The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) REPORT NO.: RES49068 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF ETHIOPIA: COVID-19 EDUCATION RESPONSE PROJECT APPROVED ON AUGUST 19, 2020 TO FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA EDUCATION GLOBAL PRACTICE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA Regional Vice President: Hafez M. H. Ghanem Country Director: Ousmane Dione Regional Director: Amit Dar Practice Manager/Manager: Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali Task Team Leader: Salman Asim The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CERP COVID-19 Education Response Project GPE Global Partnership for Education IERC Inclusive Education Resource Center ISR Implementation Status and Results Report PDO Project Development Objective REB Regional Education Bureaus UNOPS United Nations Office for Project Services WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P174206 Investment Project Financing Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Moderate Approval Date Current Closing Date 19-Aug-2020 31-Dec-2021 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ministry of Education Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The PDO is to maintain students' learning during school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and after school re-openings, and to enable education system recovery and resilience. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing (US$, Millions) Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed TF-B3228 19-Aug-2020 12-Nov-2020 08-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2021 14.85 0 14.85 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING 1. The US$14.85 million Global Partnership for Education (GPE) supported Ethiopia COVID-19 Education Response Project (CERP, P174206, TF-B3228), for which the World Bank is the Grant Agent, was approved by the GPE Board on August 19, 2020; signed on November 12, 2020; declared effective on December 8, 2020, and is scheduled to close on December 31, 2021. The project supports the Government of Ethiopia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and specifically aims to maintain students' learning during school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and after school re-openings, and to enable education system recovery and resilience. At the request of the Government, the rationale of this restructuring is to extend the project by nine months to ensure completion of all activities. 2. Progress on Project Development Objective (PDO). Performance of the project in terms of progress towards the PDO is rated Moderately Satisfactory as of the most recent Implementation Status and Results Report (ISR) (December 14, 2021). In terms of PDO indicators, 66.3 percent of school-age children were able to access distance learnig materials over television (TV) and radio during the closure of schools until October 2020, in excess of the target of 43 percent, and 92 percent of previously enrolled school-age children have returned to schools against a target of 100 percent. These achievements have been supported by the project activities: the project supported regional adaptation and broadcast of distance learning materials over TV and radio with the result that all regions and states broadcast distance learning materals customized for regional needs during the closure of schools (11 regions/states against a target of 11). The project also supported the development and delivery of communications and sensitization campaigns that aim at minimizing the negative impacts of school closure like psychological impacts and gender-based violence. Fifty percent of children have been provided access to such programs in excess of the target of 43 percent. In addition, the project supported the re- opening of schools through the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) materials to ensure safe environments, and supported the re-enrollment of students through a back-to-school communications campaign. Starting in late October 2020, 98.5 percent of schools have re-opened, slightly behind the target of 100 percent, although it should be noted that only 22 percent of schools have received WASH materials so the scale of reopening cannot be attributed entirely and directly to the project. Table 1 provides a summary of the progress towards achieving the results indicators. The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) Table 1: Summary of Results Framework Indicator Baseline Current End target Status (1 May 2020) (31 Dec 2021) PDO 1. School age children with access to 2.00 66.30 43.00 Achieved COVID-19 distance/home-based learning (30-Jun-2021) programs (percentage) PDO 2. School age children previously enrolled 0.00 92.00 100.00 Close to in grant-supported schools who return to 01-Jul-2021 achievement school once the school system is reopened (percentage) IR 1.1 Percentage of children provided access 7.00 50.00 43.00 Achieved to programs and sensitization campaigns that 01-Jul-2021 aim at minimizing the negative impacts of school closure like psychological impacts and gender-based violence IR 1.2 Number of regions/states with radio 1.00 11.00 11.00 Achieved and TV stations broadcasting emergency 30-Oct-2020 distance learning programs during school closures IR 1.3 Number of children in Inclusive 0.00 0.00 15,000.00 Not yet achieved Education Resource Centers (IERCs) provided 01-Nov-2021 with radios/other distance learning equipment (Number, Custom) 1.4 Number of children in appropriate age 0.00 0.00 2,100,000.00 Not yet achieved group provided home learning kits 01-Nov-2021 2.1 Percentage of public schools equipped by 0.00 22.00 100.00 Not yet achieved the project with minimum hygiene package 01-Jul-2021 for prevention of COVID-19 (Percentage, Custom) 2.2 Percentage of grant-supported schools 0.00 98.50 100.00 Close to reopened 01-Jul-2021 achievement 2.3 Number of teachers trained by the project 0.00 0.00 40,000.00 Not yet achieved to provide accelerated programs to mitigate 01-May-2020 loss of learning during school closure 2.4 % of children at grant-supported schools 0.00 0.00 100.00 Not yet achieved whose learning was assessed to evaluate loss 30-Oct-2020 of learning during school closure 3. Implementation Progress. CERP became effective on December 8, 2020, but implementation was already underway as a result of the project’s retroactive financing clause, according to which withdrawals of up to 40 percent of the project value can be made against activities conducted after March 31, 2020 as long as these are implemented in line with World Bank procedures and the eligible expenditures as defined in the Grant Agreement. Performance of the project in terms of implementation progress is rated Moderately Unsatisfactory as of the most recent ISR, as a result of a lack of The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) disbursement owing to issues of documentation (see paragraph 14). The progress of activities by component is described below. 4. Component 1. Maintaining learning trajectories and safety during school closure (US$3.59 million). Under Component 1, content has been developed and regionally adapted for radio and TV distance learning, and broadcast in all regions; and a communications campaign has been completed informing students of the available distance learning materials, providing guidance to communities on hygiene and cleanliness, and supporting the psychosocial wellbeing of students during school closure. However, the provision of offline (printed) learning packets was not completed prior to the reopening of schools beginning in October 2020 and the relevance of this activity is currently being assessed. Procurement of radios to support learning of disadvantaged students, and training of Inclusive Education Resource Center (IERC) staff in their use, has also not yet been completed but remains relevant. 5. Component 2. Supporting readiness for school reopening and mitigating learning loss (US$10.76 million). The Government has distributed more than 25 million face masks for students (1-2 per student). The Government, through Regional Education Bureaus (REBs), has also completed a range of other activities including the following: (1) guidelines and a training manual have been developed for training of teachers in accelerated learning to support catch-up of learning loss; (2) schools have been provided with WASH materials and health and personal protective materials, disinfectant, sanitizer, portable handwashing stations, and water tankers. The provision of WASH materials is partially completed with 22 percent of schools having received materials; (3) guidelines on school cleanliness and COVID-19 prevention have been developed and disseminated to communities. The provision of training for teachers on remedial and accelerated teaching to enable catching-up on learning loss has not yet been completed. 6. Component 3. System-level resilience and project coordination (US$0.50 million). Under Component 3, the Government has gathered COVID-19 related information in schools through an emergency hotline and established a dashboard to collect school-level information and allow analysis at the Ministry level. The coordination of the project is ongoing. Activities relating to building of supervision capacity at REB and Woreda level, and learning from evidence surveys, are also in progress. 7. Disbursement. Documentation of the activities completed by REBs has been found inadequate to comply with World Bank procurement procedures (see previous ISR). As a result of these issues, no disbursement has taken place. The Government has requested to release funds allocated for activities under Component 2 completed by the REBs towards expenditures on face masks (see below). This will be achieved through adjustments to budgets within Component 2 of the project. Issues relating to other activities for which documentation is inadequate will be resolved in a subsequent restructuring pending approval by GPE (see paragraph 10). 8. Expenditures on Face Masks. The initial planned budget for the face masks was US$1 million for 500,000 face masks, as a universal mask mandate at the school level was not anticipated at the design stage. However, following the decision of the Government of Ethiopia to introduce a universal mask mandate, the Government purchased more than 25 million face masks at an overall cost of US$7 million (the unit cost per mask being below what was originally budgeted). The World Bank procurement team has confirmed that the documentation for this procurement is adequate. As a result, the Government has requested to reallocate funds away from activities and procurements under Component 2 which The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) have been completed but for which documentation is inadequate, to face masks. Specifically, the financing allocated to the development of guidelines and training materials for accelerated and remedial learning; for provision of disinfectant and menstrual health materials; and for development of guidelines for communities on school cleanliness and their dissemination to schools (all of which have been implemented by REBs), as well as partial finance for distribution of WASH materials (which has been partially completed by REBs), will be reallocated to face masks increasing the total allocation for face masks to US$5.94 million (which represents the full allocation available for activities completed under retroactive financing). World Bank procurement management has agreed to the proposed reallocation. While these adjustments do not constitute part of the proposed restructuring as they involve changes in expenditures within a component, they are described here in order to clarify the path through which the project will achieve disbursement following proposed extension of the closing date. 9. Extension of timeline. CERP is due to close on December 31, 2021. The Government submitted an Annual Work Plan and Budget on June 30, 2021 outlining its plans for the remaining activities not supported by retroactive financing, including procurement of radios for learning support for disadvantaged students; provision of training for teachers on remedial and accelerated teaching to enable catching-up on learning loss; and provision of the remaining WASH, health and personal protective materials for schools. The Government has requested to partner with UNOPS for the procurement, distribution, installation and end-point logistics for the remaining procurements of radios, sanitizer, thermometers and first aid kits (but not water tankers and portable handwashing facilities, which will be more efficiently procured locally). It is expected that these procurements will require 3-4 months to complete, and UNOPS recommends a timeframe of 6-9 months for school-level facilities and materials to be distributed and installed. In order to ensure this process can be completed in an orderly manner, on November 5, 2021 the Government requested a no-cost extension of the project to September 30, 2022. The GPE Secretariat confirmed it has no objection to the extension on December 20, 2021. 10. Following the restructuring, the project will immediately disburse US$5.94 million in retroactive financing for the procurement of face masks. In order to ensure the timely completion of project activities by the proposed new closing date, the project will also provide an advance of US$2.1 million to support activities to be completed directly by the Government to accelerate project implementation, particularly training of IERC staff for priority support to disadvantaged students under Component 1, teacher training in accelerated and remedial learning under Component 2, and capacity building and supervision activities under Component 3. The remaining US$6.8 million which may include some reallocation of funds between components will be re-assessed by the GPE Secretariat in January 2022. 11. The PDO remains achievable and the partnership with UNOPS is expected to help ensure the completion of all activities in the proposed extended time period (see Table 2). The World Bank Task Team will closely monitor implementation, especially procurements, to ensure timely completion of the remaining activities. In particular, the procurement of water tankers and portable handwashing facilities, which is proposed to be conducted by the Government, will be moved to UNOPS if not conducted in a timely or adequately documented manner. The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) Table 2. Timeline for completion of remaining activities Activity Sub-Activity Completed Notes by Component 1: Maintaining learning trajectories and safety during school closure Priority support for disadvantaged Procurement of 15 Delivery to REB level by 30 students radios* September August 2022, to IERCs by 15 2022 September 2022 Priority support for disadvantaged Training of IERC 30 June 2022 students staff Priority support for disadvantaged Development of 30 June 2022 students materials Component 2. Supporting readiness for school reopening and mitigating learning loss Support to teachers Training of 30 April 2022 trainers Support to teachers Support to 30 June 2022 cascade training Support to schools for pandemic Provision of 30 August Delivery direct to schools by recovery water tankers 2022 30 August 2022 Support to schools for pandemic Provision of 30 August Delivery direct to schools by recovery portable 2022 30 August 2022 handwashing stations Support to schools for pandemic Provision of 15 Delivery to REB level by 30 recovery sanitizer* September August 2022, to schools by 15 2022 September 2022 Support to schools for pandemic Provision of 15 Delivery to REB level by 30 recovery thermometers* September August 2022, to schools by 15 2022 September 2022 Support to schools for pandemic Provision of first 30 August Delivery to REB level by 30 recovery aid kits* 2022 July 2022, to schools by 30 August 2022 Component 3: System-level resilience and project coordination Support to regional and local 30 June 2022 supervision capacity. *To be completed via partnership with UNOPS 12. As noted above, the relevance of the offline learning kits activity is under review owing to the fact that the majority of schools have reopened. If this activity is cancelled, a subsequent restructuring may be required to reallocate financing from this activity (part of Component 1) to other activities (potentially in Component 2 or 3). If required, this subsequent restructuring is expected to be completed by 31 January 2022 pending agreement with the GPE Secretariat. II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 13. Closing date. It is proposed that the closing date be amended to September 30, 2022. This is the first proposed extension to the closing date. The PDO remains achievable and the progress towards the PDO was rated Moderately The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) Satisfactory at the most recent ISR (December 14, 2021). The Implementation Progress was rated Moderately Unsatisfactory in the last ISR owing to the lack of disbursement since the project’s effectiveness; if accepted, the restructuring will enable the immediate release of US$8.05 million, raising disbursement to 55 percent. The Government has proposed to partner with UNOPS to ensure that all remaining procurement can be completed, including installation in schools, prior to the revised closing date. The timeline for the completion of the remaining activities is provided in Table 2 above. 14. Results Framework. The following changes are proposed to the Results Framework: a. Addition of corporate indicator. The corporate indicator “Students benefitting from direct interventions to enhance learning (total, female)” will be added as an intermediate indicator. b. Revision of end dates. The end target date for indicators which are not yet fully achieved will be updated to the proposed revised closing date of September 30, 2022. III. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Results Framework ✔ Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Implementation Schedule ✔ Implementing Agency ✔ DDO Status ✔ Project's Development Objectives ✔ PBCs ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Disbursement Estimates ✔ Overall Risk Rating ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) Procurement ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Technical Analysis ✔ Social Analysis ✔ Environmental Analysis ✔ IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_LOANCLOSING_TABLE LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications TF-B3228 Effective 31-Dec-2021 30-Sep-2022 30-Jan-2023 . The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) . Results framework COUNTRY: Ethiopia Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project Project Development Objectives(s) The PDO is to maintain students' learning during school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and after school re-openings, and to enable education system recovery and resilience. Project Development Objective Indicators by Objectives/ Outcomes RESULT_FRAME_TBL_PDO Indicator Name PBC Baseline End Target Support continued learning during the closure of schools 1. School age children with access to COVID-19 distance/home- based learning programs, (%, broken down by gender) 2.00 43.00 (Percentage) Support accelerated learning after the closure of schools 2. School age children previously enrolled in grant-supported schools who return to school once the school system is reopened 0.00 100.00 percentage, broken down by gender) (Percentage) Rationale: Action: This indicator has been Revised End target date updated to reflect revised project closing date. PDO Table SPACE The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) Intermediate Results Indicators by Components RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline End Target Component 1: Maintaining learning trajectories and safety during school closure 1.1 % of children provided access to programs and sensitization campaigns that aim at minimizing the negative impacts of school 7.00 43.00 closure like psychological impacts and gender-based violence (Percentage) 1.2 Number of regions/states with radio and TV stations broadcasting emergency distance learning programs during 1.00 11.00 school closures (Number) 1.3 Number of children in Inclusive Education Resource Centers provided with radios/other distance learning equipment 0.00 15,000.00 (Number) Rationale: Action: This indicator has been Revised End target date updated to reflect revised project closing date. 1.4 Number of children in appropriate age group provided home 0.00 2,100,000.00 learning kits (Text) Rationale: Action: This indicator has been Revised End target date updated to reflect revised project closing date. Component 2. Supporting readiness for school reopening and mitigating learning loss 2.1 % of public schools equipped by the project with minimum 0.00 100.00 hygiene package for prevention of COVID-19 (Percentage) Rationale: Action: This indicator has been Revised End target date updated to reflect revised project closing date. The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline End Target 2.2 % of grant-supported schools reopened (Percentage) 0.00 100.00 Rationale: Action: This indicator has been Revised End target date updated to reflect revised project closing date. 2.3 Number of teachers trained by the project to provide accelerated programs to mitigate loss of learning during school 0.00 40,000.00 closure (Number) Rationale: Action: This indicator has been Revised End target date updated to reflect revised project closing date. 2.4 % of children at grant-supported schools whose learning was assessed to evaluate loss of learning during school closure 0.00 100.00 (Percentage) Rationale: Action: This indicator has been Revised End target date updated to reflect revised project closing date. Component 3. System-level resilience and project coordination (Action: This Component is New) Students benefiting from direct interventions to enhance 0.00 27,600,000.00 learning (CRI, Number) Action: This indicator is New Students benefiting from direct interventions to enhance 0.00 12,970,000.00 learning - Female (CRI, Number) Action: This indicator is New IO Table SPACE The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206) The World Bank Ethiopia: COVID-19 Education Response Project (P174206)