This subcomponent consists of the following key activities: 1) adapt, design and develop as appropriate locally relevant and feasible compensatory education curriculum. The curriculum will meet the basic literacy and numeracy skills of the target children at the standards set by the government for grade 1-3 students in the formal school. It will be built on existing non-formal education curriculum developed by the National Center for Non-formal and Distance Education (NFDE) in Mongolia, and other education authorities specializing in non-formal distance education programs in other countries (e.g., USA); and 2) adapt and develop home-based teaching and learning resource materials for parents/caretakers and children for each grade standard (grades 1-3) that will include both the printed materials and self-instructive audio-visual materials. As an alternative to the current practice of inviting the target children to a soum or aimag-based enlightenment center to participate in a 2-3 week long non-formal education class conducted 2-3 times a year, the project will focus on piloting compensatory education programs that could be executed by parents/caregivers at home in a distant location, with a minimum of monitoring and supervision to be provided by non-formal education specialists (i.e., mobile teachers). To enable illiterate parents or caregivers to participate in the programs without hesitation or fear of incompetency, the project will develop a set of carefully and attractively designed, culturally appropriate, digitalized audio-visual materials for self-instruction, which will complement the traditional textbook/workbook approach to support the children’s learning. The project will develop low-cost, easy-to-understand practical workbooks to go along with the textbook being used in school and the audio-visual materials for use by the target children in each grade level. It is intended that these digitalized materials will be: 1) reproduced in VCDs/DVDs/cassette tapes, and will be linked to the School Readiness Toy and Resource Material Library at school level (as proposed in the Component 1); 2) used in the tutoring sessions in the after-school programs (as proposed in the Component 2); and 3) uploaded onto the NFDE’s website (www.nfde.mn) as part of the government’s strategy to promote and strengthen the Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based teaching and learning. The latter will also extend the use of resource materials for other children with similar needs (e.g., children living abroad or in ger districts of Ulaanbaatar city). These resource materials will be developed by a team of curriculum development and non-formal education specialists from the NFDE and the local education authorities. This process will be facilitated by the project team, with the support of creative media/graphic producers/designers, and the active involvement of children and parents/caretakers. The activities supported under this subcomponent will take place during the first year of the project. 14 In rural Mongolia, non-formal education classes are held at soum or province levels in schools by non-formal education specialists (normally with primary teacher background), for 10-15 working days per session and two to three sessions per year (i.e., in March, June, and October). According to the MoECS, in 2010-2011 academic year, a total of 12,024 school-age children (6-14) have enrolled in the non-formal education programs across the country. 3.2 Capacity building of local education stakeholders on compensatory distance education programs This subcomponent aims to strengthen the local technical and human resource capacity of the education stakeholders to plan, implement, and monitor the compensatory distance education program activities, with a specific focus on targeted interventions for lower-primary out-of-school children in the most remote communities. The key activities will include: 1) training of trainers involving national and provincial level non-formal education methodologists and other experienced primary teachers; 2) training non-formal education specialists and relevant primary education teachers from soums in compensatory distance education program delivery and individual teaching/coaching and monitoring techniques; 3) training community volunteers and mentor parents as identified by the ECE; and 4) provision of mobile library resources at schools/enlightenment centers to support the children’s learning experiences at home. These activities will be carried out during the second year of project operation, with on-site technical support provided by the project team and master trainers throughout the rest of the project period. The same team members who developed the program curriculum and resource materials will provide training and on-site technical support to local service providers. In order to maximize the impacts of the training activities, the project team members will be well prepared in advance through on-the-job training as well as other learning opportunities ( such as training, workshop, conference etc) in the region. 3.3 Mobilizing community and piloting compensatory distance education programs As in other components, this subcomponent supports the actual implementation of the pilot program in target soums through active participation of the community. The key activities will include: 1) actual piloting of the compensatory distance education program; 2) promotion of community involvement in program delivery through the functions of community education councils; and 3) provision of small-scale, results-based community block grants to support community initiatives in promoting the compensatory education program. The same eligibility criteria as introduced in Components 1 and 2 will be applied for accessing and managing the sub-grant; but with a specific focus on promoting innovative and sustainable compensatory distance education programs with the increased participation of community members. The activities under this subcomponent will take place from the second year onward. Outputs: • Alternative lower-primary, home-learning education curricula (grades 1-3) and their corresponding teaching and learning materials (including a series of self-learning video programs) developed and piloted; • At least 1,000 teaching and learning resource materials developed, produced, and disseminated; • Training for at least 140 teachers, community volunteers and mentor parents trained on individual teaching/coaching/monitoring techniques and program delivery; • At least 300 children enrolled in the alternative lower-primary education equivalency programs; • Capacity of 34 soum/aimag schools or enlightenment centers to deliver program activities improved (e.g., setting up of resource libraries); • Up to 30 CECs provided with community block grants to promote the program delivery and reach; and • Project-produced teaching and learning resource materials uploaded onto NFDE’s website for wider circulation and use. 6.4 Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Knowledge Dissemination $528,648 Project Management: For the purpose of ensuring interagency coordination for the effective implementation of the project and its link with the mainstream education policies, and to promote ownership of the project by government partners (thereby facilitating institutionalization, scaling up, and sustainability of program interventions), the project will establish a multi-stakeholder project steering committee, which will be co-chaired by the Director of Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education Department of the MoECS and the Country Director of Save the Children Japan in Mongolia. The Committee will consist of the representatives of key government and non government agencies working in the education sector (i.e., the Education Institute, Teacher Training Colleges, NFDE, local education authorities, Mongolian Education Alliance etc ), and will meet once every six months during the project period. It is expected that the Committee will ensure the smooth operation of the project as well as providing necessary guidance and support to the project team in delivering quality program work on time. Save the Children Japan will manage the day-to-day operational delivery of the project, thereby taking on the overall project management responsibility. At province and soum levels, the project will be delivered by the field project teams in close collaboration with the community education councils. The project will work closely with the National Centre for Non-formal and Distance Education, to enhance and utilize their expertise and experience in developing and administering compensatory distance education programs for rural communities. The project will also work closely with relevant soum/bagh authorities and service agencies, including the target schools/dormitories and soum hospitals through the local community education councils. The project team will revise, develop and/or test the program-initiated materials with the inputs of relevant consultants and children as necessary. Financial and Administrative Management: Financial and administrative management of the project will be in line with the Bank/national requirements, and the project will be audited annually. Save the Children will appoint independent external auditors, acceptable to the Bank, to conduct the audit of the project. The annual audit report of the project financial statements will be due to the Bank within 6 months after the end of each fiscal year. A designated account will be opened and maintained by the recipient. Financial management of this project is subject to regular supervision by the Bank. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E): The M&E technical consultant will be identified at the beginning of the project to support the project team in designing a detailed M&E framework based on the project implementation plan that meets the project objectives, and will train the project staff (including pilot testing a baseline) on how to effectively implement the designed system. The consultant will develop a monitoring and evaluation methodology that defines how to track and measure progress and outcome indicators appropriately, and will develop the overall processes to effectively monitor and evaluate the project progress and achievements including the designing of protocols and templates for collecting, recording, analyzing and reporting on data. This development process will be carried out in consultation with project stakeholders. The project will ensure M&E tools are context-specific and culturally sensitive to target communities. Prior to implementation, the project team will conduct a baseline study for Components 1 and 2 to define the pre- operational conditions and to establish the set of indicators that will be used to assess achievement of the outcomes over time. The baseline results will be compared with the condition of the same indicators at mid-point and the end of the project as per the designed M&E framework. As the baseline study is being conducted, the project team, together with the local stakeholders, will re-asses and analyze in depth the reasons for school dropouts, so as to re-align the selection and relevancy of the program components. If needed, the Project Steering Committee will establish a technical review and planning panel for each component of the project. The panel members will include the MoECS officials as well as other relevant officials/experts, and will meet on regular basis (i.e., quarterly) to assess progress and to provide technical feedback. In addition, the project team will conduct periodic consultations with target groups to elicit beneficiaries’ views and opinions of the project activities. The consultations will feed into quarterly planning and review meetings, ensuring that the project is responsive to the needs of the target groups. The Embassy of Japan and JICA in Mongolia will be invited to participate in field visits and at other project supported events, and will receive copies of progress review mission reports. The project will be evaluated twice, at mid-term (24 months) and during the final month of the action (final evaluation). To build a knowledge base to advocate for and accelerate educational reform for rural children, the mid-term and final evaluation tools and methods will contain outcome assessments, and a feasibility/cost-benefit analysis to generate information which will help the local schools, education departments, and the MoECS to invest in what works to narrow the gender and regional disparities in the education sector in the future. The mid-term evaluation will be led by independent experts, but conducted in participatory manner and focus on assessing the progress of the action and the results will be discussed by the Project Steering Committee and used to inform the implementation of the remainder of the action. There will be an increased emphasis on information sharing, knowledge dissemination and policy advocacy during the last half of the grant implementation period to ensure institutionalization, scale-up, and the sustainability of program interventions beyond the project. The final evaluation will be conducted by an external consultant team utilizing participatory approaches. It will assess the degree to which the action has met the planned outcomes and objectives set for the project, as well as the efficiency, cost effectiveness and sustainability of the initiatives. The mid-term and final evaluations will utilize approaches to ensure the participation of all stakeholders, including children, parents and communities. Additionally, gender dynamics and the abilities of different target groups will be considered during the design of monitoring activities and evaluations. Knowledge dissemination: The project will regularly document the processes and outcomes of introducing the various innovative program interventions under the project. The results of the monitoring and evaluation activities, will be published and shared with key government agencies, civil society, Japanese development agencies, UN and other stakeholders as needed. The best practices and lessons learned will be shared with policy makers and other stakeholders in the form of publications, mass media, and national conferences during the fourth year of the grant period. The project will also support exchange visits amongst the concerned parties to ensure that the best practices will be replicated to other soums and provinces. The visibility of Japan’s contribution will be ensured at all project supported events and in publications. The soft copies of publications will also be uploaded onto MoECS website for a wider review by the public. Outputs: • A monitoring system established to regularly measure the project progress and reflect lessons learned; • The project baseline study as well as mid-term and final evaluations conducted and documented for wider circulation; • Children’s learning achievement tests will be adapted and tested in the target areas in the form of standardized competency exams administered by schools; • 1,000 copies of evaluation reports published in both English and Mongolian; • Four national-level conferences organized for 80 concerned persons each; • Exchange visits conducted for 30 relevant individuals; • Two series of radio and TV programs on school readiness and lower-primary education equivalency programs, etc., developed and broadcasted; and • Regular progress reports and an Implementation Completion Report prepared by the implementing agency at completion, incorporating results of the final evaluation. 7. ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURES List all applicable eligible expenditures below in one or more categories as necessary. Eligible expenditures include consultant services (including audits), local training and workshops, small civil works, goods, sub-grants, and Bank incremental costs. Category Amount (US Dollars) Percentage of Percentage of Expenditures to Grant Total be Financed Disb-Consulting 510,560 100 19% Disb-Training 1,200,170 100 46% Disb-Goods 430,841 100 16% Disb-Civil Works 24,000 100 1% Disb-Other 117,000 100 4% Disb-Operating Cost 175,008 100 7% Total Grant to Recipient 2,457,579 Bank Incremental Costs 180,000 100 7% Total Grant Amount: 2,637,579 OPERATIONAL RISKS ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK Risk Category Risk Risk Description Proposed Mitigation Rating Project Beneficiaries Medium- Difficulty in finding time to conduct Teacher training to be conducted during and Stakeholders L teacher training (i.e., teachers too school holiday periods in the summer, fall, Risks busy; no time for attending training). winter and spring, and/or to invite teachers in smaller groups from each school to take turns to attend training. Not able to find suitable facilitators Development of a manual and training of from the community for the extra- school social workers to manage the curricular after-school activities. program delivery using locally available human resources. Definition of what constitutes school Long-term absenteeism treated as a dropout as opposed to extended, similar problem to school drop-out, long-term absenteeism, not therefore compensatory distance consistent and clear; therefore the education programs to be piloted in both accuracy of government statistics on cases regardless of their status. entire rates of school dropout/long- term absenteeism questionable (e.g., no accurate data for the cases of extended, long-term absenteeism). Not able to track school dropout Local and community networks utilized children properly due to family to keep track of children who migrates; migration and lack of a cross- awareness building amongst the referencing mechanism between education stakeholders of the pilot schools & within the education system program across the country, for the education system to keep data on children; the compensatory education materials to be uploaded onto NEF’s website for easy access and usage by migrated children and their families. Implementing Agency Medium- The implementing agency unable to The establishment of a multi-stakeholder Risks H adequately manage the grant review and planning panel with the implementation and advocate for members from the MoECS, and relevant mainstreaming of the project officials/experts, will ensure the project innovations oversight and mainstreaming. The implementing agency is not Relevant risk mitigation actions are familiar with the Bank procurement defined as per the Bank procurement and financial management rules and and financial management teams’ advice. procedures. Project Risks: Design Medium- A Toy and Equipment Library concept Inclusion and empowerment of L – toy and electric appliances not community education councils to lasting long. mobilize resources for proper management and maintenance of the library program; purchase of quality toys and equipment; usage of wooden protection cases and/or heavy-duty, long-lasting carry bags to minimize damages; introduction of a deposit system to guarantee safe return; training of teachers on proper budget planning for replacement. Social and Medium- Formal schools (principals and Active participation of education Environmental L teachers) may not be willing to allow departments and schools in re-entry of school dropout children compensatory education program design (i.e., discrimination). from the very beginning to enhance ownership and confidence of the Possible discrimination from other program; emphasis on close monitoring of children against school dropout children’s learning performance along the children who re-enter school. way; links with standardized test results to measure children’s readiness for re- entry; awareness-raising & training of teachers on the subject; awareness- raising with the at-school children on the subject. JSDF Program Low The grant activities might be seen as In the small soum community 15 context and Donor too ambitious. of Mongolia, the proposed design of the multi-targeted interventions is feasible. While the project responds directly to the education needs of the most disadvantaged children, it builds local ownership, capacity empowerment and participation of local communities and stakeholders. Delivery Medium- The grant activities are carried out in Careful annual planning of grant Quality L the most remote, rural communities activities; usage of reliable vehicles for where accessibility will become an local travel and transportation; issue during the winter months, maintaining regular communication with posing a threat by disrupting the target schools for feasibility of travel, etc. implementation of grant activities. 15 An average soum population is 2,000-3,000 residents. JSDF -- DETAILED COST TABLE COUNTRY: Mongolia Improving Primary Education Outcomes for the Most Vulnerable Children in Rural GRANT NAME: Mongolia DATE: 30/05/2011 (Revised on July 8, 2011) Expend Procure iture ment Unit Cost Total Cost /a Components & Activities Quanti Unit Label Catego Method (US$) (US$) 1/ ty ry COMPONENT 1: Strengthening school preparation programs for new school entrants (5-6 years of age) in the community.2/ 1.1 Development and establishment of school 4/ preparation programs Development of program contents and curriculum at 1 participating kindergartens & schools School readiness consultants - CONS IC days $ 90 $ 9,000 national (2) 100 Consultation sub-workshop TRG trainings $ 500 $ 2,000 4 Development of relevant training modules & IEC materials 2 $ - on SR for parents, caretakers and community members School readiness consultants - CONS IC days $ 90 $ 9,000 national (2) 100 IEC/BCC specialist CONS IC days $ 90 $ 2,700 30 A school preparation shoppin GOODS copies $ 3 $ 9,000 guide/scheduler for parents g 3,000 VCDs/DVDs on school shoppin preparation for children & GOODS copies $ 1 $ 2,000 g 2,000 parents Training moduels on SR for soum shoppin GOODS copies $ 8 $ 2,400 governors and CEC members g 300 shoppin Yearly planner for CEC members GOODS copies $ 4 $ 6,000 g 1,500 Development of relevant 3 learning resource materials for $ - children School readiness consultants - CONS IC days $ 90 $ 9,000 national (2) 100 IEC/BCC specialist CONS IC days $ 90 $ 2,700 30 Learning resource materials on shoppin GOODS copies $ 15 $ 45,000 SR for parents and children g 3,000 Development of relevant training modules & materials for 4 school administrators, $ - kindergarten/primary teachers, and dormitory staff School readiness consultants - CONS IC days $ 90 $ 9,000 national (2) 100 IEC/BCC specialist CONS IC days $ 90 $ 2,700 30 School Readiness management shoppin GOODS copies $ 10 $ 3,000 training manual g 300 Subtotal 1.1: $ 113,500 1.2 Capacity building of local community stakeholders 3/ 1 Conduct training of trainers persons Training of trainers in UB and in (experienced TRG $ 1,162 $ 48,804 provinces 42 methodologies and teachers) Organize a series of training & 2 feedback sessions to local $ - 3/ community leaders, etc., on SR persons (30 soum Training package for local TRG govenors + 10 $ 1,147 $ 45,880 government officers 40 others) x 2 times Organize a series of training & feedback sessions to 3 $ - kindergarten, primary & 3/ dormitory teachers on SR preschool & Training package for local service TRG primary teachers x $ 634 $ 136,310 providers 215 3 times Subtotal 1.2: $ 230,994 1.3 Mobilizing community and piloting school preparation programs Establish a School Readiness Toy 1 and Equipment Library at target soums/baghs Educaitonal toys and resource materials for mobile library GOODS NCB kindergartens $ 3,800 $ 114,000 30 services Library locker shelves and other shoppin GOODS kindergartens $ 400 $ 12,000 equipment & supplies g 30 Establish a Community 2 $ - Education Council at soum level Consultation sub-workshop TRG trainings $ 500 $ 2,000 4 Field Trainers/Instructors (3) TRG months $ 1,057 $ 42,280 40 Promote community initiatives in SR programs through a small- 3 scale, results-based community block grant scheme Small grants/incentives for Community Education Councils soum community SUB-P $ 900 $ 27,000 for promoting school preparation 30 education councils program Pilot and improve the school 4 $ - preparation programs On site training and community 5 TRG times $ 3,929 $ 157,160 outreach package / 40 Project visibility (Project identity shoppin and visibility plates, TV GOODS target provinces $ 2,033 $ 8,132 g 4 broadcasting ..etc,) Project equipment, suppliers and shoppin Ulaanbaatar and GOODS $ 4,933 $ 24,665 material package g 5 field offices Subtotal 1.3: $ 387,237 SUBTOTAL COMPONENT 1: $ 731,731 COMPONENT 2: Introducing extracurricular after-school programs in schools for vulnerable children (6-10 years of age) living away from parents/home. 2.1 Developing extracurricular after-school programs Development of the actual contents and curriculum of the 1 program activities at participating school level Extra-curricular program CONS IC days $ 90 $ 11,970 specialists - national 133 IEC/BCC specialist - national CONS IC days $ 90 $ 8,100 90 Consultation sub-workshop for TRG meetings $ 500 $ 1,500 C2 3 Development of the program guidelines & facilitators manual 2 $ - on extracurricular after-school programs Extra-curricular program CONS IC days $ 90 $ 11,970 specialists - national 133 Extra-curricular program design - CONS IC days $ 900 $ 20,700 international 23 A creative and recreational activity book for lower-grade shoppin GOODS copies $ 15 $ 7,500 children (including design, g 500 editing/translation, and print) A facilitator's manual on after shoppin school program (includes design, GOODS copies $ 10 $ 3,000 g 300 edit/translation, and print) Compilation of the best curriculum and program 3 practices in after-school $ - programs for publication, wider circulation and adaptation Extra-curricular program CONS IC days $ 90 $ 11,970 specialists - national 133 A Best Practices Manual on after school programs (includes shoppin GOODS copies $ 13 $ 13,000 design, edit/translation, and g 1,000 print) Subtotal 2.1: $ 89,710 2.2 Capacity building of local community stakeholders on extracurricular after-school programs Training of primary education 1 methodologists, etc., to become 3/ master trainers Training of trainers in UB and in teachers/school TRG $ 1,048 $ 44,016 provinces 42 SWs, etc. Child Participation/Protection CONS IC months $ 275 $ 11,000 Officer 40 Training of relevant primary and dormitory teachers, etc., in 2 $ - target schools on after-school 3/ program delivery teachers/school Training package for local service TRG SWs/dormitory $ 633 $ 94,950 providers 150 teachers Child Participation/Protection CONS IC months $ 275 $ 11,000 Officer 40 Training of community 3 3/ $ - volunteers by trained teachers Training package for community TRG volunteers $ 220 $ 33,000 volunteers 150 Provision of basic equipment & 4 minor renovation of dormitory $ - recreational rooms Provision of basic activity shoppin GOODS school dormitories $ 1,000 $ 30,000 equipment g 30 shoppin Renovation of dormitories WORKS school dormitories $ 800 $ 24,000 g 30 Subtotal 2.2: $ 247,966 2.3 Piloting extra-curricular after-school program activities Piloting of the after-school programs through the 1 involvement of community volunteers On site training and community 5 TRG $ 3,929 $ 157,160 outreach package / 40 Project visibility (Project identity shoppin and visibility plates, TV GOODS target provinces $ 2,033 $ 8,132 g 4 broadcasting ..etc,) Project equipment, suppliers and shoppin Ulaanbaatar and GOODS $ 4,933 $ 24,665 material package g 5 field offices Promoting the involvement of 2 CECs in supporting the after- $ - school programs Field Trainers/Instructors (3) TRG months $ 1,057 $ 42,280 40 Provision of small-scale, results- based community block grants 3 $ - to promote community initiatives Small grants/incentives for soum promoting extra-curricular schools/Communit enrichment progrma services - SUB-P $ 1,800 $ 54,000 30 y Education schools and Community Councils Education Councils Subtotal 2.3: $ 286,237 SUBTOTAL COMPONENT 2: $ 623,913 COMPONENT 3: Pilot compensatory education programs for lower-primary out-of-school children (6-9 years of age) in rural communities. 3.1 Development and establishment of compensatory distance education programs Adapt, design and develop locally relevant & feasible 1 compensatory education curriculum. NFE consultants - national (3) CONS IC days $ 90 $ 13,860 154 Program design - international CONS IC days $ 900 $ 20,700 23 Consultation sub-workshop for TRG meetings $ 500 $ 1,500 C3 3 Best school/teacher competition children and TRG $ 60 $ 18,000 workshops 300 schools Adapt & develop home-based teaching & learning resource 2 materials for parents/caretakers $ - and children for each grade standard NFE consultants - national (3) CONS IC days $ 90 $ 27,810 309 IEC/BCC specialist - national CONS IC days $ 90 $ 8,100 90 Compensatory learning resource shoppin GOODS resource packages $ 63 $ 37,800 materials g 600 Subtotal 3.1: $ 127,770 3.2 Capacity building of local education stakeholders on compensatory distance education programs Training of trainers involving national & provincial level non- 1 formal education 3/ methodologists, etc. Staff development TRG persons $ 1,200 $ 3,600 3 persons Training of trainers in UB and in (experienced NEF TRG $ 3,700 $ 33,300 provinces 9 methodologies and teachers) Training non-formal education specialists & relevant primary 2 $ - education teachers from 3/ soums preschool & Training package for local service TRG primary teachers x $ 3,090 $ 108,150 providers 35 3 times Training community volunteers 3 and mentor parents as $ - 3/ identified by the CECs Training package for volunteers TRG volunteers $ 220 $ 19,800 90 Provision of mobile library 4 resources at $ - schools/enlightenment centers shoppin Mobile learning library resources GOODS soum schools $ 825 $ 24,750 g 30 Library locker shelves and other shoppin GOODS soum schools $ 400 $ 12,000 equipment & supplies g 30 Subtotal 3.2: $ 201,600 3.3 Mobilizing community and piloting compensatory distance education programs Piloting of the compensatory 1 distance education program On site training and community 5 TRG $ 3,246 $ 129,840 outreach package / 40 Project visibility (Project identity shoppin and visibility plates, TV GOODS target provinces $ 2,033 $ 8,132 g 4 broadcasting ..etc,) Project equipment, suppliers and shoppin Ulaanbaatar and GOODS $ 4,933 $ 24,665 material package g 5 field offices Promotion of community involvement in program delivery 2 $ - through the functions of community education councils Field Trainers/Instructors (3) TRG months $ 1,057 $ 42,280 40 Support for community promotion events shoppin GOODS soums $ 100 $ 3,000 (Refreshments, foods, venue and g 30 equipment rental etc) Provision of small-scale, results- based community block grants to support community 3 $ - initiatives in promoting the compensatory education program Small grants/incentives for soum Community Education Councils schools/Communit for promoting componsatory SUB-P $ 1,200 $ 36,000 30 y Education education program and re- Councils enrollment of children to school Subtotal Activity 3.3: $ 243,917 SUBTOTAL COMPONENT 3: $ 573,287 COMPONENT 4: Project Management and Monitoring and Evaluation 1. Project Management 1 Project Manager CONS IC months $ 1,408 $ 67,584 48 2 Field Corrdinators (3 persons) CONS IC person-months $ 1,058 $ 8,464 8 3 Project Officers (2 persons) CONS IC person-months $ 1,100 $ 8,800 8 Procurement, logistics assistant 4 CONS IC person-months $ 2,000 $ 16,000 services (4 persons) 8 $ - months (25% x 5 HR and Admin Manager OCS IC $ 366 $ 17,568 48 monthly salary) months (25% x 6 Finance Manager OCS IC $ 381 $ 18,288 48 monthly salary) Finance and Grant Management months (50% x 7 OCS IC $ 529 $ 25,392 Officer (50%) 48 monthly salary) 8 Consultants' recruitment OCS advertisements $ 800 $ 4,800 6 Bank charges 9 OCS months $ 48 $ 2,304 48 1 Office Rental OCS months $ 883 $ 42,384 0 48 1 Communication OCS months $ 389 $ 18,672 1 48 1 Other operational support costs OCS months $ 950 $ 45,600 2 (finance, admin services, etc.) 48 Subtotal 1 $ 275,856 2. Monitoring and Evaluation A BASELINE AND FINAL . EVALUATION SURVEYS Consultation sub-workshop for TRG meetings $ 500 $ 3,000 M&E 6 International M&E Expert CONS IC days $ 900 $ 36,000 40 International flight CONS IC flights $ 1,000 $ 4,000 4 B Training for Participatory . Monitoring by Beneficiaries Exchange training, mentoring, TRG persons $ 80 $ 4,800 and monitoring visits 60 C Final Impact Evaluation . National evaluation specialists CONS IC/CQS days $ 100 $ 34,000 (3) 340 D Completion Report . Implementation Specialist - M&E CONS IC days $ 900 $ 36,000 reporting 40 Monitoring and evaluation shoppin GOODS reports $ 8 $ 8,000 report g 1,000 E M&E Specilist . Senior M&E specialist CONS IC months $ 1,268 $ 60,864 48 Education Programme Manager months (25% x CONS IC $ 366 $ 17,568 (25%) 48 monthly salary) F Outcome Knowledge Sharing . Event meetings in National symposium events TRG $ 7,140 $ 28,560 4 Ulaanbaatar G Audits CONS LCS annual audits $ 5,000 $ 20,000 . 4 Subtotal Activity 4.B $ 252,792 SUBTOTAL COMPONENT 4: $ 528,648 TOTAL PROJECT COST $ 2,457,579 (RECIPIENT GRANT) TOTAL BANK SUPERVISION $ 180,000 GRANT PROPOSED TOTAL JAPAN $ 2,637,579 GRANT