Document of The World Bank Report No: 66040-SL RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF SIERRA LEONE EFA-FTI EDUCATION SECTOR PROJECT TO THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE December 29, 2011 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS DECSEC Decentralization Secretariat EDP Education Development Partners EFA Education For All ESP Education Sector Plan FM Financial Management FTI Fast Track Initiative GOSL Government of Sierra Leone IFR Interim Financial Management Report JSS Junior Secondary School LC Local Councils LGFD Local Government Finance Department MEST Ministry of Education, Science and Technology MDG Millennium Development Goal MOFED Ministry of Finance and Economic Development MOLG Ministry of Local Government PDO Project Development Objective Regional Vice President: Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili Country Director: Sergiy V. Kulyk (Acting) Sector Manager / Director: Peter M. Materu/Ritva Reinikka Task Team Leader: Susan E. Hirshberg i SIERRA LEONE SIERRA LEONE EFA-FTI PROGRAM P115782 CONTENTS Page A. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................... 3 B. PROJECT STATUS ................................................................................................. 3 C. PROPOSED CHANGES .......................................................................................... 3 D. APPRAISAL SUMMARY ....................................................................................... 6 ANNEX 1: RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING.................................... 9 ANNEX 2: REALLOCATION OF PROCEEDS......................................................... 14 ANNEX 3: EXTENSION OF CLOSING DATE ......................................................... 15 ANNEX 4: SUMMARY TABLE OF ACTIONS ......................................................... 17 ANNEX 5: REVISED COMPONENTS AND PROJECT ACTIVITIES.................. 18 ii SIERRA LEONE EFA-FTI EDUCATION SECTOR PROJECT RESTRUCTURING PAPER SUMMARY 1. The Sierra Leone Education for All Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) Project is scheduled to close on December 31, 2011. Implementation has been uneven, and the project requires a moderate restructuring and a second extension of nine months in order to complete some critical activities and achieve its development objective. The Project Development Objective (PDO) to “expand access to and improve the quality of basic education in the Recipient’s territory� will not change. This restructuring proposes to: (i) extend the project closing date to September 30, 2012; (ii) reduce procurement of civil works (i.e. number of classrooms constructed from 318 to 285) and other inputs to focus on a few key system-building activities such as supporting the government’s Girls’ Incentive Program at the Junior Secondary School (JSS) level; (iii) introduce additional capacity building and support for the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST); (iv) modify selected key performance indicators in the Results Framework; and (v) reallocate grant proceeds among the disbursement categories. It will also introduce related modifications to the descriptions of Components 1, 2 and 3 [Article II, Paragraph 2.01 (a), (b) and (c)] of the project in the Financing Agreement. PROJECT STATUS 2. Background. The EFA FTI Education Sector Project (the Project) to expand access and to improve quality of basic education in Sierra Leone was approved on September 2, 2008 with the funding of US$13,900,000. The Project was declared effective on September 15, 2008. The original Closing Date was June 30, 2010, extended to December 31, 2011. 3. Implementation Progress. The Sierra Leone EFA-FTI Project witnessed a difficult start-up due to underestimated, yet common capacity constraints found in a Post Conflict country, a focus on inputs which caused procurement delays, as well as other design issues including premature mainstreaming of project implementation into the MEST without adequate support. The Closing Date was extended in June 2010 to address the delay in effectiveness (the grant was awarded by the EFA-FTI Board in May 2007). The implementation of the Project only gained momentum in December 2010. As a result, several key project activities are not fully implemented or able to help reach the development objectives. As of October 2011, only 26 of the 57 schools procured in 2009 have been completed. The restructuring will reduce the scope of the civil works and iii cancel the procurement of an additional 17 schools. Moreover, lack of coordination between the MEST and Local Councils (LC) resulted in delays in getting learning materials and furniture into schools; and capacity within the Education Sector Plan (ESP) Secretariat remains weak. Project indicators have also proved difficult to measure because baselines have been found to be faulty and a few of the indicators are not attributable to project interventions. 4. The project was downgraded in February 2011 to Moderately Unsatisfactory due to slow disbursements, lack of Financial Management monitoring and reporting, and lack of results on the ground. Significant progress has been made since that time: (i) disbursements have increased from 22 percent to 64 percent; (ii) all Interim Financial Management Reports (IFR) were submitted and are up to date; (iii) the 2009 and 2010 Annual Audits were submitted; and (iv) more progress has been made with respect to the supply of teaching and learning materials as well as teacher training. Should this restructuring go forward, and once the Project completes the agreed actions related to the qualified Audit, which is expected by the end of December, the project will be upgraded to Moderately Satisfactory. All project activities have complied with social and environmental safeguard requirements. (See Annex 4 for the agreed Action Plan.) 5. The highest levels of the Government of Sierra Leone (GOSL) have indicated commitment to improving project performance. It is receiving attention from various Ministries, including the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED), and is being monitored by a Presidential Task Force for Education. The Ministry of Local Government (MOLG), the Local Government Finance Department (LGFD), the Decentralization Secretariat (DecSec), and units within the MEST such as Directorates of Higher Education and Planning are fully engaged in implementation and oversight, which was not previously the case. The proposed restructuring/extension will therefore provide the opportunity for the Government agencies to address these implementation issues. 6. OP 13.30, paragraph 3 on Closing Date provides for extensions when: (i) the project objectives continue to be achievable; (ii) the performance of the Recipient and other project implementing agencies is satisfactory; and (iii) the Recipient has prepared a specific action plan acceptable to the International Development Association (IDA) to complete the existing contracts and agreements. The project objectives are achievable and the Recipient has prepared an action plan acceptable to the Education Development Partners (EDPs) and IDA. Recipient performance has been weaker than hoped, but the team believes that the Sierra Leone Post Conflict/Fragile State context warrants additional assistance. The project effectively became an experiment in mainstreaming project execution into the Ministry which created significant obstacles, and has learned that resources need to be targeted to providing the skills necessary to support implementation. Government commitment and mitigation measures are described below. As has been noted above, the proposed Project Restructuring will provide the time and appropriate support to the MEST to complete ongoing activities related to learning materials and civil works, and better mainstream the project across the MEST and other relevant ministries to ensure the project investments will be sustained. 2 PROPOSED CHANGES 7. The Government of Sierra Leone began discussions on an extension/restructuring of the project in June 2011, and formally submitted the request for extension of the Sierra Leone EFA-FTI Program project on November 24, 2011 (see Annex 5) after achieving agreed milestones appraised at a Video Conference held November 16 (see Minutes of the Meeting Annex 6). The project development objective (PDO) is aligned with Sierra Leone Education Sector Plan (ESP 2007-2015) and will not be modified. However, there are several changes that are being suggested under this project restructuring: (i) the PDO indicators and the intermediate outcome indicators will be modified because they are not realistic given the current stage of project implementation and capacity; (ii) some of the project component activities will be modified to ensure increasing impact and to wrap-up the project in an orderly fashion; (iii) flows of funds will be adjusted to avoid delays and redundancy along with relevant improvements reporting requirements; and (iv) the Closing Date of the project will be extending from December 31, 2011 to September 30, 2012. 8. Project Indicators. The PDO outcome indicators and intermediate outcome indicators will be revised to be more aligned with the PDO and Core Indicators for the education sector. The Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) has been difficult to measure due to faulty baseline and mid-term data. Therefore, the trends in GER paint a complex and counterintuitive picture: they appear to have fluctuated for undocumented reasons. Completion Rate at the primary level will be added as a PDO Key Project Indicator to replace GER. It is both a Core Indicator and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for the education sector. Completion Rate is also a relatively good indication of efficiencies for both quality and access and has been reliably measured. 9. The intermediate indicators of the number of primary level students and number of Grade 1 entrants will also be dropped. As with GER, the baseline and mid-term data for these indicators have been found to be unreliable. The ‘teacher payroll system’ indicator will be dropped because this exercise is not financed by the project and is being done in the context of broader Public Sector Reform. Under Component 1 of improving access, the procurement and completion of school classroom construction has proved problematic, so the target will be reduced from 318 classrooms to 285. In its place, the project will finance the ongoing Girls’ Incentive Program at the Junior Secondary School level (see Annex 1 for the revised indicators). 10. Components. The project components will not be substantially changed in the restructuring. All investments will continue to support progress in the areas of improving access, quality and program management. As per the PAD, project activities are agreed among the EDPs, MEST and IDA based on an Annual Work Plan and Budget. The activities may change from time-to-time based on educational needs of the basic education system in Sierra Leone. The original PAD listed activities that the project was to support however, some activities were dropped because they were financed and undertaken with support from another agency during the delay in project effectiveness from May 2007 until September 15, 2008. During the restructuring period, new activities, based on the government’s request, will be added to shift away from an input based- 3 approach to working on incremental, systemic improvements in service delivery. Annex 5 provides details on the modifications to each project component. A summary of the main modifications to the project components are as follows: (i) revision of the classroom construction target from 318 to 285 due to slow implementation; (ii) inclusion of a national de-worming program based on a Helen Keller Institute program that has already been successfully implemented in seven districts. The program is expected to be completed within 4 months (from February to May 2012); (iii) inclusion of support for the government’s girls’ incentive program. The project will provide one year of support to the government’s ongoing girls’ incentive program. The project will first validate the number of girls in school and then make a one-time transfer to the MEST to provide support for one academic year; (iv) printing and distribution of Braille supplementary readers and junior secondary school (JSS) textbooks. Primary level materials were successfully procured and distributed; (v) implementation of a policy framework for learning assessment; (vi) training on test development in primary mathematics and language; (vii) review and revision of ten additional curricula and the printing of the revised curricula. The project has already supported the review and revision of basic curricula for four JSS which was successfully completed; and (viii) training of school management committees. This is a new one week training activity and is expected to be completed by May 2012. 11. Grant Agreement. The Grant Agreement will be revised to be less specific, and to broaden the scope of activities which are financed and undertaken to support achieving the development objective. It will also remove those activities which are not in the purview of the MEST or feasible in the context of a project of this size and scope. These are further described below. The revised description of the components in the Grant Agreement (Article II, Paragraph 2.01 (a), (b) and (c) of the Grant Agreement) will be as follows: (a) Implementation of activities aimed at expanding access to basic education which may include, inter alia: (i) construction and rehabilitation of various school facilities including ancillary facilities such as latrines and water supply; (ii) incentives for girls at the Junior Secondary School level to attend and stay in school; and (iii) Local Council and Community-based awareness activities to promote Basic Education. (b) Implementation of activities aimed at improving teaching and learning and increasing the presence and use of learning materials in the classroom which may include, inter alia: (i) provision of learning materials, teacher training and furniture; (ii) assessment of training provided through the project for primary and JSS 4 teachers; and (iii) other activities which may improve the ability of children to learn (e.g.: deworming or other interventions). (c) Provision of support for the coordination, day-to-day management, monitoring and evaluation, and financial and procurement audits of the Program and the Project. 12. Safeguards. There are no changes to the environment and social safeguards for the project. 13. Institutional arrangements. The institutional arrangements will be modified as follows: • Financing - Certain flows of funds will be adjusted to avoid delays and redundancy, and relevant reporting procedures will be simplified. Specifically, the funds currently paid to the Local Council education accounts through the Local Government Finance Department will now be paid directly to the LC education accounts, copying the LGFD for information (see Appraisal Section below). • Reallocations - The project originally had one category of expenditure which covered all anticipated project costs. The Girls Incentive Program will be disbursed to Junior Secondary School accounts. Therefore a new category of Grants will be added and $1.4 million allocated to cover the incentives. Section 3.02 of the Letter of Agreement has been amended to reflect the Withdrawal Condition for the incentives (see paragraph 26 under Financial Assessment below). Category of Expenditure Allocation % of Financing Current Revised Current Revised Current Revised Goods, (1) Goods, $13.9 million $12.5 million Such 100% Works, Works, percentage of Communit Consultants’ Annual Work y Surveys, Services, Plan and Operational Workshops Budget as the Costs and Training, World Bank and may Operating determine for Costs under each Fiscal Parts (a) (i) Year and and (iii); (b) communicate and (c) of the to the Project Recipient Transfers to $1.4 million 100% Schools for JSS Girls Incentives under Part (a) (ii) of the 5 Project TOTAL $13.9 million $13.9 million 100% 100% 14. Cancellations. There are no cancellations under this restructuring. 15. Closing Date. The project closing date will be extended to allow for the completion of the project activities. The restructuring proposes to extend the closing date from December 31, 2011 through September 30, 2012. • Implementation schedule – The Implementation Plan agreed with the MEST EDPs is on file. o Completion of ongoing construction – March 30, 2012 o Delivery of goods and furniture to schools – August 2012 o Completion of teacher training – August 2012 o Girls Incentives – Disbursed March 2012, Additional validation – March – August 2012 APPRAISAL SUMMARY 16. Economic and financial analysis. The project interventions do not lead to any changes in the economic or technical appraisal as per the Project Document. 17. Technical. Not applicable. 18. Procurement Assessment of Capacity, Risks and Mitigation Measures. The overall project risk for procurement is High. An assessment of the capacity of the MEST to implement procurement actions for the restructured project was carried out by the procurement team in December 2011. The assessment reviewed the organizational structure for implementing the project and the interaction between the project’s staff responsible for procurement and the MEST. Most of the issues/risks concerning procurement in the project remain, notably inadequate experience and capacity of the procurement unit within the MEST to manage procurement under Bank financed projects. Although the Ministry has been assigned a procurement officer, the staff requires further training and mentoring to manage the procurement function. Efforts to hire a qualified procurement specialist have not been successful as those recommended for recruitment are still awaiting the award of their degrees from the University and do not have the requisite experience implementing World Bank projects. 19. Risk mitigation measures have included continued capacity training and mentoring with the support of the Bank procurement team. Furthermore, the restructuring will not include new construction so there will be no new works contracts. Procurement for the restructured project will be limited to: (i) direct contracting for supplementary readers in Braille; (ii) completion of an evaluation of bids for pencils, geometry sets, exercise books etc; and (iii) selection and employment of firms and/or individuals as consultants for: (a) girl child education support; (b) evaluation of 1 year distance education teacher training; (c) preparation of policy framework for learning assessment; 6 (d) training on test development for language and mathematics; (e) revision of syllabus for 14 subjects; and (iv) least cost selection of consultants for the financial audit and procurement audit. 20. To manage these procurement activities, the Ministry will rely on the current arrangement of using the services of the Procurement Specialists with experience in World Bank procedures in other projects in line Ministries working as a team. The Ministry confirmed that approval processes would not be delayed as the Education Presidential Task Force of the set up by the Office of the President will monitor and supervise all operations. 21. If these arrangements are closely followed and monitored by the Ministry, it is expected that procurement envisaged will be completed by project closure. 22. Financial Management (FM) Assessment. The overall project risk for Financial Management is Substantial. The broad financial management arrangements of the restructured project will remain largely the same. The responsibilities for project FM will be carried out by the recently recruited but experienced Financial Management Consultant in the ESP Secretariat in the MEST. The project FM arrangements currently meet the minimum requirements for financial management systems with its internal controls and staffing, financial reporting compliance (the audit reports and IFR). The issues and recommendations raised by the project auditors and Bank IFR reviews are being addressed. 23. As indicated, the FM arrangements remain the same, however the funds-flow arrangements have been modified slightly for the new activity, namely transfers to schools in support of girl’s incentives for JSS. The transfers to the approximately 600 Junior Secondary Schools to support girls’ education are to be done through the project’s Education Sector Support Framework (ESSF) local currency account to each school bank account, given the minimal grant amount per school. 24. Payments to schools will be in line with enrollment figures. It will be done during the second term after a validation exercise has been conducted based on the November 2011 school census. It will be supported by the certificate of enrollment figures issued by the MEST inspectorate division and a monitoring report by an independent body. These figures would be validated by the MEST Inspectorate in collaboration with an independent body, the Presidential Task Force (which includes members from the Anti Corruption Commission), and the MOFED. Another small modification entails payments for contractors at the local council (LC) level. The project has transferred money through the Local Government Finance Department to the local council dedicated education account. To streamline the process and avoid delays, the funds will now be transferred directly to the LC education accounts with a letter copying the LGFD. The detailed flow arrangements will be documented in the updated ESSF FM procedures manual. 25. To reflect this process of validation of Girls Incentives, the Section 3.02 of the Annex to the Agreement has been amended to read as follows: 7 “3.02. Withdrawal Conditions. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 3.01 of this Agreement, no withdrawal shall be made: (a) For payments made prior to the date of countersignature of this Agreement by the Recipient; and (b) under Category (2), unless the Recipient has furnished to the World Bank, evidence satisfactory to the World Bank, that for each fiscal year, a consolidated report on said transfers has been validated by an independent third party, and that said consolidated report is of appropriate quality." 26. In line with the new modifications, a brief assessment was done for this new arrangement, confirming that these arrangements are well structured and in line with current operations in the portfolio. The project will continue to use transaction-based disbursement (SOE) against full documentation, in line with the thresholds as stated in the Bank’s Disbursement Letter, while maintaining method of direct payment to the suppliers and LC where applicable. Supporting documentation will be retained by the implementing agencies (MEST and LGFD/LCs) for review by the Bank/EDP missions and external auditors. The project will continue to support the LCs with continuous monitoring and training to ensure the project meets its fiduciary requirements. The LCs will receive funds directly from the project, sending information by copy to the LGFD. The LCs will also submit their financial reports directly to the project, similarly copying LGFD. The financial reports have been simplified to make this reporting possible. The detailed flow arrangements and steps will be incorporated in the project financial management procedures manual. 27. The FM assessment concludes that the FM system of the project continues to be satisfactory and the new flow of funds arrangements, to be included in the ESSF revised FM procedures manual, meet the Bank’s FM minimum requirements for financial management system in compliance with OP/BP 10.02. 28. Social. Not applicable. 29. Environment. Not applicable. 30. Exceptions to Bank Policy. Not applicable. 31. Risks. The overall risk rating for this operation is Substantial. The rating is based on the fact that the original project had several design and implementation problems that caused project delays and jeopardized the prospects for reaching the project development objectives. The issues were identified and the risks have been mitigated with the modifications to the project and the restructuring of the intermediate indicators. 8 ANNEX 1: Results Framework and Monitoring Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone EFA FTI Program Revisions to the Results Framework Comments/ Rationale for Change PDO Current Proposed To expand access to and improve the quality No change of basic education in Sierra Leone PDO indicators Gross Enrollment Rate Dropped The baseline (2004) and mid-term indicators have been found to be faulty, therefore measuring the changes in GER over the life of the project would be unreliable. GER is also influenced by ebbs and flows common in a Post Conflict situation so that trends are difficult to fully analyze and understand. Percent of passes of the National Primary No change School Exam (NPSE) Primary Completion Rate Added This is a core indicator for the Education Sector and a better measure of efficiency and quality. Recent analysis found this to be reliable for two points in time: 2004 and 2010. It will be measured again in 2011 for the final year of the project. Percentage of girls enrolled in junior No change: upgraded to be a KPI in line with the This will be reinforced by the Girls Incentive Program. secondary level Core Indicators for Education Intermediate Results indicators 9 Revisions to the Results Framework Comments/ Rationale for Change Current (PAD) Proposed change* Component 1: Intermediate Outcome Indicators Number of LCs which conduct fee-free awareness Dropped The delay in project start up resulted in the activity being campaigns based on findings of out-of-school funded by another EDP. A small amount was allocated to this study activity, but not across all LCs. Number of pupils enrolled at primary level Dropped Like the GER, baseline and mid-term data were faulty and not an accurate measure of the system in a Post Conflict situation. Number of new entrants into primary 1 Dropped Same as above. Percentage of girls enrolled at JSS level No change: upgraded to be a KPI This will be reinforced by the Girls Incentive Program. Number of classrooms constructed under the Revised Revised downward from 318 to 285. Procurement and project monitoring of civil works problematic and addressed in the future through community-based initiatives. Component 2: Intermediate Outcome Indicators Number of primary teachers who receive in- No change service training under the project Number of junior secondary teachers who receive No change in-service training Number of new teachers who enroll for the Revised to: Number of additional qualified This is the wording of the core indicators distance education program teachers resulting from project intervention Dropped This aggregated number was not helpful in measuring Number of teaching and learning materials that improved learning. A Framework for developing a Learning are distributed to primary schools Assessment for future use will be developed. Added The project will finance putting a Framework for Learning Learning Assessment System assessment in place, including draft instruments and a sampling framework. Component 3: Intermediate Outcome Indicators No change * Indicate if the indicator is Dropped, Continued, New, Revised, or if there is a change in the end of project target value 10 Results Framework and Monitoring Project Development Objective (PDO): The objective of the Project is to expand access to and improve the quality of basic education in the Recipient’s territory. Revised Project Development Objective: Not Applicable D=Dropped Cumulative Target Values** C=Continue Core PDO Level Results Unit of Baseline Data Source/ Responsibility for N= New YR 3 YR4 Frequency Indicators* Measure 2008 YR 1 YR 2 Methodology Data Collection R=Revised (Original) (Revised) Indicator One: Annual EMIS/SSL MEST Gross Enrollment Dropped % 104% 106% Indicator Two: Annual NPSE Exam MEST Percentage of pupils who pass Continued % 72% 72% 72.4% 72.6% 72% Results the NPSE examination Indicator Three: Annual School Census MEST Primary School Completion X New % 61.8% 67% 70% Continued: Indicator Four: moved from Intermediate Result indicator Intermediate Four: Percentage of girls % 40.9% 43.9% 45% Annual MEST X Indicator to enrolled in junior secondary PDO level level Indicator INTERMEDIATE RESULTS Intermediate Result (Component One): Intermediate Result indicator Dropped One: Number of LCs which conduct fee-free awareness N/A Annual MEST campaigns based on findings of out-of-school study Intermediate Result indicator Two: Number of pupils Dropped Number 1,324,183 1,369,183 N/A Annual MEST enrolled at primary level 11 Intermediate Result indicator Three: Number of new entrants Dropped Number 324,000 346,500 N/A Annual MEST into primary 1 Intermediate Result indicator Four: Number of additional classrooms built or X Revised Number 0 318 285 End Project MEST rehabilitated at the primary level resulting from project intervention Intermediate Result (Component Two): Intermediate Result indicator Five: Number of primary Continued Number 0 1,000 1000 Annual MEST teachers who receive in-service training under the project Intermediate Result indicator Six: Number of junior Continued Number 0 260 260 Annual MEST secondary teachers who receive in-service training Intermediate Result indicator Seven: Number of teachers Reworded who enroll for the distance X Number 0 300 1000 Annual MEST and Revised education program resulting in additional qualification Intermediate Result indicator Eight: Number of teaching and Dropped Number 0 N/A Annual MEST learning materials that are distributed to primary schools Intermediate Result (Component Three): Intermediate Result indicator Nine: Education Sector Annual Continued Number 0 1 2 3 4 Annual MEST Performance Review organized Teacher payroll and Intermediate Result indicator salary Ten: Teacher payroll and salary Dropped Number 0 N/A Annual MEST verification verification exercise completed. exercise completed 12 13 ANNEX 2: Reallocation of Proceeds SIERRA LEONE — SIERRA LEONE EFA FTI EDUCATION SECTOR PROJECT P115782 TF092755 Restructuring Paper 1. Proceeds for the Sierra Leone EFA FTI EDUCATION SECTOR PROJECT [P115782-TF092755] will be reallocated as follows: Category of Expenditure Allocation % of Financing Current Revised Current Revised Current Revised Goods, Goods, $13.9 million $12.5 million Such 100% Works, Works, percentage of Community Consultants’ Annual Work Surveys, Services, Plan and Operational Workshops Budget as the Costs and Training, World Bank and may Operating determine for Costs under each Fiscal Parts (a) (i) Year and and (iii); (b) communicate and (c) of the to the Project Recipient Transfers to $1.4 million 100% Schools for JSS Girls Incentives under Part (a) (ii) of the Project TOTAL $13.9 million $13.9 million 100% 100% 2. The proposed reallocation is necessary to allow the project to finance and improve the system for managing and monitoring a Girls Incentive Program for all girls who attend Junior Secondary School (Grades 7-9). The program will finance the fees of girls as follows: Grade 7 for all three terms, Grade 8 for two of three terms, and Grade 9 for one out of three terms. It will assist in improving access to and retention in JSS for girls and is consistent with the PDO. Increase in gender parity at the JSS level was an intermediate indicator, and will be ‘upgraded’ to a Key Project Indicator. 14 3. ANNEX 3: Extension of Closing Date SIERRA LEONE - SIERRA LEONE EFA FTI PROGRAM P115782 - TF092755 Restructuring Paper 1. The Closing Date for the Sierra Leone EFA FTI Education Sector Project (TF092755-P115782) will be extended from December 31, 2011 until September 30, 2012. 2. The following points provide evidence of the Government’s effort to improve the project implementation: (a) the original design of the project and the resulting work plan, which focused mainly on inputs that led to procurement delays, has been redesigned to focus on activities that would impact on system change and quality, thereby improving the implementation profile; (b) other relevant ministries (Finance, Local Government) and units (Decentralization Secretariat), Local Government Finance Department (LGFD) working under the Integrated Project Administrative Unit (IPAU) are now represented in the planning and implementation meetings; (c) the planning and implementation of the various activities is being mainstreamed into the broader MEST rather than the Education Sector Plan (ESP Secretariat); (d) there will be more joint planning with the Decentralization Secretariat (DECSEC) and the local councils as the project implementation progresses; (e) the flow of funds to contractors and local councils will be streamlined to involve the Local Government Finance Department as a monitor, but not a conduit for payments; (f) the project will now utilize a Rapid Results Approach (RRA) for implementation at the community level; (g) the presence of a newly recruited finance officer has impacted significantly on performance in the submission of the Quarterly Financial Management Reports, the execution of the outstanding Audit activity for 2009 and 2010, and the increase in the disbursement rate from 2 percent in two years (June 2009-June 2011) to 64 percent. Furthermore, the recruitment of four (4) additional staff in the ESP Secretariat will improve its capacity to implement effectively and efficiently the newly designed detailed work plans, including the detailed time frame; and (h) the project is now on the prioritized list of activities of the Government of Sierra Leone, and is being monitored by the Education Task Force set up by the Office of the President. 3. The proposed extension is necessary to enable to Government of Sierra Leone to complete the project activities needed to achieve the project objectives. 15 4. This will be the second extension of the project. The first was in June 2010 to extend the project until December 31, 2011 in order to accommodate the delay in effectiveness from mid 2007 until December 2008. 16 ANNEX 4: Summary Table of Actions Action Responsible Date Status* 1 Minutes of the VC will be Bank, UNICEF Nov 22 C circulated to EDPs for concurrence 2 Broad work plans with Responsible Units Nov 22 C procurement needs for each activity will be developed 3** Formal Request for extension sent MOFED Nov 25 C to the Bank 4 Agree with GPE Secretariat length Bank Nov 25 C of extension 5 Indicators will be re-based Bank and GOSL Nov 25 C 6 Revised procurement plan MEST Nov 25 C submitted to Bank 7 Disbursement mechanism for Girls Bank, MEST, Nov 25 C Incentives agreed MOFED 8 Budget Submitted (committed, MEST Nov 25 C expended, new expenditures) 9 Draft Restructuring Paper Bank Team Dec 1 C submitted to Country Lawyer 10 Detailed work plans and TOR MEST Dec 5 C Submitted 11 Restructuring Paper and Grant Bank Dec 8 C Agreement amendment circulated internally for review clearances 12 Restructuring Paper and Grant Bank Dec 8 C Agreement sent to Government and Development Partners for review 13 Clearances received Internal Bank, Dec 14 P GOSL, EDPs 14 To CMU for transmission to RVP Bank Dec 16 P 15 RVP clearance Bank Dec 22 P * C = Completed, P = Pending ** Must be received in order to process the request 17 ANNEX 5: Revised Components and Project Activities1 Original Phrasing Revised Phrasing Original New Updated Dropped On-going or No Change 1. Expand Access to 1. Implementation of Out of School Study Incentives for Classroom Out of school Basic Education activities aimed at girls at the JSS rehabilitation and study was funded by carrying out expanding access to Awareness raising level based on construction. by UNICEF. activities to basic education campaign agreed criteria Reduced target enhance the which may include, classrooms from Awareness awareness of inter alia: (i) Classroom De-worming of 318 to 285 raising government fee- construction and rehabilitation and school children. campaigns free and other rehabilitation of construction (318 Extend coverage education policies, various school classrooms). to national. Conduct school activities aimed at facilities including census. New increasing ancillary facilities School Census questionnaire and enrollment, such as latrines and process. especially in water supply; (ii) primary one, and incentives for girls at construction, the Junior Secondary rehabilitation and School level to furnishing of basic attend and stay in schools school; and (iii) infrastructure. An Local Council and out-of-school study Community-based will be carried out awareness activities as a basis for to promote Basic campaigns to Education promote these activities… 1 Includes activities which are dropped, ongoing and new. Indicative: actual on file. 18 Original Phrasing Revised Phrasing Original New Updated Dropped On-going or No Change 2. Improve Quality 2. Implementation of In-service teacher Revision of Procurement of In-service of Teaching and activities aimed at training (1,260 syllabus for 10 850,000 teacher training Increase Access to improving teaching primary and JSS subjects in JSS geometry sets for 1,260 Learning and learning and teachers) primary and Materials by increasing the Printing and Establish JSS teachers carrying out presence and use of Distance Education distribution of integrated primary and junior learning materials in training syllabus for 14 learning complex Teacher secondary teacher the classroom which JSS subjects in 3 LCs Certificate in-service and may include, inter Establish integrated training using distance education alia: (i) provision of learning complex in 3 Printing and Procurement of distance training, and learning materials, LCs distribution of televisions and delivery for providing teaching teacher training and Braille texts for VCD players. 1000 primary and learning furniture; (ii) Evaluate in-service primary and JSS teachers materials to basic assessment of teacher training Equip 6 schools schools. The training provided (distance education) Preparation of in each local Evaluation of 1- component aims at through the project policy framework council with year distance providing in-service for primary and JSS Review and revise 4 for learning solar panels. education training to 1,000 teachers; and (iii) basic course JSS assessment training course primary teachers other activities syllabi for teachers and 260 Junior which may improve Training for test Secondary teachers. the ability of Procurement and development on Procurement It will also enroll children to learn distribution of language and and distribution 100 teachers each (e.g.: de-worming or teaching and learning mathematics at the of teaching and year in the on-going other interventions). materials. primary level learning distance learning materials program and Procurement and Training of school distribute 850,000 distribution of management Procurement sets of primary and furniture. committees and distribution 3,000 sets of adult of furniture learners teaching Procurement of and learning 850,000 geometry materials to pupils sets and learners. Procurement of televisions and VCD 19 Original Phrasing Revised Phrasing Original New Updated Dropped On-going or No Change players Equip 6 schools in each local council with solar panels 20 Original Phrasing Revised Phrasing Original New Updated Dropped On-going or No Change 3. Enhance 3. Provision of support Strengthen sector Teacher payroll ESP Secretariat Coordination and for the coordination, capacity to coordinate verification Coordination Management of day-to-day and monitor and Operational the Education management, education Costs Sector by monitoring and interventions strengthening sector evaluation, and ESP Secretariat capacity to financial and Teacher payroll Staff Training coordinate and procurement audits verification monitor education of the Program and Financial and interventions, and the Project. ESP Secretariat Procurement improving teacher Coordination and Audits payroll Operational Costs management. The component aims at ESP Secretariat Staff institutionalizing Training the review of education sector Financial and performance Procurement Audits. through the annual education sector performance review, and implementing and supporting a teacher payroll and salary verification exercise 21 22