REPORT NO.: RES60130 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING TO REPUBLIC OF DJIBOUTI EDUCATION MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Regional Vice President: Ousmane Dione Country Director: Stephane Guimbert Regional Director: Fadia M. Saadah Practice Manager/Manager: Andreas Blom Task Team Leader(s): Bridget Sabine Crumpton, Abdo Said Abdo The World Bank Expanding Opportunities for Learning (P166059) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 COT Class observation tool CRIPEN National Education Research and Information Production Center (Centre de recherche, d’information, et de production pour l’éducation nationale) DA Designated Account DEC Department of examinations (Département des examens et de concours) DFIL Disbursement and Financial Information Letter DGA Directorate for Central Administration (Direction générale de l’Administration) DLRs Disbursement-linked results EAA Education Above All EFA Education for All E&S Environmental and Social ESCP Environmental and Social Commitment Plan ESF Environmental and Social Framework ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework ESP Education Sector Plan FM Financial Management GoD Government of Djibouti GPE Global Partnership of Education GRM Grievance Redress Mechanism GRS Grievance Redress Service IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ICT Information, Communication, Technology IDA International Development Agency IPF Investment Project Financing LMP Labor Management Procedures M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MENA Middle East and North Africa Region MENFOP Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (Ministère de l’Éducation nationale et de la Formation professionnelle) OOSC Out-of-school children OTI Second- and fifth-year primary school exams (Objectifs terminaux d’integration) PAs Pedagogical advisers PBC Performance-Based Condition (formerly named DLI) PBR Performance-Based Results (formerly named DLR) PDO Project Development Objective POM Project Operations Manual 2 The World Bank Expanding Opportunities for Learning (P166059) PRODA Djibouti Expanding Opportunities for Education Project (Project de Renforcement des Opportunités d’Apprentissage - PRODA) PSU Project Service Unit (Service de la gestion du projet) SEP Stakeholder Engagement Plan WB World Bank 3 The World Bank Expanding Opportunities for Learning (P166059) BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P166059 Investment Project Financing Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Moderate Approval Date Current Closing Date 30-Sep-2019 15-Dec-2024 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Republic of Djibouti Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The project development objective is to increase equitable access to basic education, improve teaching practices, and strengthen MENFOP's management capacity. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing (US$, Millions) Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-64490 30-Sep-2019 18-Oct-2019 14-Feb-2020 15-Dec-2024 10.00 5.13 4.57 IDA-D4850 30-Sep-2019 18-Oct-2019 14-Feb-2020 15-Dec-2024 5.00 5.19 .02 TF-B6054 12-Aug-2021 18-Sep-2021 21-Oct-2021 15-Dec-2024 2.30 1.49 .81 TF-B6756 12-Aug-2021 18-Sep-2021 21-Oct-2021 30-Jun-2024 2.91 1.48 1.43 TF-B1108 18-Oct-2019 18-Oct-2019 14-Feb-2020 15-Dec-2024 9.25 7.70 1.55 4 The World Bank Expanding Opportunities for Learning (P166059) Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No v The World Bank Expanding Opportunities for Learning (P166059) I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING A. Project Background and Status. 1. Project summary. The Expanding Opportunities for Learning Project (PRODA) - for a total sum of $24.25 million (comprising US$10 million IDA funding, a US$5 million grant from the IDA18 Refugee and Host Communities Window (RHW), and a US$9.25 million grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) - was approved by the World Bank on September 30, 2019, and became effective on February 14, 2020, with a closing date of December 15, 2024. 2. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to increase equitable access to basic education, improve teaching practices, and strengthen the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFOP)'s management capacity. The Project comprises four Components: Component 1: Establishing foundations for quality preschool education (US$3 million); Component 2: Expanding access to and improving retention in primary and lower secondary education (US$14.75 million); Component 3: Building capacity to support teaching and learning (US$10.05 million); and Component 4: Strengthening MENFOP’s management capacity and data systems (US$2.55 million). 3. First restructuring and Additional Financing: PRODA was appraised for US$28.05 million, including a US$3.8 million grant from a first partnership with the Education Above All (EAA) Qatar Foundation, although funds could not be secured at the time. During the second year of implementation, the Project was restructured to secure the EAA grant funding of US$3.8 million, together with an Additional Financing of US$2.3 million in grant funding from the GPE, bringing the current Project envelope to US$30.35 million. 4. Second restructuring. The EAA Administrative Agreement (Trust Fund No. TF073330) provided for the grant to be paid in three installments. The first installment of US$1.18 million was paid on June 30, 2021, and executed by the signing of the EAA Grant Agreement No. TF0B6756 between the Government of Djibouti (GoD) and the Bank. The second installment of US$2 million was paid on April 13, 2024, and, in line with Bank guidelines, required a project restructuring to process the transfer of funds received to TF0B6756. It is important to note that the remaining and final unpaid installment is considered as a financing gap until it is paid and internally processed, and the amendment to the EAA Grant Agreement No. TF0B6756 is countersigned by the beneficiary for the total grant allocation of US$3.8 million. 5. Project overview.  Achievement Progress towards the Project Development Objective (PDO) is rated Moderately Satisfactory and Implementation Progress is rated Satisfactory. As it approaches closure, the Project continues to make steady progress and is stepping up the pace of delivering its development objectives. Progress continues under all components and the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) is making concerted efforts to deliver the Project and PDOs by the project closure date of December 2024. It is the first project with MENFOP to adopt a results-based financing approach. This has been strategic in keeping the focus on results and performance, following some initial difficulties in adaptation and the need to change the Independent Verification Agency (IVA) due to delivery issues. PRODA is currently on track to deliver the majority of its Performance Based Results (PBRs), with the Bank team working closely with the PIU to accelerate the disbursement of the remaining PBRs. The 1 The World Bank Expanding Opportunities for Learning (P166059) school year 2023-24 saw a substantial improvement in school enrolment (PDO 1) and progress on national assessments (PDO 4). Data to assess improvement in teachers’ skills (PDO 3) will become available in July 2024 while progress on gender parity (PDO 2) has stabilized and is expected to show some increase for the school year 2024-25. Intermediate indicators are overall showing improvements with 9 indicators achieved.  Procurement is rated Satisfactory and Financial Management (FM) is rated Moderately Satisfactory. There are no overdue external audit reports.  The Environmental and Social (E&S) aspects are rated Satisfactory.  Legal covenants. There have been no changes under the legal covenants. 6. Component performance. Over the past four years, MENFOP has made positive strides in implementing its reform and delivering project objectives, including navigating the challenges of the COVID period and ensuing school closures. Started in February 2020, one month before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Project has supported the achievement of a series of results including:  Component 1 Establishing foundations for quality preschool education: a new area for Djibouti, the project has supported the development of quality standards and a mechanism to quality assure public preschools, teacher training and coaching, and the construction and equipment of 41 preschool classes which have facilitated the enrolment of over 1,000 preschool children. Enrolment has more than doubled since 2016 but remains low at 13.06 percent. MENFOP’s commitment to providing 1 year of preschool education to all children by 2035 represents a concerted effort to ensure that all children can benefit from the early development of cognitive and socioemotional skills.  Component 2 Expanding access to and improving retention in primary and lower secondary education: over 22,000 out-of-school children (OOSC) have been enrolled in school so far, out of an ambitious target of 35,000, reflecting MENFOP’s efforts to increase enrolment, including a new program to provide catch-up learning for students who dropped out early and strategies to enhance girls’ enrolment and integrate children with special needs into public schools. Reducing repetition in Grade 5 from 24 percent to 6 percent represents significant progress towards increasing the efficiency of the education sector. As part of Djibouti’s progressive approach to education for refugees, the project has supported the equipment and construction of new classrooms and made the revised curriculum and learning materials available in refugee languages.  Component 3 Building capacity to support teaching and learning: to date the Project has supported the revision of the curriculum for all grades from years 1-9, a revamp of teacher professional development, including pre-service training, and the rollout of the World Bank’s TEACH/COACH model to support regular coaching of teachers to improve teaching practice, and the promotion of Djibouti’s first national learning assessments in literacy and numeracy to track progress and identify where additional support is needed to improve foundational learning outcomes.  Component 4 Strengthening MENFOP’s management capacity and data systems: a major achievement is the incremental rollout of a digital education management information system at a national scale, starting with all public primary schools. The introduction of the first unique student identifier allows the enrolment and attendance of students to be monitored digitally and in real-time and is recognized by school principals as an efficient way to manage student enrolment and retention, enabling early tracking of children with low attendance and high risk of drop-out. In addition, the project is supporting digital literacy for the early grades and an online platform offering teachers continuous development and students learning materials to build system resilience to shifts to distance learning in the event of a future crisis. 2 The World Bank Expanding Opportunities for Learning (P166059) 7. A combined request to process a 6-month extension to the closing date and an Additional Financing was submitted to the Bank by GoD on June 20 2024. Based on the rationale explained below, the 6-month extension of the closing date will need to be processed first. The plan is to initiate the Additional Financing request from July 20 with a new US$5 million allocation in grant financing from the GPE to the Project in FY25. This will embed and extend the reform activities with a strengthened focus on the regions and improving learning for vulnerable groups. It will also serve as an opportunity to make selective adjustments to Performance Based Indicators and the results framework to align with evolutions in reform implementation and initial slow start-up due to the COVID-19 pandemic. B. Rationale for restructuring. 8. Extension of the closing date: A restructuring is required to extend the Project by six months (December 15, 2024 – June 30, 2025) to capture the results for the school year 2024-25. The EAA financing (TF0B6756) is allocated to scale up the enrollment of up to 35,000 primary school-aged OOSC on a results- based arrangement with co-financing from the IDA loan. Results support the achievement of PDO1 and are measured under PBR #3.2 with results to date verified for four years. The results of enrollment and retention of OOSC for a fifth year are required to advance progress towards the final target, and, through this, trigger the final disbursement from EAA and IDA. The current closure date of December 2024 does not allow adequate time for the independent verification of both enrollment and retention. Hence an extension of the project closing date to June 2025 is being sought by GoD to capture results for the school year 2024-2025. 9. The extension of the project closing date will also benefit the delivery of activities financed by GPE and IDA associated with increasing gender parity (PBR #4.3) and improving teaching and learning. Specifically, it will allow the results from a learning assessment to be administered at the end of school year 2024-25 to be captured and to measure progress towards a percentage point increase in learning outcomes (PBR #5.5b). II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 10. This restructuring will extend the legal agreements financed by GPE (TF0B1108, TF0B6054), IDA Credit Number 6449-DJ and GPE Grant Number D485-DJ until 30 June 2025, which will become the new project closing date. The EAA Grant Agreement No. TF0B6756 will be extended to September 30, 2024, while an agreement with the donor is reached regarding the amendment to the Administrative Agreement and the extension of the donor end of disbursement date. 11. Environmental and Social. The ESCP will continue to be implemented as part of the extension. 12. Financial Management (FM). FM arrangements will remain unchanged. 13. Procurement arrangements. Procurement arrangements will remain unchanged. 14. Adjustments to Legal Covenants. None envisaged. 15. The Project and Component costs will remain unchanged. 3 The World Bank Expanding Opportunities for Learning (P166059) III. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Disbursement Estimates ✔ Implementation Schedule ✔ Implementing Agency ✔ DDO Status ✔ Project's Development Objectives ✔ Results Framework ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Overall Risk Rating ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ Procurement ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Technical Analysis ✔ Social Analysis ✔ Environmental Analysis ✔ IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) 4 The World Bank Expanding Opportunities for Learning (P166059) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_LOANCLOSING_TABLE LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IDA-64490 Effective 15-Dec-2024 30-Jun-2025 30-Oct-2025 IDA-D4850 Effective 15-Dec-2024 30-Jun-2025 30-Oct-2025 TF-B1108 Effective 15-Dec-2024 30-Jun-2025 30-Oct-2025 TF-B6054 Effective 15-Dec-2024 30-Jun-2025 30-Oct-2025 TF-B6756 30-Jun-2024 30-Sep-2024 31-Oct-2024 OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_DISBURSEMENT_TABLE DISBURSEMENT ESTIMATES Change in Disbursement Estimates Yes Year Current Proposed 2019 0.00 0.00 2020 452,049.00 452,049.00 2021 3,126,591.10 3,126,591.10 2022 7,947,985.40 7,947.98 2023 7,220,758.50 7,220,758.50 2024 5,186,965.40 5,186,965.40 2025 6,415,651.00 6,415,651.00 . v