Document of The World Bank Report No: ICR00003404...2015/11/02 · Report No: ICR00003404...

Document of The World Bank

Report No: ICR00003404

IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT (TF-97043)

ON A

GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION GRANT

IN THE AMOUNT OF USD 20.0 MILLION

TO THE

KINGDOM OF LESOTHO

FOR A

BASIC EDUCATION PROJECT FOR LESOTHO

(28 October 2015)

Education Global Practice Southern Africa Country Cluster 1 Africa Region

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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

(Exchange Rate Effective April 30, 2015)

Currency Unit = Maloti (LSL) LSL 11.84.00 = US$1 US$ 1.00 = SDR 0.71

FISCAL YEAR

April 1 – March 31

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

BEP CAS

Basic Education Project Country Assistance Strategy

CF Catalytic Fund CI Core Indicators CPF Country Partnership Framework DO Development Objective DTEP Distance Teacher Education Program ECCD Early Childhood Care and Development EFA Education for All EFU EQR

Education Facilitation Unit External Quality Review

ESDP II ESSP

Education Sector Development Project II Education Sector Strategic Plan

FPE Free Primary Education FTI Fast Track Initiative GDP Gross Domestic Product GOL Government of Lesotho GPE Global Partnership for Education HDI Human Development Index HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ICR Implementation Completion and Results Report IECCD Integrated Early Childhood Care and Development INT Department of Institutional Integrity IP Implementation Progress ISR Implementation Status and Results M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MoET Ministry of Education and Training MTR Mid Term Review NSDP National Strategic Development Plan OVC Orphans and Vulnerable Children PCN Project Concept Note PDO Project Development Objective

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PSCU Project Support and Coordination Unit PSI Project Specific Indicators QER RFW

Quality Enhancement Review Results Framework

SCD Systematic Country Diagnostics SESDP Second Education Sector Development Project SIL TTL

Specific Investment Loan Task Team Leader

Senior Global Practice Director: Claudia Maria Costin

Practice Manager: Sajitha Bashir

Project Team Leader: Cornelia Jesse

ICR Team Leader: Reehana Rifat Raza

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KINGDOM OF LESOTHO Basic Education Project for Lesotho

EFA Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund Grant

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DATA SHEET ............................................................................................................................... v

A. Basic Information ..................................................................................................................... v

B. Key Dates .................................................................................................................................. v

C. Ratings Summary ..................................................................................................................... v

D. Sector and Theme Codes ........................................................................................................ vi

E. Bank Staff................................................................................................................................. vi

F. Results Framework Analysis ................................................................................................. vii

G. Ratings of Project Performance in ISRs ............................................................................... ix

H. Restructuring (if any) .............................................................................................................. x

I. Disbursement Profile ................................................................................................................ xi

1. Project Context, Development Objectives and Design ....................................................... 1

2. Key Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcomes ...................................................... 7

3. Assessment of Outcomes ..................................................................................................... 13

4. Assessment of Risk to Development Outcome .................................................................. 19

5. Assessment of Bank and Borrower Performance ............................................................. 20

6. Lessons Learned .................................................................................................................. 22

Annex 1. Project Costs and Financing ...................................................................................... 23

Annex 2. Outputs by Component .............................................................................................. 24

Annex 3. Economic and Financial Analysis .............................................................................. 36

Annex 4. Grant Preparation and Implementation Support /Supervision Processes ............ 47

Annex 5. Beneficiary Survey Results ........................................................................................ 49

Annex 6. Stakeholder Workshop Report and Results ............................................................. 50

Annex 7. Summary of Grantee's ICR and/or Comments on Draft ICR................................ 51

Annex 8. Comments of Cofinanciers and Other Partners/Stakeholders ............................... 53

Annex 9. List of Supporting Documents ................................................................................... 54

Annex 10: Indicators under the Project.................................................................................... 55

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DATA SHEET

A. Basic Information

Country: Lesotho Project Name: EFA Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund Grant for

Lesotho

Project ID: P116426 TF Number(s): TF-97043

ICR Date: 10/31/2015 ICR Type: Core ICR

Lending Instrument: SIL Grantee: GOVERNMENT OF

LESOTHO

Original Total Commitment:

USD 20.00M Disbursed Amount: USD 20.00M

Revised Amount: USD 20.00M

Environmental Category: B

Implementing Agencies: Ministry of Education and Training

Cofinanciers and Other External Partners: Irish Aid

B. Key Dates

Process Date Process Original Date Revised / Actual

Date(s)

Concept Review: 01/13/2009 Effectiveness: 10/01/2010 10/01/2010

Appraisal: 09/18/2009 Restructuring(s): 1st Restructuring 2nd Restructuring

05/07/2013 10/14/2014

Approval: 06/30/2010 Mid-term Review: 09/24/2012 11/26/2012

Closing: 05/31/2013 11/30/2014 04/30/2015

C. Ratings Summary C.1 Performance Rating by ICR

Outcomes: Moderately Satisfactory

Risk to Development Outcome: Significant

Bank Performance: Moderately Satisfactory

Grantee Performance: Moderately Satisfactory

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C.2 Detailed Ratings of Bank and Borrower Performance (by ICR) Bank Ratings Borrower Ratings

Quality at Entry: Moderately

Unsatisfactory Government: Moderately Satisfactory

Quality of Supervision: Satisfactory Implementing

Agency/Agencies: Moderately Satisfactory

Overall Bank Performance:

Moderately SatisfactoryOverall Borrower Performance:

Moderately Satisfactory

C.3 Quality at Entry and Implementation Performance Indicators

Implementation Performance

Indicators QAG Assessments (if

any) Rating

Potential Problem Project at any time (Yes/No):

Yes Quality at Entry

(QEA): None

Problem Project at any time (Yes/No):

Yes Quality of Supervision

(QSA): None

DO rating before Closing/Inactive status:


D. Sector and Theme Codes Original Actual

Sector Code (as % of total Bank financing)

Pre-primary education 20 20

Primary education 80 80

Theme Code (as % of total Bank financing)

Education for all 100 100%

E. Bank Staff Positions At ICR At Approval

Vice President: Makhtar Diop Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili

Country Director: Guang Zhe Chen Ruth Kagia

Practice Manager/Manager:

Sajitha Bashir Christopher J. Thomas

Project Team Leader: Cornelia Jesse Cristina Isabel Panasco Santos

ICR Team Leader: Cornelia Jesse

ICR Primary Author: Reehana Rifat Raza

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F. Results Framework Analysis Project Development Objectives (from Project Appraisal Document)The Project Development Objective is to provide improved facilities at existing primary schools, support and contribute to expand access to preprimary education and support improvements in quality of teaching. Revised Project Development Objectives (as approved by original approving authority) Not applicable.

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(a) PDO Indicator(s)

Indicator Baseline Value Original Target Values

(from approval documents)

Formally Revised Target Values

Actual Value Achieved at Completion or Target

Years Number of additional classrooms built by the project (total number) Value 0 330 135 143

Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 05/07/2013 04/30/2015

Comment

TARGET SURPASSED. The Project achieved 105% of the revised target set at Restructuring 1 This PDO level indicator was revised from “classroom constructed by the project meeting the agreed standards (%)” to “Number of additional classrooms built by the project (total number)” at Restructuring 1

Enrolment in Reception Classes Supported by the Project (number) Value 0 3,600 3,220 3,682

Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 10/14/2014 01/01/2015

Comment TARGET SURPASSED. The Project achieved 114% of the revised target set at Restructuring 2.

Pupil to Qualified Teacher Ratio Value 59 45 45

Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/14/2014 01/01/2015

Comment TARGET ACHIEVED. The Project achieved the revised target. This PDO level indicator was added at Restructuring 2 to ensure a better link between teacher related activities and outcomes.

Direct Project Beneficiaries (numbers)

Value

T: 0 P: 0 Teachers of which female (%): 0 Pupils of which female (%): 0

T:7,800 P:16,800 Teachers of which female (%):60% Pupils of which female (%): 50%

T:13,046 P:384,810 Teachers of which female (%):77% Pupils of which female (%): 49%

Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 10/13/2014 04/30/2015

Comment

TARGET ACHIEVED. The Project reached 100% of the targeted teachers and 100% of the targeted pupils. The project exceeded the target for percentage of female teachers who benefitted(77 % vs 60%) but was slightly short on the target for female students (49% v. 50%) This indicator became a PDO level indicator at Restructuring 2.

(b) Intermediate Outcome Indicator(s)

Indicator Baseline Value

Original Target Values (from

approval documents)

Formally Revised Target

Values

Actual Value Achieved at

Completion or Target Years

Toilet block constructed (number) Value 0 100 87 93 Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 05/07/2013 04/30/2015

Comment TARGET SURPASSED. The Project achieved 106% of the revised target set at Restructuring 1 and 93% of the original target set at Appraisal.

Classrooms furnished (number) Value 0 330 135 143 Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 05/07/2013 04/30/2015

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Comment TARGET SURPASSED. The Project achieved 106% of the revised target set at Restructuring 1.

Reception Classes Supported (number) Value 0 120 140 140 Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 05/07/2013 01/01/2015 Comment TARGET ACHIEVED. The Project achieved 100% of the revised target set at Restructuring 1.Teachers in “difficult” schools targeted by the project receiving a grant (number) Value 0 800 1,000 1,096 Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 05/07/2013 11/01/2014

Comment TARGET SURPASSED: The Project achieved 110% of the revised target set at Restructuring 1.

Teachers in “difficult” schools targeted by the project enrolled in training programs (number) Value 0 800 600 380

Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 05/07/2013 11/01/2014

Comment TARGET NOT ACHIEVED. The Project achieved 63% of the revised targets set at Restructuring 1.

Teachers, principals, DRTs, and Inspectors targeted by the project that were trained in teaching methods adapted to the new curriculum (number) Value 0 4,500 6,515 11,158

Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 05/07/2013 04/30/2015

Comment

TARGET SURPASSED. The Project achieved 171% of the revised targets set at Restructuring 1. The intermediate level indicator was revised from “Teacher and principals in grade 1 to 3 targeted by the project that were trained in teaching methods adapted to the new curriculum” to “Teachers, principals, DRTs, and inspectors targeted by the project that were trained in teaching methods adapted to the new curriculum (number)”

Textbooks purchased and distributed by the project (number)

Value 0 13,300 913,300 1,100,000 purchased

and 928,276 textbooks distributed

Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 05/07/2013 12/01/2015

Comment TARGET SURPASSED. The project achieved 120% of the revised targets set at Restructuring 1.

System for Learning Assessment Value Yes Yes Yes

Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 Comment Supplemental Numbers Value 3 3 3

Date Achieved 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 10/1/2010 Comment

G. Ratings of Project Performance in ISRs

No. Date ISR Archived

DO IP Actual Disbursements

(USD millions)

1 03/26/2011 Satisfactory Satisfactory 1.43

2 10/12/2011 Unsatisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory 1.43

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3 04/23/2012 Moderately Unsatisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory 1.43

4 01/01/2013 Moderately Unsatisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 1.43



7 03/23/2014 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 14.37


9 11/25/2014 Moderately Satisfactory Satisfactory 17.63


H. Restructuring (if any)

Restructuring Date(s)

Board Approved

PDO Change

ISR Ratings at Restructuring

Amount Disbursed at

Restructuring in USD millions

Reason for Restructuring & Key Changes Made

DO IP

05/07/2013 MU MS 1.43

First Restructuring (Level 2) was approved on May 7, 2013 to (i) modify the scope of project components; (ii) revise targets related to the Project Development Objective indicators, and some of the targets of intermediate indicators; and (iii) extend the closing date by 18 months, from May 31, 2013 to November 30, 2014.

10/14/2014 MS S 14.37

Second Restructuring (Level 2) was approved on October 14, 2014 to (i) extend the Project closing date by 5 months from November 30, 2014 to April 30, 2015; and (ii) simplify several indicators of the Project’s Results Framework.

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I. Disbursement Profile

Disbursement (Projected and Actual - by Percentage) GPE IRISH AID CONSOLIDATED Year Projected Actual Comments Projected Actual Comments Projected Actual 2011 14 7 13 40 13.5 27.3 2012 37 0 37 32 37.0 18.6 2013 49 0 50 0 49.5 0 2014 0 65 Extended Period 0 0 No Additional

Funds 0 37.8

2015 0 28 Extended Period 0 0 No Additional Funds

0 16.3

Total 10 100 100 72 100.0 93.0

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1. Project Context, Development Objectives and Design

1.1 Context at Appraisal

1. Lesotho, a small landlocked country in Southern Africa, had an estimated population of 1.9 million at the time the Basic Education Project (BEP) was appraised. It is one of the poorest countries in Southern Africa, and one of the most unequal in the world. The Gini coefficient was 63.2, higher than other countries in the region. 2. Lesotho is the only country in the world with all its territory above 1,000 meters. Large parts of Lesotho’s remote rural areas are sparsely populated, with long distances between villages. Lesotho’s unique geography and low population density makes the provision of basic services logistically challenging and very costly. The country had a history of uneven economic growth and had been going through a recession. Government expenditure was the main driver of the economy; budget estimates for 2009-10 showed government expenditure at 73 percent of GDP. 3. Lesotho’s performance on human development was poor – it ranked 156th out of 182 countries on the human development index (HDI) in 2007, which had been falling since 1995, driven largely by the negative impacts of HIV/AIDS. In 2005, Lesotho had the third highest HIV prevalence rate in the world (23.2 percent). 4. In the years leading up to the Project, education outcomes of the country had improved substantially. The government had introduced free primary education (FPE) in a phased manner beginning in 2000, leading to an increase in net enrollment from 60 to 82 percent between 1999 and 2006. Lesotho had almost achieved gender parity. In 2007, 49.4 percent of primary school pupils were girls, and there was a female majority in secondary education. 5. Despite the progress, significant challenges remained. The cohort survival to grade 7 (the last grade of primary school) fell with the introduction of FPE, and although improving, had reached only 55 percent by 2007. Repetition was high, with a 29 percent repetition rate in grade 1 and an overall repetition rate at the primary level of 21 percent. While Lesotho had an average pupil teacher ratio of 36:1, over 40 percent of primary teachers were unqualified. Less than half of the primary school classrooms met the required standards, and the remainder operated in a mix of huts of local construction, church halls, tents and other structures. 6. The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) had developed a 10-year Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) in 2005, which was endorsed by the development partners and the Education for All (EFA) Fast Track Initiative (FTI) Partnership. The education sector had received support from the International Development Association (IDA), Irish Aid and the multi-donor Education for All Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund (EFA-FTI 1 and 2). In 2009, the MoET prepared a Medium Term Education Sector Plan (MTESP), consistent with the ESSP, providing more detailed projections for the years 2009-2012. The main priorities in this medium sector plan were (i) expanding access to Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in a pro-poor manner; (ii) ensuring that all children had the opportunity to complete a good quality primary education; (iii) expanding access to secondary education, with particular support to Orphans and Vulnerable

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Children (OVCs); and (iv) improving the quality and relevance of tertiary education. This medium term plan was endorsed by the development partners, including IDA. The Lesotho Basic Education Project (Education for All Fast Track Initiative, EFA-FTI 3) financed by the multi-donor Education for All Initiative (now Global Partnership for Education, GPE), provided support for the government’s Medium Term Education Sector Plan 2009-2012. IDA was the supervising entity for this grant. 7. Rationale: In the context of Lesotho’s location and paucity of natural resources, opportunities for growth centered on its labor force. Improving the level of education and employability of the workforce was an essential prerequisite for sustained economic development. Education was one of the main mechanisms for social mobility, and presented opportunities for allowing the poor to partake of the economic growth of the country. The support was consistent with the Government of Lesotho (GoL) Poverty Reduction Strategy (2004) which noted that ‘government is convinced that investment in appropriate education is the single most important contribution that it can make to the long-term socioeconomic development of the country’. It also contributed to the World Bank Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) (2006-2009) objective to improve human development outcomes and build skills for shared and sustained growth.

1.2 Original Project Development Objectives (PDO) and Key Indicators 8. The Project Development Objective was to provide improved facilities at existing primary schools, support and contribute to expand access to pre-primary education, and support improvement in quality of teaching. 9. Success in achievement of the PDO level indicators was tracked through the following seven PDO indicators (including three core indicators): PDO level 1: Classrooms constructed by the Project meeting the agreed standards (%) PDO level 2: Enrolment in Reception Classes supported by the Project (number) PDO level 3: Repetition rate (grade 1) (%) PDO level 4: Qualified teachers (from total number covered by the Project) retained or attracted to ‘difficult’ schools (number) PDO level 5: Decline in shortfall of classrooms at primary level (%) PDO level 6: Decline in shortfall of qualified teachers at primary level (%) PDO level 7: Direct project beneficiaries (number) (teachers and pupils) of which female (%)

1.3 Revised PDO (as approved by original approving authority) and Key Indicators, and reasons/justification 10. The PDO was not revised during the lifetime of the BEP. However, at Restructuring 1 in May 2013 which followed a comprehensive midterm review of project implementation, some PDO indicator targets were revised (see Table 1). The changes addressed implementation performance and challenges. The initial design of the Project had attempted innovation in implementation arrangements to promote efficiency and sustainability of results. It had proposed to do this through mainstreaming implementation and bringing project implementation under the purview of the MoET rather than having a separate implementation unit. The second major change was in the proposed approach to handling school classroom construction. The initial Project design decentralized procurement of school classrooms to the district level, opted for smaller contracts

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rather than contracting in lots, and encouraged smaller and weaker contracting firms to participate in the bidding process with the objectives of enhancing efficiency and at the same time building up capacity in school construction. Although promising, the two approaches led to delays mainly due to weak capacity both in the MoET and at the district level. The scope of construction was scaled back at Restructuring 1 and the end targets reduced. At the same time, the activities in the second and third components were increased. The targets for the number or reception classes, the numbers in the quality of teaching interventions and for textbook production and distribution were increased. This re-alignment of activities under the project not only addressed the capacity issues at the MoET, but was also in line with the view of the MTR mission that investing in quality of teaching, through curriculum development and textbooks, teacher training and reception classes (and less spending on infrastructure of classrooms), would be an effective use of the project resources and in keeping with international evidence on outcomes. 11. Under the second restructuring, henceforth Restructuring 2, undertaken in October 2014, the results framework (RFW) was simplified and the link between PDO and the project’s indicators (both PDO and intermediate) was strengthened. Three PDO indicators were dropped and two PDO indicators were revised under this simplification of the RFW. Table 1 below summarizes the changes to the PDO indicators.

Table 1: Changes to PDO Indicators Original Indicator and target (PAD)

Revisions at Restructuring 1

Revisions at Restructuring 2

PDO1: Improved facilities: Classrooms constructed by the Project meeting the agreed standards (%) - Target: 100%

No change. Target was reduced from 330 classrooms to 135 classrooms.

The indicator was changed to ‘Number of additional classrooms built by the Project (total number)’. The performance had earlier been tracked under an intermediate indicator. This is a core indicator.

PDO 2: Access: Enrolment in Reception Classes supported by the Project (number) - Target: 3600

No change. No change.

This is a core indicator.

PDO 3: Quality of teaching: Repetition rate (grade 1) (%) – Target 23%

No change. Dropped as it was no longer considered relevant given government’s policy of limiting repetition within primary sub-cycles in 2010.

PDO 4: Quality of teaching: Qualified teachers (from total covered by the Project) retained or attracted to ‘difficult’ schools (number) Target:1600

No change. Revised to ‘Pupil to Qualified Teacher Ratio’ which was easier to measure.

This is a core indicator

PDO 5: Access: Decline in shortfall of classrooms at primary level (%): Target: 7.5%

No change.

Indicator dropped given that it was replicating PDO indicator 1.

PDO 6: Quality of teaching: Decline in shortfall of qualified teachers at primary level (%): Target: 10.1%

No change. Indicator dropped as it was difficult to measure.

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PDO 7: Beneficiaries: Direct project beneficiaries (number) (teachers and pupils); of which female (%) - Target 7,800 teachers and 16,800 pupils

Targets increased for teachers (8,115) and decreased for pupils (9,000).

No change.

This is a core indicator.

1.4 Main Beneficiaries 12. The primary beneficiaries were the students and teachers targeted by project interventions. Targets were disaggregated by gender and tracked throughout Project implementation. By Project closing, 384,810 students enrolled in project supported schools and 13,046 teachers had benefitted from Project activities. A secondary beneficiary of the Project was the MoET which received intensive capacity building support. The targeted beneficiaries of the Project did not change over the life time of the project, although their numbers increased due to the expansion of project activities.

1.5 Original Components 13. Component 1: Improve the quality of primary school infrastructure (Appraisal: US$ 9.1 million; Actual1: US$ 9.2m). Activities under this component aimed to improve facilities at existing primary schools. This component was to provide approximately 330 additional, fully furnished, primary, gender and disability friendly classrooms at existing schools, along with approximately 100 toilet blocks in a total of 64 schools. 14. Component 2: Support and contribution to the expansion of pre-primary education (Appraisal: US$ 1.5 million; Actual: US$ 1.2m). The goal of this component was to support and contribute to expansion of access to pre-primary education. This component supported the government’s aim to maintain and expand access to reception classes especially for the poorest children, through provision of care givers, learning materials, and catering services to approximately 100 existing and approximately 20 additional reception classes, with a capacity of approximately 3,600 children. 15. Component 3: Contribution to improvements in quality of teaching (Appraisal: US$ 7.8 million; Actual: US$ 9.2m). The goal of this component was to improve the quality of teaching. Under this component, the government planned to improve learning outcomes in primary schools through (i) conducting analytical work to understand the conditions of education service delivery, teaching, and learning through school resources surveys, classroom-based observation, skills profiles and training needs, and assessment of student outcomes measurement; (ii) assisting in increasing the qualification level of the teacher force in ‘difficult’ schools (schools located in the most remote and/or difficult to access areas of the country) by attracting and/or retaining more qualified teachers in targeted schools and/or upgrading the qualifications of teachers working in these areas; (iii) providing additional in-service teacher training aimed at improving literacy and numeracy teaching; and (iv) providing textbooks in core subjects and grades where there were deficits and learning materials for the implementation of the new curricula.

1Figures are as of end-August 2015. GoL has received an extension until October 30 to submit final statements.

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1.6 Revised Components 16. There was no change in the agreed components during implementation. However, the scope of the project components was changed over the course of implementation as were some of the activities. Table 2 outlines the changes in scope of the components as modified under Restructuring 1 (also discussed in section 1.3 above).

Table 2: Scope/Targets of Project at Appraisal and at Restructuring 1 SL Component/

Sub-Component

Planned Scope at Appraisal Revised Scope Under Restructuring

1.1 Construction of and furnishing of primary school classrooms.

At Appraisal construction and furnishing of 330 additional classrooms in 64 separate schools was planned.

At Restructuring 1 the scale was revised to the construction and furnishing of a total of 135 classrooms in 18 schools.

1.2 Construction of toilet blocks

At Appraisal construction of 100 toilet blocks was planned

At Restructuring 1 the scale was revised to 87 toilets.

2 Support and contribution to the expansion of pre-primary education

At Appraisal the provision of care givers, learning materials and catering services to approximately 100 existing and approximately 20 additional reception classes to cater to 3,600 children was planned.

At Restructuring 1, an additional 20 reception classes were supported to for a total of 140. At Restructuring 2, the target for enrolment was reduced to 3,220 in line with the targets set by the GoL for pupil teacher ratios in reception classes

3.1 Qualified teachers in ‘difficult’ schools schemes

At Appraisal two types of incentives were offered to teachers to ensure retention in “difficult” areas; monetary (800) or bursary (or training - 800). The total target was 1,600 in 400 remote schools.

At Restructuring 1, the number offered the monetary incentive was increased to 1,000, and the number offered the bursary decreased to 600 in 540 remote schools.

3.2 Improving literacy and numeracy teaching in the early grades

At Appraisal: Training of 4,500 teachers in improved methods for literacy and numeracy teaching. Review of literacy and numeracy material in use. Development and reproduction of updated/localized teaching materials for grades 1-3.

At Restructuring 1: Number of teachers trained increased to 6,515. Additional development and production of updated/localized teaching materials for grade 4 Development of textbooks for new grades 1-3 curricula based on the curricula and assessment materials.

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3.2A Sub-Component 3A: Consultancies/Studies

At Appraisal: Establish baseline data on teaching and learning Impact Evaluation of the teacher incentive scheme Evaluation of the new curricula and materials and early grade assessment.

At Restructuring 1: Preparatory study on the development of teacher’s qualification framework Evaluate the DTEP as well as other analyses which may inform the development of materials for formative assessment and support the development of the teacher performance system.

3.3 Sub-Component 3B: Provide textbooks in core subjects and grades in primary schools.

At Appraisal -13,300 core-subject textbooks were to be provided across deficit core subjects; Textbooks were to be provided through competitive bidding – with one book distributed per child through the School Supply Unit using established procedures.

At Restructuring 1 development of textbooks for new grades 1-3 curricula based on the curricula and assessment materials developed under project to be provided up to 913,000 textbooks packages. Curricula and assessment were developed under Sub-Component 3.2.

17. Resources were reallocated between components at the MTR in line with the changes in scope of the activities. See Table 3.

Table 3: Resource Allocation Across Components Pre and Post MTR Components Pre-MTR Allocation (from PAD) Post MTR Allocation Component 1 USD $ 9.1 million USD $ 8.2 million Component 2 USD $1.5 million USD $ 1.6 million

Component 3 USD $7.8 million USD $ 10.1 million

1.7 Other significant changes 18. The project closing date was extended twice: (i) for 18 months to November 2014 at the time of Restructuring 1; and (ii) for 5 months to April 2015 at the time of Restructuring 2. The justification for the first extension was to allow the Project to meet its revised targets by: (i) streamlining PDO indicator targets and (ii) restructuring the scope of components in keeping with MoET technical and management capacity. At the time of Restructuring 2, there had been significant improvement in project implementation as a result of MoET making a concerted effort to accelerate implementation pace and performance. The extension in closing date was requested to allow adequate time to implement remaining civil works and address any environmental issues. 19. Parallel funding through Irish Aid (Appraisal: US$ 6.8 million; Actual US$ 4.9 million) discontinued. At appraisal US$ 6.8 million was committed by Irish Aid to support project activities as parallel financing. After the Mid-Term Review (MTR), Irish Aid discontinued its support with a total disbursement of US$ 4.9 million.

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2. Key Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcomes

2.1 Project Preparation, Design and Quality at Entry 20. The project design was and continues to be in alignment with key education sector priorities of the GoL. At the time of project preparation, the MoET had prepared a medium term sector plan and diagnostics (2009-2012) aligned with the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) of 2005-2015. Project design was also informed by analytical work conducted by the World Bank, especially the teacher incentive program, a pilot implemented under the Project2. 21. The terrain and climate in Lesotho make provision of adequate shelter for schooling an important factor in the attendance and retention of pupils. Even so, less than half of the primary school classrooms met the required standards, and the remainder operated in a mix of huts or tents and other structures. The shortage of adequate classrooms was acute, but provision of new classrooms had been constrained by both resources and implementation capacity. Thus the focus of the Project on improving the physical condition of existing primary schools was appropriate. 22. There is a strong geographic pattern to poverty incidence in Lesotho, as more than half of the population lives in mountainous areas. Education outcomes of these areas lagged significantly behind others. Although the average pupil teacher ratio in Lesotho was 36:1, over 40 percent of primary teachers were unqualified, and the unqualified teachers were over-represented in the mountainous or difficult to access schools, many of which had no qualified teachers at all. The Project design had a sharp focus on these areas including interventions to upgrade quality of teachers in mountainous regions through provision of monetary and bursary incentives and through improving quality of curriculum and assessments. 23. Further, the focus on early childhood development was an appropriate design choice given the experience in Lesotho that suggested that reception classes encouraged children to attend school earlier, start grade 1 at the correct age, and have positive impacts on behavior and performance in grade 1. Given that provision of reception classes is likely to have the greatest impact on children suffering from malnutrition, and on children from families where the adults are illiterate, this was also a pro-poor intervention. 24. Given the above considerations and the strong alignment with Government priorities, the areas on which the Project focused were appropriate. Together these activities were aimed at improving retention and the quality of education, however the Project documents do not make a clear connection of these planned activities with this overarching objective and no indicators to measure progress against these were included in the Project. The PDO and the linked indicators focused on outputs and did not propose to measure the overall outcomes the three sets of activities would achieve.

2 See A. Mulkeen (2010). Teachers in Anglophone Africa. The World Bank Washington DC.

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25. The design of activities supported by the Project were closely linked to the stated PDO. The chart below shows the clear linkages between the activities that were designed to the three distinct objectives of the Project.

Figure 1: Activities and their Relationship to the PDO 26. The implementing arrangements proposed for the BEP included innovation and reflected experience of past interventions in the sector, however, adequate analysis was not undertaken to check feasibility of the proposed innovations. As a result, the decision to decentralize procurement of classroom construction to the district level proved a key challenge during project implementation. A key factor in the consideration of the design of the project was the limited technical and management capacity of the MoET, particularly for construction activities. In December 2008, the Project Support and Coordination Unit (PSCU), which previously had managed all donor related projects in the education sector, was dismantled by the GoL. The MoET had subsequently decided that all project implementation capacity would be mainstreamed internally within MoET with the objective to build in-house capacity for project related tasks. To address this limited capacity at the center, a key design decision was made to decentralize procurement for school construction to the district tender panels as well as to use standardized designs for construction and support this with the hiring of consultants to ensure limited pressure at MoET. This was a drastic change from past practice and required additional background work to ensure adequate risks were identified and appropriate mitigating measures put in place to ensure there was adequate capacity for implementation given the changes. The challenges of decentralizing were flagged in Annex 8 of the PAD on Procurement Arrangements but the mitigation plan proved inadequate for the complexity of the task.

PDO 1: Improved facilities at existing primary schools

PDO 2: Support and contribute to expand access to pre‐primary

education

PDO 3: Support improvement in

quality of teaching

PDO Activities

Construction of fully furnished, gender and disability friendly classrooms at existing schools

Construction of toilet blocks

Financial incentives to attract and/or retain more qualified teachers in targeted schools and/or upgrading the qualifications of teachers

Additional in‐service teacher training aimed at improving literacy and numeracy teaching

Procurement of care givers, learning materials, and catering services for pre‐primary reception classes

Provide textbooks in core subjects and grades

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27. The project duration also proved to be a challenge. GPE guidelines did not permit an implementation period longer than three years which proved to be insufficient for implementing the proposed activities given the challenging operating environment. A number of studies were planned to measure the impact of interventions to provide information, allow for refinement of the interventions and for the design of other future support. 28. Overall the objectives and choice of project activities chosen at entry were sound. However, there were key weaknesses in the design of the results framework and implementation arrangements. On the results framework, there was inadequate attention on defining the outcomes and linked indicators for the Project. On implementation arrangements, although they were innovative, insufficient consideration was given to the institutional challenges the new implementation arrangements would pose which negatively impacted Project performance.

2.2 Implementation 29. Challenges of classroom construction in remote rural areas. The project focus of classroom and latrine construction in remote rural areas was highly relevant and appropriate given lack of access, poverty and inequality in rural areas. However, the logistics of undertaking civil works in remote rural areas such as mountain tops proved to be highly challenging. For example, one contractor had to build a road just to get the building materials to the site. Others had to transport material using mules. Challenges in the implementation of Component 1 impacted the overall implementation rating up to the MTR. School construction had been divided into three batches at the onset of the Project (batch 1: 67 classrooms in 16 schools; batch 2: 113 classrooms in 24 schools; batch 3: 113 classrooms in four schools). At MTR, of batch 1, only eight classrooms had been completed at 100% and four latrines at 100% in five schools. In total 11 contracts had been signed for latrines and 11 contracts in 11 schools. This was partly explained by project specific factors including decentralizing of procurement to the districts and limited capacity at MoET (procurement, M&E, World Bank procedures) in areas related to school construction and the lack of internal coordination within MoET to overcome these gaps. 30. An external factor to this project, a misappropriation of funds in a previous education project, the Education Sector Development Project II (ESDP II) financed by a previous FTI grant (FTI 2) was flagged a year after BEP became effective. In November 2011, IDA was made aware of a misappropriation of funds for civil works under the former project. Subsequently there was an investigation conducted by IDA’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT). Although civil works under BEP had not yet begun, due to the reasons indicated above, the investigation impacted implementation of civil works under BEP in several ways. First, the implementing agency’s time was diverted to resolve the crisis in ESDP II3 while still being responsible for implementing BEP. Second, activities under Component 1 slowed down as the IDA team awaited findings of the investigation in order to assess if similar challenges were affecting the civil works in this project and integrate the findings into the implementation of civil works. By November 2012, at the mid-

3 The team carried out a physical verification of 10 schools and 12 classrooms financed under ESDP II which allowed INT to open an investigation and for a calculation of funds that needed to be reimbursed. The GoL reimbursed the funds and also completed the pending civil works in ESDP II.

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term review mission disbursement stood at 7% or (US$1.4 million). The INT investigation also led to some tension in the relationship between the Bank and the GoL. 31. At the MTR stage, critical corrective measures allowed a turnaround in project performance. Three specific factors contributed to the turnaround of the project. First, during Restructuring 1, the decision to scale down activities under Component 1—specifically classroom and latrine construction—and scale up activities in Component 2 and 3—supporting reception classes and curriculum and assessment development and publishing of textbooks— in light of MoET capacity increased the likelihood of achieving the revised PDO indicator targets. Second, the revision of an earlier approach to civil works was critical for the project to meet the revised targets for school construction. The revised approach involved centralizing procurement of civil works at the MoET; consolidating lots for bids so that all classrooms and latrines at one school were offered in one lot for procurement; realigning roles and responsibilities at the MoET making the Education Facilitation Unit (EFU) more accountable and enhancing its role to undertake these activities; active supervision with the hiring of five construction supervisors at the EFU with the specific task of undertaking M&E on school construction; and increasing capacity by hiring technical advisors in the area of finance, procurement, and contracts. Third, the efforts by a new World Bank team that came on board after restructuring proved critical in mending the relationship with the Government. A new team, not associated with the previous history and challenges of the project, allowed for the establishment of a new working relationship between the GoL and the World Bank team. Also to be credited is the proactive supervision undertaken by the new team as well as the additional support and resources it received from both the Practice and Country management units to turn the project around.

2.3 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Design, Implementation and Utilization 32. Design: The strength of the original RF, PDO level indicators and accompanying intermediate indicators was that each of the indicators was directly aligned with each PDO sub-objective --improve facilities at existing primary schools; support and contribute to expand access to pre-primary education; and support improvement in quality of teaching—and the associated component for ease of monitoring. However, a few of the PDO level indicators were not clearly defined and it was unclear what was being measured. Indicators that were measuring percentage change in shortfalls PDO 5: Access - Decline in shortfall of classrooms at primary level (%) and PDO 6: Quality of teaching - Decline in shortfall of qualified teachers at primary level—were particularly difficult to measure as no baseline was provided to measure the change. The poor definition of the PDO level indicators and the challenges they posed for data collection only became evident late because of project delays and Restructuring 2 was partly undertaken for this purpose. 33. An impact evaluation was included in the project to measure the impact of the teacher incentive program. There were a number of challenges in the collection of the baseline data and revisions were made to the design and data collection to address this problem. A side benefit of these revision was that the MoET, specifically the Teacher Services Unit, was included in the data collection exercise in the subsequent design of impact evaluation, and in the process enhanced their M&E capacity. Furthermore, MoET trained newly recruited District Resource Teachers to conduct the data collection. According to the DRT’s feedback, this built their capacity to undertake field research to inform their future work at the school level.

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34. Restructuring 2 simplified the RFW. The objective behind restructuring the RWF was to simplify data collection process and reporting and strengthening the link between the Project’s intermediate indicators, key PDO level indicators and the PDO itself. Three PDO level indicators were dropped and two PDO level indicators were revised under this simplification of the RFW. As the revision of the RF was undertaken late (five months before project closing in April 2015) the targets were revised after most of them had already been achieved which explains why many of the project outputs so perfectly match the targets set. 35. Implementation: An M&E consultant was hired after the first restructuring to enhance the technical capacity of the MoET to improve performance in this area. In addition, the World Bank also increased their technical support on M&E to increase the MoET’s understanding of the importance of strong M&E framework to improve project performance.

36. After the first restructuring, a special provision was also made to undertake an intensive M&E of the civil works through the additional hiring of five supervisors in the EFU who were tasked to monitor each school construction site bi-monthly. This played a critical part in meeting the revised school classroom construction targets by the end of the project. 37. Subsequent to Restructuring 1 when project activities picked up, reporting on the PDO level indicators and intermediate indicators improved and the challenges in reporting on the indicators became evident leading to a second restructuring to simplify the results framework. 38. Utilization: Active monitoring and its use in supervision of the construction activities under Component 1 were critical in ensuring timely completion of activities. Bi-monthly monitoring of construction sites with the use of the helicopters and the additional five vehicles purchased for this task, allowed the construction supervisor to ensure more timely completion despite the non-performance and termination of the supervision firm.

39. The Impact Evaluation of the teacher incentive program is providing key lessons for teacher performance management which are being used to inform the design of the follow on Project.

2.4 Safeguard and Fiduciary Compliance 40. Safeguards: Before Restructuring 1, there was limited capacity in the MoET to undertake activities around safeguards and there was little understanding in the MoET of what was required to complete the World Bank’s safeguards requirements. Certain activities had been undertaken by the MoET such as community stakeholder engagement on civil works and soil erosion assessments but they were not systematic or adequately recorded. Until the MTR there were no ratings offered for safeguard in the ISR. Post MTR, the new World Bank team took corrective measures to resolve previous lapses to bring the project in line with World Bank guidelines. The following actions were taken: an engineering firm was hired to undertake an environmental and social audit of all civil works sites under Phase 1 and 2 and remedial safeguards actions were identified. The MoET undertook and completed the remedial works as identified, and ensured that any accompanying social corrective actions were also implemented, and finalized the documentation of social safeguards to IDA’s satisfaction.

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41. Fiduciary: The new implementation arrangements put in place for the project at appraisal posed several challenges on the fiduciary front. The Project Support and Coordination Unit had been disbanded and implementation and tasks handled by project implementation unit in the past such as financial management, procurement and monitoring and evaluation for specific projects were mainstreamed into the MoET itself. Turnover was high and over the course of the project more than four different teams from the MoET Procurement Unit were assigned to the project. Each team only had basic procurement experience and required continuous handholding and extensive capacity building. Between 2010 and 2013, the Procurement Unit was usually under staffed and mostly operated without a Procurement Manager. Only in 2013 was the MoET able to hire a procurement consultant to support its Procurement Unit and this arrangement led to a significant turnaround in the disbursement rate. 42. At Appraisal, the Project proposed the use of district tender panels to decentralize the procurement close to challenging geographical locations and to use smaller procurement lots for school construction in order to encourage competition. Most district tender panels had little experience in procurement and some had never met to review / approve any procurements. The use of small procurement lots led to a wider market for contractors but didn’t necessarily reduce the cost and delivery time of the construction or improve the quality of construction. For these reasons, the use of district tender panels and use of smaller procurement lots was discontinued in 2013. 43. MoET Education Facilities Unit which is charged with the management of infrastructure was mostly understaffed and without leadership for prolonged periods. This led to the failure to timely hire a supervision firm to support EFU. When a supervision firm was eventually hired, the contract was terminated for poor performance. The initial implementation arrangements of the BEP without a designated project implementation unit stretched MoET’s project and contract management capacity due to understaffing of key implementing MoET departments amid other capacity constraints. Once the MoET and IDA agreed on hybrid implementation arrangements, i.e. a small, but full time project coordination unit integrated into the MoET and reporting to the Director of Planning with a full time project coordinator and technical support on fiduciary, civil works and M&E implementation progress improved.

2.5 Post-completion Operation/Next Phase 44. Although the BEP made considerable gains in ensuring improved access to quality education in Lesotho, challenges remain in ensuring all students complete high quality primary education and transition to higher levels of education to contribute to Lesotho’s economic growth and address its social challenges. Enrolment in grade 1 in the country is close to universal, however survival, although improving, is still low. In order to achieve universal primary completion and improve transition to junior secondary, efforts to reduce drop out, especially for the most disadvantaged students, are essential. It will thus be important to focus on the schools and groups most at risk, identified as remote rural schools and boys from lowest socio-economic quintile respectively. 45. To address these remaining challenges, the GoL has requested a credit in the amount of US$ 25 million for follow-on support to the education sector with the overarching objectives of

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improving completion of quality primary education, enhancing access to lower secondary education and improving the quality of education. The Bank has agreed on a concept and main objectives of the follow-on support with the government which have been endorsed by both the Bank and the GoL. 46. Several activities conducted under the GPE financed Project are contributing to the design not only of the Bank’s follow-on support to Lesotho’s education sector but also the Government’s own strategy development for the medium term4. A pilot evaluation of early grade literacy and numeracy recently completed with the Project’s support will serve as a baseline for later evaluations of learning quality. An analysis of the data from the teacher incentives scheme has commenced and will be completed under the successor project. A Teacher Qualifications Framework study is helping to improve the current 2009 Teacher Salary structure and inform the next Education Sector Plan regarding teacher qualifications and remuneration. 47. The successor project proposes to utilize the implementation arrangements established under the GPE financed Project. It will focus on further enhancing the capacity of the MoET for sector planning, implementation and monitoring. 48. Continued support to the country to strengthen the education sector will be critical for the country to achieve its goals. There is strong momentum for transitional changes in the sector which can help boost the achievement of results. Currently, the Bank is the only major partner of the Government to support education sector development. It will be important to increase the scale and scope of interventions to overcome the challenges described above.

3. Assessment of Outcomes 49. This ICR employs a split methodology for evaluating Project performance. Given the significant changes introduced at the time of the first restructuring and the stark difference in project performance before and after this restructuring, the ICR team has assessed and rated performance for these two phases separately with an overall rating capturing achievement of objectives at the end of the Project.

3.1 Relevance of Objectives, Design and Implementation 50. The Project’s relevance is rated substantial in all phases given that the Project’s objectives and design remain relevant today. There were weaknesses in the design of the implementation arrangements at appraisal but these were effectively identified and modified at the MTR stage to enable the Project to achieve its objectives. 51. Lesotho’s National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2012-2017 continues to place emphasis on human capital development as being central to the country’s growth and economic transformation. In the aforementioned document Pillar III focuses on Enhance the skill base, technology adoption and foundation for innovation. One key set of strategic objectives under this pillar relates to “improve the foundation for skills development through improvement of access,

4 A new Medium Term Education Sector Plan 2015-2020 is currently in the early stages of development.

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quality of education and infrastructure, including ICT literacy.” Specifically, this strategic objective highlights the following items: (i) Develop ECCD Policy and establish a multi-sectoral approach to ECCD; (ii) Fast-track construction and/or rehabilitation of schools and classrooms in areas with inadequate school infrastructure; and (iii) Strengthen curriculum, train and deploy qualified teachers at primary, secondary and high school level to improve competencies of learners, and reduce wastage (drop-out and repetition) especially in Lesotho. Project activities focused on all the above mentioned areas as reflected in the PDO. 52. The current Country Partnership Framework (CPF) 2015-2020 is under preparation and a key CPF pathway is strengthening individual and group assets. A central element of strengthening individual assets is by improving education outcomes—specifically by raising and aligning skills. Similarly the Lesotho Systematic Country Diagnostics (SCD) also places emphasis on the critical needs of the education sector and the challenge that despite high levels of spending in education (20% of the overall budget), education outcomes continue to be poor. The SCD emphasizes that human development is essential for individual well-being and contributes significantly to ensuring the sustainability of economic gains. Further the SCD, in its push for a new growth model, emphasizes the critical role of improved human capital to enhance the productivity of firms in Lesotho.

3.2 Achievement of Project Development Objectives 53. Overall efficacy for the project is rated as substantial despite the early challenges that faced the project. In the first phase efficacy was Modest but it improved substantially post-MTR. The impact of the project can be seen at the school-level, in particular at schools in very remote or mountainous areas. Students and teachers in all primary schools are using just under a million new textbooks, teachers’ guides, and assessment materials based on a new simplified curriculum focused on early grade reading and math. Field visits have confirmed schools are using the next textbooks and anecdotal feedback from primary school teachers is very positive on the new curricula and textbooks. A pilot assessment of early grade literacy and numeracy was recently completed to serve as a baseline for later evaluations of quality of learning. 140 pre-primary reception classes were established and supported by the project, doubling the availability nationwide and allowing 3,682 children the opportunity for quality early childhood development in preparation for primary school. Since the start of 2015, these reception classes have been fully absorbed by the MoET budget, indicating sustainability beyond the project. 54. The teacher incentives scheme to retain qualified teachers in remote areas and improve the qualifications of under-qualified teachers also appears to contribute to improving the learning environment. Principals and teachers at remote schools have noted that the incentive scheme has made their school a more attractive place to work, although there is a risk of attrition with the close of the incentive scheme in November 2014. The results several studies financed by the project will continue to support the MoET in future strategic planning. For example, the forthcoming results of an impact evaluation on the teacher incentives scheme as well as a Teacher Qualifications Framework study will help to inform the next Education Sector Plan. As school construction is now complete in all project schools, overcrowded classes are relocated into weather resistant new classroom blocks with new classroom furniture significantly improving the learning environment of these schools.

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55. The following paragraphs provide an assessment of achievement of the three stated objectives of the Project to: (i) provide improved facilities at existing primary schools; (ii) support and contribute to expand access to pre-primary education; and (iii) and support improvement in quality of teaching. PDO 1: Improve School Facilities at Existing Primary Schools 56. The Project aimed to improve the physical quality of primary schools through classroom and latrine construction in existing schools that did not have sufficient or adequate quality classroom facilities that could be used year-round, i.e. even during the rainy season and in winter. All newly constructed classrooms were equipped with desks and benches. The Project exceeded its revised target of 135 classrooms by 8 classrooms and increased the number of schools who benefited (from 18 to 30). It also exceeded the revised target for construction of toilet blocks. This component faced challenges (see Section 2.2), and the target for construction of classrooms was reduced to 135 in a total of 18 schools, compared to the original target. At project approval, 330 classrooms were to be built in 64 schools. This activity promoted achievement of the objective of improving the school environment/facilities. Although the number of classrooms built was lower than initially expected, the number of beneficiaries for the whole project benefitting from the revised scope was higher than the approved targets for the Project. This was because the funds saved from school constructions were spent in Component 3, specifically for textbooks for all students in Grades 1-4, and increased training. Hence, the total number of project beneficiaries exceed the original targets, despite the challenges of classroom construction in the remote rural areas. 57. Classroom construction under the project also likely contributed to increased school operating and learning time for the children enrolled. Schools without buildings or in structures that cannot withstand rain and the winter are unlikely to operate for the entire school year, leading to loss in learning time. Visits to the targeted schools during showed that classrooms were not allocated for all grades and despite sharing classrooms between multiple grades, some classes had to operate in open air or very inadequate structures. Since most of the project-funded schools were completed in 2011, the project likely contributed to reducing the above share of open air classrooms, thus increasing the amount of students’ instruction time throughout the school year. 58. The project activities constitute a good practice package that has been demonstrated from international experience to improve access to education. The EMIS school-level data reveals that enrollment has started to increase in the targeted 30 schools5 where 143 additional classrooms were built under the project. The number of pupils has been trending upwards from 5,834 in 2013 to 5,948 in 2014 in schools benefiting from new classrooms and latrine construction. This is contrary to the enrollment trends in other primary schools, which did not benefit from school construction under this project. Indeed, the enrollment in non-target schools has decreased over the last five years in the country (on average declining 1.3 percent annually between 2009 and 2014), whereas the annual growth rate of school-age population is estimated to have grown 1.3 percent (UN

5 School were built in seven districts which included Mokhotlong, Maseru, Leribe, Mohale's Hoek, Quthing, Qacha's Nek and Thaba Tseka.

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Population projection 2009 to 2014) providing a strong indication of achievement of the intended outcomes the Project. PDO 2: Contribute to Expand Access to Pre-primary Education 59. The project objective of supporting expansion of access to pre-primary education was achieved. In addition to the government’s own support of reception classes, the project supported an additional 140 pre-primary reception classes, doubling the availability for early childhood development in preparation for primary school and helping reduce grade 1 repetition Specifically, the project funded a package of interventions for these reception classes, i.e. appropriate learning and play materials for small children, support to the caregivers and cooks, and food stuff. By Project closing, both the original and revised targets (3,600 and 3,220 children enrolled in preprimary reception classes) was surpassed with an enrolment of 3,682 students in reception classes. The Project financed approximately 60 percent of all students enrolled in reception classes in 2014. 60. At the time of Project appraisal, Lesotho’s repetition rate in Grade 1 was one of the highest in the region (in June 2010) at 19 percent. In 2014, the repetition rate had been reduced to 9 percent largely due to the government’s policy of limiting repetition in the primary cycle. However, it is likely some improvements in the decline in repetition rate can be attributed to the introduction of reception classes. Global evidence shows that pre-primary education can have a substantial impact on success at the primary level and beyond (World Bank, STEPs). Increased access to pre-primary education supported by the Project is likely to have contributed significantly to this outcome. At the time of Project appraisal, repetition rate for grade 1 was included as an indicator for the quality of teaching. This indicator was later dropped It is important to note that at the time the indicator was dropped in 2014, the Project end target of 23 percent had been achieved. 61. The decision by the GoL to continue to support these additional 140 reception classes with the potential space of 3,220 pre-primary students each year is likely to have a sustainable impact on a number of children entering pre-primary in Lesotho and in the longer term, their economic well-being. PDO 3: Support improvement in quality of teaching 62. The Project aimed to achieve its higher level objective of improved student learning through improving the quality of teachers and thus teaching. In terms of achieving its stated goal of improvement in quality of teaching, the Project made significant gains. The pupil to qualified teacher ratio improved from 59:1 in 2010 to 45:1 at project closing in 2015. 63. Survival rate can be used as a proxy indicator for measuring outcomes of the interventions implemented under the Project to improve quality of teaching. In 2014, 65 percent of children were still in school by the end of primary school (Grade 7), up from 41 percent in 20066, a considerable increase. Data on promotion and drop-out rates for 2001 and 2012 indicate that these

6 Cohort survival rate as reported in EMIS 2014. 41 percent refers to the cohort that started Grade 1 in 2000 and completed primary in 2006.

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improvements are paralleled in drop-out rates and promotion rates. Promotion rates have improved across all grades and particularly strongly in certain grades (for example grade 2 and grade 3.) 64. Given that lagging schools (mostly in remote, rural areas of the country) faced more acute challenges in maintaining teaching quality, the BEP aimed to attract and retain qualified teachers at these ‘difficult’ schools to raise outcomes. Achievements in this area were considerable with nearly 1,100 teachers receiving incentives for serving at challenging locations.

3.3 Efficiency 65. Overall efficiency of the Project was Modest. A cost-benefit analysis was conducted in order to examine the returns of the Project in terms of improved completion rates and learning outcomes due to the activities of the project. The analysis estimates a Net Present Value approximately of US$ 5.4 million, corresponding to an estimated internal rate of return (IRR) of 11.3 percent. However, this return is an underestimation, as the calculations only account for two streams of benefits, which are from classroom construction and textbooks distribution. The benefits from the expansion of pre-primary reception classes are not calculated and neither is the benefit stream of improved quality of teachers and its impact on learning outcomes of students. Both these benefit streams were difficult to measure due to insufficient data.7 Cost Effectiveness Analysis for School Classroom Construction 66. A cost-effectiveness analysis for classroom construction was carried out for the ICR. Although data was limited, the team was able to make a comparison with four other projects/programs with similar activities implemented in Lesotho (details in Annex 3). Compared to 2 contracts from 2 other MoET’s managed projects financed by the Government and Ireland Aid respectively, the unit cost performance of BEP was either better or consistent. Compared to similar constructions by an NGO, World Vision (670 US$/m2 in 2014), the performance of BEP (555 US$/m2 in 2014) was cost-efficient given that construction by World Vision was 15% more expensive. Compared with construction under a project financed by another bilateral donor, JICA, costs were slightly higher. The average unit cost of the JICA-financed classrooms in 2011 is 401 US$/m2 (value actualized 2014) in the Districts of Leribe and Berea. In the same district of Leribe, the unit cost of classroom by BEP in 2014 was 420 US/m2. However, the difference at only 5%, which is not substantial.

3.4 Justification of Overall Outcome Rating 67. Rating: The table below summarizes the overall outcome rating for the project for the different phases before each restructuring and before project closing. The combined Overall Outcome Rating for the Project is Moderately Satisfactory.

7 Data related to pre-primary school is not available in the Lesotho Skills and Employment Survey in 2011. An estimation of the impact of pre-primary school on wage is in that case not possible, and neither is the estimation of an eventual impact of pre-primary school on the cognitive skills of students. The final data on the impact of the incentive scheme for teachers is also not available.

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Table 4: Overall Rating for Project

Against Original RF-Phase 1

Against Revised RF (Restruct. 1) – Phase 2

Against Revised RF (Restruct. 2) – Phase 3

Comments

Rating MU (Relevance: S; Efficacy: M Efficiency: M)

MS (Relevance: S; Efficacy: S Efficiency: M)

MS (Relevance: S; Efficacy: S Efficiency: M)

Against stated objectives and outcome targets.

Rating Value 3 4 4 Weight (% disbursed)

7.15% 64.7% 28.15%

Weighed Value 0.21 2.59 1.12 Overall Rating 3.92 (Moderately Satisfactory) MS after rounding.

3.5 Overarching Themes, Other Outcomes and Impacts (a) Poverty Impacts, Gender Aspects, and Social Development 68. Investment in school infrastructure combined with the teacher incentive pilot aimed to improve educational attainment through a better classroom environment. The evidence for Lesotho is clear that each additional year of schooling results in an additional return of 5. 6 percent. In total 143 classrooms were built in remote areas which in a given year provides better school infrastructure for 6100 students. Evidence on qualified teacher to pupil ratios shows a significant improvement. Both factors will contribute to create a better school environment, better educational attainment and in the longer run better returns to education, positively impacting poverty. The project also successfully met its gender targets. The project exceed the percentage of female teachers who were targeted (77 % vs 60%) via but slightly short of the target for female student beneficiaries for the project (49% vs 50%). (b) Institutional Change/Strengthening 69. Recentralizing procurement for civil works: The decision to recentralize procurement post the MTR led to the development of additional technical capacity in the EFU, procurement and contract management in the MoET. Institutionally, realigning roles and responsibilities at the MoET and enhancing EFU’s authority and holding them to greater accountability has been critical to better delivery on civil works. 70. Monitoring and Evaluation: M&E has been enhanced in two key areas: 1) M&E of civil works progress which has happened because of the hiring of five construction supervisors at the EFU with the specific task of undertaking M&E on school construction only; and 2) Enhanced capacity to undertake M&E because of the training provided to the Teachers Services Unit to support the impact evaluation data collection process.

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(c) Other Unintended Outcomes and Impacts (positive or negative)

3.6 Summary of Findings of Beneficiary Survey and/or Stakeholder Workshops 71. A Beneficiary Survey was administered to key stakeholders involved in the project. The results are presented in Annex 5.

4. Assessment of Risk to Development Outcome Rating: Significant 72. With respect to the first intended outcome of improved physical environment of schools, the restructuring half way through Project implementation and extension of the Project period ensured that the revised targets were fully completed. Funds were shifted to provision of textbooks which were provided on time and contributed to improvement of the school learning environment. Lessons learned during the early phase of implementation were proactively included in revisions to implementation modalities (centralization of procurement). Through the experience of the Project, the Ministry has increasingly gained capacity to better manage and supervise contractors. Progress in Phase 2 of school construction was more consistent. Contract management was more rigorous and well-enforced, quality of construction was better, and supervision and maintaining information systems more timely. This points to residual capacity in the Ministry which will also have an impact on future construction undertaken by the Ministry. A database on contractor performance has been created through this project for future reference as well as used by other ministries which reduces the risk of low quality, inefficient construction activities going forward. An environmental and social audit firm completed visits to all civil works sites, and made recommendations for minor remedial works at most of the sites which have been completed ensuring safe buildings. For the remaining works, the Government has taken over financing responsibilities to ensure all works are completed. This hints towards strong ownership of project activities and a commitment to provision of a good learning environment to Lesotho’s students. 73. The risk to the second development outcome of provision of pre-primary education to children is low. Expenses related to continuation of classes established under the Project have been incorporated in the MoET budget since the beginning of 2015. This activity is fully owned by the Government of Lesotho. In fact, the Government developed and approved a policy for Integrated Early Childhood Care and Development (IECCD) highlighting the GOL’s continued prioritization to early childhood care and development in 2014. 74. On improvement of teaching quality, the risk to retention of qualified teachers in ‘difficult’ schools is High. The teacher incentives scheme, was a pilot scheme, to retain qualified teachers in remote areas and improve the qualifications of under-qualified teachers met the intended targets. Principals and teachers at remote schools have noted that the incentive scheme has made their school a more attractive place to work. However, it is likely there will be attrition with the close of the incentive scheme in November 2014. Nevertheless, the early results indicate that the pilot was successful in improving the qualification of teachers in remote areas as reflected in the improved qualified teacher to pupil ratio. It is possible that the GoL may consider returning to this policy intervention once the finalized results of the impact evaluation are complete.

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75. The overall operating environment of the country remains fragile. Although elections took place successfully and the new coalition government is in place, the security issues are not yet resolved. At the same time, although there have been improvements in the capacity of the MoET, issues related to understaffing, weak technical, project management, M&E and fiduciary capacity put the development and implementation of a sector strategy based on the lessons of this operation at risk. 76. The Government’s continued focus on development of the sector demonstrated by its request for support from the Bank under the Lesotho Education Quality for Equality Project currently under development, to mitigate some risks. However the GoL’s macro-fiscal position continues to remain critical and this potentially can impact continued service delivery in the sector and sustainability of results achieved by the project. Expenditure on education as a percent of GDP has been trending downwards from about 10.6% in 2009 to 8.4% in 2013. Concessional lending and grants from development partners are critical for sustainability in the education sector and a key partner in education in Lesotho, Irish Aid is no longer active in Lesotho. The Bank’s continued engagement, particularly the new upcoming project, will ensure that outcomes achieved under the Project are maintained and lessons learned incorporated to the extent possible for improved performance. On balance, however, the overall risk to development outcomes is rated Significant.

5. Assessment of Bank and Borrower Performance 5.1 Bank Performance (a) Bank Performance in Ensuring Quality at Entry Rating: Moderately Unsatisfactory 77. The development objective framed for the Project and the activities designed to support the achievement of the PDO were both relevant for improvement in Lesotho’s education sector outcomes. A QER was held in July 2009 and these recommendations were reflected in the project’s final design. However, there were several weaknesses in the design of the implementing arrangements and the results framework that was developed to track progress toward achievement of the PDO. Risks given the proposed implementing arrangements were not adequately identified and there were weaknesses in ensuring adequate measures were in place to overcome some anticipated implementation challenges. The targets set under Component 1 were ambitious, particularly given Lesotho’s previous capacity to deliver on civil works. This was flagged in the GPE’s external quality review (EQR) held in October of 2009. On the whole, the rating of the Bank in ensuring quality at entry is Moderately Unsatisfactory. (b) Quality of Supervision Rating: Satisfactory 78. The team was highly proactive in learning from implementation bottlenecks during the first phase of implementation and turning around the performance of the Project by taking necessary actions and restructuring the Project to reflect operational challenges. The team enhanced their supervision of the project post Restructuring 1, particularly the number of missions undertaken and also regularized weekly video conferences with the MoET to ensure timely implementation of the project.

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79. Team composition was updated frequently to provide high quality implementation support to the client. A social and environmental audit was also conducted for the construction undertaken under the Project and the remedial actions identified tracked carefully by the team to ensure compliance. The team’s performance in a challenging operational environment was exemplary, especially after the midterm review. (c) Justification of Rating for Overall Bank Performance Rating: Moderately Satisfactory 80. Although the Bank’s support to the client in achieving the objectives of the Project was satisfactory during implementation of the Project, the gaps at quality at entry, specifically on defining a results framework warrant an overall rating of Moderately Satisfactory.

5.2 Borrower Performance (a) Government Performance Rating: Satisfactory 81. The Government of Lesotho demonstrated a high level of commitment to achieving the objectives of the Project especially after the early challenges before MTR. After the MTR, commitment was high and evident from the: (i) policy to institutionalize and expand early childhood care and development; (ii) providing adequate provisions in the MoET budget for continued operation of the reception classes established under the Project; (iii) taking responsibility for the provision of a high quality learning environment for its students through adequate provision of resources to the Implementing Agency for completing the remaining (minor) works to address environmental issues related to the construction under the Project; and (iv) providing support for implementation of politically difficult reforms such as incentives to teachers to serve in ‘difficult’ areas so the lagging regions of the country receive quality education. (b) Implementing Agency or Agencies Performance Rating: Moderately Satisfactory 82. The performance of the Implementing Agency (IA) was mixed. The implementing arrangements for the Project had changed significantly from the preceding project in the sector with the disbanding of an implementation unit and mainstreaming of the responsibility for implementation of Project activities with the line ministry. In the initial years of Project implementation, it is evident that the IA did not have capacity to implement the activities agreed under the Project, especially as they related to civil works. Its capacity for managing procurement and overseeing implementation at the district level was especially weak. At the same time, it was also slow in taking adequate measures to enhance its capacity. There was a turnaround after Restructuring 1 and the Ministry was able to improve performance significantly, also due to significant commitment of and monitoring by MoET management. This improvement post MTR was significant particularly at the highest level. On the whole, performance of the IA was Moderately Satisfactory. (c) Justification of Rating for Overall Borrower Performance Rating: Moderately Satisfactory 83. Although performance of the IA in the first phase of the Project was weak and the pace at which it filled the identified gaps to achieve project goals was slow resulting in a delay of over two years in completion of Project activities, especially as they related to construction activities,

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performance in other aspects, specifically establishment of reception classes was satisfactory. It was also able to improve performance significantly in the second phase with support from the Bank team to successfully achieve the revised scope of Project activities. On balance, the overall performance of the Borrower is rated Moderately Satisfactory.

6. Lessons Learned 84. This Project presents the case of significant turnaround in performance and outcomes in the face of numerous operational challenges. The experiences of the Project provide rich examples of the approach both the Bank and the client can adopt to diagnose and resolve issues in a proactive manner. A few key important lessons learned from the experience of the Project are as follows: Intensive preparation and support when introducing innovation: Innovative institutional

changes are essential, however, they require more intensive analysis at the preparation stage, especially in areas of procurement and financial management. Risks need to be identified and adequate mitigating measures put in place before innovations in implementation modalities are pursued. Where necessary, a phased approach should be planned which ensures lessons learnt are quickly and easily incorporated.

Building trust with the Government: Extra effort and close collaboration with the client in a

high stress situation (such as one with a fraud investigation) can strengthen partnership and positively impact project implementation to achieve outcomes.

Background analysis: Institutional Assessments to gauge the capacity of not just the

Implementing Agency but all involved players in implementation of Project activities is critical to assessing the realism of project targets.

Construction: A centralized procurement strategy for peripheral civil works, although counter-

intuitive, was more effective as it consolidated small and scattered bids, resulting in all classrooms and latrines at one school being adequately managed in one lot for procurement.

Creating an enabling environment for the Implementing Agency: Mid-course corrections,

when done using strong evidence that align the scope of project activities and targets with IA capacity are critical once implementation challenges become visible and is a strong justification for changing the course of a project.

Bank’s role in project success: The Bank can play an important role in turning around project

performance through intensive and proactive support when the situation requires. A dedicated project implementation unit is critical in countries with low capacity: The

projects implementation experience from the project indicates that mainstreaming PIU activities is challenging when an implementing agency is weak and there continues to be a need for a dedicated project staff or project implementation unit.

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Annex 1. Project Costs and Financing

(a) Project Cost by Component (in USD Million equivalent)

Components Appraisal Estimate

(USD millions)

Actual/Latest Estimate (USD

millions)*

Percentage of Appraisal*

Improved facilities in primary schools

9.10 9.2

Supported and expanded pre-primary education

1.50 1.8

Quality support measures in primary schools

7.80 9.2

Total Baseline Cost 18.40

Physical Contingencies

0.25

0.00

0.00

Price Contingencies

0.25

0.00

0.00 Taxes and Duties8 1.10

Total Project Costs 20.00 0.00 Project Preparation Costs 0.00 0.00 .00 0.00 0.00 .00

Total Financing Required 0.00 0.00

*These figures are pending as the government has recently been given an extension of the grace period for disbursement until October 30, 2015.

(b) Financing

Source of Funds Type of

Cofinancing

Appraisal Estimate

(USD millions)

Actual/Latest Estimate

(USD millions)

Percentage of Appraisal

Trust Funds 0.00 0.00 EFA-FTI Education Program Development Fund

20.00 20.00 100

IRELAND, Govt. of 6.80 4.90 72

8 Identifiable taxes and duties were 1.10 (US$m) and the total project cost, net of taxes was 18.9 (US$m) at appraisal. Therefore the share of project cost net of taxes is about 94.5 percent.

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Annex 2. Outputs by Component 85. The PDO of the project: According to the Catalytic Fund Grant Agreement (henceforth “grant agreement”) the Project Development Objective (PDO) was to: (i) provide improved facilities at existing primary schools; (ii) support and contribute to expand access to pre-primary education; and (iii) support improvements in the quality of teaching in the Recipient’s territory. The PDO as described in the PAD is similar and states to “provide improved facilities at existing primary schools, support and contribute to expand access to pre-primary education, and support improvement in quality of teaching.” There was a total of seven PDO indicators, and ten intermediate indicators at Appraisal. At Restructuring 2 the original RFW was simplified and three PDO indicators were dropped and two PDO indicators were revised and strengthened. The PDO indicators and accompanying intermediate indicators were structured so that each of the indicators was directly aligned with each PDO sub-objective -- improved facilities at existing primary schools; support and contribute to expand access to pre-primary education; and support improvement in quality of teaching—and the associated component for ease of monitoring. The weakness of the original results framework (RFW) was that many of the PDO indicators were poorly defined and it was unclear what was being measured. 86. The PDO was not revised during the project lifetime. However, under Restructuring 1 some of the PDO indicator targets were revised in alignment with the capacity of the MoET. Under Restructuring 2, the RFW was simplified to facilitate monitoring. The objective was to simplify data collection process and reporting and strengthening the link between the Project’s intermediate indicators, key PDO indicators and the PDO. Three PDO indicators were dropped and two PDO indicators were revised under this simplification of the RFW. The project consisted of three components with a total project costs of $20,000,000. There was no changes in the agreed components during the project life but the scope of the project components were changed over the project lifetime as discussed in greater detail below. Component 1: Improve the quality of primary school infrastructure (At Appraisal US$ 9.1 million). 87. The goal of this component in line with the PDO’s first sub-objective was to provide improved facilities at primary schools. At Appraisal, this component was to provide approximately 330 additional, fully furnished, primary gender and disability friendly classrooms at existing schools, along with approximately 100 toilet blocks. Construction was to be developed using a new approach, using smaller contractors, de-concentrated procurement and subcontracting of technical supervision of civil works and the approach was expected to speed up the pace of construction and reduce costs. At Restructuring 1, the target was revised and lowered to completing 135 classrooms and 87 toilet blocks. Also the new approach to doing school construction was revised, and construction was again centralized with a focus on class A and B contractors rather than class C contractors (as in the PAD) to undertake the work.

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Table 5: Achievements of Outputs under Component 1 Component/ Sub-Component

Result and Outputs Planned Activities Comment On Indicators

1.1 Construction of and furnishing of primary school classrooms

School Construction Construction and

furnishing of 143 classrooms completed across 30 separate schools; total number of completed classrooms exceeded the revised target required under Restructuring 1 by 8 additional classrooms.

The 143 classrooms were furnished to improve access for students with disabilities. Capacity Enhancement

Twelve resources were recruited to assist in the procurement, finance, construction and Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) process, including: Contracts Manager, Construction Manager, Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager, Project

At Appraisal the target was construction and furnishing of 330 additionally classrooms in 64 separate schools during the lifeline of the project. At Restructuring 1 the initial target for construction and furnishing was revised and the new target during the lifeline of the project was the construction and refurbishment of a total of 135 classrooms in 18 schools.

Revised PDO indicator target achieved on construction of classrooms; 8 additional classrooms built in additional 12 schools. Revised intermediate indicator achieved on furnishing; 8 additional classrooms furnished in additional 12 schools. .

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Officer, five Construction Supervision monitors; M&E and Procurement Expert and a Financial Officer.

184 persons trained, including 64 MoET officers; 60 district members and 60 contractors; certain training on technical aspects, including environmental aspects, were partially completed.

Line and responsibilities of EFU and Procurement Unit at MoET was clearly defined and tasks aligned, centralizing ownership and accountability with EFU.

M&E system for

civil works set up and managed by construction supervision monitors which led to early capacity check on contractor and exclusion of bad contractor.

5 vehicles supported

EFU and the construction supervision monitors

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in supervision of civil works.

1.2 Construction of latrines

Construction of 93 latrines completed in 30 schools.

At Appraisal the target set was to construct 100 toilet blocks. At Restructuring 1 the target was revised to 87 toilets.

Revised Intermediate target exceeded by 6 additional latrines.

88. Achievement of Component 1 Indicators: The project successful met the PDO indicator revised at Restructuring 1 - Number of additional classrooms built by the project (total number). The revised target set at Restructuring 1 was 135 classrooms in 18 schools. By project closing a total of 143 classrooms had been built and the target set was exceeded by 8 additional classrooms built in an additional 12 schools (in a total of 30 schools). The project achieved 105 percent of the revised PDO indicator target at Restructuring 1 and 42 percent of the original target set at Appraisal. In parallel, the project also met the intermediate indicator—classrooms furnished (number)—and the project also furnished 8 additional classrooms. Also, the project successfully met and exceeded the target set for the intermediate indicator-Toilet blocks constructed (number). The revised target set at Restructuring 1 was 87 latrine blocks. At project closing, 93 latrine toilet blocks had been built. The project also exceeded the revised indicator target by 6 additional latrines. The project achieved 106 percent of the revised target at Restructuring 1 and 93 percent of the original target set at appraisal.

Component 2: Support and contribution to the expansion of pre-primary education (Pooled Fund: US$ 2.0 million; FTI CF: US$ 1.5 million).

89. This component supported the government’s objective to maintain and expand access to reception classes especially for the poorest children, through provision of care givers, learning materials, and catering services. At Appraisal the objective was to extend these services to approximately 100 existing and approximately 20 additional reception classes, with a capacity of approximately reaching 3,600 children. This expansion would support the continued inclusion of an estimated 5.2 percent of the age five population in reception classes over the duration of the project. At Restructuring 1, this was extended to an additional 20 reception classes bringing the number of reception classrooms supported to 140.

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Table 6: Achievements of Outputs under Component 2 Component/Sub-component

Result and Outputs Planned Activities Comment On Indicators

2 Support and Contribution to the Expansion of pre-primary Education

Reception Classes Enrolment in reception

classes totaled 3,682.

140 caregivers and catering staff / catering service engaged to support 140 reception classes.

New learning materials were procured and supplied to 140 schools including puzzles, life skill and literacy kits.

140 reception classes was

also furnished with basic materials including floor mats and mattresses as well as buckets, wash basins, soaps and towels.

At Appraisal the procurement of care givers, learning materials and catering services to approximately 100 existing and approximately 20 additional reception classes to cater to 3,600 children. At Restructuring 1 an additional 20 reception classes were supported to bring the total number of reception classrooms supported to 140. At Restructuring 2 the target for enrolment target was reduced to 3,220.

PDO Indicator Target Enrolment on reception class enrolment exceeded the target by 82 children. Revised Intermediate target for supporting reception classrooms was met.

90. Achievement of Component 2 Indicators: The PDO Indicator - Target enrolment in reception class – was set at 3,600 students at Appraisal and revised to 3,220 at Restructuring 2. At Project closing, enrolment in reception class exceeded the revised target set in Restructuring 2 by 380 students and the Appraisal PDO indicator target was exceeded by 82 children. The Project achieved 114 percent of the revised target and 102 percent of the target set at Appraisal. The revised intermediate target-supporting reception classrooms was also met. At Appraisal the target

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was to support 120 reception classrooms and this was revised at Restructuring 1 to 140. This target was met early in the project. The project achieved 100 percent of the revised target at Restructuring 1 and 116 percent of the original target set at Appraisal.

Component 3: Contribution to improvements in quality of teaching (Pooled Fund: US$ 10.6 million; FTI CF: US$ 7.8 million)

91. The goal of this component in line with the PDO’s third sub-objective was improvements in the quality of teaching in the Recipient’s territory. There are three sub-component in this component: Sub-Component 3.1 on Qualified teachers in ‘difficult’ schools schemes; Sub-Component 3.2 on Improving literacy and numeracy teaching in the early grades and Sub-Component 3.3 Provide textbooks in core subjects and grades in primary schools. At Appraisal under Sub-Component 3.1 two types of incentives were offered to teachers to ensure retention in “difficult“ areas; monetary incentive was offered and a bursary incentive was offered to upgrade skills of unqualified teachers located in difficult areas. In total 1,600 teachers were to be offered incentives (800 target for the monetary incentive and 800 for the bursary incentive) in 400 remote schools. At Restructuring 1, the number offered the monetary incentive was increased to a 1,000, and the number offered the bursary decreased to 600 and all in 540 remote schools. 92. At Appraisal under Sub-Component 3.2 a number of activities were flagged including training of teachers and preparation and provision of teaching materials to support improved teaching of literacy and numeracy in primary schools; review of literacy and numeracy material in use; development and reproduction of updated and localized teaching materials for grades 1-3; training of 4,500 teachers in improved methods for literacy and numeracy teaching and an early grade reading assessment. At Restructuring 1, the number of teachers to be trained on improved methods was increased from 4,500 to 6,515; the additional development and reproduction of updated and localized teaching materials for grade 4 was included; and also the development of textbooks for new grades 1-3 curricula based on the curricula and assessment materials developed under this sub-component was included. A number of studies were also included in this sub-component at Appraisal. This included: (i) establishing a baseline data on teaching and learning and (ii) impact evaluation of the scheme to attract and/or retain qualified teachers in remote and/or difficult to access schools. At Restructuring 1 a number of additional items were added including the development of the teacher’s qualification framework, an evaluation of the Distance Teacher Education Program (DTEP) as well as other analyses which may inform the development of materials for formative assessment and support of the development of the teacher performance system. 93. The final, Sub-Component 3.3, focuses on the provision of textbooks in core subjects and grades in primary schools. At Appraisal 13,300 core-subject textbooks were to be provided across deficit core subjects. However, at Restructuring 1, the developed curricula and assessment for developed for grades 1-3 under component 3.2 was published as textbook for up to 913,000 units.

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Table 7: Achievements of Outputs under Component 3

Component /Sub-Component

Result and Outputs Planned Activities Comment On Outputs

3.1 Qualified teachers in ‘difficult’ schools schemes

1,096 qualified teachers, on a 17% pay increase accepted jobs across 540 schools deemed to have difficult access.

380 unqualified teachers provided bursaries to enroll in the Distance Teacher Education Program (DTEP) training.

The DTEP training fell

short by 220 participants to meet the project target to train 600 unqualified bursary teachers in difficult schools. This was due to no DTEP training in 2013 and 2014 due to concerns on DTEP’s effectiveness and sustainability.

At Appraisal, two types of incentives were offered to teachers to ensure retention in “difficult” areas; monetary incentive was offered and a bursary incentive to upgrade skills of unqualified teachers located in difficult areas was offered; 1600 (800 target for the monetary incentive; and 800 for the bursary incentive) teachers were targeted in 400 remote schools. At Restructuring 1, the number offered the monetary incentive was increased to a 1000, and the number offered the bursary decreased to 600 in 540 remote schools.

A PDO level indicator was added at Restructuring 2 which was pupil to qualified teacher ratio. Revised Intermediate target to receive monetary incentive exceeded the target of 1000 by an additional 96 qualified teachers. Revised Intermediate target for the number of unqualified teachers to receive bursary of 600 was not met by 220.

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3.2 Improving literacy and numeracy teaching in the early grades

Between 2012 and 2015

early grade curriculum packages were reviewed, designed, developed, refined, reproduced and piloted across 70 schools for grades 1 to 5.

Curriculum packages were also designed, developed, printed and piloted across 70 schools for grade 6.

5,000 newly integrated curriculum and assessment packages were developed, reproduced and piloted for grades 1 to 3.

Assessment packages were

designed, developed, refined, reproduced and piloted across 70 schools for grades 1 to 3 and launched nationwide during 2012.

During 2013, the implementation of curriculum packages for grade 4 in the 70 pilot schools was monitored and evaluated.

During 2012, the implementation of curriculum and assessment packages for grades 1 to 3 in the 70 pilot schools was monitored and evaluated.

For grades 1 to 3, 5,391

teachers were trained on

At Appraisal: Training of teachers and preparation and provision of teaching materials to support improved teaching of literacy and numeracy in primary schools. Review of literacy and numeracy material in use. Development and reproduction of updated and localized teaching materials for grades 1-3. Training of 4,500 teachers in improved methods for literacy and numeracy teaching. An early grade reading assessment. At Restructuring 1 Number of teachers to be trained increased from 4,500 to 6,515.

Revised intermediate indicator for teachers,

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methods; 1,965 additional participants received training, including SEOs (10), Principals (1456), Advisors and Inspectors (23), DRTs and Eos Inspectors (56) and School board members (200) as well as train-the-trainers (200).

For grade 4, 1,797 teachers were trained in pilot schools; 1,673 additional participants received training, including Principals (1,456), DRTs and Eos Inspectors (75) and train-the-trainers (142).

For grade 5, 86 teachers were trained in pilot schools; 155 additional participants received training, including SEOs (10), Principals (70) and DRT and Eos Inspectors (75).

For grade 6, 71 teachers

were trained in pilot schools; 40 additional participants received training, including SEOs (10) and DRTs and Eos Inspectors (30).

Additional development and reproduction of updated and localized teaching materials for grade 4. Development of textbooks for new grades 1-3 curricula based on the curricula and assessment materials developed under this sub-component.

principals, DRTs, and inspectors targeted by the project that were trained in teaching methods adapted to the new curriculum Grade 1-3 was exceeded by 4,643. Intermediate Indicator system for learning assessment achieved.

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Sub-Component 2A Consultancy- related to Improving literacy and numeracy teaching in the early grades

The requirement to establish baseline data on teaching and learning was not completed as almost all the baseline data collected on teaching and learning was misplaced before data could be entered.

Impact evaluation on teacher incentive pilot was not completed; neither was the impact evaluation on learning assessment.

A preparatory study on the development of the teacher’s qualification framework was completed.

At Appraisal: Establish baseline data on teaching and learning. Impact Evaluation of the scheme to attract and/or retain qualified teachers in remote and/or difficult to access schools. At Restructuring 1 Preparatory study on the development of teacher’s qualification framework. Evaluate the DTEP as well as other analyses which may inform the development of materials for formative assessment and support the development of the teacher performance system.

Sub-Component 3.3 Provide textbooks in core subjects and

The target of 13,300 textbooks was achieved and exceeded with the development of procurement of 1,100,000

At Appraisal 13,300 core-subject textbooks were to be provided across deficit core subjects;

Revised intermediate indicators, for number of textbooks

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grades in primary schools.

textbooks and the distribution of 928,276 textbooks delivered to schools for grades 1 to 4, cross country.

For grades 1 to 3: 840,000 textbooks were procured and 705,308 books were distributed cross country.

For grade 4: 260,000

textbooks were procured and 222,968 textbooks were distributed cross country.

In November 2014, a study

was completed to measure early grade literacy in grades 1 to 3.

Textbooks were to be provided through competitive bidding – with one book distributed per child through the School Supply Unit using established procedures. At Restructuring 1 Development of textbooks for new grades 1-3 curricula based on the curricula and assessment materials developed under project to be provided up to 913,000. This was to be prepared under Sub-Component 2.2.

purchased and distributed by the project achieved and the number exceeded by 187,000; and the number distributed exceeded by 15,276.

94. Achievement of Component 3 Indicators: The PDO Indicator for Component 3 is pupil teacher ratio added at Restructuring 2 and the target set at 45 to 1. At Appraisal, the baseline ratio was 59 to 1. At project closing the pupil teacher ratio target was achieved but not necessarily directly due to the project, but because of a government policy to eliminate repetition in classrooms. 95. Under Sub-Component 3.1 there are two intermediate indicators linked to the incentives schemes for teachers in “difficult” schools -- Teachers in ‘difficult’ schools targeted by the project receiving a grant (number) and Teachers in ‘difficult’ schools targeted by the project enrolled in training programs (number). The project outperformed on the first and underperformed on the second. The project revised the intermediate target for grants for teachers in “difficult” school in Restructuring 1 to 1,000. By project closing, the number of teachers who received the grant equalled 1,096 and the target of a 1,000 was exceeded by an additional 96 qualified teachers. The project revised the intermediate target for bursary for teachers in ‘difficult’ school in Restructuring 1 to 600. By project closing, the number of teachers who received the bursary was 380, 220 below the target of 600. The inability to meet this target was external to the project, as the bursary supported teachers in the DTEP, which was discontinued by the Government in 2014. Another intermediate indicator for sub-component 3.1 is teachers, principals, DRTs, and inspectors targeted by the project that were trained in teaching methods adapted to the new curriculum Grades 1-3. The original target at appraisal was set at 4,500 and this was revised in Restructuring 1 to 6,515. At project closing, the project had exceeded this target for Grades 1-3 by 4,643.

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96. Under Sub-component 3.2 textbooks purchased and distributed by the project (number) - an intermediate indicator. At Appraisal the target was set for 13,300. However, at Restructuring 1, the scope of this sub-component was expanded to produce and distribute 913,300 textbooks based on the new curriculum and assessment tools developed under the project. By project closing the total number of books purchased equaled 1,100,000 and the number distributed equaled 928,276. These numbers exceeded the revised targets set in Restructuring 1. For the number of textbooks purchased the number achieved exceeded the target by 187,000 and the number distributed exceeded the target by 15,276. The project also achieved the target of setting up a learning assessment tool.

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Annex 3. Economic and Financial Analysis 97. The principal benefits expected from the project are improved facilities at existing primary schools, support and contribute to expand access to pre-primary education and support improvements in quality of teaching. Together these activities are aimed at improving retention and the quality of education. The Project development objectives were pursued through a number of activities including building classrooms in remote areas, supporting pre-primary classrooms, in-service teacher training aimed at improving literacy and numeracy teaching, upgrading the qualifications of teachers working in difficult schools and strengthened teaching incentives to remain in remote areas, and through providing textbooks in core subjects for grades 1 to 4. Section 1 examine evidence on internal and external efficiency; Section 2 undertakes a cost-benefit analysis of the project; and Section 3 examines issues of fiscal sustainability. 1. Internal efficiency 98. Overall internal efficiency is improving in the primary education sector. Repetition rates have been trending downwards since 2005 but have been consistently falling since 2010. Data on promotion and drop-out rates for 2001 and 2012 indicate that these improvements are paralleled in drop-out rates and promotion rates. Similarly, between 2011 and 2014 the period that overlaps with the project, there are similar improvements. Promotion rates have improved across all grades and particularly strong in certain grades (for example grade 2 and grade 3. The drop-out rates are broadly trending downwards.

Table 8: Promotion, repetition and dropout rates, 2011-2012, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 2011 to 2012 2012 to 2013 2013 to 2014 Promotion rate Grade 1 75.5% 74.5% 83.3% Grade 2 85.6% 84.5% 94.4% Grade 3 80.9% 81.8% 95.5% Grade 4 77.3% 75.6% 79.6% Grade 5 79.4% 78.2% 81.1% Grade 6 78.0% 78.3% 79.7% Transition rate (Primary-Lower secondary) 74.8% 74.6% 75.4% Repetition rate Grade 1 11.7% 12.3% 5.5% Grade 2 11.6% 11.4% 3.3% Grade 3 10.8% 10.9% 3.0% Grade 4 18.6% 18.6% 14.5% Grade 5 15.1% 15.1% 13.5% Grade 6 12.2% 12.3% 11.4% Grade 7 11.7% 12.0% 11.2% Dropout rate Grade 1 12.8% 13.2% 11.3% Grade 2 2.8% 4.1% 2.2% Grade 3 8.3% 7.3% 1.5% Grade 4 4.1% 5.8% 5.9% Grade 5 5.5% 6.8% 5.3%

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Grade 6 9.7% 9.4% 8.9% Grade 7 13.5% 13.5% 13.3%

Source: EMIS 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, author’s calculation 99. The EMIS school-level data reveals that enrollment has started to increase in the targeted schools9 of 30 where 143 additional classrooms were built under the project. The number of pupils has been trending upwards from 5,834 in 2013 to 5,948 in 2014 in schools benefiting from new classrooms and latrine construction. This is contrary to the enrollment trends in other primary schools in Lesotho which did not benefit from school construction under this project. Indeed, the enrollment in non-target schools has decreased over the last five years in the country (on average declining 1.3 percent annually between 2009 and 2014), whereas the annual growth rate of school-age population is estimated to have grown 1.3 percent (UN Population projection 2009 to 2014).

Table 9: Enrollment in Primary Schools Enrollment Baseline

2011 2013 2014

Targeted schools (30*) 5915 5834 5948

All primary schools 385 437 369 469 365 387 Source: EMIS 2011, 2013 and 2014 100. Turning to the improvements in quality of teaching, the national average ratio of primary school pupils per qualified primary school teacher has declined from 59:1 in 2009 to 45:1 in 2014. As part of the project, and in order to improve the qualification level of the teaching force in schools located in remote schools, a teacher incentive scheme was introduced in the project with two components. The first is a monetary incentive paid out monthly to teachers (for up to three years) to newly qualified teachers who accepted positions in difficult or remote schools. The second is a bursary offered to unqualified teachers already teaching in one of the targeted remote schools, allowing them to upgrade their qualifications by completing a teaching degree offered by the Distance Teacher Education Program (DTEP). In the 540 difficult schools targeted by the project the improvement in pupil-teacher ratios seems significant. The pupil teacher ratio that does not distinguish between qualified and non-qualified teachers is 37:1 at the onset of the introduction of the incentive scheme in the difficult schools. By 2014 it was 33:1. However, the pupil to qualified teacher ratio has improved significantly more from 93:1 in 2011 to 54:1 in 2014. This is a key achievement of the project.

Table 10: Pupil-teacher ratio (overall and qualified teachers), 2011, 2013 and 2014 Pupil-teacher ratio Pupil qualified teacher ratio 2011 2013 2014 2011 2013 2014 Difficult schools (540) 37 34 33 93 61 54 All primary schools 34 33 32 51 45 45

Source: EMIS 2011, 2013 and 2014

9 School were built in seven districts which included Mokhotlong, Maseru, Leribe, Mohale's Hoek, Quthing, Qacha's Nek and Thaba Tseka.

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101. In order to estimate the impact of the teacher incentives pilot scheme in those difficult schools, almost 400 schools took part in a randomized impact evaluation10. The preliminary results of the teacher incentives impact evaluation survey highlight that unqualified teachers in training have increased over the years whereas only 21 percent of teachers without any qualification attended the training in 2011. This figure reached 41 percent in 2013 and equaled 36 percent in 201411. The share of teachers enrolled in the DTEP program and with no qualification receiving a bursary increased from 1 percent in 2011 to 79 percent in 2013 and 54 percent in 2014. 102. On learning outcomes, the National Assessment indicates that the trend on learning outcomes has been decreasing over time. Between 2006 and 2010 before the advent of this project, the trend for pass rates for grade 3 had declined particularly for English and Mathematics. Comparative figures for grade 3 do not exist for the project period (2010-2014)12. However, National Assessment results for grade 4 over the project cycle also indicate a downward trend. The average score on English has declined from 52 in 2012 to 40 in 2014, whereas the score for Mathematics has declined from 51 to 35. The project components-both the revised curricula and accompany textbooks and the introduction of better qualified teachers, particularly in the difficult schools-are likely to have an ameliorating impact on these results. The introduction of new textbooks for grades 1-3 were gradually introduced in January 201313 while a similar introduction began in January 2015 for grade 4. The impact of the project interventions are unlikely to be evident at the current time even if the data was available. However, these figures will serve as baseline against which learning outcomes can be measured in the future as the usage of the new curricula and textbooks increases.

10In total 392 schools took part in the evaluation and were randomly assigned to 4 groups: (i) control group comprising 98 schools where no teachers participated, (ii) monetary bonus only group with 97 schools where qualified teachers receive a monetary incentive of 1000 Maloti, (iii) bursary only group with 98 schools where unqualified teachers were offered a bursary to enroll in Distance Teacher Education Program, and (iv) monetary bonus and bursary group with 99 schools where qualified teachers received the monetary incentive and unqualified teachers were offered a bursary.

11 For teachers in the subsample of schools receiving bursary only or monetary bonus and bursary group.

12 This data does not exist as the National Assessment stopped testing grade 3 and targeted assessment at grade 4 beginning 2012.

13 The preliminary results in the difficult schools survey suggests that 35 percent of the schools surveyed received textbooks in 2013, and 41 percent received teachers’ guide. Furthermore, in grade 1 and grade 2, the share of students having textbooks varies between 30 and 52 percent in 2014, whereas the percent is lower in grade 3 and grade 4 (less than 30 percent). However, these results may underestimate the national level results as they are from the difficult schools initially in deficit of textbooks.

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Table 11: National Assessment: Average score on English, Mathematics and Sesotho, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014

English Mathematics Sesotho Mean Std. dev. Mean Std. dev. Mean Std. dev. Grade 3 - 2006 22.3 0.08 54.0 0.06 38.0 0.11 - 2008 23.0 0.07 49.0 0.05 40.0 0.08 - 2010 20.0 0.07 42.6 0.04 41.6 0.08 Grade 4 - 2012 52.0 0.42 51.1 0.32 57.8 0.54 - 2014 40.6 0.36 35.3 0.26 39.1 0.43 Subsample of difficult schools in 2014

36.2 0.40 34.7 0.33 37.4 0.55

Source: National Assessment Report 2006, 2008 and 2010. Authors calculations for 2012 and 2014 103. As to external efficiency, in Lesotho, as in other countries, higher education is associated with higher earnings. Based on the most recent household survey (2011) each additional year of education results in a rate of return of 5.6 percent. The differential in rates of return between levels of education indicates that the gap between those with lower secondary compared to those with some upper secondary is 18.4 percent, and 32.5 percent between those with upper secondary compared to those with some higher education. Investment in additional years of schooling is beneficial. 2. Cost-Benefit Analysis 104. A cost-benefit analysis was conducted in order to examine the returns of the project in terms of improved completion rates and learning outcomes due to the activities of the project. The analysis estimates a Net Present Value approximately of US$ 5.4 million, corresponding to an estimated internal rate of return (IRR) of 11.3 percent. However, this return is an underestimation, as the calculations only accounts for two streams of benefits which are from classroom construction and textbooks distribution. The benefits from the expansion of pre-primary reception classes are not calculated and neither is the benefit stream of improved quality of teachers and its impact on learning outcomes of students14. Program benefits 105. The provision of new classrooms in the remote schools is expected to improve the access and the completion rates at the targeted schools. In addition, providing textbooks and learning materials in core subjects are expected to rise the education quality and therefore the learning outcomes. In order to more precisely quantify the scope and size of these effects, the number of students who are likely to be impacted by the project is calculated, and the degree to which the

14 Data related to pre-primary school is not available in the Lesotho Skills and Employment Survey in 2011. An estimation of the impact of pre-primary school on wage is in that case not possible, and neither is the estimation of an eventual impact of pre-primary school on the cognitive skills of students.

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learning outcomes and school enrolment survival rate of these students responds to this two subcomponent of the project. In order to convert these estimates into monetary terms which are comparable to estimated costs, the economic returns to an additional year of education is estimated. These estimates require a number of assumptions, which are described in what follows.

Table 12: Assumptions for the analysis Assumptions Students enter labour market at 17 years of age Students leave labour market at Population growth rate per year (2015-2025) Depreciation of textbooks per year Scope of return for construction Return to educational quality Discount rate

60 years of age 0.73% per year 10% 12 years 10% to the labour market returns 10%

106. Based on EMIS school-level data, there are about 5,948 students in 2014 in the 30-targeted schools benefiting the classroom and latrines construction and 369,469 students in all primary schools in 2013 benefiting the textbooks distribution. Investment from the project is limited and projected to fade out, so 10 per cent of purchased textbooks are estimated to depreciate every year, and the scope of return for construction is about 12 years. During those 12 years, the population growth of total student enrolment is estimated to be 0.73 per cent per year (in line with population projections for Lesotho). All students are assumed to enter the labour market at 17 years of age and work up until the age of 60. Survival and completion rates 107. In order to estimate the effect of increased schooling attainment (years of completed schooling) on private returns to education, we examine firstly the predicted effect of classrooms and latrines construction on attainment, and we estimate secondly the economic returns of the additional years of education. A regression of school and classroom characteristics on student survival rates for each level in primary was estimated using EMIS data of 2013 and 2014. Coefficients on permanent classrooms and latrines suggest that these inputs correlate with higher student attainment at all education levels (see Table below). These coefficients are then apportioned to the appropriate subset of students in the targeted schools. The translation of these point estimates into survival rates suggests that school and latrines construction will increase survival rates for approximately 5,500 students. In order to estimate the economic returns, Lesotho Skills and Employment Survey in 2011 was used suggesting that an additional year of education is associated with an increase in monthly income of Maloti 147, or approximately US$240 per year. Over work life of those students who benefit from the additional year in education attainment because of better facilities, the Net Present Value of additional earning is estimated to be US$13,308,982 at a discount rate at 10 percent.

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Table 13: Survival rate per grade regression (2013 to 2014)

Survivalratepergrade2013to2014 Grade1 Grade2 Grade3 Grade4 Grade5 Grade6Standardclassroom(ratio) 4.750*** 2.122** 5.423*** 2.362* 3.168** 3.547** (‐1.158) (‐0.925) (‐0.987) (‐1.304) (‐1.374) (‐1.551)Latrines 0.287*** 0.192*** 0.211*** 0.324*** 0.273*** 0.410*** (‐0.066) (‐0.0528) (‐0.0562) (‐0.0742) (‐0.0777) (‐0.0869)Constant 77.52*** 87.30*** 84.74*** 72.80*** 73.54*** 70.15*** (‐0.861) (‐0.687) (‐0.736) (‐0.971) (‐1.031) (‐1.176)Observations 1,396 1,399 1,394 1,392 1,378 1,356R‐squared 0.033 0.017 0.04 0.02 0.016 0.025Standarderrorsinparentheses ***p<0.01,**p<0.05,*p<0.1

Source: EMIS 2013 and 2014

Learning outcomes

108. On textbooks and learning materials, the Net Present Value of labour market outcomes as a result of higher learning is also estimated by two steps. Firstly, the predicted effect of textbooks on learning outcomes is calculated, and secondly the returns to educational quality are estimated. The first point of estimates is obtained by using National Assessment data for Grade 4 by regressing test scores on a range of pupil-textbook ratio on Mathematics, English and Sesotho15. Textbooks in English and in Sesotho appear to increase performance on test outcomes. For the second step, given that we are unable to estimate the labour-market returns to higher quality education, we make an assumption regarding its private payoff of additional textbooks. It is assumed that a one standard-deviation increase in test scores will result in a 10 percent premium to the labour market returns estimated from the Lesotho Skills and Employment Survey in 2011. The Net Present Value of the additional income from improved learning via textbooks is estimated at US$45,637,934.

Table 14: Regression results exam for Grade 4, National Assessment 2014 Sesotho English MathematicsStudentperSesothobook ‐0.0211 ‐0.14 StudentperEnglishbook ‐0.329** ‐0.143 Studentpermathbook 0.190** ‐0.0946Constant 40.21*** 42.90*** 35.27*** ‐1.442 ‐1.293 ‐1.008Observations 2065 2221 1977R‐squared 0 0.007 0.007Robuststandarderrorsinparentheses ***p<0.01,**p<0.05,*p<0.1

15 The pupil-textbook ratio on mathematics, English and Sesotho are from EMIS data on 2014.

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Note: The pupil-textbook ratios are from EMIS 2014 (Means of pupil-textbooks ratios for the 3 subjects are: 5.3 for mathematics, 4.5 for Sesotho and 3.5 for English).

Program Costs 109. The cost streams consist of the total investment costs and recurrent costs of the project over the five years, and the opportunity costs for the same group of students who were estimated to survive one year longer in school in the benefits calculation above. The opportunity costs are calculated based upon the average yearly income of a working child under the age of 16 who had not completed primary schools. This cost is estimated as a monthly income of Maloti 89, or approximately US$147 in 2011. Therefore, the Net Present Value of the economic costs is estimated to be US$18,193,840. Cost and Benefits 110. Based on the previous results, the Net Present Value for this project and the IRR is estimated by comparing the entire flow of costs and benefits over the life of the project and the working life of students affected by the program. Students are considered to enter the labour market at 17 years old and leave at 60 years. Using the above estimates, the NPV of the project is calculated to be US$5,438,027 which corresponds to an IRR of 11.3 percent. Despite the challenges and the restructuring of the project, the project was a worthy investment. 111. It is worth comparing the IRR for achieved targets in the project with IRR based on targets stated in the PAD. Based on the same assumptions used for the earlier CBA, and assuming that the targets of 330 classrooms and the 100 latrines in the PAD were constructed and 13,300 textbooks were purchased, the IRR would have been 11.4 percent.16 The difference between the two IRR is small (see Table below). The small difference is explained by how the number of beneficiaries of the project was actually larger despite the fewer classrooms constructed but because of the larger number of students receiving textbooks.

Table 15: Estimation of the IRR Estimation With the original scope in the

PAD With the actual scope at the

end of the project IRR 11.4% 11.3% Net Present Value US$ 7,094,685 US$ 5,438,027 Estimated NPV related to benefits from classrooms and latrines

US$ 24,342,884 US$ 13,308,982

Estimated NPV related to benefits from textbooks

US$ 34,503,494 US$ 45,637,934

16 The estimation related to the classrooms and latrines was done with 64 schools in the difficult schools (34 schools were randomly selected from the baseline, and the 30 schools benefiting the construction during the project).

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3. Financial Analysis 3.1. Classroom Construction Unit Cost Analysis17 112. An understanding of classroom construction unit cost analysis is critical particularly for this project given the following: (i) the significance of Component 1 which accounts for almost half of the total grant (US$ 9.9 million); (ii) the delays generated by Component 1 early on in the project; and (iii) the decision at MTR to restructure the implementation arrangements of this Component which would have had implications for costs. Cost efficiency in this component would contribute significantly to overall cost efficiency in the project. 113. Unit cost analysis of classroom construction undertaken on this project18 indicates that the average investment per school was US$230,000 (including taxes) and on average included 4.8 classrooms and 6.5 block of latrines per school. The average unit cost per classroom is US$36,800 and latrine cost for staff, girls, and boys, are respectively 21 percent, 15 percent and 18 percent of the cost of the classroom. Average unit cost per gross meter of classroom is equivalent to US$555/m2. Comparatively, the average investment per school (U$230,000) is of a similar range of previous projects in Lesotho. In the Second Education Sector Development Project (SESDP), the average cost per SESDP primary school was US$227,000. 114. Certain features stand out about school construction in Lesotho and indicate to the relatively higher cost of school construction in the region. There is a significant difference between apparent vs adjusted unit cost in Lesotho. Adjusted cost which include “preliminaries and general items” and “schedule rates and contingencies” result in a sharp increase in costs by 50 percent. This is exceptional compared to other countries. Floor gross areas per classroom in Lesotho is generous and average net unit area, based on a class size of 34, is 1.75m2, which is one of the largest by international standards. Finally, average unit prices per classroom hide huge differences between contracts and between districts. Between districts prices can vary up to 250 percent while within districts prices can way by 168 percent between the minimum and maximum prices for classrooms. There is a tendency for unit prices for classrooms to increase from north to south. These variations in districts and between districts and region likely arise from transport of non-local material and the lack of road but cannot explain all the difference in unit costs. 115. A cost-effectiveness analysis for classroom construction was carried out for the ICR. Although data was limited, the team was able to make a comparison with four other projects/programs with similar activities implemented in Lesotho. Access to the corresponding information was limited during the ICR preparation because most of the contracts of MoET’s staff involved in school construction had already expired. The four other projects with available information are the following:

17 All figures are given in nominal prices.

18 See Serge Theunynck’s (2015) technical note to accompany this ICR.

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A parallel program by MoET that financed not only classrooms and latrines, but also school kitchens. The sample of this program is limited to one single contract for Poriking Primary School in Qabane Community Council in Mohales’ Hoek District (February 2012).

An Ireland-financed program, also implemented by the MoET as the BEP. The sample of this program is also limited to one single contract. Moketeng Primary School in Mafeteng District (No Ireland Aid MOET/317/10/11) dated 2010/10/12.

A World Vision-financed program. World Vision (WV) is an international Christian NGO that implements operations financed from child sponsorship funds. Established in Lesotho in 1987, it is now one of the largest international NGO in the country. In 2013, World Vision was operating in 1000 villages in 7 districts out of 10, but is mainly involved in Mohale’s Hoek. On the basis of its annual report, it is assumed that the standard model is the MoET’s one.

JICA is also a long term player in Lesotho as regards to school construction. Its current project supports the construction of lower secondary schools. It follows the Project for Construction of Primary Schools (2004-2009).

116. Compared to the 2 contracts from 2 other MoET’s managed projects financed by the Government and Ireland Aid respectively, the unit cost performance of BEP is either better or consistent. Table 4 summarizes the analysis’ outputs while Annex 6 provides the detailed calculations. 117. Comparison of unit prices of classroom construction by MoET through BEP and through another parallel program in 2012 (this program includes not only classroom and latrines but also kitchen). The comparative contract is for the school of Poriking in Mohales’ Hoek District. The unit price of BET in the same District Mohales’ Hoek is one fourth cheaper (571 US/m2 vs. 726 US/m2). 118. Comparison of unit prices of classroom construction by MoET through BEP with funds from Ireland Aid in 2010. The comparative contract is for the school of Mokekeng in Mafeteng District. Although the BEP was not operating in Mafeteng, the cost-comparison can be made with the next District (Maseru). On this basis the unit cost of BEP is about the same as this of the comparative contract. (334 US/m2 vs. 364 US/m2).

Table 16: Classroom unit cost comparisons between BEP and other projects

managed by MoET in 2010 with Ireland Aid and 2012

Source. Author’s calculations with data from MoET

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119. Compared to similar constructions by World Vision (670 US$/m2 in 2014), the performance or BEP (555 US$/m2 in 2014) is cost-efficient. World Vision is actually 15% more expensive. Table 17 provides the detailed calculations. The limitation on information also limits the possibilities to provide lights on the rationale of this difference.

Table 17. Classroom unit cost comparisons between BEP and projects financed/managed by World Vision between 2013 and 2015

Source. Author’s calculation with data from contracts in MoET

120. Comparison with the JICA-financed school constructions. The current JICA project finances the construction by the MoET of lower secondary schools comprising 10 classrooms in 3 blocks (2 blocks of 4 classrooms and 1 block of 2 classrooms), one block combining a science laboratory and administration offices, a staff house and 2 blocks of latrines respectively for boys and girls. The reviewed contracts were signed in 2011; the average contract cost was about ML 4,5 millions equivalent to about US$ 615,000. As shown in below Table 18, the unit cost of a combined administration-science block is about ML 1,5 million equivalent to about 8 classrooms. This is striking: one single unit of such block is almost equivalent to the cost of all the classrooms. Annex 7 provides the detailed calculations.

Table 18. Unit costs of various school facilities in the 2011 JICA-financed school construction project

Source. Author’s calculation with data from contracts in MoET

121. The average unit cost of classrooms financed by JICA is 5% lower than this of BEP. As shown in Table 18, the average unit cost of the JICA-financed classrooms in 2011 is 401 US$/m2 (value actualized 2014) in the Districts of Leribe and Berea. In the same district of Leribe, the unit cost of classroom by BEP in 2014 was 420 US/m2. However, the difference is only 5%, which is not that substantial. 3.2. Fiscal Sustainability 122. Public expenditure on education in Lesotho is high by international standards. It consistently represented 11 percent of GDP between 2010 and 2012. However, it slightly decreased to 9 percent in 2013. The share of education in all public expenditures varied between

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17 percent and 19 percent between 2009 and 2011. Capital expenditures represented 12.5 percent of the public expenditure on education in 2009, but it has declined over the years with a bottom at 5.5 percent in 2012. Conversely, the external funding remained involved in the investment expenditures and its share increased between 2011 and 2012, representing 85 percent of the capital expenditure.

Table 19. Public Expenditure on Education (Current prices, Maloti millions) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014Public expenditure on education 1,754.7 1,781.4 2,044.1 2,101.7 1,966.4 - - Recurrent expenditure 1,534.7 1,599.8 1,913.4 1,985.8 1,813.1 - - Capital expenditure of which % external funding

220 70.5%

181.6 67.8%

130.7 64%

115.9 85.3%

153.3 73.9%

-

Public expenditure on education as % of GDP

12.1% 11.2% 11.3% 11.0% 9.1% -

Public expenditure on education as % of government expenditure

17.7% 19.0% 18.1% - - -

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Annex 4. Grant Preparation and Implementation Support /Supervision Processes

a) Task Team members

Names Title Unit Responsibility/

Specialty Lending/Grant Preparation Joseph Byamugisha Sr Financial Management Specialist GGODR Cristina Isabel Panasco Santos Program Leader AFCS2 Luis Benveniste Practice Manager GEDDR Deon P. Filmer Lead Economist DECHD Wedex Ilunga Sr Procurement Specialist GGODR Aidan Gerard Mulkeen Consultant-Education Specialist GEDDR Jonathan Nyamukapa Financial Management Specialist GGODR Chitambala John Sikazwe Sr Procurement Specialist GGODR Serge Theunynck Consultant-Architect GEDDR David Week Consultant-Architect GEDDR

Supervision/ICR Rosario Aristorenas Sr Program Assistant GEDDR Aisuluu Bedelbayeva Consultant-Operations GEDDR Sandra F. Beemer Consultant-Operations GEDDR Joseph Byamugisha Consultant-Sr Financial Management GGODR Faith Babalwa Chirwa Program Assistant AFCS1 Marie-Helene Cloutier Economist GEDDR Helen J. Craig Lead Education Specialist GEDDR Majbritt Fiil-Flynn Consultant-Social Safeguards GEDDR Deon P. Filmer Lead Economist DECHD

Birger J. Fredriksen Consultant GEDDR Annika Grafweg Consultant-School Construction AFTH1 Lungiswa Thandiwe Gxaba Environmental Safeguard GFADR Susan E. Hirshberg Sr Education Specialist GEDDR Cornelia Jesse Sr Education Specialist GEDDR Richard K. Johanson Consultant-ICT (??) GEDDR Christin McConnell ET Consultant GEDDR Jean Godefroid Cimanga Keba Consultant-Research Analyst GEDDR Luc Lapointe Consultant-Procurement Specialist GGODR Kirsten Majgaard Economist GEDDR Edmund Motlatsi Motseki Operations Officer AFMLS

Thomas Maketa Lutete Consultant-Financial Management Specialist

GGODR

Reaboka Yvonne Maraisane Consultant-Research Assistant GEDDR Christin McConnell ET Consultant GEDDR Kisa Mfalila Sr Environmental Specialist GENDR Alain Jean Louis Mingat Consultant-Education Specialist GEDDR Anthony Molle Sr Counsel LEGSO Suzanne F. Morris Disbursement Officer CTRFC

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Edmund Motlatsi Motseki Operations Officer AFMLS Tandile Gugu Zizile Msiwa Financial Management Specialist GGODR Tawhid Nawaz Operation Advisor GEDDR Patrick Lumumba Osewe Lead Specialist-Program Leader GHNDR Cristina Isabel Panasco Santos Program Leader AFCS2 Rita Parrilli Consultant LCRRM Nelly Rakoto-Tiana Consultant-Research Analyst GEDDR Harisoa Danielle Rasolonjatovo Andriamihamina

Sr Education Specialist GEDDR

Reehana Rifat Raza Sr Economist GEDDR Chitambala John Sikazwe Sr Procurement Specialist GGODR Migual Juan Socias Perez Consultant-M&E GEDDR Yves J. Tencalla Consultant-M&E GEDDR David Week Consultant-Architect GEDDR Harry Toews Wiebe Consultant-Architect GEDDR Hana Yoshimoto Consultant-Research Analyst GEDDR

(b) Staff Time and Cost

Stage of Project Cycle Staff Time and Cost (Bank Budget Only)

No. of staff weeks USD Thousands (including travel and consultant costs)

Lending 3.81 58,567.16

Total: 3.81 58,567.16 Supervision/ICR 141.52 762,390.22

Total: 141.52 762,390.22

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Annex 5. Beneficiary Survey Results 123. In early 2014 a beneficiary assessment was carried out to assess specific interventions under the EFA Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Grant. The objective of the assessment was “...to provide feedback from project beneficiaries to inform project implementation as well as to potentially inform policy dialogue on key sector issues” (p.1). The report gathered stakeholders’ perspective on three specific intervention funded by the EFA FTI III grant:

1. The incentive scheme for qualified teachers 2. The training bursaries for unqualified teachers 3. The pre-primary classrooms

The methodology employed a qualitative approach to gather stakeholders’ perspectives on these interventions. 124. The assessment sample included 16 schools in three districts of Leribe, Thaba-Tseka and Quacha’s Nek. Schools were non-randomly selected on the following criteria: (i) Type and the number of activities funded by the grant in each school and the distribution of those activities; and (ii) school size, school performance and school’s geographical location, specifically remoteness of school. . In total 178 individuals were interviewed including principals/deputy principals, teachers, community leaders/school board members, school feeding staff, students and parents. The summary of the assessment by activity is given below. 125. The incentive scheme for qualified teachers. The incentive scheme was effective in attracting teachers to remote schools and enhanced the capacity of remote schools to recruit teachers. However, at the time of the assessment-early on in the program incentive payments were late which made teachers participating nervous about payments The random assignment of incentive payments (as per the requirement of the randomized control trail) created some ill-will among teachers of schools who were not selected for the scheme. Despite a sensitization component about the incentive scheme and the research design accompanying the incentive scheme, teachers not selected remained unhappy. 126. The training bursaries for unqualified teachers. The training bursary for unqualified teachers in remote schools was effective in bringing new skills to the classroom and these skills were subsequently shared with other colleagues not benefiting from the training. Participating teachers were very enthusiastic about the experience, despite some quality concerns by some of the principals. In view of the latter, the distance teacher education program was evaluated by the project and is currently being revamped. 127. The pre-primary classrooms. The expansion and support of the pre-primary classroom has improved the preparedness of those children who were able to attend a reception class before entering grade 1. Teachers report a marked difference in those children who did attend reception classes as compared to those who did not. Nevertheless, the program in implementation did struggle with insufficient space for these classrooms and at the time of the assessment there were challenges in implementing the food feeding program.

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Annex 6. Stakeholder Workshop Report and Results N/A

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Annex 7. Summary of Grantee's ICR and/or Comments on Draft ICR Ratings summary Overall Implementation Progress (IP)


Progress towards achievement of development objectives


Overall risk rating Moderate Procurement Satisfactory Financial Management Satisfactory

PDOs & Indicators 128. The ICR found that all three PDOs were fully reached, and four of the five intermediate indicators were achieved as well. The effectiveness of the project activities was rated as Satisfactory. However, due to delays and capacity constraints over the course of the project’s implementation, the project’s duration was significantly extended by 23 months. Overall Implementation 129. At the close of the project in April 2015, overall implementation was at a very advanced stage towards completion; activities including construction, teacher incentives, and curriculum and assessment were almost entirely complete (except for a few contracts on civil works to address environmental and social safeguards). The scope of each component was changed over the course of the project; some aspects were expanded due to excess capabilities, and some aspects were scaled back due to capacity constraints and other challenges. By component: 130. Component 1: The scope of the recipient body and measured outcomes was reduced from 330 to 135 classrooms, from 100 to 87 toilet blocks, and from 64 to 18 targeted schools, due to contractors’ implementation capacity constraints to deliver on time. 131. Component 2: All project targets were met. The scope was revised upwards from 120 reception classes to 140, with an estimated enrolment of about 3,682 children. GoL has decided to take over and finance the cost for foodstuffs, caregivers and cooks, activities which were earlier supported by the project. 132. Component 3: Achievements exceeded some project targets and fell short in others. Qualified teachers receiving retention and attraction incentives were 1,096 against a targeted 1,000. A teacher qualifications framework study and DTEP evaluation study were successfully completed. However, the DTEP (Distance Teacher Education Program) bursary program benefitted only 380 unqualified teachers, instead of the targeted 600. Overall Project Management, Financial Management and Procurement 133. Overall project management, financial management and procurement were rated Satisfactory. However, due to initial implementation constraints, the project failed to attract additional performance-based resources totaling to US$10million. The project satisfactorily fulfilled all financial and other reporting obligations.

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Continuation of Project Activities 134. GoL will take over some project financed activities past project closure, including: unfinished remedial works, mobile monitoring program, tuition for DTEP students, caregivers and cooks’ salaries, development of curriculum and assessment packages, teacher training, and provision of textbooks beyond grade 4. Challenges in Implementation 135. Project take-off was substantially delayed due to various challenges. These challenges included the large scope, the design complexity, difficult physical access, and capacity constraint by project managers and contractors. These issues later caused a project extension, technical assistance, and a restructuring of each components’ scope at mid-term review in April 2013. The project was closed 30 April 2015, two years later than the original closing date. Conclusions and Lessons Learnt 136. Project Design: Project design needs to carefully map out the entirety of the project; some unmet targets and failures to meet deadlines could have been avoided if the scope and design were more realistic from the outset. 137. Management and Communication: Roles of and relationships between parties (partners, funding agencies, GoL, etc.) should be clearly articulated, periodically reviewed, and enforced. Training needs to be provided for key project staff, and their abilities should be assessed to avoid performance issues. Monitoring and evaluation should be more effective to help the project managers detect problems ahead of time, rather than retrospectively. 138. Contractors: It is not always appropriate to select the lowest bidding contractor; most of the selected contractors did not have financial capabilities to complete the work. Contractors should be evaluated to ensure the quality and timeliness of their deliverables. However, the project successfully familiarized the selected local contractors with the World Bank’s procurement rules and regulations, enabling them for future contracts with the Bank. Further, these companies have benefitted from general growth in business and financial resources since beginning the work.

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Annex 8. Comments of Cofinanciers and Other Partners/Stakeholders N/A

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Annex 9. List of Supporting Documents EMIS 2011, 2013, 2014 Ministry of Education & Training. 2009-2012 Medium Term Sector Plan Ministry of Education & Training. 2005-2015 Education Sector Strategic Plan

Ministry of Education & Training. Monitoring & Evaluation

Mulkeen, A. (2010). Teachers in Anglophone Africa. The World Bank Washington DC.

Theunynck, S. (2015). Lesotho Basic Education Project-School Construction Component. Mimeo.

World Bank. 2006-2009 Country Assistance Strategy for Lesotho World Bank. 2010 Basic Education Project for Lesotho, Project Appraisal Document, Washington, D.C. World Bank. 2015-2010 Country Partnership Framework for Lesotho The World Bank (2014) Lesotho Systematic Country Diagnostics World Bank. 2011 to 2015 Basic Education Project for Lesotho, Implementation Status Report, Washington, D.C. World Bank. 2011 to 2015 Basic Education Project for Lesotho, Aide Memoirs, Washington, D.C.

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Annex 10: Indicators under the Project PDO: To provide improved facilities at existing primary schools, support and contribute to expand access to pre-primary education, and support improvements in quality of teaching.

PDO LEVEL INDICATORS

Original Baseline Restructuring 1 (2013)19 Restructuring 2 (2014)20 Project Closing

Indicator

Ori

gin

al

Bas

elin

e

Ori

gin

al E

nd

T

arge

t fo

r M

ay

2013

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

201

3 R

estr

uct

urin

g 1

Ind

icat

or

Cha

nge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(N

ov

2014

) cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

201

4 R

estr

uct

uri

ng

2

Ind

icat

or

Cha

nge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(A

pr

2015

) cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t

Com

men

ts

Improved Facilities

Classrooms

constructed by the project meeting the

agreed standards (%)*

0

100

No

Fig

ure

Giv

en

No

chan

ge

100

( U

ncha

nged

)

54

Rev

ised

-There was a decline by 59% between the original and revised target (from 330 to 135) in Restructuring 1 and the scope in terms of schools affected fell from 64 schools to 18 schools. -At Restructuring 2, 54% of the revised target set under Restructuring 1 was met. -This PDO indicator was revised for purposes of straightforward presentation of information (see below).

19Figures for the RFRF at Restructuring 1 was taken from the December 4, 2012 ICR as these figures were not given in the Restructuring 1 Paper. 20 Figures for the RFRF at Restructuring 2 are from the Restructuring 2 Paper.

56

Number of additional

classrooms built by the project (total number) (modified and shifted

from intermediate indicators)

Rev

ised

in

dica

tor

135

143

-The project achieved 105% of the revised target at Project Closing and 42% of the original target set at Appraisal. -In the PAD this is a PSI, but the Restructuring 2 Paper refers to it as CI.

Original Baseline Restructuring 1 (2013)revised Restructuring 2 (2014) Project Closing

Indicator

Ori

gin

al B

asel

ine

Ori

gin

al E

nd

Tar

get

for

May

201

3

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2013

Res

tru

ctu

rin

g 1

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(N

ov 2

014)

cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2014

Res

tru

ctu

rin

g 2

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(A

pr

2015

) cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t

Com

men

ts

Access

Enrolment in Reception Classes supported by the

project (number)

0

3,60

0

No

Num

ber

Giv

en

No

chan

ge

3,60

0 (u

ncha

nged

)

3,60

0

No

chan

ge

3,22

0

3,68

2 (a

chie

ved)

-The Project achieved a 114% of the original target at Appraisal. -The change in enrolment target in Reception Classes in Restructuring 2 was in line with the national average teacher child ratio of 1:23; however at Project end the teacher child ratio was 26:1

57

Decline in shortfall of classrooms at primary

level (%)

0 7.5

No

Num

ber

Giv

en

No

chan

ge

7.5

(unc

hang

ed)

No

Num

ber

was

giv

en

Dro

pped

-This indicator was dropped at Restructuring 2 as it was confusing to the client and no new information was gained from this indicator.

Original Baseline Restructuring I (2013) Restructuring 2 (2014) Project Closing

Indicator

Ori

gin

al B

asel

ine

Ori

gin

al E

nd

Tar

get

for

May

201

3

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2013

Res

tru

ctu

rin

g 1

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(N

ov 2

014)

cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2014

Res

tru

ctu

rin

g 2

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(A

pr

2015

) cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t

Com

men

ts

Quality of Teaching

Repetition rate (grade 1)

(%)

26

23

No

Num

ber

Giv

en

No

chan

ge

23

23

Dro

pped

-This target was achieved by Restructuring 2 due GoL’s policy intervention. -This indicator was dropped at Restructuring 2 as it was no longer considered relevant after the GoL policy decision to limit repetition.

58

Qualified teachers (from total number covered by the project) retained or attracted to ‘difficult’

schools (number)

0

1,60

0

1,16

0

No

chan

ge

1,60

0 (u

ncha

nged

)

No

Num

ber

Giv

en

Rev

ised

-Two types of incentives offered: monetary (800 teachers) and bursary (800 teachers). -Restructuring 1 achievement - 1,160; 95% of the monetary incentive achieved (780) and 47% of the bursary incentive achieved (380). -In Restructuring 1 total was unchanged at 1,600 but the monetary incentive increased to 1,000 teachers from 800; bursary incentive decreased from 800 to 600. -Revised in Restructuring 2 as indicator was seen to be repeating information from two intermediate indicators and to make it more -outcome rather than output focused (see below).

Quality of Teaching Pupil to qualified teacher

ratio (number)

59

Rev

ised

Ind

icat

or

45

45 (

achi

eved

)

-This indicator was achieved by Project end. -This PDO indicator was added at Restructuring 2 to ensure a better link between teacher’s related activities and outcomes.

59


Indicator O

rigi

nal

Bas

elin

e

Ori

gin

al E

nd

Tar

get

for

May

201

3

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2013

R

estr

uct

urin

g I

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(N

ov 2

014)

clo

sin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2014

R

estr

uct

urin

g 2

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(A

pr

2015

) cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t

Com

men

ts

Quality of Teaching (Continued)

Decline in shortfall of qualified teachers at

primary level (%)

0

10.1

No

Num

ber

Giv

en

No

chan

ge

10.1

Dro

pped

-This indicator was not "officially" dropped but no data was subsequently collected after Restructuring 1.

60

Original Baseline Restructuring 1 (2013) Restructuring 2 (2014) Project Closing

Indicator O

rigi

nal

Bas

elin

e

Ori

gin

al E

nd

Tar

get

for

May

201

3

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2013

R

estr

uct

uri

ng

1

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(N

ov 2

014)

clo

sin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2014

R

estr

uct

urin

g 2

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(A

pr

2015

) cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t

Com

men

ts

Beneficiaries

Direct project

beneficiaries (number)

Teachers 0

7,80

0

No

Num

bers

G

iven

No

chan

ge

8,11

5

13,0

46

(ach

ieve

d)

Indi

cato

r ch

ange

to C

ore

indi

cato

r

13,0

46

(unc

hang

ed)

13,0

46

38

4,91

0

-This indicator was moved to a core indicator in Restructuring 2. Beneficiaries include all the teachers who were trained in the new curriculum and new textbooks including all primary school teachers, principals, some district regional teacher/education officers and inspectors. It also includes reception teachers and reception class cooks trained. The beneficiaries also include all the primary school students who benefited from the new textbooks in grades 1-4 and students enrolled in reception classes -By Restructuring 2, the project achieved 160% of the targeted direct project beneficiaries who were teachers; and over 4,000% of the targeted direct project beneficiaries who were pupil due to the expansion of the scope of the project.

Pupils 0

16,8

00

No

Num

bers

Giv

en

9,00

0

384,

910

(ach

ieve

d)

384,

910

(unc

hang

ed)

61

of which female

(%)

Teachers 0 60

No

Num

bers

G

iven

No

chan

ge

60

(unc

hang

ed)

77

Indi

cato

r ch

ange

to C

I

60

(unc

hang

ed)

77

Pupils 0 50

No

Num

bers

G

iven

50

(unc

hang

ed)

49

50

(unc

hang

ed)

49

INTERMEDIATE INDICATORS


Indicator

Ori

gin

al B

asel

ine

Ori

gin

al E

nd

Tar

get

for

May

201

3

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2013

R

estr

uct

uri

ng

1

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(N

ov 2

014)

clo

sin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2014

R

estr

uct

uri

ng

2

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(A

pr

2015

) cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t

Com

men

ts

Improved facilities in primary schools

Decline in shortfall of classrooms in primary

level (number of additional classrooms built by the project)

(number)

0

330

No

Num

ber

Giv

en

No

Cha

nge

135

Rev

ised

-This became a core PDO indicator (see above).

62

Toilet blocks constructed (number)

0

100 4

No

Cha

nge

87

42

No

Cha

nge

87 (

unch

ange

d)

93

-The project achieved 106% of the revised target at Restructuring 1 and 93% of the original target set at appraisal.

Classrooms furnished (number)

0 330 0

No

Cha

nge

135

39

No

Cha

nge

135

143



Indicator

Ori

gin

al B

asel

ine

Ori

gin

al E

nd

Tar

get

for

May

201

3

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2013

R

estr

uct

uri

ng

1

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(N

ov 2

014)

clo

sin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2014

R

estr

uct

uri

ng

2

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(A

pr

2015

) cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t

Com

men

ts

Supported pre-primary education

Reception classes supported (number)

0

120

120

No

Cha

nge

140

140

(ach

ieve

d)

No

Cha

nge

140

140

(ach

ieve

d)


63

Quality support measures implemented

Teachers in ‘difficult’ schools targeted by the

project receiving a grant (number)

0

800

760

No

Cha

nge

1,00

0

1,01

8

No

Cha

nge

1,00

0(U

ncha

nged

)

1,09

6 (

achi

eved

)

-The project achieved 110% of the revised target set at Restructuring 1 and 137% of the original target set at appraisal.

Teachers in ‘difficult’ schools targeted by the

project enrolled in training programs

(number)

0 800

No

Num

bers

G

iven

No

Cha

nge

600

Bla

nk

No

Cha

nge

600(

Unc

hang

ed)

380 -The project achieved 63% of the revised targets

set at Restructuring 1and 48% of the original target set at appraisal.

64

Original Baseline Restructuring 1 (2013) Restructuring 2 (2014) Project Closing

Indicator O

rigi

nal

Bas

elin

e

Ori

gin

al E

nd

Tar

get

for

May

201

3

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2013

R

estr

uct

uri

ng

1

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(N

ov 2

014)

clo

sin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t as

of

2014

R

estr

uct

uri

ng

2

Ind

icat

or C

han

ge

Rev

ised

tar

get

for

new

(A

pr

2015

) cl

osin

g d

ate

Ach

ieve

men

t

Com

men

ts

Quality support measures implemented (Continued)

Teachers and principals in grade 1 to 3 targeted by the project that were

trained in teaching methods adapted to the

new curriculum (number)

0

4,50

0

0

No

Cha

nge

6,51

5

7,31

4 (a

chie

ved)

Indi

cato

r C

hang

e

6,51

5

11,1

58

-The project achieved 171% of the revised targets set at Restructuring 1 and 248% of the original target set at appraisal. -The wording of the indicator modified to say "Teachers, Principals, DRTs, and Inspector targeted by the project that were trained in teaching methods adapted to the new curriculum.” -Scope of intervention was expanded to training for some teachers in grades 4, 5 and 6.

Textbooks purchased and distributed by the project

(number)

0

13,3

00

6,50

0

No

Cha

nge

913,

300

718,

608

No

Cha

nge

928,

276

941,

576

-The project achieved 120% of the revised targets set at Restructuring 1 and over 8000% of the original target set at appraisal. -Scope of the intervention was expanded under Restructuring 1 the procurement and distribution of textbooks for grades 1-3 were added for all schools.

System for learning assessment

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Cha

nge

Yes

(N

o C

hang

e)

Yes

No

Cha

nge

Yes

(N

o C

hang

e)

Yes

65

Supplemental number

3 3 3

No

Cha

nge

3 (N

o C

hang

e)

3

No

Cha

nge

3 (N

o C

hang

e)

Yes

Document of The World Bank Report No: ICR00003404...2015/11/02 · Report No: ICR00003404...

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Transcript of Document of The World Bank Report No: ICR00003404...2015/11/02 · Report No: ICR00003404...