Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY REPORT NO: PAD2570 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT ON A PROPOSED CREDIT IN THE AMOUNT OF US$100 MILLION TO THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA FOR A GENERAL EDUCATION MODERNIZATION PROJECT April 5, 2018 Education Global Practice South Asia Region This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (Exchange Rate Effective February 28, 2018) Currency Unit = Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) LKR 155.05 = US$1 FISCAL YEAR January 1 – December 31 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AG Auditor General ASA Advisory Services and Analytics CERC Contingent Emergency Response Component CPF Country Partnership Framework DA Designated Account DLI Disbursement-Linked Indicator DLR Disbursement-Linked Result DP Development Partner DST Deputy Secretary to the Treasury EEP Eligible Expenditure Program EGMA Early Grade Mathematics Assessment EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment ELLE English Language Learning Enhancement EMIS Education Management Information System EPD Education Publications Department EPSI Enhanced Program for School Improvement ESDFP Education Sector Development Framework and Program ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework FM Financial Management FY Financial Year GCE A-level General Certificate of Education Advanced Level GCE O-level General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level GDP Gross Domestic Product GEM General Education Modernization GFDRR Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery GoSL Government of Sri Lanka GRS Grievance Redress Service HIC High-Income Country HRD Human Resource Development IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development IDA International Development Association IO Intermediate Outcome Indicator IPF Investment Project Financing IRR Internal Rates of Return ISA In-Service Adviser IUFR Interim Unaudited Financial Report LKR Sri Lankan Rupee LMIC Lower-Middle-Income Country MDG Millennium Development Goal MIC Middle-Income Country MLC Minimum Learning Competency MoE Ministry of Education MoF Ministry of Finance MPCLG Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government NCOE National College of Education NEC National Education Commission NEREC National Education Research and Evaluation Center NIE National Institute of Education NPA National Procurement Agency NPC National Procurement Commission NPD National Planning Department NPV Net Present Value OM Operations Manual OMST Operations and Monitoring Support Team OP Operational Policy PAD Project Appraisal Document PDO Project Development Objective PEA Provincial Education Authority PERU Peace and Reconciliation Unit PISA Programme for International Student Assessment POTS Program Operations and Technical Support PP Procurement Plan PPSD Project Procurement Strategy for Development PRACTICE Problem Solving, Resilience, Achievement motivation, Control, Teamwork, Confidence, Initiative and Ethics PSI Program for School Improvement SBLEG School-Based Learning Enhancement Grant SBM School-Based Management SBPTD School-Based Professional Teacher Development SBTD School-Based Teacher Development SCD Systematic Country Diagnostic SDC School Development Committee SDR Special Drawing Right SEN Special Education Needs SHNP School Health and Nutrition Program SIMF Social Impact Management Framework SLEAS Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service SLEIS Sri Lanka Education Inspection Service SLTES Sri Lanka Teacher Education Service SMC School Management Committee SMHP School-Based Mental Health Program STEP Systematic Tracking of Exchange in Procurement TA Technical Assistance TC Teacher Center TIMSS Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study TOR Terms of Reference TPVA Third-party Verification Agency TSEP Transforming School Education System as the Foundation of a Knowledge Hub Project TTL Task Team Leader UMIC Upper-Middle-Income County Acting Regional Vice President: Ethel Sennhauser Country Director: Idah Z. Pswarayi-Riddihough Senior Global Practice Director: Jaime Saavedra Chanduvi Acting Practice Manager: Keiko Miwa Task Team Leader(s): Harsha Aturupane, Mari Shojo The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) BASIC INFORMATION Is this a regionally tagged project? Country(ies) Financing Instrument No Investment Project Financing [ ] Situations of Urgent Need of Assistance or Capacity Constraints [ ] Financial Intermediaries [ ] Series of Projects Approval Date Closing Date Environmental Assessment Category 26-Apr-2018 30-Jun-2024 B - Partial Assessment Bank/IFC Collaboration No Proposed Development Objective(s) Enhance quality and strengthen stewardship of the general education system Components Component Name Cost (US$, millions) Enhancing Quality and Strengthening Stewardship of Primary and Secondary Education 90.00 Project Operations and Technical Support 10.00 Contingent Emergency Response Component 0.00 Organizations Borrower : The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Implementing Agency : Ministry of Education Page 1 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) [✔] [ ] IBRD [ ✔ ] IDA Credit [ ] IDA Grant [ ] Trust [ ] Counterpart Funds Parallel Funding Financing FIN_COST_OLD Total Project Cost: Total Financing: Financing Gap: 2,900.00 2,900.00 0.00 Of Which Bank Financing (IBRD/IDA): 100.00 Financing (in US$, millions) FIN_SUMM_OLD Financing Source Amount Borrower 2,800.00 IDA-62280 100.00 Total 2,900.00 Expected Disbursements (in US$, millions) Fiscal Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Annual 0.00 15.60 16.88 16.88 16.88 16.88 16.88 Cumulative 0.00 15.60 32.48 49.36 66.24 83.12 100.00 INSTITUTIONAL DATA Practice Area (Lead) Education Page 2 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) Contributing Practice Areas Climate Change and Disaster Screening This operation has been screened for short and long-term climate change and disaster risks Gender Tag Does the project plan to undertake any of the following? a. Analysis to identify Project-relevant gaps between males and females, especially in light of country gaps identified through SCD and CPF Yes b. Specific action(s) to address the gender gaps identified in (a) and/or to improve women or men's empowerment Yes c. Include Indicators in results framework to monitor outcomes from actions identified in (b) Yes SYSTEMATIC OPERATIONS RISK-RATING TOOL (SORT) Risk Category Rating 1. Political and Governance  Moderate 2. Macroeconomic  Moderate 3. Sector Strategies and Policies  Moderate 4. Technical Design of Project or Program  Substantial 5. Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability  Moderate 6. Fiduciary  Moderate 7. Environment and Social  Moderate 8. Stakeholders  Moderate 9. Other 10. Overall  Moderate Page 3 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) COMPLIANCE Policy Does the project depart from the CPF in content or in other significant respects? [ ] Yes [✔] No Does the project require any waivers of Bank policies? [ ] Yes [✔] No Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 ✔ Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 ✔ Forests OP/BP 4.36 ✔ Pest Management OP 4.09 ✔ Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 ✔ Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 ✔ Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 ✔ Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 ✔ Projects on International Waterways OP/BP 7.50 ✔ Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 ✔ Legal Covenants Sections and Description Institutional Arrangements (Section I.A, Schedule 2): The Recipient shall maintain, and cause to be maintained, throughout the period of implementation of the Project, the following structures, all with functions, composition and staffing acceptable to the Association: (1) the Project steering committee; (2) the Project consultative group; and (3) Project technical teams in MOE and each PEA. Sections and Description Implementation Agreements (Section I.B, Schedule 2): To facilitate the carrying out of the Project at the provincial level, the Recipient shall make part of the proceeds of the Credit available to each PEA under an agreement between the Recipient, through the MOE, and that PEA. Sections and Description Page 4 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) Operations Manual (Section I.C, Schedule 2): The Recipient shall ensure that the Project is carried out in accordance with the arrangements and procedures set out in the Operations Manual. Sections and Description Annual Works Plans and Budgets (Section I.D, Schedule 2): The Recipient shall furnish to the Association, no later than November 30 of each year, an annual work plan and budget for the Project for the following fiscal year for approval by the Association, and implement the Project in accordance with such plan and budget. Sections and Description Safeguards (Section I.E, Schedule 2): The Recipient shall ensure the Project is implemented in accordance with the requirements of the ESMF, SIMF and other safeguard instruments to be prepared in accordance with the ESMF and SIMF. Sections and Description Contingent Emergency Response (Section I.F, Schedule 2): The Recipient shall adopt an Emergency Response Manual (ERM) for Component 3 of the project and, in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency, ensure that the activities under said Component are carried out in accordance with such Manual and all relevant safeguard requirements. Conditions Type Description Disbursement Disbursement Condition for DLI component (Section I.B, Schedule 2): The Recipient may not withdraw the proceeds of the Credit allocated to Component 1 unless it has furnished evidence that it has achieved the respective Disbursement-Linked Results and incurred the respective Eligible Expenditure Programs (EEPs). Type Description Disbursement Disbursement Condition for Contingent Emergency Response component (Section I.B, Schedule 2): The Recipient may not withdraw the proceeds of the Credit as may be allocated to Component 3 unless an Eligible Crisis or Emergency has occurred, all related safeguards instruments and requirements have been completed, the emergency response implementing entities have adequate staff and resources, and the Recipient has adopted the Emergency Response Manual, acceptable to the Association. Page 5 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) PROJECT TEAM Bank Staff Name Role Specialization Unit Team Leader(ADM Harsha Aturupane Economics GED06 Responsible) Mari Shojo Team Leader Education GED06 G. W. Anjali U. Perera Procurement Specialist(ADM Procurement GGOPZ Vitharanage Responsible) Dassanayake Financial Management Mudiyanselage Anul Financial Management GGOIS Specialist Harasgama Alejandro Welch Team Member Program Assistant GED06 Alistair Forbes Marquis Team Member Education GED05 Administration and Client Anita Lakshmi Fernando Team Member SACSL Services Bandita Sijapati Social Safeguards Specialist Social Development GSU06 Bernadeen Enoka Team Member Financial Management GGOIS Wijegunawardene Don Upul Jayasiri Team Member Education GED06 Sonnadara Junko Funahashi Counsel Legal LEGES Kamani Madhya Jinadasa Team Member Gender GSU06 Makendrarajan Muttiah Team Member Education GED06 Manush A. Hristov Counsel Legal LEGES Michael Gibson Team Member Education GED05 Mokshana Nerandika Environmental Safeguards Environment GEN06 Wijeyeratne Specialist Pius Fernando Team Member Education GED06 Rehana Wijesinghe Team Member Education Technology GED06 Manathunga Roshini Mary Ebenezer Team Member Education GED06 Satish Kumar Shivakumar Team Member Disbursement WFACS Subrata Pradhan Team Member Disbursement WFALA Thu Ha Le Counsel Legal LEGES Page 6 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) Vidya Narasimhan Team Member Disbursement WFACS Visaka Udeni Karalliadde Team Member Education GED06 Dissanayake Extended Team Name Title Organization Location Page 7 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) SRI LANKA GENERAL EDUCATION MODERNIZATION PROJECT TABLE OF CONTENTS I. STRATEGIC CONTEXT .................................................................................................... 10 A. Country Context ................................................................................................................ 10 B. Sectoral and Institutional Context .................................................................................... 10 C. Higher Level Objectives to which the Project Contributes ............................................... 13 II. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES ............................................................................ 13 A. PDO.................................................................................................................................... 13 B. Project Beneficiaries .......................................................................................................... 13 C. PDO-Level Results Indicators............................................................................................. 14 III. PROJECT DESCRIPTION.................................................................................................. 14 A. Project Components.......................................................................................................... 14 B. Project Cost and Financing ................................................................................................ 23 C. Lessons Learned and Reflected in the Project Design ...................................................... 25 IV. IMPLEMENTATION........................................................................................................ 25 A. Institutional and Implementation Arrangements ............................................................. 25 B. Results Monitoring and Evaluation ................................................................................... 29 C. Sustainability ..................................................................................................................... 30 D. Role of Partners................................................................................................................. 30 V. KEY RISKS ..................................................................................................................... 31 A. Overall Risk Rating and Explanation of Key Risks.............................................................. 31 VI. APPRAISAL SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 31 A. Economic and Financial Analysis ....................................................................................... 31 B. Technical............................................................................................................................ 32 C. Financial Management ...................................................................................................... 34 D. Procurement ..................................................................................................................... 36 E. Social (including Safeguards) ............................................................................................. 38 F. Environment (including Safeguards) ................................................................................. 40 G. World Bank Grievance Redress ......................................................................................... 41 Page 8 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) VII. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING .................................................................... 42 ANNEX 1: RESULTS FRAMEWORK MATRIX ........................................................................... 56 ANNEX 2: DLIS MATRIX ........................................................................................................ 61 ANNEX 3: RESULTS CHAIN .................................................................................................... 74 Page 9 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) I. STRATEGIC CONTEXT A. Country Context 1. Sri Lanka is a lower-middle-income country (LMIC) with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of US$3,835 in 2016 and a total population of 21.2 million people. Since the end of the 26-year civil war in 2009, Sri Lanka’s economy has enjoyed rapid growth at an average rate of approx imately 6.2 percent between 2010 and 2016, reflecting a peace dividend and a determined policy thrust toward reconstruction and growth, although there were some signs of a slowdown in the last three years. The economy is transitioning from a previously predominantly rural-based economy toward a more urbanized economy, oriented around manufacturing and services. Social indicators rank among the highest in South Asia and compare favorably with those in middle-income countries (MICs). The current Government, which came to power in 2015, envisions promoting a globally competitive, export-led economy, with an emphasis on governance and inclusion. 2. Sri Lanka already shares some demographic and economic characteristics of upper-middle- income countries (UMICs). Both its low annual population growth rate (0.92 percent) and low birth rate (1.6 percent) are well below those recorded in LMICs and are closer to those observed in UMICs such as Brazil and Turkey. The structure of the economy is also moving away from its traditional agricultural foundation toward manufacturing and services, with services and the industrial sector accounting for 57 percent and 27 percent of GDP, respectively. 3. Human development indicators are impressive by regional and LMIC standards. Sri Lanka ranks 73 of the 188 countries ranked on the 2015 Human Development Index scale and outperformed nearby country comparators on most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The literacy rate is 93 percent, and the life expectancy rate is 78 years for women and 72 years for men, respectively, which is on par with UMICs. About 96 percent of its citizens have completed primary school, and 87 percent have finished secondary school. Gender parity in education is high in general education, with a gender parity ratio of 1:1 in primary education and 1.05:1 in secondary education. Maternal and infant mortality rates are very low at 30 per 100,000 live births and 8 per 1,000 live births, respectively. However, Sri Lanka faces a problem of population aging with a rise in noncommunicable diseases and need for geriatric care. 4. Promoting human development and equitable growth is at the heart of the Government’s development plan. The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is seeking to transform Sri Lanka into a UMIC through an open and export-oriented economic environment and the promotion of higher value-added industries and services. The GoSL is also awarding human capital accumulation a central role in its development strategy. B. Sectoral and Institutional Context 5. General education in Sri Lanka encompasses primary (grades 1–5) and secondary education (grades 6–13). At the national level, the Ministry of Education (MoE) is responsible for education policy, planning, and monitoring; curriculum development; and assessment and examinations. The country is divided into nine provinces. General education is a devolved subject where the Provincial Education Authorities (PEAs) play an important role in the delivery of education services. The PEAs are responsible for formulating and implementing provincial education development plans consistent with national Page 10 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) policy. The provinces are divided into about 98 zones for the purposes of education administration. An education zone has an average of around 100 schools. Students in grade 11 (age 16) take the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O-level). The GCE O-Level is an entry requirement for formal sector jobs as well as for vocational training and technical education. At grade 13 (age 18), students take the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A-level), which is needed to proceed on to higher education. 6. Sri Lanka has made impressive progress in expanding access to education. Universal access to primary education has been achieved and the net enrollment rate for secondary education (84 percent in 2014) is higher than the average of LMICs (62 percent) and UMICs (79 percent). This high enrollment performance is due to a combination of demand- and supply-side policies. The demand for education is stimulated through a policy of free education in government schools and free textbooks and school uniforms for children from grade 1 to grade 11. On the supply side, the country has a complete network of public schools covering all towns and villages. 7. Despite this significant progress achieved in recent decades, the Sri Lankan education system now faces a major set of challenges as the country seeks to reach UMIC status. The country lags in terms of learning outcomes which are critical for the high-level industrial and service sector activities of a UMIC. Learning outcomes in key subjects have been rising in recent years, but from a low base and slowly. Among grade 4 students, over 2013–2015, (a) average learning outcomes in mathematics increased from 60 percent to 62 percent and (b) average English language learning outcomes increased from 52 percent to 54 percent. Among grade 8 students, over 2014–2016, (a) average learning outcomes in mathematics increased from 51.11 percent to 51.87 percent and (b) average English language learning outcomes increased from 35.23 percent to 35.81 percent. 8. There are also significant regional variations in learning outcomes. Among grade 4 students in 2015, average English language learning outcomes ranged between 59 percent in the Western Province and 46 percent in the Uva Province. Mathematics learning outcomes among these students range between 65 percent in the North-Western Provinces and 56 percent in the Eastern Province. Among grade 8 students in 2016, average English language learning outcomes ranged between 42 percent in the Western Province and 29 percent in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Average mathematics learning outcomes varied between 56 percent in the Southern Province and 46 percent in the Uva Province. 9. The general education system needs to be better oriented to the production of socio-emotional skills, such as problem solving, resilience, achievement motivation, control, teamwork, confidence, initiative, and ethics (PRACTICE) that are important for students to become good citizens in adult life and to be productive in the modern global economy. Currently, the curriculum, teaching-learning, and assessment in Sri Lanka are not adequately focused on the promotion of socio-emotional skills. The general education system needs to be developed to reflect modern international trends which seek to increase both learning outcomes and the socio-emotional skills of students. 10. Assessments of learning outcomes need to be benchmarked against learning levels of other MICs and high-income countries (HICs). Sri Lanka needs to participate in international assessments of learning outcomes such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and/or the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This will enable international benchmarking of student learning relative to the group of MICs and HICs that Sri Lanka aspires to join. In addition, the Page 11 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) country could include TIMSS or PISA modules in the annual curriculum-referenced national assessments of learning outcomes so that progress against international standards can be monitored continuously. 11. The general education sector needs substantial development to meet the special educational needs of children with physical and mental learning difficulties. This is especially important when promoting participation among the last 10 percent or so of the school-aged population. There is also a growing awareness of the physical and mental health challenges faced by children. These include physical problems such as child obesity and acute and chronic stress-related challenges. Schools have a vital role in promoting the physical and mental health and well-being of children, as these are extremely important for cognitive learning and the development of socio-emotional skills, as well as future physical well-being. 12. Although the quality of teachers is critical to the performance of schools, there is a shortage of teachers with adequate knowledge in key subjects such as mathematics and science, and especially English language. Preservice teacher education institutions lack adequately qualified academic staff. For instance, considerably less than half the teacher educators have a master’s degree from a reputable overseas university. Although the preservice teacher education curricula revision was made in 2010, some of the curricula are still not competency based or not well designed to meet the needs in teaching and learning in a knowledge-based global economy. The country has a system of school-based teacher development (SBTD) which has been useful and popular in schools. This now needs to be upgraded to a system of school-based professional teacher development (SBPTD) with a key focus on high-level teaching skills and performance. 13. Sri Lanka needs to implement a quality assurance and enhancement system. This requires quality assurance and enhancement over a broad domain such as general management, physical and human resources, curriculum implementation, cocurricular activities, student achievements, student welfare, and school-community interactions. Initially, school stakeholders need to implement a system of internal quality self-reviews across these domains. Subsequently, this needs to be supplemented by external quality reviews by education officials from outside the school. Special attention needs to be given to quality assurance and enhancement of rural and estate sector schools. 14. School-based management (SBM) needs to be deepened and strengthened. The current SBM initiative known as the Program for School Improvement (PSI) has been popular and effective. The PSI has contributed to improved school attendance and student learning. It has also strengthened ties between schools and local communities. In the future, SBM needs be further strengthened through the systematic provision of financial resources to improve learning and socio-emotional skills, combined with greater budgetary authority, for schools. 15. Sri Lankan policy makers are aware of these challenges and appreciate the importance of a developing a high-performing general education system to promote equitable economic growth and human development. Education policy makers recognize that a high-quality general education system plays a vital role in orienting students to the world of work. This includes direct entrance to the labor market after secondary school completion, channeling youth to vocational training and technical education, and preparing young people for higher education, depending on their aptitudes and preferences. In addition, policy makers place strong emphasis on the role of general education in promoting good citizenship. The values and ethics required for a modern, well-functioning liberal democracy in the context of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country need to be promoted through the Page 12 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) general education system. This is especially important given the ethnic-based secessionist conflict that Sri Lanka experienced for about 30 years. The GoSL is preparing a multiyear education sector development framework and program (ESDFP) to address these challenges. C. Higher Level Objectives to which the Project Contributes 16. Consistency with the Country Partnership Framework (CPF). Recognizing the importance of developing the general education sector to enable Sri Lanka’s transition from an LMIC to a UMIC, the World Bank has proposed, as part of the CPF FY17–201, to provide assistance through a new general education sector operation. The General Education Modernization (GEM) Operation is fully aligned with the CPF Pillar 2: Promoting Inclusion and Opportunities for All. Improving the quality and relevance of the general education system will ensure that all children have the opportunity to gain the foundational skills needed to participate in Sri Lanka’s economic growth. 17. The World Bank has been one of the key development partners (DPs) in the education sector in Sri Lanka, through the Transforming School Education System as the Foundation of a Knowledge Hub Project (TSEP). The TSEP supported the country to (a) increase the survival rate of students from grades 1–11 (ages 6–16) to over 87 percent, (b) introduce a regular cycle of national assessments of learning outcomes, and (c) introduce SBM to support the administration of schools in all zones. This SBM initiative was also supported through a program that introduced SBTD in all zones. In addition, the TSEP helped the central MoE and the provinces collaborate and prepare a unified general education development plan as a multiyear rolling plan. The TSEP also assisted the strengthening of the capacity of the decentralized tiers of education administration, the education zones, and divisions. GEM will build on the experience and lessons learned from TSEP, to strengthen the World Bank’s support for the general education sector. 18. Contribution to poverty reduction and shared prosperity. The project is expected to contribute to greater acquisition of human capital by supporting the general education system. Sri Lanka is seeking to promote economic growth and reduce poverty. The expansion and development of human capital is vital for the achievement of this goal. The project has the potential to equip children with knowledge and competencies that make them more productive and capable of higher earnings. The knowledge and competencies obtained through the education system is expected to affect poverty reduction and shared prosperity at the country level. II. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES A. PDO 19. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to enhance quality and strengthen stewardship of the general education system. B. Project Beneficiaries 20. The proposed project is expected to significantly expand and improve the performance of the general education sector. The main beneficiaries of the project will be school students. A further 1World Bank (2016). Country Partnership Framework for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka for the Period of FY17- 20. Page 13 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) important set of direct beneficiaries will be the academic and managerial staff of the schools. In addition, over the medium term, the project will benefit technical education and vocational training institutions and higher education institutions, as these will get better prepared entrants into their institutions. In the long term, public and private sector employers will also benefit as they will be able to employ better- educated individuals. Finally, the project will also benefit the industries and firms that provide goods and services under the project. C. PDO-Level Results Indicators 21. The success of the project in terms of achieving the PDO will be measured by the following key outcome indicators: • Improved English language learning outcomes • Improved mathematics learning outcomes • School-based professional teacher development (SBPTD) programs results achieved • Enhanced Program for School Improvement (EPSI) results achieved 22. GEM also has a set of intermediate outcome indicators to reflect the key milestones of the GoSL education development program (see section VII. Results Framework and Monitoring and annex 1). The disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) are selected as a combination of outcomes and intermediate outcome indicators (see annex 2). The Results Chain is given in annex 3. III. PROJECT DESCRIPTION A. Project Components 23. GEM will support the GoSL to modernize the primary and secondary education system in line with international developments in middle-income and high-income education systems. The project will build on the current World Bank TSEP to broaden and deepen the World Bank’s assistance for the general education sector. GEM will be organized into two components, as outlined in the following paragraphs. The World Bank’s engagement will be broadened through support for new and innovative education development initiatives. The World Bank’s engagement will be deepened through assistance to strengthen and scale up initiatives that have been successful in the past. These are summarized in Box 1 on page 33. Component 1: Enhancing Quality and Strengthening Stewardship of Primary and Secondary Education (US$90 million) 24. Component 1 will support the implementation of activities aimed at enhancing quality and strengthening stewardship of primary and secondary education and grouped under six sub-components, through the financing of eligible expenditure programs (EEPs) upon the achievement of pre-defined DLIs. Under this component there are sub-components, as described below, with indicative allocations. These Page 14 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) indicative allocations can be re-allocated between sub-components, as the project evolves, based on performance and need. Subcomponent 1: Curriculum Modernization and Diversification (Indicative cost US$25 million) 25. The objective of this subcomponent is to modernize and diversify the curriculum of general education to make students’ learning experiences more compatible with the changes in Sri Lanka’s society and economy. This will include placing greater emphasis on strategic subjects for economic development such as English language and mathematics. It will also support the broadening of choices in the GCE A-level grades so that students have flexibility to select subjects from among the arts, management, science, technology, and vocational streams. This will require a strategic focus on career guidance for children after the GCE O-level examination, which from 2017 onwards will no longer be a pass/fail examination but will instead be used to enable students to select the GCE A-level curriculum streamed most in line with their aptitudes and abilities. The country is introducing digitally enabled learning material into the school curriculum, as modern children use digitally enabled instruments such as mobile phones and have digital aptitude. The project will assist the country to develop digitally enabled learning material for English language and mathematics, with a focus on children from schools located in more disadvantaged regions. Improving English Language Learning 26. English-language skills are widely acknowledged as central to success in the competitive global knowledge economy. The GoSL is strongly committed to English Language Learning Enhancement (ELLE) in schools. Accordingly, GEM will prioritize support for the development of a strong and effective ELLE program for primary and secondary grades. The objective of this component is to ensure that students leave the general education system with an adequate level of proficiency in the key language skills of vocabulary, reading, and writing. GEM will support ELLE to implement the following activities in schools: (a) create an English language immersion environment to produce an acquisition-rich environment for students to learn the language, where day-to-day conversation and extracurricular and cocurricular activities would be in English during at least a part of the school week; (b) encourage and affirm students who read books in the English language and engage with English language technology, as appropriate to their ages; (c) encourage families to create an environment at home which fosters English language learning, including English language reading material and TV programs, and discussion and conversation in English at home; (d) promote cocurricular and extracurricular activities such as English literary, drama, and debating societies; and (e) other innovative activities to facilitate English language learning. Initially, GEM will support the ELLE program in a selected set of schools. Based on the experience of ELLE in these schools, the program will be fine-tuned and expanded to more schools. The initial set of schools selected will include schools which send substantial numbers of arts and management students to universities. The school-based activities of ELLE would be supported through school management committees (SMCs) under the EPSI. School-based learning enhancement grants (SBLEGs), which will be a key part of the EPSI, would assist the activities to improve English language skills. The amount of resources provided to schools through SBLEGs would be increased, over time, as an incentive and reward for schools that perform better in improving the English language skills of their students. 27. GEM would also support the MoE and the National Institute of Education (NIE) to undertake a review/revision of the English language syllabus, textbooks, and teaching materials for primary and Page 15 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) secondary grades. Current implementation feedback suggests that the English syllabus is not sufficiently aligned with textbooks and teaching materials, which impedes the English teaching and learning process. The syllabus and textbooks will undergo a thorough review process to check for quality as well as internal consistency. Another broad area of support would be for English teacher training. This would include support for preservice and in-service teacher training and development programs as well as the capacity building of Regional English Support Centers to deliver high-quality in-service teacher training. GEM will support activities aimed at improving English in the most disadvantaged communities. This would include targeted remedial interventions for students in rural and estate schools. Improving Mathematics Learning 28. Fundamental mathematics skills are crucial for high performance in many sectors of the modern workplace. These skills are also essential for success in everyday life. Foundational mathematical skills must be developed at early stages of the education system and once this window of opportunity is missed, it is difficult to remedy at later stages of the education system. GEM will support schools to (a) improve their mathematics teaching-learning environments through the provision of equipment and technology; (b) assist Teacher Centers (TCs) to design and implement high-quality in-service mathematics teacher coaching and training programs, based on the subject content and pedagogical training needs of teachers; and (c) provide support to develop effective remedial programs for early grade mathematics, to ensure that all children leave the primary education stage with a strong grasp of fundamental mathematics. Special attention would be targeted at remedial interventions for students in rural and estate schools where mathematics outcomes are especially low. In addition, special support would be provided to GCE A-level arts and management students who take mathematics as a subject. This would improve their employment and higher education opportunities. The SBLEGs would assist the activities to improve mathematics skills. The quantity of funds provided to schools through these grants would be increased, over time, as an incentive for schools that improve the mathematics learning outcomes of their students. Strengthening Career Guidance 29. Career guidance is important for students as expert guidance on future academic and career choices. GEM will assist schools to develop a distinct cadre of career guidance teachers. The career guidance provided in schools will focus on the range of activities needed to better equip students to plan well for life within senior school and the post-school labor market, in line with their aptitudes, competencies, and interests. It will include activities such as (a) career information and provision of advice, (b) competency assessment, (c) mentoring, (d) supporting career decision making, and (e) developing career management skills. GEM will support the development of tools to help students identify their talents/interests relating to possible future career pathways. In addition, principals, teachers, students, and parents will be assisted to develop an understanding of the important role career guidance and career education can play in students’ lives. Consideration will be given to having civic education teachers become career guidance teachers, where feasible, as they already deliver career education. GEM will also assist the NIE staff to train career guidance teachers and the career guidance unit through the development of a diploma in career guidance. Annual ‘career fairs’ for students from grade 9 upwards, also open to parents, will feature in all nine provinces. Page 16 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) Promoting Digital Learning Material 30. GEM will support the Education Publications Department (EPD) to produce high-quality, learner-friendly digital learning resources, such as smart textbooks, with special emphasis on English and mathematics. In these subjects, the EPD will produce both print versions of textbooks and interactive e-books which are attractive for students and enable teachers to engage in novel teaching methods. Particular attention would be given to e-textbooks and reading material for children with special learning needs. These digitalized books could be copied to DVDs and distributed to students. Students could access them in school or elsewhere. GEM would also support the EPD with the preparation of books in cross- cutting topics such as mental health, reproductive and sexual health, and psychosocial health education. GEM would also support the EPD with human resource development (HRD) of young staff members in textbook writing and designing and publishing of digital learning resources. Subcomponent 2: Teacher Development (Indicative cost US$25 million) 31. Teacher development and education will be a strategic component supported by the project. GEM will support the continuous improvement of the competencies, skills, and knowledge of the stock of teachers through on-site school-based and off-site institutions-based continuing teacher development programs. In addition, GEM will also support the preservice teacher education of teachers by strengthening the NIE and National Colleges of Education (NCOEs). Three specific initiatives will be supported under this subcomponent. School-based Professional Teacher Development 32. SBPTD is internationally recognized as the most effective form of continuing teacher development. GEM will support the GoSL to develop the current SBTD framework to a more advanced program. Under SBPTD, teachers will be encouraged to continuously improve their pedagogical skills and competencies based on their everyday teaching experiences at the classroom level and through the sharing of knowledge and experiences with teacher colleagues. SBPTD seeks to produce the following results: (a) link teacher development activities, including subject knowledge and pedagogical skills, to student learning needs; (b) encourage teachers to implement innovative teaching-learning methods to promote the socio-emotional skills of students; and (c) more closely integrate teacher development needs within the processes of annual school planning under the EPSI and feedback from the quality assurance activities of the MoE. The MoE and Provincial Education Authorities (PEAs) will support the process by strengthening the monitoring and support mechanisms to ensure that SBPTD activities are conducted effectively to target the key teaching-learning needs of schools and that existing resources for SBPTD are fully utilized by schools. Schools will set aside a minimum of six days per year, two days per term, for SBPTD activities. These SBPTD activities will be conducted within the school holidays and close to the commencement of the next school teaching term. Resources for the SBPTD would be provided to schools through SBLEGs. The schools that perform well in achieving the results of the SBPTD program would receive more resources over time, as an incentive and reward for good performance. Teacher Centers 33. The project will promote the academic and professional competencies of teachers through teacher education institutions such as TCs. There are about 105 TCs, approximately one per zone. These Page 17 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) TCs support continuous teacher training through (a) continuous teacher training programs to improve and update the subject content knowledge of teachers, (b) facilitating in-service teacher training programs to strengthen teaching skills and methods, (c) supporting school-based professional development programs based on demand from schools, (d) conducting vocational counselling programs, (e) providing a meeting place for teachers, (f) serving as a resource center for teachers, (g) providing residential interactive experiences for teachers who have been trained only through distance-learning mode, and (h) providing opportunities for field training of student teachers. Under GEM, the TCs would especially support in- service teacher training in key subjects and areas including civic education, social sciences, primary education, counselling, and career guidance. GEM will support (a) the capacity building of administrators and academic staff of TCs, (b) the improvement of their teaching-learning environments through the provision of equipment and technology, (c) the TCs to design and implement high-quality in-service training programs based on the training needs of teachers, (d) the development of standards and guidelines for TCs, and (e) the establishment of a mechanism to enable the TCs to function effectively by granting them financial autonomy and converting them to cost centers. Preservice Teacher Education 34. GEM will assist the development of the preservice teacher education institutions, specifically the NIE and NCOEs, to modernize courses and programs, especially in the use of technology for teaching and learning. Currently, there are 19 NCOEs which annually produce around 3,300 diploma holders (trained teachers) who are qualified to teach at either primary (grades 1–5) and junior secondary (grades 6–9) level. The curricula and the syllabi of NCOEs are developed by the NIE. The curriculum consists of an academic component, a professional component, and a general component, which are implemented over a two-year period, followed by a one-year internship in schools. The syllabi consist of details about the competencies, competency levels, subject content, methodology, time, and assessment processes. Activities supported by GEM would include (a) modernizing the preservice teacher education curricula; (b) HRD of young teacher educators to obtain master’s degrees from reputable overseas universities; and (c) strengthening the equipment, technology, and facilities of the NCOEs. The project will place special emphasis on the NCOEs training teachers in subjects such as English, civic education, social sciences, primary education, counselling, and career guidance. Subcomponent 3: System Level Quality Assessment (Indicative cost US$7 million) Quality Assurance 35. GEM will support the GoSL to undertake impartial quality assurance of the school system, through the Quality Assurance of the MoE, and also through the future development of a Sri Lanka Education Inspection Service (SLEIS). GEM will assist the development of policies, protocols, guidelines, working practices and tools, procedures that comply with best international practice in the external evaluation of schools. The role that stakeholders—including students, teachers, and community representatives such as parents, past pupils, and local well-wishers through the SMCs and school development committees (SDCs)—can play in supporting school self-evaluations will be a key focus. In addition, GEM will assist the quality assurance system to deliver services that contribute to the nurturing and development of schools, with special attention to the more disadvantaged schools. the Quality assurance criteria will be open and procedures transparent. Quality assurance will take full account of a school’s self-evaluation. Greater focus will be given to delivering qualitative rather than quantitative Page 18 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) evaluations. In all quality assurance matters, the same six-point scale and terms, as used in each school’s self-evaluation, will be applied to evaluate practice, as this aids consistency and understanding. GEM will assist in the initial training of quality assurance reviewers drawn from school principals and other relevant provincial and zonal officers. The thrust of quality assurance will be on supporting schools through school improvement, including identifying best practice and sharing this widely; identifying aspects for improvement; and reporting openly to schools, parents, and the community. In addition to the quality assurance of individual establishments, the quality assurance process will review schools and report on specific themes. Quality assurance reports will enable the MoE, NIE, provinces, zones, and schools to improve practice and thus raise the quality of leadership, teaching, students’ learning experiences, and achievements. Modernized Assessment of Learning Outcomes 36. The assessment of learning outcomes is extremely important for policy makers and education technocrats. These assessments provide policy makers with information on how well students are learning, on disparities in learning outcomes between geographical areas or population subgroups, factors associated with learning levels, and changes in learning outcomes over time. GEM will support the GoSL to conduct a series of learning assessments reflecting modern international practices. GEM will assist Sri Lanka to enrich the regular national assessments of learning outcomes through the incorporation of international modules from the PISA. This will enable schools to adapt their curriculum implementation activities to the learning framework of the PISA. GEM will also support the country as it seeks to qualify for the next PISA which will be conducted in 2021. This will help benchmark learning levels in Sri Lanka to international standards. In addition, GEM will support the country to implement the Early Grade Reading Assessments (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessments (EGMA). These will provide tools for the assessment of foundational early grade competencies in reading and mathematics. The assistance from GEM will cover the HRD and capacity building of staff in the MoE, NIE, and the universities, to undertake international quality assessments, analyze and report on the information from the various types of assessments, and use the findings and conclusions from these assessments for policy and program development. The range of assessments supported under GEM will be useful for policy makers and technocrats in areas such as curriculum development, preservice teacher education, continuing teacher development and in the production of educational material, including textbooks. The variety of learning assessments will also provide feedback to the PEAs on the performance of the education systems in the provinces. The assessments will be designed to enable comparisons across provinces and by other groupings, thereby enabling education policy makers to identify areas and groups that are lagging behind in terms of achievement and to design strategies to address the special requirements of these lagging regions and/or groups. Subcomponent 4: Enhanced Program for School Improvement (Indicative cost US$20 million) 37. GEM will support the strengthening of school-based development activities and their management through the EPSI. The EPSI will help schools conduct a regular SBM cycle of planning, implementation, school self-review, reporting of results, and further fine-tuning and updating the school plans. School-level activities, including the SBPTD program, will be supported through the EPSI. Under the EPSI, there will be greater budgetary provision for schools through SBLEGs. The SBLEG will be given to schools based on a formula which aims to give more support to disadvantaged schools. The SBLEG can be used by schools for activities that promote learning outcomes and socio-emotional skills of students and Page 19 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) for teacher development under the SBPTD program. Schools will have greater authority to manage funds with wider spending thresholds. There will also be better accountability to local school communities through school self-evaluation reports. These reports will describe the degree of attainment of the school’s performance targets against the school improvement plan for that year. The self-evaluation reports will also provide the basis for the external reviews from the the quality assurance system. The reports would be made available to the public, including parents and students. The information provided in the self-evaluation report is also expected to improve school-level planning and implementation. The new EPSI model will have a special focus on achieving the following results: (a) facilitating the participation of key stakeholders from the local communities, such as parents, past pupils, and local well-wishers, in priority school development activities, especially through SMCs and/or SDCs engaging in activities to improve learning outcomes and/or socio-emotional skills of students; and (b) using SBLEGs to empower and enable schools to make decisions and implement and monitor innovative activities to improve teaching and learning, with a key focus on improving learning outcomes and socio-emotional skills of students. Socio-emotional skills could be promoted by either curriculum based activities or extra- or co- curricular activities or any combination or all of the above. The SBLEGs will also be used as an incentive for better school performance, as schools which show good progress on key outcomes over time would be rewarded with greater resources. SDCs with wider school communities will develop budget estimates, formulate school improvement plans, and make arrangements for implementation of school decisions. SDCs will also undertake annual reviews of school performance and report to the wider stakeholders and the Zonal Director of Education. SMCs will have teams which focus specially on implementation of SBPTD, ELLE, the promotion of good citizenship education, and the promotion of socio-emotional skills of students. Subcomponent 5: Strengthening Education Leadership and Management (Indicative cost US$5 million) 38. School leadership has become a priority in the international education policy agenda. School principals play a vitally important role in improving school outcomes through a variety of activities, including ensuring a favorable learning environment in schools, positively influencing the motivation and capabilities of teachers, and promoting collaboration between the school and local communities. In the past, many school principal positions have been occupied by unqualified acting principals. The MoE has initiated a program to replace these with properly qualified principals. GEM will assist the MoE to implement this program. Important leadership and management skills that principals will be expected to acquire, under GEM, are the abilities to (a) clearly articulate the vision and educational goals of schools; (b) organize schools to implement the curriculum effectively; (c) match the pedagogical competencies of teachers to the classroom and cocurricular needs of schools; (d) appraise staff, especially teachers, and progressively improve their competencies and skills; (e) motivate staff and students toward high performance; (f) provide leadership for school management and administration, especially in the optimum utilization of human, physical, and financial resources to promote school goals; (g) develop close ties with community organizations, including parent-teacher associations and past pupils associations; and (h) maintain high visibility and accessibility to pupils, teachers, parents, and other community members. GEM will support the MoE to redefine the school leadership and management responsibilities and build the capacities of school principals and section heads for school leadership and management. The specific capacity-building needs of principals of primary schools compared to secondary principals will be given special attention. This capacity building will also help implement the EPSI. This will be especially needed as greater management responsibility and financial powers are devolved to schools. Page 20 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) 39. GEM will assist the MoE and PEAs to develop the human resources of young officials in the Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service (SLEAS), Sri Lanka Teacher Education Service, and curriculum developers in the NIE. Young staff from these institutions will be supported through scholarships for master’s degrees, in relevant subjects, in internationally recognized universities abroad. This will contribute to succession planning so that when current highly trained staff retire, there is a cadre of equally highly trained, experienced staff ready to take their place. SLEAS staff will be given opportunities for master’s degrees in Education Planning and in Education Administration and Management. NIE curriculum developers and teacher educators will be given opportunities for master’s degrees in subjects relevant for their disciplines. Special emphasis will be given to subjects such as English, civic education, social studies, and primary education. 40. GEM is an ambitious and wide-ranging project, and as the reforms unfold, further capacity building, especially organizational and technical capacity, will be critical for successful implementation of the reform program. In particular, the MoE and the provinces (including zones and divisions) will require capacity building in the use of modern equipment and technology for managerial tasks, information retrieval and processing, efficient forward planning of routine services, logistics handling and administration, and English language fluency and competence. This capacity building will be supported under GEM, drawing on resources available in the country, as well as strategically selected institutions overseas. Subcomponent 6: Promoting Social Equity and Inclusion through Education (Indicative cost US$8 million) 41. Developing good citizens is an important dimension of a general education system. In the context of Sri Lanka, which experienced a 30-year ethnic-based civil war, promoting a favorable environment for a modern, liberal, multi-ethnic, multi-religious democracy is extremely important. This subcomponent will support the GoSL in implementing appropriate initiatives in this direction. This subcomponent will also promote inclusion to respond to the diversity of needs among all students, especially children who are at risk of being excluded, marginalized, or otherwise disadvantaged in their pursuit of educational opportunity. Supporting Social Cohesion through Education 42. In Sri Lanka, the stated aim of civic education is to help achieve a sustainable peace in the country. The history taught in secondary schools also plays a crucial role in shaping national identity. As such, there are obvious synergies between the objectives of the civic education and history syllabi and the efforts of the Peace and Reconciliation Unit, which is a unit tasked with promoting social cohesion through education. GEM will support the promotion of social cohesion through the development and implementation of the civic education and history curricula. GEM support for the broader social cohesion agenda will focus on the development and implementation of effective approaches to teaching civics and history in ways that promote respect for diversity and social inclusion. GEM support in this area will focus more specifically on the developing those aspects of the curriculum that contribute to sustainable social cohesion efforts. This will include support for reviewing and strengthening the social cohesion aims of the curriculum and textbooks, sensitization of teachers, in-service advisers (ISAs), school principals on the crucial role of education in the promotion of social cohesion, and the training of teachers to teach the relevant areas of the curriculum. Exchange programs, cocurricular activities, and extracurricular activities, Page 21 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) such as literary events, drama, and music and artistic events, among schools with different ethnic and religious populations, will be supported. Strengthening Inclusive Education 43. Inclusive education is concerned with providing appropriate responses to the broad spectrum of learning needs. There is growing evidence that schools with an inclusive approach are the most effective at combating discriminatory attitudes, building an inclusive society, and achieving learning for all. GEM will support the development of an inclusive approach to education in schools. This approach should be guided by a strong policy on inclusion, which describes Sri Lanka’s vision for inclusive education and explains how the capacity of the education system can be strengthened to include all learners in education and to help them achieve their full potential. Specifically, GEM will support teacher training in special education needs (SEN), mainly through certificated programs from the NIE, with a view to providing schools with access to teachers with specific training in SEN. Such a teacher would be able to assist other teachers in the school, advise on, and coordinate provision for children with SEN as well as acting as a resource to support other children at risk of being marginalized in the system. Through all these support activities, GEM will aim to help all teachers acquire the knowledge and skills to provide for students with SEN in an inclusive environment. Strengthening School Health, Counselling and Well-being 44. GEM will support the development of a School-based Mental Health Program (SMHP), which would be embedded into the School Health and Nutrition Program (SHNP).2 This expanded SHNP, including the SMHP, will promote a two-tiered approach to mental health through universal and targeted interventions for students. Universal services would be aimed at promoting resilience among students by developing their socio-emotional skills and creating a safe social environment for children through (a) programs to sensitize the school community to the importance of mental health and well-being, (b) the training of teachers and other school staff in the identification of mental health issues and measures to prevent further escalation, and (c) cross-cutting approaches and strategies that contribute to the development of a healthy psycho-social environment for children. An effective SMHP will require a strong school-based counselling program, not only to provide targeted interventions for students at risk because of mental health issues but also to play a coordinating role in the delivery of SMHPs. As such, GEM will also support the development of school-based counselling services. This will include the establishment of counselling centers in schools and the training of school-based mental health focal points/counsellors. These school-based counselling units will work collaboratively with the mental health professionals under the Ministry of Health (MoH), building on existing mechanisms for coordination between the MoE and MoH. Component 2: Project Operations and Technical Support (US$10 million) 45. The Project Operations and Technical Support (POTS) will provide traditional input-based financing to assist the MoE to coordinate, implement and monitor the GEM Project component through operational and technical assistance (TA). The POTS will cover operations and monitoring support, TA, project coordination, capacity building, policy research and evaluation, and communication. There will be 2 The official name of the SHNP in Sri Lanka is the School Health Promotion Program. Page 22 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) an Operations and Monitoring Support Team (OMST) in the MoE to implement the POTS. The OMST will be staffed by education experts linked to the subcomponents of GEM. These will be experts with high- quality expertise and a proven track record of performance in the relevant areas. In addition, the OMST will have managerial and administrative staff. The managerial and administrative staff will be recruited under the GoSL circular applicable for Cadre and Remuneration Management of Projects. Consultants needed will be recruited under the World Bank Procurement Regulations. 46. The POTS component will finance goods and consultant and non-consultant services. This will include equipment, software, staff payments of OMST and other incremental operating costs, rental of space for the OMST office, workshops, conferences, symposia, resource persons, transport, and office furniture for the OMST. All activities under the POTS component will be subject to technical prior review and no objection by the World Bank’s general education task team. This will include the prior review of the Terms of References (TORs) for studies and consultancies and the consultants selected and all overseas HRD programs. Component 3: Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) (US$0) 47. This component will allow for rapid reallocation of project proceeds in the event of a natural or man-made disaster or crisis that has caused or is likely to imminently cause a major adverse economic and/or social impact. To trigger this component, the GoSL would need to declare an emergency, a state of a disaster, or provide a statement of fact justifying the request for the activation of the use of emergency funding. To allocate funds to this component, the GoSL may request the World Bank to reallocate project funds to support response and reconstruction. If the World Bank agrees with the determination of the disaster and associated response needs, this proposed component would draw resources from the categories financing Components 1 and 2 and/or allow the Government to request the World Bank to recategorize and reallocate financing from other project components to cover emergency response and recovery costs. This component could also be used to channel additional funds should they become available as a result of an emergency. Disbursements would be made against a positive list of critical goods or the procurement of works, and consultant services required to support the immediate response and recovery needs. The re-allocation of funds should be done in such a way to achieve the key performance outcome indicators of the GEM. An Emergency Operations Manual will apply to this component, which will be part of the project operations manual (OM), detailing financial management (FM), procurement, safeguards, and other necessary implementation arrangements. B. Project Cost and Financing 48. Project cost and lending instrument. The IDA financing is US$100 million. The overall GoSL’s wide program to which GEM contributes over the project period is estimated at approximately US$2.8 billion. The project cost by component, including contingencies, is presented in Table 1. The project will mainly use a results-based financing modality, an IPF approach with DLIs. A standard IPF was considered and rejected as the human development operations in Sri Lanka, including the current TSEP, are chiefly using results-based financing approaches, which provide incentives and rewards for good performance. A Program-for-Results (PforR) instrument was also considered. A higher education operation, approved by the Board in FY17, is the first and thus far the only PforR in Sri Lanka. However, the experience of implementing the higher education PforR suggests that this instrument is new for Sri Lanka, and the systems for such an operation are still being developed in the country. In addition, GEM supports both Page 23 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) the MoE and the nine PEAs through a subnational agreement. This would make a PforR extremely complex, as it would need to be implemented at both the national and the nine subnational levels. Given these considerations, an IPF with DLIs was selected. 49. Component 1 of GEM, for US$90 million, will be results based, and funds will be disbursed against agreed EEPs on the achievement of agreed DLI targets. Using this approach will deepen the focus on results. Component 2, for US$10 million, will follow the traditional input-based financing IPF modality and disburse against specified eligible expenditures. Component 3, if activated, will also follow the standard IPF input-based financing modality. Table 1. Project Cost and Financing Project Components Total Cost IDA Financing Counterpart Funding Enhancing Quality and Strengthening US$2,890 million US$90 million US$2,800 million Stewardship of Primary and Secondary Education Project Operations and US$10 million US$10 million 0 Technical Support Contingent Emergency 0 0 0 Response Total Costs US$2,900 million US$100 million US$2,800 million Note: The total cost includes the front-end fee of US$0.25 million to be financed from the IDA Credit. 50. EEPs. GEM contributes to the overall GoSL’s primary and secondary education program. The EEPs selected for GEM comprise of non-procurable items from both the development and recurrent budgets. The EEPs selected are from budget heads 126, 212 and 213: (a) personnel emoluments (1001 - salaries and wages, 1002 - overtime and holiday pay, and 1003 - other allowances), (b) travelling expenses (1101 - domestic travelling and 1102 - foreign travelling), (c) 142 - postal and communication, (d) 1403 - electricity and water, and (e) 2401 - capacity building including staff training, and corresponding budget heads and codes of the PEAs. 51. DLIs. There are nine DLIs, which are described in detail in annex 2. The DLIs are a set of intermediate outcome and outcome indicators for the project as a whole. They reflect priority education development initiatives supported by the project. In the early years of the project, the emphasis is on the commencement and implementation of development processes. In the later years of the project, the emphasis is on results and outcomes. The DLIs have been selected based on their capacity to clearly reflect significant progress in implementing the project and to lead to unambiguous decisions regarding disbursements. The project’s OM will further elaborate content that needs to be included in the DLIs progress report. The expected project years for each DLI’s achievement is indicative, and can be carried forward if not met in the targeted year. All DLIs are scalable, that is, there will be disbursement of financing proceeds proportional to progress towards achieving the DLI. All DLIs do not have minimum threshold, that is, minimum value or share of the target to trigger disbursement under each period. Disbursements will be capped to the annual DLI values, irrespective of any potential overachievement of the annual targets. Page 24 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) 52. DLI verification. The achievement of DLIs, except for disbursement-linked results (DLRs) listed under Year 0 and DLRs under DLI 5, will be verified and recommended to the World Bank by an independent research agency, with relevant education expertise, before the disbursement of funds. This third-party verification agency (TPVA) will be hired under the POTS component of GEM. The World Bank will review the TOR and contract award process, and provide a no-objection each year for the recruitment of this TPVA. TPVA’s reports are to be submitted to the World Bank by no later than February 28 of the relevant year. Evidence of the achievement of DLRs listed under Year 0 and DLRs under DLI 5 will be data collected by the MoE and submitted to the World Bank for verification. See annex 2 for details. C. Lessons Learned and Reflected in the Project Design 53. The design of the operation will build on the lessons learned from the previous education project called the TSEP. Four key lessons learned are the following: • Implementation is most effective when the principle of subsidiarity, where power is devolved as far as possible to the unit of administration closest to the final beneficiaries, is followed. In particular, authority for education development activities needs to be devolved to the maximum extent possible to schools. • Performance can vary significantly across provinces. Central agencies such as the MoE and PEAs need to provide extra support for the weaker provinces. In addition, mechanisms through which weaker provinces learn and benefit from the stronger provinces are very useful. • Complex and challenging initiatives are best introduced in stages across education zones. This gives time to learn lessons from the zones which implement the initiatives early so that the program can be fine-tuned and strengthened as it is rolled out to all zones over time. • A good communications strategy, where the objectives and performance of the project are communicated widely to policy makers, stakeholders, and beneficiaries, is very helpful to strengthen commitment and understanding of the project among the general public. IV. IMPLEMENTATION A. Institutional and Implementation Arrangements 54. The implementation arrangements contain three mutually reinforcing structures at the central and provincial levels: (a) policy direction, establishment of norms and standards, and monitoring and oversight; (b) management and implementation; and (c) technical support. Policy Direction and Oversight for GEM 55. The National Education Commission (NEC). The NEC has the responsibility to advise the President on national education policy. Within the overarching policy framework recommended by the NEC and agreed by the President, the formulation of operational policy and the establishment of national norms and standards is the responsibility of the central MoE. PEAs have the authority, at the provincial level, to Page 25 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) develop and adopt education policies, standards, and norms to suit their regional needs, subject to the condition that these are within and consistent with national policies, norms, and standards. 56. GEM will have a Steering Committee at the national level for policy direction and oversight. The composition of the steering committee will be as described in the following paragraph. 57. Steering Committee. A Steering Committee for GEM will be established no later than one month after GEM becomes effective. It will be chaired by the Secretary, MoE. The other members of the Steering Committee will be the Director General, NIE; Commissioners-General for Education Publications and Examinations, respectively; Additional Secretaries of the MoE; and representatives from the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government (MPCLG) and representatives from the PEAs, the Finance Commission, and the Departments of National Planning, External Resources, Project Management and Monitoring, Treasury Operations, and National Budget. The Steering Committee will review the overall performance of GEM and decide on important policy aspects to facilitate the achievement of outcomes and results. This will include making adequate budget provisions for GEM funds. The Planning Branch of the MoE will coordinate the Steering Committee. 58. Consultative group. A consultative Group will be established no later than one month after GEM becomes effective. The consultative group will be chaired by the Additional Secretary, Planning and Performance Review Division, MoE. The other members of the consultative group would include all Additional Secretaries, MoE; a representative of the NEC; a representative of the Finance Commission; Director General, Department of Census and Statistics; Director, National Education Research and Evaluation Center (NEREC); all Provincial Directors of Education; and education academics, researchers, representatives of schools, employers, representatives of civil society, a representative from the Department of the Auditor General (AG), and a representative from the Department of Public Finance of the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media. The consultative group will periodically discuss the implementation of the project to identify areas for support, observe important emerging issues, and assist the central and provincial education agencies to resolve problems and strengthen project performance. Management and Implementation of GEM 59. GEM will be managed and implemented at the national level by the MoE (including the Department of Examinations, EPD, NIE) and at the provincial level by the PEAs. 60. To establish consistency and coherence between national and provincial systems, the division of responsibilities between the national and PEAs for ESDFP 2018–2025 will be as described in the following paragraphs. 61. National level. The MoE is responsible for the following functions: establishing of national policies, norms, and standards; system development; publishing and distributing of textbooks and accreditation of any textbooks produced by the private sector; public examinations; administration of national schools; national sectoral planning; monitoring, evaluation, and research; and overall quality assurance. The NIE, which is an agency under the MoE, is responsible for formulating the school curriculum and the preservice teacher education curriculum and administering professional development programs and courses for school principals, section heads, and teachers. The NIE works closely with other education departments in the MoE and with the provinces. Page 26 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) 62. Provincial level. PEAs are responsible for the following functions: developing and implementing the provincial education sector development plans; managing the provincial school system; managing human resources and development of education administrators, school principals, and school teachers at the provincial level; implementing continuing teacher development programs; implementing special and non-formal education programs; and provincial-level monitoring and evaluation. 63. Provincial consultative groups. There will be provincial consultative groups chaired by the respective Provincial Chief Secretaries and include the Provincial Education Secretary, Provincial Deputy Chief Secretaries, and Provincial Education Director. The planning agencies of the Provincial Departments of Education will coordinate these provincial consultative groups. This provincial consultative group will ensure that the overall polices and plans of the PEAs will facilitate the implementation of GEM at the provincial level. The purpose of these province-level consultative groups will be to ensure that GEM activities within the province are supported under the overall provincial plans and budgets. 64. Sub-provincial level (zone and division levels). The PEAs will provide support to the zonal and divisional education authorities, which are responsible for monitoring school-level education activities. The zonal and divisional offices will provide academic and managerial support to schools. ISAs based in zones and divisions will provide guidance and support to schools, especially teachers, on areas such as instructional methods, lesson preparation, classroom practice, curriculum competencies, and school- based assessment of student performance. 65. School level. Schools will be responsible for planning and implementing and monitoring school- based activities. Each school has an SDC, which is chaired by the principal and with representatives from the zonal office, teachers, parents, past pupils, and local community well-wishers. SDCs help develop school budget estimates, formulate school improvement plans, and make arrangements for the implementation of school decisions. SDCs also help undertake annual reviews of school performance and report to the wider stakeholders. Each school also has an SMC, consisting mainly of teachers. SMCs have teams which focus specially on implementation of SBPTD, ELLE, the promotion of good citizenship education, and socio-emotional skills of students. The Technical Support System 66. The technical team. There will be a technical team in the OMST to manage the implementation and monitoring of GEM at national and provincial levels. The national technical team will be established no later than one month after GEM becomes effective. It will be will be chaired by the Additional Secretary, Planning and Performance Review Division, MoE. The other members of the technical team will be the Additional Secretary, Education Quality Development, MoE; the Provincial Directors of Education and relevant directors of the MoE and Deputy Directors of the Provinces in charge of the various project themes and components; and relevant management and administration staff of the MoE and PEAs. The Director of Planning, MoE, will be the Secretary of the technical team. There will be full-time staff recruited under the GEM to support national and provincial monitoring, procurement, financial management, environmental and social safeguards. Full time staff can also be recruited for education areas where needed. 67. The provincial technical team will be chaired by the Education Secretary of the province. Other members of the technical team will be the Provincial Director of Education, relevant Deputy Directors of Page 27 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) Education for GEM components, Zonal Directors of Education, and Deputy Directors in zones that cover GEM activities. 68. The national technical team will periodically review the implementation of the project to identify areas for support, observe important emerging issues, and assist the provincial education agencies to resolve problems and strengthen project performance. The provincial technical teams will periodically review the implementation of the project to identify areas for support, observe important emerging issues, and assist the zonal and divisional education agencies to resolve problems and strengthen project performance. 69. The lead agencies within the MoE to lead the implementation of the project components and subcomponents are summarized in table 2. Table 2. Project Components and Implementation Agencies of the GEM Components Agencies with Implementation Responsibilities Component 1: Enhancing Quality and Strengthening Stewardship of Primary and Secondary Education Subcomponent 1: Curriculum Modernization and MoE Diversification NIE EPD Schools Subcomponent 2: Teacher Development MoE NIE Schools Subcomponent 3: System Level Quality Assessment MoE Subcomponent 4: Enhanced Program for School Schools Improvement Subcomponent 5: Strengthening Education Leadership and MoE Management NIE Subcomponent 6: Promoting Social Equity and Inclusion NIE through Education EPD Schools Component 2: Project Operations and Technical Support Operational and Technical Support for the Provinces MoE Note: Facilitating analysis of Provincial Budgetary Education Expenditures will be done by the MPCLG and Finance Commission. Operations Manual 70. An Operations Manual (OM) has been prepared for the operation. This manual contains a description of the project, the implementation arrangements and plan, the Results Framework and monitoring arrangements, and planned technical support and capacity-building activities. The OM also contains the criteria and guidelines for key activities of the project, such as guidelines for the allocation of SBLEG, guidelines for the selection of scholarships for the HRD of the SLEAS, and a detailed schedule and plans for Sri Lanka’s participation in the international assessments of learning outcomes. The OM presents an implementation plan, with a time sequence of key actions in each component of the project and implementation responsibilities among the various agencies, budgets, and expected results. The OM Page 28 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) also describes the fiduciary and safeguards arrangements for the project. It also contains the TOR for the key positions of the OMST that will be established in the MoE. The OM will be periodically updated during the project implementation, with the agreement of the World Bank. B. Results Monitoring and Evaluation 71. GEM will have a strong focus on the monitoring and evaluation of results and outcomes. The monitoring and evaluation activities will focus on inputs, processes, DLIs, and outcomes. A detailed framework for monitoring and evaluation has been worked out. The final outcome and intermediate outcome indicators for GEM are derived from the ESDFP Results Framework. These indicators have annual targets set in the ESDFP Results Framework. Performance indicators will be used to follow the progress of the education system in terms of the core outcomes, intermediate outcomes, and DLIs. 72. The Education Management Information System (EMIS) of the MoE and PEAs provides information that can be used to monitor and evaluate performance at national and provincial levels. GEM will also support various types of monitoring and evaluation studies, including assessments of learning outcomes, that will, among other things, help understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Sri Lankan education system and benchmark Sri Lanka with other MICs. The results of monitoring and information from various sources will be shared and used at both central and provincial levels to strengthen the implementation of interventions (for example, teacher development, curriculum implementation) and for program development and strategic planning. The project progress report will be submitted to the World Bank semi-annually. 73. The monitoring system will follow a cascade model. The MoE and the Department of Project Management and Monitoring will monitor the implementation of GEM at the national level and in the provinces. The provinces will monitor the implementation of GEM in the zones. The zones will monitor the implementation of the project in the divisions and the schools. 74. Project monitoring, evaluation, and research will be undertaken through a technical support system at the central, provincial, and zonal levels. 75. Central level. The MoE will be supported by national-level education institutions such as the NEC, the NIE, the NEREC, and universities, to undertake monitoring, evaluation, policy studies, and research activities. In addition, the MoE has access to a variety of national research organizations and firms that can evaluate and provide independent feedback on the implementation and results of GEM. Resources for regular monitoring, evaluation, research, and studies have been built into the budget and will be supported by the project. 76. Province level. Central agencies such as the MoE will provide support to the PEAs to monitor and evaluate provincial education development activities. Provinces will also be able to draw on public universities and private institutions for skills building and for monitoring and evaluation activities. 77. Zonal level. The PEAs will provide support to the zonal and divisional education authorities to monitor school-level education activities. This will include training and guiding zonal and divisional education staff, making provision to strengthen and build capacity in zonal and divisional offices, and providing management and technical support to improve service delivery at the zonal and divisional levels. Page 29 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) 78. These institutional arrangements are the Government’s own institutional framework for the delivery of education services. Institutions at all levels of the education system will able to draw on expertise, both national and international, and from either the Government sector, the private sector, or civil society, to strengthen the quality and results of GEM. 79. The World Bank will support the monitoring and implementation of GEM through careful supervision of the project and through Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA). The ASA support can include impact evaluations, policy research and studies, and TA. The ASA will be done in consultation with the MoE, National Planning Department (NPD) and other relevant agencies. The project will cover a range of activities, including goods, consultant services, TA, training, workshops, conferences, seminars, monitoring, evaluation, research, and studies. The World Bank will provide implementation support and supervision, including fiduciary and safeguards oversight. All overseas training, capacity building, and academic studies will require prior review and no-objection by the World Bank. Implementation support and supervision missions will be carried out twice each year during the project implementation period. A Mid-term Review of the project will be held by October 31, 2021. C. Sustainability 80. Country commitment to and ownership for the activities of the project are strong. There is a strong alignment of the project with the national education program of the country. GEM supports the overall ESDFP and the GoSL’s development priorities. Program design is flexible with built-in incentives for performance. GEM supports the ESDFP which has a flexible program design based on a rolling plan. The ESDFP takes an incremental approach to the promotion of complex reforms in the initial years and provides scope for fine-tuning and on-course updating of policies in the light of fresh information and new circumstances. The rolling plan of the ESDFP also provides flexibility for provinces and to individual education institutions to update and improve development plans and actions periodically to respond to new circumstances. Moreover, there are strong technical foundations and national consensus on policy measures to improve primary and secondary education. The technical contents of the ESDFP and GEM are supported by international evidence of good practices and rigorous analytical work on Sri Lanka’s education system. In addition, the ESDFP has been prepared through an extensive process of nation-wide consultation, covering policy makers, technocrats, officials, and staff from all provinces; zonal and divisional education staff; ISAs; and principals, teachers, students, parents, academics, employers, civil society representatives, and local community members. All the elements discussed above support the sustainability of the project’s objective. D. Role of Partners 81. GEM will not have any pooled, parallel, or cofinancing arrangements with DPs. DPs, such as the Asian Development Bank, support certain elements of the general education sector. United Nations agencies such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund are also active in the sector, mainly through TA activities. Although the funding modalities may be different, the World Bank and the DPs will work in support of the overall ESDFP and will make every effort to harmonize their work with each other. Page 30 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) V. KEY RISKS A. Overall Risk Rating and Explanation of Key Risks 82. The overall risk of the project is considered Moderate. Key risks that could adversely affect the achievement of the PDO and the sustainability of results are as described in the following paragraphs. 83. Technical design of project. This risk is assessed as Substantial. This project is complex with various components and subcomponents and implementation at both the national and provincial level. However, the project design is technically sound and based on considerable experience from education projects in Sri Lanka as well as other World Bank education projects in other countries. The project design relies on strong coordination and harmonization among various education agencies, as the project activities will be undertaken by Government education agencies, such as the MoE and the PEAs. To mitigate this risk, the project will ensure personnel dedicated at the MoE to oversee project coordination and implementation of activities at provincial level. The project will pay special attention to collaboration and coordination, capacity building, and organizational strengthening, particularly in weaker provinces and schools. 84. Environment and social. This risk is assessed as Moderate. The project is designed to yield considerable positive social benefits. While the IDA credit will not directly finance civil works that requires land acquisition or lead to involuntary resettlement, the government program supported by the project may include such activities. The project will therefore trigger World Bank policy on involuntary resettlement. On environmental risks, the project’s link to the Government’s program, which will include construction activities that may result in potential environmental impacts during the construction phase, will be managed with inbuilt due diligence within the GoSL’s education program. These physical interventions, however, will involve small- to medium-scale works within schools; therefore, the project is less likely to have significant large scale irreversible environmental impacts. The impacts expected will also be site-specific and will have no potential for strong cumulative impacts. As safeguards risk mitigation measure, the project has prepared an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF), including a Social Impact Management Framework (SIMP), to guide project implementation arrangements for safeguards management and ensure that good due diligence is practiced in line with both World Bank Policies and national regulatory requirements. The respective government education agencies have adequate knowledge of safeguards requirements and procedures, built during the implementation of TSEP. In order to strengthen the existing capacity and ensure effective implementation of the project’s ESMF, training will be provided to strengthen stakeholders’ capacity to monitor and report on impacts. Furthermore, the project will also have provision for safeguards specialist support to provide guidance to the program on safeguards implementation and conduct monitoring. VI. APPRAISAL SUMMARY A. Economic and Financial Analysis 85. Economic analysis. The economic analysis presents an assessment of the benefits and costs associated with GEM. It uses the approach of comparing net benefits in two scenarios, one with the project and one without (the counterfactual). Economic costs include total project costs and private costs Page 31 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) that comprise direct household outlays as well as opportunity costs for schooling. The benefits are taken to be those changes in the quantity, quality, and reduction in internal inefficiency of education produced over the period as a result of the project. Although there are different types of benefits expected by GEM’s interventions, the cost-benefit analysis focuses on economic benefit. The PDO of GEM is to enhance quality and strengthen stewardship of the general education system. Economic benefits are composed of the following elements: (a) increased lifetime earnings and improved labor productivity of beneficiary students from the interventions under Component One (developing systems to enhancing the quality of general education) and (b) efficiency gains and improved capacity of the sector agencies from the interventions under Component Two (strengthening the stewardship of general education). The sensitivity analysis using various scenarios3 shows a net present value (NPV) for the project benefits, at a 10 percent discount rate, varies between US$32 million and US$99 million. Similarly, the internal rates of return (IRR) remain positive, ranging from 12.1 percent in the low case scenario to 16.6 percent in the high case scenario. These results clearly suggest that the funds invested under GEM will produce high economic benefits and the GEM investment is largely justified. In fact, these are conservative lower bound estimates, given that they do not account for potential nonmonetary benefits, including the social benefits of education and externalities. 86. Fiscal sustainability. GEM is expected to add US$100 million over the project period. Under different scenarios, the share of GEM in the total general education budget ranges from 0.9 percent to 1.4 percent, which indicates that the allocations of GEM will have a limited fiscal impact on the overall education sector budget, and it will not be a burden for the Government to maintain expenditures when the project closes. B. Technical 87. The strategic relevance for GEM lies in the GoSL’s own education development strategy, encapsulated in ESDFP 2018–2025. This strategy centers on a set of measures to improve the quality and governance of the general education sector in Sri Lanka, with a view to equipping students with the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes required for success in the 21st century economy. Since Sri Lanka has largely achieved the goal of equitable access to education, with universal enrollment at the primary level and enrollment rates at the secondary level approaching 90 percent, ESDFP 2018–2025 is largely focused on improving the quality of the general education system. Accordingly, its education strategy aims to improve the quality and relevance of the curriculum particularly in subject areas that are relevant to the labor market, such as English and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and to improve governance of the education sector to ensure optimal results in the quality of the education service delivery and education outcomes. 88. GEM aims to support those elements of Government’s strategy and reform program that are most strongly aligned with global best practices in education policy. These include (a) SBM, that is, 3A base case is built on the following key assumptions. First, the benefit stream is calculated over a 20-year time frame (a 1- year period with a 5-year lag after project started). Annual growth rate in wage is close to the average annual growth rate in GDP. Discount rate of 10 percent is assumed to calculate NPV of project benefits. Average employment rates one year after completion of secondary education is assumed to be lifted by 5 percentage points from the current rate and reach 66 percent. The premium expected from the improvements brought by the GEM intervention is assumed to yield an additional 10 percentage points (compared to the currently observed wage differential between secondary education completers and non- completers in a situation with the project interventions) and reach 15 percent. Efficiency gains are estimated as 0.5 percent of recurrent budget from Year 3 and 5 and 1.0 percent of recurrent budget thereafter. Page 32 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) empowering schools to plan, manage, and implement education services; (b) improving the system for school quality assurance; (c) improving the assessment of learning outcomes system in line with global standards; (d) improving the quality of general education teaching force; and (e) improving the curriculum in areas relevant to the modern economy, that is, English, mathematics, and civics and socio-emotional skills. There is ample global evidence that each of these initiatives contribute significantly to the quality of a country’s general education system. In the area of SBM, GEM builds on TSEP’s successful efforts to lay the foundations for SBM in Sri Lanka and also draws on lessons learned from good practice in countries such as Brazil, India, El Salvador, and Mexico on the strengthening of service delivery in the education sector. For the implementation of a system of school quality assurance, GEM has drawn on the experience of well-performing systems such as those in Scotland and England. In line with international best practices in the assessment of learning outcomes, GEM is supporting Sri Lanka to participate in international assessments, such as PISA. 89. The strategic relevance for GEM is also supported by a wealth of knowledge gained through the World Bank research into the global education policy landscape broadly, as well as Sri Lanka’s own education system. In the area of assessments of learning outcomes, the program design draws on the ‘System Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) Student Assessment Report on Sri Lanka’ (2012), which provides an overview of Sri Lanka’s enabling environment for student assessment, as well as system alignment and the quality of student assessment in the country. In response to the findings of this report, the project focuses on improving the weakest areas of Sri Lanka’s student assessment system. The design was also informed by the recently published ‘Sri Lanka Education Sector Assessment: Achievements, Challenges and Policy Options’ (2017), which provides a salient snapshot of the issues and challenges facing the education sector in Sri Lanka. In addition, a recent report titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Underperforming Boys: The Gender Dimensions of the Educational Access and Achievement’ sheds light on emerging challenges to gender equity in the education system in Sri Lanka. Findings from this report also serve to fine-tune the project design. 90. Finally, Sri Lanka has had a very positive experience of the education sector program under ESDFP 2012–2016, supported by the World Bank’s TSEP, and the current project design builds on the success of the previous program (see box 1). The links between the two programs further confirms the strategic relevance of GEM’s design and approach. Box 1. The Relationship between the Proposed GEM and the Current TSEP The proposed GEM will build on the achievements of the TSEP to broaden and deepen the scope of the World Bank’s engagement in the general education sector in multiple ways. First, GEM will support new and innovative education development initiatives which are not part of the TSEP. These will include (a) the modernization of the curriculum toward outcome-based education, (b) the diversification of the curriculum to include a vocational stream in senior secondary education, (c) the development of preservice teacher education offered by NCOEs and Teacher Training Institutions, and (d) the promotion of in-service teacher training to improve subject content knowledge through TCs. Second, GEM will expand and build on successful initiatives under the TSEP. This will include (a) introducing a regular system of international assessments of learning outcomes that extend the system of national assessments of learning outcomes developed under TSEP, (b) strengthening the empowerment of local school communities by deepening the model of SBM introduced under the PSI supported by the TSEP, and (c) expanding school-based teacher professional development building upon the SBTD program assisted under the TSEP. Page 33 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) C. Financial Management 91. Taking forward the experience of the TSEP, the FM team of the World Bank together with the Procurement team conducted a joint fiduciary review of the education sector with the primary objective of updating the functioning of country systems and identifying current opportunities for greater use of country systems for the project. The proposed overall FM procedures and practices for the project are satisfactory to meet the GoSL’s and the World Bank’s fiduciary requirements according to OP 10.00 (Investment Project Financing). Given the MoE’s and provinces’ experience with DLI-based IPFs, during the implementation of the ESDFP and subsequently the TSEP, the project is given a Moderate FM risk rating. The GoSL’s Financial Regulations and applicable circulars will be used as the basis for exercising appropriate controls over program activities and transactions. The regulations will be supplemented by the OM for GEM, which will include a detailed description of project components, funds flow and operations procedures based on results, implementation arrangements and agreed guidelines for different project components, project costs as applicable, a Procurement Plan (PP), FM guidelines, procedures and FM arrangements, monitoring and evaluation arrangements, reporting arrangements, and risk mitigation measures. There are no current outstanding audit reports or ineligible expenditures under the MoE and the PEAs. 92. The overall responsibilities for FM elements for activities under the central education agencies will rest with the MoE. The FM elements for activities under the provincial education agencies will be managed primarily by the PEAs, including the compliance with the financial covenants of the Legal Agreement. The MoE and other relevant education sector institutions including schools will be strengthened to carry out the program-related FM arrangements. The MoE will have assigned staff including an FM specialist and any other supporting staff assessed as necessary, satisfactory to the World Bank, to manage and coordinate the overall FM arrangements related to the project. 93. The MoE and PEAs will have budgetary allocations for the entire project. Under Component 1, all project activities will have to be pre-financed by the GoSL and accordingly the disbursement method will be on a reimbursement basis supported by financial reports. Two sets of interim unaudited financial reports (IUFRs) will be prepared by the MoE for Component 1 and Component 2 separately. 94. Reimbursements of funds by the World Bank, related to Component 1, will be made to the consolidated fund of the GoSL, based on IUFRs and fulfillment of agreed DLIs. Component 1 would follow the GoSL systems of funds flow for the project operation. The GoSL would be responsible for channeling the required funds in adequate amounts to the respective education sector institutions from the consolidated funds. A cash flow indicator is suggested to be used to monitor the funds flows against the requests being made by the education sector institutions. The IUFR for Component 1 will include expenditure incurred under the EEP and the withdrawal claim will be restricted to the cumulative expenditures under the EEP. The disbursement amount will be based on the lower of the (a) incurred expenditures for the EEP and (b) the amount assigned to the DLIs achieved and validated. In any period, the unutilized amounts from the two aspects can be rolled over for disbursement in subsequent reporting periods. The format in the Disbursement Letter will be designed to track both these separately, to prevent excess claims. The disbursements under Component 1 will be made once a year, normally around January of each year, based on achievement of DLIs. Page 34 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) 95. The project will have a Designated Account (DA) opened at the Central Bank and administered by the MoE for activities managed under Component 2 of the project. Replenishment of the DA would be report based, made as advances into a dedicated DA. Replenishment of the DA will be based on the IUFR prepared quarterly for Component 2. Actual expenditure incurred will be tracked and recorded in this IUFR. The relevant withdrawal application containing the request of IDA funds and documentation of expenditure will need to be prepared by the OMST of the MoE and submitted to the World Bank for disbursements along with the IUFR related to Component 2 on a regular basis. The IUFRs would be due within 45 days of the end of the reporting period. The MoE will prepare two sets of annual financial statements, one each for Component 1 and Component 2 of the project, within three months of the end of the Government financial year. 96. The internal audit of the project is expected to be carried out by the internal audit units of the MoE and PEAs. The external audit of the project will be performed by the AG of Sri Lanka. For the proposed program, the AG will carry out project-related audits of the MoE and PEAs and issue two audit reports, one each for Component 1 and Component 2, within six months of the end of the Government financial year. For Component 1, a consolidated audit report, including an audit opinion on the consolidated financial statements, will be prepared reflecting education sector expenditure incurred by central-level institutions and also reflecting the provincial-level education sector expenditures. The consolidated financial report will reflect the education sector expenditures, including those selected under the EEPs, from all sources of funds. The objective of the consolidated audit report is for the World Bank to obtain assurances that the consolidated financial reports present a true and fair view of the education sector expenditures and free from material misstatements. For Component 2, an audit report including an audit opinion on the project financial statements, will be prepared. 97. The budgeting and fund flow arrangements will be fully aligned with the existing systems of the Government. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the funds flow arrangements applicable for the two components of the project. The division of funds between the MoE and PEAs will be discussed annually with the Bank as part of the budget preparation process. It is expected that at least 72 percent of the total Project funds will be allocated for the PEAs. The distribution of funds among the PEAs will follow the formula for resource allocation used by the Finance Commission. Page 35 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) Figure 1. Component 1 Flow of Funds Designated General Account The World Bank in the name of DST MoE and its Departments PEAs MoE Agencies (e.g. NIE, NCOEs) Note: DST = Deputy Secretary to the Treasury. The funds will flow from the DST account to the Provinces based on the recommendations of the MoE. Figure 2. Component 2 Flow of Funds POT’s dedicated DA The World Bank in the name of DST MoF MoEs POT’s LKR Account D. Procurement 98. The Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers (July 2016, revised November 2017) will be used for carrying out project procurements under Component 2. Page 36 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) 99. Project Procurement Strategy for Development (PPSD) and a PP have been agreed with the World Bank for the Project. The PP will be created using the online procurement management system- Systematic Tracking of Exchange in Procurement (STEP) and updated as required, to reflect the actual project implementation needs in agreement with the World Bank. The PP will be prepared/consolidated by the implementing agencies and approved by the World Bank by negotiations. 100. Component 1 will make disbursements against the achievement of the agreed DLIs. The World Bank will not fund any contracts under this component and therefore the provisions of the Regulations will not apply. 101. However, the achievement of these DLIs may be contingent upon the efficient and transparent execution of procurement under the GoSL procurement guidelines. While the World Bank does not aim to supervise these procurements, an assessment of the risk associated with such procurements has been carried out in terms of the Section II-General Considerations-Clause 2.3 of the Regulations, and the risks described in table 3 have been identified with the corresponding suggestions for mitigation. Table 3. Risks and Mitigation Risk Description Description of Mitigation Lack of knowledge on procurement procedures Strengthen the OMST with procurement skills to carry particularly at provincial levels out the expected advisory and monitoring functions in the PEAs. High staff turnover and staff transfers have A well-structured capacity building program should be adversely affected the momentum of the project designed covering all the tiers involved in procurement procurement. and particularly strengthen the capacity at the OMST to be able to disseminate the knowledge to the next tiers. Although planning processes are in place and time Implementation of proper procurement planning schedules are realistic, lack of technology support mechanism has adversely affected effective monitoring. Non-availability of proper standard documents for Agreeing on acceptable standard documents for small small works contract under Shopping method works 102. Procurement in Sri Lanka is governed by the National Procurement Guidelines (NPA), and country specific Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs). With the establishment of an independent National Procurement Commissions (NPC) under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the oversight functions of the public procurements are now entrusted to NPC. Procurement of Goods and Small Works, as agreed in the PPSD and PP, may be carried out using national procurement procedures of the Government of Sri Lanka. 103. All procurements, as agreed in the PPSD and PP, may be carried out using national procurement procedures of the GoSL. Procurement in Sri Lanka is governed by the National Procurement Guidelines of the NPA and country-specific Standard Bidding Documents. With the establishment of an independent National Procurement Commission (NPC) under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the oversight functions of public procurements are now entrusted to the NPC. 104. The detailed procedures applicable to the project are stipulated in the procurement section of the Operations Manual prepared by the MoE. The detailed PPST is also annexed to the Operations Page 37 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) Manual. Details of procurement arrangements at the school level are spelled out in the ED/3/32/6/134 circular. At the provincial level, Provincial Ministries of Education, Provincial Directors of Education, zonal offices, and schools will be the responsible executing agencies. In addition, Engineering Departments of the provinces are responsible for civil works contracts. 105. The Procurement Unit in the MoE will oversee the procurement activities which take place in the MoE and the three departments under its direct oversight; the unit will also provide advisory and broader capacity-building support to the nine provinces. These agencies have had operational engagement with the World Bank in the past through the TSEP operation; hence, they are familiar with the World Bank’s procurement systems. 106. To ensure smooth and efficient procurement support, a Senior Procurement Officer will be placed in the OMST, assisted by Procurement Officers with experience of procurement in projects financed by international agencies. 107. Considering the risks identified and the mitigation measures put in through the previous DLI operation, a Moderate procurement rating has been assigned. E. Social (including Safeguards) 108. Social safeguards. The project is expected to contribute to the GoSL’s general education program through the Government budget. While the IDA credit will not directly finance civil works that require land acquisition or lead to involuntary resettlement, the wider Government program supported under the project may include such activities. Because of the linked nature of the project, the World Bank’s OP/BP 4.12 (Involuntary Resettlement) is triggered under the project. To ensure due diligence on social safeguards management, an ESMF, including a Social Impact Management Framework (SIMF), has been prepared to strengthen the GoSL’s overall capacity for safeguards management. The SIMF and the ESMF include guidelines to support the identification of risks and prepare and implement appropriate risk mitigation measures, implementation arrangements for safeguards management, and mechanisms for monitoring during implementation of the project. A social development specialist responsible for overseeing the safeguards procedures as well as managing the broader social development objectives of the project, including gender and citizen engagement, will be included in the project’s OMST. 109. Gender. Promoting gender development through education is important for the country. The project will support the GoSL to address key gender-related issues that have been identified as priorities. While about 70 percent of teachers within the current system are female, most of these teachers use traditional teaching methods with relatively little use of technology and electronic resources. The proposed education reforms seek to make teachers more competent in the use of technology for teaching-learning, including in STEM subjects, and ensure that at least 50 percent of these new teachers are female. This is expected to encourage female students to adopt more technologically advanced learning methods. The upcoming World Bank report “Sri Lanka’s underperforming boys: the gender dimensions of educational access and achievement in Sri Lanka” indicates that boys are less likely to transition and more likely to drop out than girls, particularly at higher levels of the education system. This is partly fueled by longstanding gendered attitudes, behaviors and perceptions that persist, which for example make boys feel that pursuing senior secondary education is not important to them due to masculine norms. In the same manner it is important to understand and address limiting attitudes and Page 38 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) behaviors of girls which lead them forego employment after graduating from secondary education and opting to stay at home. As the World Bank report “Getting to Work-unlocking Women’s potential in Sri Lanka’s Labor Force” found, reasons for this choice are mainly the gendered roles and expectations of girls to either focus on raising a family or caring for other dependents, such as the elderly, in the household. Therefore, addressing gender norms and stereotyping in a manner which helps girls and boys change their perceptions and attitudes so that they will continue to enroll and gain benefits from higher education is important. 110. These aspects will be addressed through two quantitative indicators which are DLIs. The target for DLI 5 is to add 20,000 new, professionally qualified teachers into the education system. Out of these at least 10,000 new teachers need to be female. The target for DLI 8 is that at least 300 Masters’ degree need to be awarded for the human resource development of academic and administrative staff in the education system, of whom at least 275 need to complete by the end of the Project. Among these beneficiaries of scholarships for Masters’ degree at least 50 percent need to be female. In addition, a number of other gender related activities are included in the Project. The NIE will be assisted to review and revise the curriculum to address gender stereotyping and behaviors that negatively influence boys’ and girls’ attitudes, especially in the context of good citizenship in youth and adulthood. These components will be included in the “good citizenship” indicator. The project will also support the MoE and NIE to review and strengthen the counselling services which have been integrated into schools. These services will be important to help both girls and boys address issues related to gendered attitudes and experiences that arise over the course of the psychosocial development stages of schoolchildren. Reports state that most service providers are not trained to respond to the SRH and Mental health needs of boys and young men which decreases their uptake of services. This aspect will be addressed when developing the School-based Mental Health Program. Further sanitation infrastructure can be poor in rural schools and girls who are menstruating are less likely to attend school due to the lack of toilet facilities and menstrual hygiene material during that period. This is compounded in co-education schools (most public schools are co-education) as the girls are afraid of staining their clothes when menstruating. The project will also assist schools to promote a better understanding of sexual and reproductive health and strengthen menstrual hygiene management systems, especially among adolescents. This is especially important for adolescent children in rural and estate schools, who usually come from households with less awareness of the complexity of these issues for teenagers. 111. Citizen engagement. The project has extensive provision for citizen engagement, including consultations, collaboration, collection of stakeholder feedback, community participation in planning and decision making, and grievance redressal mechanisms. The project provides opportunities for stakeholders, such as the principal, teachers, students, parents, and the local community, to participate in planning and implementation of school development plans. In addition, the quality assurance process is based on school self-evaluations conducted by the school stakeholders including principal, teachers, parents and local community. The results of the quality assurance process will feed back into the school development plan. The quality assurance reports will be publicly available online. The analysis of stakeholders’ feedback will also examine gender related issues, so that timely action can be taken where needed. The students, staff and stakeholder needs and management responses will also be incorporated in the national and provincial education development plans. The relevant information on the implementation of these plans will be shared with the stakeholders. Therefore, in the project’s results framework, the citizen engagement approaches will be captured under two indicators: (i) DLI 7 (PDO4): EPSI results achieved. This DLI is designed to measure the effective implementation of the EPSI program. Page 39 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) Engagement of school community in planning, decision making and implementation of school activities is a key part of the EPSI strategy. (ii) DLI 6 (IO3): National system for school quality assurance established. School community based quality assurance self-reviews will be conducted and the reports will be publicly available. These indicators capture and monitor citizen engagement. F. Environment (including Safeguards) 112. The project is categorized as Environmental Category B. While the IDA credit will not directly finance civil works, which have safeguards implications on the environment, the project will contribute to the GoSL’s overall general education program through the Government budget. The wider Government program may involve the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure and/or the construction of medium-scale infrastructure, such as school buildings and classroom units, based on needs identified by the program. These rehabilitations of existing infrastructure/construction of new infrastructure are thus related to the activities financed by the World Bank and are considered as linked activities to the Bank financed project. Therefore, due diligence requirements will have to meet the safeguard policy requirements under OP/BP 4.01 (Environmental Assessment) which will also incorporate policy requirements of OP/BP 4.04 (Natural Habitats) and OP/BP 4.11 (Physical Cultural Resources), which are triggered on a precautionary basis. 113. It is expected that these activities will take place on existing school lands and the nature of these interventions will be small to medium scale, further reducing the likelihood of potential significant environmental impacts. While construction/rehabilitation activities may have potential site- specific environmental impacts during the construction phase, these can be managed with built-in due diligence, and thus the program will not contribute to significant large-scale irreversible environmental impacts. As the exact locations and nature of any possible physical interventions will be known only during implementation, as a risk mitigation measure and to have stringent mechanisms for environmental safeguards due diligence in place, the GoSL has prepared an ESMF to guide project implementation. The project OMST will include an Environmental Specialist to guide the implementation agencies on the ESMF and facilitate the implementation of safeguard procedures with in the program. The ESMF will include guidance on conducting environmental screening, preparing environmental assessments and management plans, and monitoring, which will be key elements in ensuring sound environmental practices during the implementation of physical interventions in schools. The ESMF was disclosed by the GoSL and by the World Bank on January 29, 2018. 114. Climate and disaster risk screening. The project was screened for climate and disaster risk. Emerging evidence from various sources and the experience over the past decade shows that Sri Lanka is highly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The most frequent disaster events in Sri Lanka are floods, droughts, landslides, storm surge, and cyclones. Sri Lanka is also vulnerable to high-impact, low-frequency events such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Recent natural disasters in Sri Lanka led to significant economic, fiscal, and social impact. The floods and landslides of May 2016 and May 2017 cumulatively caused damages and losses in excess of US$1.1 billion and killed more than 300 people. In addition, these two events damaged approximately 130,000 houses. The drought that prevailed over 2016 and 2017 affected approximately 2 million people and caused significant economic losses and livelihood impacts. 115. To reduce the increasing disaster-related losses, a special emphasis should be placed when designing and implementing development projects and programs. Appropriate risk reduction measures Page 40 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization Project (P163714) should be integrated into both physical and soft investments. Under GEM, direct financing of civil works is not envisaged. The project focuses on improving the quality of the general education, and the funds will be disbursed against DLIs. Therefore, the climate and disaster impacts on the project investments are negligible. However, the project will provide technical support to the MoE and PEAs to mainstream climate change adaptation and risk reduction into education infrastructure. To this end, the resources from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) guidance note on safer schools will be used as appropriate. 116. Climate co-benefits. Disaster risk reduction has been incorporated into Sri Lanka’s education sector though multiple means and at different levels. At the national level, the ESDFP provides a base for having safe schools. GEM is not expecting to directly finance physical infrastructure, but will support soft interventions related to climate change adaptation or disaster risk mainstreaming. (for example, activities including training, awareness raising, and curriculum improvement on climate change and disaster risks adaptation). Under SBPTD (DLI4), GEM will support the improvement of knowledge of the stock of teachers on climate change adaptation, disaster risk management and school safety. The project will also support training and awareness raising activities to help school communities acquire knowledge related to climate change adaptation and disaster risk management and develop school disaster safety planning and monitor its implementation and evaluation at their schools through the national system for quality assurance (DLI6) and EPSI (DLI7). In addition, GEM will support strengthening of school health, counselling and well-being (DLI9). School-based counselling units can work collaboratively with health focal points/counsellors to support traumatized students after a disaster or traumatic event. Strengthening disaster risk management at the school level will help reduce the impact of disaster and enhance commitment of the education community. The project will also provide technical support to the MoE and PEAs to integrate climate change adaptation and risk reduction into education infrastructure. To this end, the resources from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) guidance note on safer schools will be used as appropriate. In addition, the disaster resistant school building designs developed under the coordination of the Disaster Management Center (DMC) will be promoted in future construction of school buildings. Also, the project carries a Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) that will allow the Government to efficiently respond to disasters during the project period and this also will contribute to climate co-benefits. G. World Bank Grievance Redress 117. Communities and individuals who believe that they are adversely affected by a World Bank’s supported project may submit complaints to existing project-level grievance redress mechanisms or the World Bank’s Grievance Redress Service (GRS). The GRS ensures that complaints received are promptly reviewed in order to address project-related concerns. Project affected communities and individuals may submit their complaints to the World Bank’s independent Inspection Panel which determines whether harm occurred, or could occur, as a result of World Bank non-compliance with its policies and procedures. Complaints may be submitted at any time after concerns have been brought directly to the World Bank's attention, and Bank Management has been given an opportunity to respond. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank’s corporate GRS, please visit http://www.worldbank.org/GRS. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank Inspection Panel, please visit www.inspectionpanel. . Page 41 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) VII. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING Results Framework COUNTRY : Sri Lanka General Education Modernization Project Project Development Objectives Enhance quality and strengthen stewardship of the general education system Project Development Objective Indicators Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection Name: Improved English Text English English Annual MoE, and agency MoE, and agency language learning outcomes language language responsible for the testing responsible for the learning learning (NEREC, or OPEN university testing (NEREC, or enhanceme outcomes or NIE) OPEN university or nt (ELLE) of at least NIE) program 80 percent designed of students in the 500 target schools improved Description: This indicator is designed to measure progress in the design and implementation of a new and improved English language program to enhance the English language skills of students in the general education system. Page 42 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection Initially, progress will be measured in terms the number of target school which benefit from direct interventions to improve the English language skills of their students. The improvements in English language learning will be measured through annual assessments of learning outcomes for grades 4 and 8. These assessments will be based on international modules of PISA and curriculum referenced learning outcomes. The improvement is defined as achieving the minimum learning competencies (MLCs) in the curriculum framework for children below the MLCs. Where children are above the MLCs, it will mean rising at least one level higher on the scale of learning competencies. Note: The targets are cumulative numbers and cumulative percentages. Name: Improved Text Mathemati Mathemati Annual MoE, and agency MoE, and agency mathematics learning cs learning cs learning responsible for the testing responsible for the outcomes enhanceme outcomes (NEREC, or OPEN university testing (NEREC, or nt (MLE) of at least or NIE) OPEN university or program 80 percent NIE) designed of students in the 500 target schools improved Description: This DLI is designed to measure the effective implementation of an upgraded mathematics learning program. Initially, this target will be met when students in the agreed-upon target number of schools benefit from direct interventions to improve their mathematics skills. The improvements mathematics learning will be measured through annual assessments of learning outcomes for grades 4 and 8. These assessments will be based on international modules of PISA and curriculum referenced learning outcomes. The improvement is defined as achieving the minimum learning competencies (MLCs) in the curriculum framework for children below the MLCs. Where children are above the MLCs, it will mean rising at least one level higher on the scale of learning competencies. Note: The targets are cumulative numbers and cumulative percentages. Page 43 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection Name: School-based Text SBTD Schools in Annual MoE and Provinces MoE and Provinces professional teacher program at least 75 development (SBPTD) has been percent of programs results achieved designed zones and achieve the implement SBPTD ed results Description: This DLI is designed to measure the effective implementation of the SBPTD, which is measured against a set of agreed-upon results specified in the OM. This indicator will be met when the SBPTD program results are achieved in at least 90% of schools in the percent of zones in the agreed target. Due to SBPTD activities, there should be improvement in teacher knowledge, pedagogical skills, teacher motivation, or classroom management skills or any combination or all of the above. This will be assessed through beneficiary feedback surveys. Note: The target is a cumulative percentage. Name: Enhanced Program Text EPSI Schools in Annual MoE and Provinces MoE and Provinces for School Improvement defined at least 75 (EPSI) results achieved and policy percent of circular zones completed achieve the EPSI results Description: This DLI is designed to measure the effective implementation of the EPSI program, which is measured against a set of agreed-upon results, specified in the OM. Page 44 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection This indicator will be met when the EPSI program results are achieved in at least 90% of schools in the percent of zones in the agreed target: SMCs and/or SDCs engaged in activities to improve learning outcomes and/or socio-emotional skills of students. Socio-emotional skills should be promoted by either curriculum based activities or extra- or co-curricular activities or any combination or all of the above. This will be assessed through stakeholder feedback surveys. Note: Engagement of school community in planning, decision making, and implementation of school activities is a key part of the EPSI strategy. Thus, this indicator captures and monitors citizen engagement. The target is a cumulative percentage. Intermediate Results Indicators Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection Name: Promotion of digitally Text Production English Annual EPD EPD enabled books for English of digitally language language and mathematics enabled digitally learning books for enabled Evidence will be data English books for provided by the EPD. A language grades 3- TPVA will be contracted to and 11, and verify the availability of mathemati mathemati DVDs/CDs in a scientific cs learning cs digitally random sample of schools in schools enabled commence books for d grades 1– 11 made available to schools Description: This indicator is designed to measure progress in the implementation of digitally enabled learning material for mathematics and English language learning. Page 45 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection Description: This indicator will be met when the digitally enabled learning materials are made available to the target grades in all schools. This will include posting on the EPD website, and supplying a DVD/CD of the book to all children in the relevant grades each year. Name: Increase in the Text Zero 20,000 Annual MoE, NIE and NCOEs MoE, NIE and quantity of new additional NCOEs professionally qualified professiona teachers lly qualified teachers (at least 50% of those are female) Description: This DLI is designed to measure the increase in the number of professionally qualified teachers in the school system, who obtained professional qualification required to enter the teacher service. This indicator will be met when the target number of additional professionally qualified teachers are appointed into the school system in a given year. At least 50% of those should be female. Note: The target is a cumulative number. Name: National system for Text Framework School Annual MOE MoE school quality assurance for a school community established community -based -based quality quality assurance assurance self- Page 46 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection and reviews external and review, external new reviews protocols, completed and and guidelines publicly developed, reported in policy at least circular 5,000 issued schools Description: This indicator is designed to measure progress in the establishment of a national system for school quality assurance. The indicator will be met when school community-based quality assurance self-reviews and external reviews are completed in accordance with the quality assurance protocols and guidelines, and publicly reported in the number of schools in agreed target. Note: This target is a cumulative number. The quality assurance process is based on school self-evaluations conducted by the school stakeholders. These results of the quality assurance process feed back into the school development plan. The quality assurance reports will be publicly available online, including to the school stakeholders. Note: The target number is a cumulative number. Name: Human resource Text Zero At least Annual MoE and Provinces MoE and Provinces development of education 275 academic and administrative master’s service staff degrees completed by teacher educators, Page 47 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection curriculum developers, and education administrat ors (at least 50% of those are female) Description: This indicator measures progress in the number of master’s degree enrollments are awarded and the degree studies completed by teacher educators, curriculum developers and education administrators. The targets are cumulative. At least 50% of those should be female. Note: By "awarded" we mean that the target number of candidates have been given scholarships and have enrolled in their studies. Name: Promoting good Text Good Good Annual MoE and Provinces MoE and Provinces citizenship engagement citizenship citizenship program program and implement guidelines ed in at defined least 75 percent of zones Description: This indicator is designed to measure progress in the development and implementation of the good citizenship program. Note: The indicator will be met when citizenship program is implemented in at least 90% of schools in the percent of zones in the agreed target. The program implementation parameters will be defined in the Operations Manual. Page 48 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection Name: Inclusive education Text Inclusive Inclusive Annual MoE and Provinces MoE and Provinces program developed and education education implemented program program and available guidelines within defined schools in at least 75 percent of zones Description: This indicator is designed to measure progress in the development and implementation of the inclusive education program. Note: The indicator will be met when inclusive education program is implemented in at least 90% of schools in the percent of zones in the agreed target. Implementation will consist of the following: a) availability of a teacher with a post-graduate diploma in special education in every school and; b) the availability of other special education services as outlined in the operations manual. Name: Expanded school Text School Expanded Annual MoE and Provinces MoE and Provinces health and nutrition health and school program developed and nutrition health and implemented and results program nutrition achieved expanded program to include implement psycho- ed and social well- results being of achieved in students at least 1,000 schools Page 49 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Unit of Responsibility for Indicator Name Core Baseline End Target Frequency Data Source/Methodology Measure Data Collection Description: This indicator is designed to measure progress on the implementation of the expanded school health and nutrition program, which will include mental health and well-being. Progress will be measured in terms of the number of schools implementing the expanded program and achieving the results specified in the OM. This indicator will be achieved when students in the target number of schools have benefitted from counseling and school health inspection services. Note: The target number is cumulative. Name: Adequate and timely Text Inconsisten At least Annual MoE and Provinces Ministry of release of treasury funds t release of 90% of Education and requested to education requested requested Ministry of Finance sector program funds to funds education released sector program Description: This indicator is designed to measure the timely transfer of funds from the Treasury to the Education Sector Program. Page 50 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Target Values Project Development Objective Indicators FY Indicator Name Baseline YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 End Target English language learning outcomes of at least 40 percent of Students in at Students in at students in the least 100 least 250 250 target English English English schools benefit schools benefit schools language language language English from direct from direct improved learning learning learning language interventions interventions outcomes of at outcomes of at outcomes of at Improved English language learning learning under the ELLE under the ELLE Students in at least 60 least 80 least 80 outcomes enhancement program to program to least 500 percent of percent of percent of (ELLE) program improve improve schools benefit students in the students in the students in the designed English English from direct 500 target 500 target 500 target language language interventions schools schools schools learning learning under the ELLE improved improved improved outcomes outcomes. program to improve English language learning outcomes Students in at Students in at Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics least 100 least 250 language learning learning Mathematics Improved mathematics learning outcomes learning learning schools benefit schools benefit learning outcomes of at outcomes of at enhancement from direct from direct outcomes of at least 60 least 80 outcomes of at Page 51 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Indicator Name Baseline YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 End Target (MLE) program interventions interventions least 40 percent of percent of least 80 designed under the MLE under the MLE percent of students in the students in the percent of program to program to students in the 500 target 500 target students in the improve improve 250 target schools schools 500 target mathematics mathematics schools improved improved schools learning learning improved improved outcomes outcomes Students in at least 500 schools benefit from direct interventions under the MLE program to improve mathematics language learning outcomes Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at SBTD program least 15 least 30 least 45 least 60 least 75 least 75 School-based professional teacher has been percent of percent of percent of percent of percent of percent of development (SBPTD) programs results designed and zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve achieved implemented the SBPTD the SBPTD the SBPTD the SBPTD the SBPTD the SBPTD results results results results results results Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at EPSI defined least 15 least 30 least 45 least 60 least 75 least 75 Enhanced Program for School and policy percent of percent of percent of percent of percent of percent of Improvement (EPSI) results achieved circular zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve completed the EPSI results the EPSI results the EPSI results the EPSI results the EPSI results the EPSI Page 52 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Indicator Name Baseline YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 End Target results Intermediate Results Indicators FY Indicator Name Baseline YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 End Target English English English English English English language language language language language language Production of digitally digitally digitally digitally digitally digitally digitally enabled books enabled books enabled books enabled books enabled books enabled books enabled books for grades 8-9 for grades 3- for grade 6 and for grade 7 and for grades 10- for grades 3-5, Promotion of digitally enabled books for for English and 11, and mathematics mathematics 11, and and English language and mathematics language and mathematics mathematics digitally digitally mathematics mathematics learning mathematics digitally digitally enabled books enabled books digitally digitally learning in enabled books enabled books for grades 6 for grades 7 enabled books enabled books schools for grades 1, 8- for grades 1– and 10 made and 11 made for grades 2–3 for grades 4–5 commenced 9 made 11 made available to available to made available made available available to available to schools schools to schools to schools schools schools 4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000 20,000 20,000 additional additional additional additional additional additional professionally professionally professionally professionally professionally professionally Increase in the quantity of new qualified qualified qualified qualified qualified qualified Zero professionally qualified teachers teachers (at teachers (at teachers (at teachers (at teachers (at teachers (at least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of those are those are those are those are those are those are female) female) female) female) female) female) Page 53 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Indicator Name Baseline YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 End Target Framework for School School School School School School a school community- community- community- community- community- community- community- based quality based quality based quality based quality based quality based quality based quality assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- assurance and reviews and reviews and reviews and reviews and reviews and reviews and National system for school quality external external external external external external external assurance established review, new reviews reviews reviews reviews reviews reviews protocols, and completed and completed and completed and completed and completed and completed and guidelines publicly publicly publicly publicly publicly publicly developed, reported in at reported in at reported in at reported in at reported in at reported in at policy circular least 1,000 least 2,000 least 3,000 least 4,000 least 5,000 least 5,000 issued schools schools schools schools schools schools 150 master’s 300 master’s At least 100 At least 200 At least 275 At least 275 degree degree master’s master’s master’s master’s enrollments enrollments degrees degrees degrees degrees awarded for awarded for completed by completed by completed by completed by teacher teacher teacher teacher teacher teacher Human resource development of educators, educators, educators, educators, educators, educators, education academic and administrative Zero curriculum curriculum curriculum curriculum curriculum curriculum service staff developers and developers and developers and developers and developers and developers, education education education education education and education administrators administrators administrators administrators administrators administrators (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% those are those are those are those are those are of those are female) female) female) female) female) female) Good Good Good Good Good Good Good citizenship citizenship citizenship citizenship citizenship citizenship citizenship program program program program program Promoting good citizenship engagement program and program implemented implemented implemented implemented implemented guidelines implemented in at least 15 in at least 30 in at least 45 in at least 60 in at least 75 defined in at least 75 percent of percent of percent of percent of percent of Page 54 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Indicator Name Baseline YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 End Target zones zones zones zones zones percent of zones Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive education education education education education education Inclusive program program program program program program education Inclusive education program developed available available available available available available program and and implemented within schools within schools within schools within schools within schools within schools guidelines in at least 15 in at least 30 in at least 45 in at least 60 in at least 75 in at least 75 defined percent of percent of percent of percent of percent of percent of zones zones zones zones zones zones Expanded School health Expanded Expanded Expanded Expanded Expanded school health and nutrition school health school health school health school health school health and nutrition program Expanded school health and nutrition and nutrition and nutrition and nutrition and nutrition and nutrition program expanded to program developed and implemented and program program program program program implemented include results achieved completed in completed in completed in completed in completed in and results psycho-social at least 100 at least 250 at least 500 at least 750 at least 1000 achieved in at well-being of schools schools schools schools schools least 1,000 students schools Inconsistent release of Adequate and timely release of treasury At least 80% of At least 80% of At least 85% of At least 85% of At least 90% of At least 90% of requested funds requested to education sector requested requested requested requested requested requested funds to program funds released funds released funds released funds released funds released funds released education sector program Page 55 of 74 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) ANNEX 1: Results Framework Matrix PDO Level Indicators Matrix Target Values (January 1-Decembr 31) Results Unit of Baseline Core End Target Indicators Measure (2018) Year 1 (2019) Year 2 (2020) Year 3 (2021) Year 4 (2022) Year 5 (2023) (June 2024) PDO Indicator X Text ELLE program Students in at Students in at English language English English English 1: Improved (Cumulative designed least 100 least 250 learning outcomes language language language English number/per schools benefit schools benefit of at least 40 learning learning learning language centage) from direct from direct percent of students outcomes of at outcomes of outcomes of at learning interventions interventions in the target schools least 60 percent at least 80 least 80 outcomes under the ELLE under the ELLE improved of students in percent of percent of program to program to the 500 target students in students in the improve improve Students in at least schools the 500 500 target English English 250 schools benefit improved target schools schools language language from direct improved improved learning learning interventions under outcomes outcomes the ELLE program to improve English language learning outcomes PDO Indicator X Text Mathematics Students in at Students in at Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics 2: Improved (Cumulative learning least 100 least 250 learning outcomes learning learning learning mathematics number/per enhancement schools benefit schools benefit of at least 40 outcomes of at outcomes of outcomes of at learning centage) (MLE) from direct from direct percent of students least 60 percent at least 80 least 80 outcomes program interventions interventions in the 250 target of students in percent of percent of designed under the MLE under the MLE schools improved the 500 target students in students in the program to program to schools the 500 500 target improve improve Students in at least improved target schools schools mathematics mathematics 500 schools benefit improved improved learning learning from direct outcomes outcomes interventions under the MLE program to improve mathematics 56 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Target Values (January 1-Decembr 31) Results Unit of Baseline Core End Target Indicators Measure (2018) Year 1 (2019) Year 2 (2020) Year 3 (2021) Year 4 (2022) Year 5 (2023) (June 2024) language learning outcomes PDO Indicator Text SBTD Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at least Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at 3: School-based (Cumulative program has least 15 least 30 45 percent of zones least 60 percent least 75 least 75 professional percentage) been percent of percent of achieve the SBPTD of zones percent of percent of teacher designed and zones achieve zones achieve results achieve the zones achieve zones achieve development implemented the SBPTD the SBPTD SBPTD results the SBPTD the SBPTD (SBPTD) results results results results programs results achieved PDO Indicator Text EPSI defined Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at least Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at 4: Enhanced (Cumulative and policy least 15 least 30 45 percent of zones least 60 percent least 75 least 75 Program for percentage) circular percent of percent of achieve the EPSI of zones percent of percent of School completed zones achieve zones achieve results achieve the zones achieve zones achieve Improvement the EPSI the EPSI EPSI results the EPSI the EPSI (EPSI) results results results results results achieveda Note: a. Engagement of school community in planning, decision making, and implementation of school activities is a key part of the EPSI strategy. Thus, this indicator captures and monitors citizen engagement. 57 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Intermediate Outcome Indicators Matrix Intermediate Baseline End Target (June Outcome Year 1 (2019) Year 2 (2020) Year 3 (2021) Year 4 (2022) Year 5 (2023) (2018) 2024) Indicator Intermediate Production of English language English language English language English language English language English language Outcome digitally digitally enabled digitally enabled digitally enabled digitally enabled digitally enabled digitally enabled Indicator 1: enabled books books for grade 6 books for grade 7 books for grades books for grades books for grades books for grades Promotion of for English and mathematics and mathematics 8-9 and 10-11, and 3-5, and 3-11, and digitally language and digitally enabled digitally enabled mathematics mathematics mathematics mathematics enabled books mathematics books for grades books for grades digitally enabled digitally enabled digitally enabled digitally enabled for English learning in 6 and 10 made 7 and 11 made books for grades books for grades books for grades books for grades language and schools available to available to 1, 8-9 made 2–3 made 4–5 made 1–11 made mathematics commenced schools schools available to available to available to available to learning schools schools schools schools Intermediate 0 4,000 additional 8,000 additional 12,000 additional 16,000 additional 20,000 additional 20,000 additional Outcome professionally professionally professionally professionally professionally professionally Indicator 2: qualified teachers qualified teachers qualified teachers qualified teachers qualified teachers qualified teachers Increase in the (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of quantity of those are female) those are female) those are female) those are female) those are female) those are female) new professionally qualified teachers Intermediate Framework for School School School School School School Outcome a school community- community- community- community- community- community- Indicator 3: community- based quality based quality based quality based quality based quality based quality National based quality assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- system for assurance and reviews and reviews and reviews and reviews and reviews and reviews and school quality external external reviews external reviews external reviews external reviews external reviews external reviews assurance* review, new completed and completed and completed and completed and completed and completed and established protocols, and publicly reported publicly reported publicly reported publicly reported publicly reported publicly reported guidelines in at least 1,000 in at least 2,000 in at least 3,000 in at least 4,000 in at least 5,000 in at least 5,000 developed, schools schools schools schools schools schools policy circular issued 58 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Intermediate Baseline End Target (June Outcome Year 1 (2019) Year 2 (2020) Year 3 (2021) Year 4 (2022) Year 5 (2023) (2018) 2024) Indicator Intermediate 0 150 master’s 300 master’s At least 100 At least 200 At least 275 At least 275 Outcome degree degree master’s degrees master’s degrees master’s degrees master’s degrees Indicator 4: enrollments enrollments completed by completed by completed by completed by Human awarded for degrees awarded teacher teacher teacher teacher resource teacher for teacher educators, educators, educators, educators, development educators, educators, curriculum curriculum curriculum curriculum of education curriculum curriculum developers, and developers, and developers, and developers, and academic and developers, and developers, and education education education education administrative education education administrators (at administrators (at administrators (at administrators (at service staff administrators (at administrators (at least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of those are those are those are those are those are female) those are female) female) female) female) female) Intermediate Good Good citizenship Good citizenship Good citizenship Good citizenship Good citizenship Good citizenship Outcome citizenship program program program program program program Indicator 5: program and implemented and implemented and implemented and implemented and implemented and implemented and Promoting guidelines results achieved results achieved results achieved results achieved results achieved results achieved good defined in at least 15 in at least 30 in at least 45 in at least 60 in at least 75 in at least 75 citizenship percent of zones percent of zones percent of zones percent of zones percent of zones percent of zones engagement Intermediate Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Outcome education education education education education education education Indicator 6: program and program program program program program program Inclusive guidelines implemented and implemented and implemented and implemented and implemented and implemented and education defined results achieved results achieved results achieved results achieved results achieved results achieved program within schools in within schools in within schools in within schools in within schools in within schools in developed and at least 15 at least 30 at least 45 at least 60 at least 75 at least 75 implemented percent of zones percent of zones percent of zones percent of zones percent of zones percent of zones 59 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Intermediate Baseline End Target (June Outcome Year 1 (2019) Year 2 (2020) Year 3 (2021) Year 4 (2022) Year 5 (2023) (2018) 2024) Indicator Intermediate School health Expanded school Expanded school Expanded school Expanded school Expanded school Expanded school Outcome and nutrition health and health and health and health and health and health and Indicator 7: program nutrition nutrition nutrition nutrition program nutrition nutrition Expanded expanded to program program program implemented and program program school health include implemented and implemented and implemented and results achieved implemented and implemented and and nutrition psychosocial results achieved results achieved results achieved in at least 750 results achieved results achieved program well-being of in at least 100 in at least 250 in at least 500 schools in at least in at least developed and students schools schools schools 1,000 schools 1,000 schools implemented Intermediate Inconsistent At least 80% of At least 80% of At least 85% of At least 85% of At least 90% of At least 90% of Outcome release of requested funds requested funds requested funds requested funds requested funds requested funds Indicator 8: requested released released released released released released Adequate and funds to timely release education of treasury sector funds program requested to education sector program Note: The quality assurance process is based on school self-evaluations conducted by the school stakeholders. These results of the quality assurance process feed back into the school development plan. The quality assurance reports will be publicly available online, including to the school stakeholders. 60 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) ANNEX 2: DLIs Matrix Note: The text in bold denotes the disbursement linked indicator results (DLRs). Year 0 is from the date of signing to December 31, 2018. DRLs for Year 1-5 cover from January 1 up to December 31 of each year. The expected project years for each DLI’s achievemen t is indicative, and can be carried forward if not met in the targeted year. All DLIs are scalable, that is, there will be disbursement of financing proceeds proportional to progress toward achieving the DLI. All DLIs do not have minimum threshold, that is, minimum value or share of the target to trigger disbursement under each period. Disbursements will be capped to the annual DLI values, irrespective of any potential overachievement of the annual targets. Total Financing DLR for Year 0 DLR for Year 1 DLR for Year 2 DLR for Year 3 DLR for Year 4 DLR for Year 5 DLIs Allocated to (2018) (2019) (2020) (2021) (2022) (2023) DLI DLI 1: Improved English US$12 million ELLE program Students in at Students in at English English English language learning commenced in least 100 least 250 language language language outcomes at least 50 schools benefit schools benefit learning learning learning schools from direct from direct outcomes of at outcomes of at outcomes of at interventions interventions least 40 least 60 least 80 under the ELLE under the ELLE percent of percent of percent of program to program to students in the students in the students in the improve improve English 250 target 500 target 500 target English language schools schools schools language learning improved improved improved learning outcomes outcomes Students in at least 500 schools benefit from direct interventions under the ELLE program to improve English language 61 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Total Financing DLR for Year 0 DLR for Year 1 DLR for Year 2 DLR for Year 3 DLR for Year 4 DLR for Year 5 DLIs Allocated to (2018) (2019) (2020) (2021) (2022) (2023) DLI learning outcomes DLI 1 Value: US$2 million US$3 million US$4 million US$3 million DLI 2: Improved US$12 million Mathematics Students in at Students in at Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics mathematics learning learning least 100 least 250 learning learning learning outcomes enhancement schools benefit schools benefit outcomes of at outcomes of at outcomes of at (MLE) program from direct from direct least 40 least 60 least 80 commenced in interventions interventions percent of percent of percent of at least 50 under the MLE under the MLE students in the students in the students in the schools program to program to 250 target 500 target 500 target improve improve schools schools schools mathematics mathematics improved improved improved learning learning outcomes outcomes Students in at least 500 schools benefit from direct interventions under the MLE program to improve mathematics learning outcomes DLI 2 Value: US$2 million US$3 million US$4 million US$3 million DLI 3: Promotion of US$9 million English English English English English digitally enabled books for language language language language language English language and digitally digitally digitally digitally digitally mathematics learning enabled books enabled books enabled books enabled books enabled books for grade 6 and for grade 7 and for grades 8-9 for grades 10- for grades 3-5, mathematics mathematics and 11, and and digitally digitally mathematics mathematics mathematics enabled books enabled books digitally digitally digitally 62 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Total Financing DLR for Year 0 DLR for Year 1 DLR for Year 2 DLR for Year 3 DLR for Year 4 DLR for Year 5 DLIs Allocated to (2018) (2019) (2020) (2021) (2022) (2023) DLI for grades 6 for grades 7 enabled books enabled books enabled books and 10 made and 11 made for grades 1, 8- for grades 2–3 for grades 4–5 available to available to 9 made made available made available schools schools available to to schools to schools schools DLI 3 Value: US$3 million US$3 million US$3 million DLI 4: School-based US$11 million SBPTD program Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at Schools in atSchools in at professional teacher commenced in least 15 least 30 least 45 least 60 least 75 development (SBPTD) at least 15 percent of percent of percent of percent of percent of programs results achieved percent of zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve zones achievezones achieve zones the SBPTD the SBPTD the SBPTD the SBPTD the SBPTD results results results results results DLI 4 Value: US$3 million US$2 million US$3 million US$3 million DLI 5: Increase in the US$9 million 4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000 20,000 quantity of new additional additional additional additional additional professionally qualified professionally professionally professionally professionally professionally teachers qualified qualified qualified qualified qualified teachers (at teachers (at teachers (at teachers (at teachers (at least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of least 50% of those are those are those are those are those are female) female) female) female) female) DLI 5 Value: US$3 million US$3 million US$3 million DLI 6: National system for US$9 million Quality School School School School School school quality assurance assurance new community- community- community- community- community- established protocols and based quality based quality based quality based quality based quality guidelines pilot assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- assurance self- tested in a reviews and reviews and reviews and reviews and reviews and sample of 100 external external external external external schools reviews reviews reviews reviews reviews completed and completed and completed and completed and completed and publicly publicly publicly publicly publicly reported in at reported in at reported in at reported in at reported in at least 1,000 least 2,000 least 3,000 least 4,000 least 5,000 63 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Total Financing DLR for Year 0 DLR for Year 1 DLR for Year 2 DLR for Year 3 DLR for Year 4 DLR for Year 5 DLIs Allocated to (2018) (2019) (2020) (2021) (2022) (2023) DLI schools schools schools schools schools DLI 6 Value: US$2 million US$3 million US$2 million US$2 million DLI 7: Enhanced Program US$11 million Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at Schools in at for School Improvement least 15 least 30 least 45 least 60 least 75 (EPSI) results achieved percent of percent of percent of percent of percent of zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve zones achieve the EPSI results the EPSI results the EPSI results the EPSI results the EPSI results DLI 7 Value: US$3 million US$2 million US$3 million US$3 million DLI 8: Human resource US$9 million HRD for 150 master’s 300 master’s At least 100 At least 200 At least 275 development of education teacher degree degree master’s master’s master’s academic and educators, enrollments enrollments degrees degrees degrees administrative service staff curriculum awarded for awarded for completed by completed by completed by developers, teacher teacher teacher teacher teacher and education educators, educators, educators, educators, educators, administrators curriculum curriculum curriculum curriculum curriculum developed and developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, professionally and education and education and education and education and education notified administrators administrators administrators administrators administrators (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of (at least 50% of those are those are those are those are those are female) female) female) female) female) DLI 8 Value: US$3 million US$2 million US$2 million US$2 million DLI 9: Expanded school US$8 million Expanded Expanded Expanded Expanded Expanded Expanded health and nutrition school health school health school health school health school health school health program developed and and nutrition and nutrition and nutrition and nutrition and nutrition and nutrition implemented program program program program program program developed and implemented implemented implemented implemented implemented officially and results and results and results and results and results notified achieved in at achieved in at achieved in at achieved in at achieved in at least 100 least 250 least 500 least 750 least schools schools schools schools 1,000 schools DLI 9 Value: US$3 million US$3 million US$2 million 64 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) DLI Verification Protocol Table Note: The text in bold denotes the disbursement linked indicator results (DLRs). Year 0 is from the date of signing to December 31, 2018. DRLs for Year 1-5 cover from January 1 up to December 31 of each year. The expected project years for each DLI’s achievemen t is indicative, and can be carried forward if not met in the targeted year. All DLIs are scalable, that is, there will be disbursement of financing proceeds proportional to progress toward achieving the DLI. All DLIs do not have minimum threshold, that is, minimum value or share of the target to trigger disbursement under each period. Disbursements will be capped to the annual DLI values, irrespective of any potential overachievement of the annual targets. Protocol to Evaluate Achievement of the DLI and Scalability of Data/Result Verification DLI Definition/Description of Achievement Disbursements Verification (Yes/No) Data Source/Agency Procedure Entity DLI 1: English language Definition: This indicator is designed to measure Yes MoE, and agency MoE/TPVA Evidence will be learning outcomes progress in the design and implementation of a new and responsible for the through a TPVA improved improved English language program to enhance the testing (NEREC, or agency responsible English language skills of students in the general OPEN university or for assessing English education system. NIE) language learning outcomes (NEREC, Description: Initially, progress will be measured in terms OPEN university, or the number of target school which benefit from direct NIE), using a scientific interventions to improve the English language skills of random sample of their students. The improvements in English language the schools. learning will be measured through annual assessments of learning outcomes for grades 4 and 8. These assessments will be based on international modules of PISA and curriculum referenced learning outcomes. The improvement is defined as achieving the minimum learning competencies (MLCs) in the curriculum framework for children below the MLCs. Where children are above the MLCs, it will mean rising at least one level higher on the scale of learning competencies. Note: The targets are cumulative numbers and cumulative percentages. DLI achievement triggers: 65 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Protocol to Evaluate Achievement of the DLI and Scalability of Data/Result Verification DLI Definition/Description of Achievement Disbursements Verification (Yes/No) Data Source/Agency Procedure Entity • Y0: ELLE program commenced in at least 50 schools • Y1: Students in at least 100 schools benefit from direct interventions under the ELLE program to improve English language learning outcomes • Y3: Students in at least 500 schools benefit from direct interventions under the ELLE program to improve English language learning outcomes English language learning outcomes improved for at least 40 percent of students in schools in which the program has been implemented (targeted 250 schools) • Y5: English language learning outcomes improved for at least 80 percent of students in schools in which the program has been implemented (targeted 500 schools) DLI 2: Definition: This DLI is designed to measure the effective Yes MoE, and agency MoE/TPVA Evidence will be Mathematics learning implementation of an upgraded mathematics learning responsible for the through a TPVA outcomes improved program. testing (NEREC, or agency responsible OPEN university or for assessing Description: Initially, this target will be met when NIE) Mathematics learning students in the agreed-upon target number of schools outcomes (NEREC, benefit from direct interventions to improve their OPEN university, or mathematics skills. The improvements mathematics NIE), using a scientific learning will be measured through annual assessments random sample of of learning outcomes for grades 4 and 8. These the schools. assessments will be based on international modules of PISA and curriculum referenced learning outcomes. The improvement is defined as achieving the minimum learning competencies (MLCs) in the curriculum framework for children below the MLCs. Where children are above the MLCs, it will mean rising at least one level higher on the scale of learning competencies. 66 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Protocol to Evaluate Achievement of the DLI and Scalability of Data/Result Verification DLI Definition/Description of Achievement Disbursements Verification (Yes/No) Data Source/Agency Procedure Entity Note: The targets are cumulative numbers and cumulative percentages. DLI achievement triggers: • Y0 (2018): Mathematics learning enhancement (MLE) program commenced in at least 50 schools • Y1: Students in at least 100 schools benefit from direct interventions under the MLE program to improve mathematics learning outcomes • Y3: Students in at least 500 schools benefit from direct interventions under the MLE program to improve mathematics learning outcomes Mathematics learning outcomes improved for at least 40 percent of students in schools in which the program has been implemented (targeted 250 schools) • Y5: Mathematics learning outcomes improved for at least 80 percent of students in schools in which the program has been implemented (targeted 500 schools) DLI 3: Definition: This indicator is designed to measure Yes EPD EPD, TPVA Evidence will be data Promotion of digitally progress in the implementation of digitally enabled provided by the EPD. enabled learning learning material for mathematics and English language A TPVA will be material for learning. contracted to verify mathematics and the availability of English language Description: This indicator will be met when the digitally DVDs/CDs in a learning enabled learning materials are made available to the scientific random target grades in all schools. Made available will include sample of schools. posting on the EPD website, and supplying a DVD/CD of the book to all children in the relevant grades each year. 67 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Protocol to Evaluate Achievement of the DLI and Scalability of Data/Result Verification DLI Definition/Description of Achievement Disbursements Verification (Yes/No) Data Source/Agency Procedure Entity DLI achievement triggers: • Y1: English language digitally enabled books for grade 6 and mathematics digitally enabled books for grades 6 and 10 made available to schools • Y2: English language digitally enabled books for grade 7 and mathematics digitally enabled books for grades 7 and 11 made available to schools • Y4: English language digitally enabled books for grades 10-11, and mathematics digitally enabled books for grades 2–3 made available to schools DLI 4: SBPTD programs Definition: This DLI is designed to measure the effective Yes MoE and provinces MoE/TPVA Evidence will be data results achieved implementation of the SBPTD, which is measured collected by the MoE against a set of agreed-upon results specified in the OM. and provinces. Description: This indicator will be met when the SBPTD A TPVA will be program results are achieved in at least 90% of schools contracted to confirm in the percent of zones in the agreed target. Due to the accuracy of the SBPTD activities, there should be improvement in data provided by the teacher knowledge, pedagogical skills, teacher MoE and provinces, motivation, or classroom management skills or any using beneficiary combination or all of the above. This will be assessed feedback surveys in a through beneficiary feedback surveys. scientific random sample of the Note: The target is a cumulative percentage. schools. DLI achievement triggers: • Y0 (2018): SBPTD program commenced in at least 15% of zones • Y2: Schools in 30% of zones achieve SBPTD results • Y4: Schools in 60% of zones achieve SBPTD results • Y5: Schools in 75% of zones achieve SBPTD results DLI 5: Increase in the Definition: This DLI is designed to measure the increase Yes MoE, NCOEs, and NIE MoE Evidence will be the 68 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Protocol to Evaluate Achievement of the DLI and Scalability of Data/Result Verification DLI Definition/Description of Achievement Disbursements Verification (Yes/No) Data Source/Agency Procedure Entity quantity of new in the number of professionally qualified teachers in the data collected by the professionally qualified school system, who obtained professional qualification MoE, based on its teachers required to enter the teacher service. annual data collection and Description: This indicator will be met when the target reporting number of additional professionally qualified teachers mechanisms for are appointed into the school system in a given year. At teacher certification least 50% of those should be female. and placement in schools. Note: The target is a cumulative number. DLI achievement triggers: • Y2: 8,000 additional professionally qualified teachers • Y3: 12.000 additional professionally qualified teachers • Y5: 20,000 additional professionally qualified teachers DLI 6: National system Definition: This indicator is designed to measure Yes MoE MoE/TPVA Evidence will be data for school quality progress in the establishment of a national system for collected and assurance established school quality assurance. reported by the MoE. Description: The indicator will be met when school A TPVA will be community-based quality assurance self-reviews and contracted to confirm external reviews are completed in accordance with the the accuracy of the quality assurance protocols and guidelines, and publicly data provided by the reported in the number of schools in agreed target. MoE, using a random sample of the Note: This target is a cumulative number. The quality schools. assurance process is based on school self-evaluations conducted by the school stakeholders. These results of the quality assurance process feed back into the school 69 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Protocol to Evaluate Achievement of the DLI and Scalability of Data/Result Verification DLI Definition/Description of Achievement Disbursements Verification (Yes/No) Data Source/Agency Procedure Entity development plan. The quality assurance reports will be publicly available online, including to the school stakeholders. Note: The target number is a cumulative number. DLI achievement triggers: • Y0 (2018): Quality assurance new protocols and guidelines pilot tested in a sample of 100 schools • Y2: School community-based quality assurance self- reviews and external reviews completed and publicly reported in at least 2,000 schools • Y3: School community-based quality assurance self- reviews and external reviews completed and publicly reported in at least 3,000 schools • Y4: School community-based quality assurance self- reviews and external reviews completed and publicly reported in at least 4,000 schools DLI 7: Enhanced Definition: This DLI is designed to measure the effective Yes MoE and provinces MoE/TPVA Evidence will be data Program for School implementation of the EPSI program, which is measured collected by the MoE Improvement (EPSI) against a set of agreed-upon results, specified in the and provinces. results achieved OM. A TPVA will be Description: This indicator will be met when the EPSI contracted to confirm program results are achieved in at least 90% of schools the accuracy of the in the percent of zones in the agreed target: SMCs data provided by the and/or SDCs engaged in activities to improve learning MoE and provinces, outcomes and/or socio-emotional skills of students. using stakeholder Socio-emotional skills should be promoted by either feedback surveys in a curriculum based activities or extra- or co-curricular scientific random activities or any combination or all of the above. This sample of the will be assessed through stakeholder feedback surveys. schools. 70 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Protocol to Evaluate Achievement of the DLI and Scalability of Data/Result Verification DLI Definition/Description of Achievement Disbursements Verification (Yes/No) Data Source/Agency Procedure Entity Note: Engagement of school community in planning, decision making, and implementation of school activities is a key part of the EPSI strategy. Thus, this indicator captures and monitors citizen engagement. Note: The target is a cumulative percentage. DLI achievement triggers: • Y1: Schools in 15% of zones achieve EPSI results • Y2: Schools in 30% of zones achieve EPSI results • Y4: Schools in 60% of zones achieve EPSI results • Y5: Schools in 75% of zones achieve EPSI results DLI 8: Human resource Definition: This indicator consists of the number of Yes MoE and provinces MoE/TPVA Evidence will be development of master’s degrees completed by teacher educators, based on records education academic curriculum developers, and education administrators. provided by the MoE. and administrative services Description: This indicator will be met when the agreed A TPVA will be number of master’s degree enrollments are awarded contracted to confirm and the degree studies completed by teacher educators, the accuracy of the curriculum developers, and education administrators. At data provided by the least 50% of those should be female. MoE, using a random sample of the Note: The targets for master’s degree enrollments beneficiaries of the awarded and degrees completed are cumulative. masters’ degree scholarship program. DLI achievement triggers: • Y0 (2018): HRD program for teacher educators, curriculum developers, and education administrators developed and officially notified • Y2: 300 master’s degree enrollments awarded to teacher educators, curriculum developers, and 71 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Protocol to Evaluate Achievement of the DLI and Scalability of Data/Result Verification DLI Definition/Description of Achievement Disbursements Verification (Yes/No) Data Source/Agency Procedure Entity education administrators (at least 50% of those should be female) • Y3: At least 100 master’s degrees completed by teacher educators, curriculum developers, and education administrators (at least 50% of those should be female) • Y4: At least 200 master’s degrees completed by teacher educators, curriculum developers, and education administrators (at least 50% of those should be female) DLI 9: Definition: This indicator is designed to measure Yes MoE, provinces MoE, Evidence will be Expanded school progress on the implementation of the expanded school provinces, based on records health and nutrition health and nutrition program, which will include mental and TPVA provided by the MoE. program developed health and well-being. Progress will be measured in and implemented terms of the number of schools implementing the A TPVA will be expanded program and achieving the results specified in contracted to confirm the OM. the accuracy of the data provided by the Description: This indicator will be achieved when MoE, using a random students in the target number of schools have sample of schools. benefitted from counseling and school health inspection services. Note: The target number is cumulative. DLI achievement triggers: • Y0 (2018): Expanded school health and nutrition program developed and officially notified • Y1: Expanded school health and nutrition program implemented and results achieved in at least 100 schools • Y4: Expanded school health and nutrition program 72 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) Protocol to Evaluate Achievement of the DLI and Scalability of Data/Result Verification DLI Definition/Description of Achievement Disbursements Verification (Yes/No) Data Source/Agency Procedure Entity implemented and results achieved in at least 750 schools 73 The World Bank General Education Modernization (P163714) ANNEX 3: Results Chain Components Intermediate Outcomes PDO-level Outcomes PDO Component 1: Enhancing Quality and Strengthening Stewardship of Primary and Secondary Education Quality Quality • Promotion of digitally enabled • Curriculum Modernization and books for English language and Quality Diversification mathematics learning • Improved English • Teacher Development • Increase in the quantity of new language learning • Strengthening Education professionally qualified outcomes Leadership and Management teachers • Improved To enhance • Promoting Social Equity and • Human resource development mathematics learning quality and Inclusion through Education of education academic and outcomes strengthen administrative service staff • School-based stewardship Stewardship • Promoting good citizenship professional teacher of the • System Level Quality engagement development general Assessment • Inclusive education program programs results education • Enhanced Program for School developed and implemented achieved system Improvement • Expanded school health and nutrition program developed Stewardship and implemented • Enhanced Program for School Improvement Stewardship results achieved Component 2: Project Operations and • National system for school Technical Support quality assurance established • Coordination and implementation of the GEM component through operational and TA 74