Ministria e Arsimit, Shkencës dhe Teknologjisë Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Ministarstvo Obrazovanja Nauke i Tehnologije

Projekti Mbështetje Teknike për MASHT (FBSA) Kosovë

Technical Assistance to MEST (ESPF) Kosovo Project

Implementuar nga: Implemented by:

INCEPTION REPORT

November 2014

Adresa: Rr. Agim Ramadani, Ndertesa MASHT, Zyra 202 A, Tel: 038 200 20123

Contents

I. Executive summary ......................................................................................................................... 3

II. List of abbreviations ........................................................................................................................ 5

III. Update on the background ......................................................................................................... 6

IV. Assessment based on components and operational plan .......................................................... 8

1.1. Component 1 – Policy planning, monitoring and evaluation, financial management and control 8

1.2. Component 2 – Organizational development and sound HRM procedures ......................... 14

1.3. Component 3 – Capacity development ................................................................................ 17

V. Visibility strategy as a communication platform and gender issues ............................................ 19

VI. Risk assessment and mitigation strategy .................................................................................. 21

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I. Executive summary

The project “Technical Assistance to the MEST (ESPF) Kosovo” aims to strengthen the management capacity of Kosovo’s education sector, particularly at the level senior management of the MEST and MEDs, and to ensure the transfer of modern and state-of-art management competencies and skills into the daily work routines thus ensuring efficient functioning of its administrations and improved decision- making processes and leading to improved quality of education outcomes. The project does so through supporting the MEST in the three main areas: • System-building for policy planning, monitoring and evaluation, financial management and

control (the main outputs being: design and support to implementation of integrated planning system; enhancing EMIS; policy analysis and presentation capacity building; developing M&E procedures; supporting better financial management and control; advancing performance management);

• System-development for organizational and human resource management (the main outputs being: functional descriptions of the MEST units; staff job descriptions; HRM/HRD SOPs; linking to the Civil Service HRMIS; assistance with the TNA, HRD plans and reporting; and performance appraisal);

• Capacity development of the MEST staff vis-à-vis the above systems (the main outputs being: formal training; on-the-job-coaching and support; peer to-peer-learning, experience sharing and knowledge transfer; and targeted communication).

The above present no major deviations from the ToR. However, as to some outputs (EMIS and HRMIS), further specification of project interventions have been proposed based on findings and conclusions from the inception. All proposed interventions have been discussed with the MEST, and there is a provisional support for the proposed Operational Plan attached to this Inception Report.

It is important to mention that due to previously unforeseen circumstances the procurement process took longer than expected. The project officially started on September 8th, 2014. This has both shortened and significantly intensified the project implementation period, which is now set only for 16 month, e.g. until the end of December 2015. Both the project team and the MEST are fully aware of this.

The specific gaps to be tackled through the project intervention, as identified during the inception phase, are outlined in the main part of this report and its annexes (2 Gaps Studies). The Operational Plan provides with detailed and time-bound account of planned activities and outputs. However, kick-starting the implementation phase requires mentioning several important “horizontal” points.

First and foremost, when it comes to the MEST as the Education Sector’s “steward”, policy making, coordination, data mining and utilization, financial planning, management and control as well as HR shall not be seen as isolated “islands” where improvements can be achieved independently. Unfortunately, in many ways this has been the case to date. There is plethora of evidence to suggest that the current weaknesses in planning and coordination, for example, stem from insufficiently developed budgeting, lack of links between policies and funds, and embryonic accountability. We

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strongly advocate a holistic forward strategy for which the Education Sector Pooled Fund is well placed. We also suggest looking on key management problems of the education sector, be they related to planning of policies or budgeting and control practices or HRM issues, using “policy lenses”. In other words, before introducing a major system or improvement we suggest holding a systemic and MEST-wide discussion on the objectives and modalities of such intervention. In some cases, such as financing issues in the spheres of higher education, the MEST could even prepare a Concept Paper and promote it in the Government. The purpose is not only to have a better-designed intervention. The key objective is to foster leadership and ownership – two key ingredients of effective management that are in so big demand and limited supply in the current MEST. The current strategic framework of the Education Sector, Kosovo Education Strategy Paper, expires in two years. It is expected that the “next generation” of the KESP will be prepared during 2016. The preceding year, 2015, could serve as the period of preparations for it. Such preparations shall include not only the stock take of progress with the current KESP, but also addressing systemic sector-wide management deficiencies. Many of them stem from the financial planning. Thus, we propose to see and prioritize proposed interventions from the point of capacity to contribute to creating an effective platform for preparing the next KESP. Being mandated to work on the integrated planning system, the project is very well paced to do so. In the Operational Plan we have proposed several important capacity building interventions. However, at the level of the MEST these are not the only ones. Other teams and experts have also suggested additional capacity building ideas. We believe that the MEST shall take a stronger view in terms of prioritizing and staging various interventions in terms of “when and who”. This shall be led not only by assessed importance of each individual intervention and account of the “investment to date”, but more importantly by realistic assessment of the absorption capacity. The last but not least, it is important for one to be realistic of what lasting capacity development and cultural change can be achieved within 16-month period. Normally, policy, budgeting and HR capacity building efforts require 3 to 5 consistent cycles to mature and take roots. The current project provides only with one such cycle, which will be primarily focused on system design and initiation, but not cementing. The Development Partners contributing to the ESPF and supporting the MEST shall develop an early plan on how to ensure sustainability of the interventions.

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II. List of abbreviations

AKM Association of Kosovo Municipalities AnPro ANalysis and PROjection Model Capnam Framework Capacity Needs Assessment Methodology for Planning and Managing Education DEUIPC Department of EU Integration and Policy Coordination DQAF Data Quality Assessment Framework EC European Commission EMIS Education Management Information System EPSSim Education Policy and Strategy Simulation model ESPF Education Sector Pooled Fund EU European Union FRIDOM Functional Review and Institutional Design of Ministries HRD Human Resources Development HRM Human Resources Management HRMIS Human Resources Management Information System ICT Information and Communication Technology IT Information Technology JAR Joint Annual Review KESP Kosovo Education Strategy Paper KIPA Kosovo Institute of Public Administration M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MED Municipality Education Department MEST Ministry of Education, Science and Technology MF Ministry of Finance MLGA Ministry of Local Government Administration MPA Ministry of Public Administration MTEF Mid Term Expenditures Framework NARMED Needs Assessment Report on Municipal Education Departments PM Project Management SOP Standard Operation Procedures SWP Sector Wide Approach TA Technical Assistance TNA Training Needs Assessment ToR Terms of References UNESCO United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNMIK United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo VET Vocational Education Training

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III. Update on the background

In this section we highlight developments in the project environment that have affected the project design during the Inception Phase. While no major deviations from the contracted ToR are suggested, we point out several issues of significance.

First, the original project design, as set in the letter to tenderers on 14th of March 2014, and as reflected in the Technical Proposal, submitted on 2nd of May 2014, provided with a total duration of the project for 21 moth. However, due to previously unforeseen circumstances the procurement process took longer than expected. The project officially started on September 8th, 2014. This has both shortened and significantly intensified the project implementation period, which is now set only for 16 month, e.g. until the end of December 2015.

The above has significant implications not only on the project team, which will have to ensure a more intensive delivery of the expected project outputs, but also on the MEST and the Development partners contributing to the ESPF:

• As to the Ministry, the shortened timeframe assumes the readiness to absorb the technical assistance with a pace that was not foreseen in the original project design as well as strong commitment to working with the project. The Inception Phase has confirmed commitment from the point of view of the MEST;

• For the Development Partners this means the need to be aware of the absorption capacity limits. Therefore through 2015 introduction of new or additional MEST level capacity building activates should be wetted with a double prudence;

• For both, the MEST and the ESPF contributors, it is important to be realistic of what lasting capacity development and cultural change can be achieved within 16-month period. Normally, policy and budgeting capacity building efforts require 3 to 5 consistent cycles to mature and take roots. The current project provides only with one such cycle, which will be primarily focused on system design and initiation, but not cementing.

Second, It is also worth emphasizing that following the elections of June 2014, Kosovo’s public administration entered a phase of some uncertainty. While the Government has adopted the 2015 Budget, passing of it in the Parliament did not take place during the project inception phase. There was also no final decision as to political leadership of the MEST and the Government as a whole. This calls the project to adopt a highly flexible approach to implementation and project priorities, as the project might need to adjust to changes in political environment and potentially priorities in the education sector. This approach has been reflected in the Project Operational Plan.

Third, it is equally worth noting that the project is expected to support implementation of Government level procedures. However, those are being developed not by the MEST, but by other Government institutions, such as the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Public Administration. The Integrated Planning System (IPS) and the Civil Service Job Classification and Salaries Structure are two examples of such procedures. Both experience some delays at the national level. In terms of impact on the project’s Operational Plan, we have taken into account such

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delays, while ensuring that the objectives of the ToR are achieved. However, some flexibility might be required in terms of meeting the deadlines, in case the definition of procedures at the central level is further delayed.

Forth, the inception period identified two major changes since finalization of the ToR. The project was made aware of the plans of the MEST and its Development Partners (mostly the World Bank) to undertake significant revision of the Education Management Information System (EMIS) from 2016 or later. This would make project’s efforts to change the system in the short-term obsolete. Therefore we have agreed with the MEST smaller scale but highly relevant and targeted interventions that could yield positive improvements in terms of collection of policy-making relevant data already in 2015.

We also learned that the required MEST HRMIS couldn’t be implemented as a stand-alone system owned by the MEST. According to the Civil Service legislation, only the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) operates such system for all ministries including the MEST. This impacts the project in the way that instead of “supporting the MEST to design the HRMIS”, as required in the ToR, we will support the MEST to implement the central HRMIS in the MEST. The support will include assistance to the data entry, process management etc.

Fifth, according to the ToR, during the inception period the project completed several gaps assessments. These covered subjects on policies management capacities; financial management and control; internal organization and HRM procedures; and training needs. Each of the topics, according to the ToR, could be presented in a separate report. However, in order to ease the reading of the reports and to better present inter-linkages among various aspects, and based on discussions with the MEST, we have presented the 4 gaps assessments in 2 Gaps Assessments (reports):

• Gaps Assessment Report on Policy Planning, Financial Management and Internal Control, and • Gaps Assessment Report on Status on Implementation of the Organizational Structure, HR

System and Training Needs.

Sixth, as to activities vis-à-vis the organizational structure of the MEST, we detected that formally the MEST already has completed institutional reorganization and establishing new functional descriptions of the units. However, in practice the changes have been rather minimalistic (with few exceptions) and additional specification of functions of various units is needed. However, based on the feedback from the top-management as well as reflecting on the best practice from other Kosovo ministries, we suggested a step-by-step approach in this domain. This would start with one MEST pilot department. Provided there is top-level support and commitment, the results of the pilot could then be replicated in other units of the MEST.

Seventh, the project has planned a substantial capacity building agenda delivered through a combination of such tools as formal training, coaching and learning from peers. Besides, other technical assistance teams working with the MEST also deliver various trainings and capacity building initiatives. In order to achieve maximum impact, utilize limited absorption capacity and to synergize rather than duplicate with other projects, our capacity building initiatives are strongly linked to the main project outputs, for example, IPS, financial planning, performance appraisal etc.

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Eight, the original Project Proposal provided with emphasis on peer-to-peer learning – especially what related to the top-management. We proposed short visits by high level education sector practitioners, including the former ministers, to be made available to the MEST for short-term interventions. While maintaining relevance of this method, based on consultations with the MEST staff, we have also identified the need for targeted internships and study programmes for the key MEST staff.

Last but least, we would like to emphasize the need to ensure ongoing partnership and coordination with all Development Partners supporting the MEST. This is highly important because of the limited absorption capacity, but also in line with the core principles underpinning the ESPF. During the inception phase the project team already benefited from ongoing coordination with the EU, Sida, ADA, GIZ, World Bank, USAID and others.

IV. Assessment based on components and operational plan

In the following sections we provide with short assessment of the situation in 3 project components, as per ToR. We do not describe the methodology of our approach, as it was extensively presented in our Technical Proposal. We rather highlight only the findings that are directly relevant for our intervention. Based on this assessment, in the Operational Plan attached to this Inception Report we list the activities related to implementing the outputs from the ToR. The Inception Report and the Operational Plan complement each other.

1.1. Component 1 – Policy planning, monitoring and evaluation, financial management and control

We stared our review with the premise that the problems in the two domains of policy and financial management are strongly linked to each other. Weaknesses in one have detrimental impact on another. Unless issues of financial management and control are addressed with a “policy mind”, no major gains could be made. Or, if policy planning and prioritization do not take account the budget reality, the results often “remain on paper”. It is for this reason that findings, conclusions and recommendations from the gaps assessments on policy and financial management are presented together.

In the domain of strategy, policies and financial management we have based our analysis on the premise that effective sector planning, budgeting, management, monitoring and reporting require a clear and comprehensive Sector Strategy. It should have clear priorities and be realistic, e.g. based on the MTEF / budget rather than being a “wish list”. There is also the need to present the budget in the format that allow with a clear overview of how the funds allocated to the Sector relate to the policy areas, objectives and targets of the Sector Strategy. The underlying operational planning, monitoring and reporting systems shall be driven by these top elements. So needs the donor coordination process.

More than that, at the level of the MEST there should be one operational or work planning tool covering the annual and quarterly perspectives. Those should “translate” strategic level objectives, indicators and targets into specific and time-bound actions of Ministry’s units. It shall also capture

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other key tasks, such as those stemming from other Government policies. Similarly, monitoring and reporting at this level shall inform the senior management on how the Ministry is progressing with implementation of priority activates.

However, activity based monitoring and reporting alone is not sufficient. Any ministry, such as the MEST, needs to have a system for monitoring sector performance from the point of view of policy implementation. This requires both regular and ad hoc collection, analysis and presentation of the data to the senior policy makers. The ultimate objective of the reporting process is to show how the Ministry is performing vis-à-vis the Sector Strategy objectives (effectiveness) and how it spends its funds (efficiency).

The MEST has established the planning, monitoring and reporting system, which broadly corresponds to the principles defined above. The MEST can be congratulated on the achievements to date. However, as it is still a new system, it exhibits some gaps or weaknesses, which need to be address in the future. They are briefly described below.

Sector Strategic Planning Framework

There is no sector wide legal framework (administrative instruction) that would establish the annual cycle (timetable) of planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting within the MEST and education sector as a whole. There is also no agreed view on how various elements of the planning system (Sector Strategy, other strategies, annual work plan of the government etc.) really do fit together including such aspects as the link between central and municipal level planning.

MEST has overall Kosovo Education Sector Plan (KESP) or the Sector Strategy in place until the end of 2016. However, this document is a broad vision document that is not sufficiently based in the “budget reality” (MTEF / budget). It has multiple priorities that set an ambitious agenda and does not sufficiently cover several important education policy areas, such as the higher education, science and research.

On the other hand, on top of the KESP, there is an “inflation” of planning, monitoring and reporting frameworks (above 20 various documents), which are too many and no clear hierarchy, not all of them are integrated into the MEST annual work plan and mostly developed by development partners. Besides, the current KESP does not clearly link to the higher level planning documents to which the Government of Kosovo is committed. This includes the South Easter Europe Strategy 2020 (SE2020) and the Vision for Skills, both regional level planning frameworks, other sectors planning frameworks such as youth, competitiveness, industrial policy etc. Besides, the Government of Kosovo is working on the National Development Strategy, which might influence also education sector priorities. The KESP will require adjustment to it, too.

The MEST has to gradually prepare for moving towards the next Sector Strategy, as the current KESP will expire in 2016. Currently, no specific preparations are undertaken vis-à-vis that. Thus the MEST shall promote comprehensive or Sector Wide Approach to planning and analysis (including of the MTEF and budget) within the sector already in 2015 in order to anchor it with the Sector MTEF/budget. This is currently emerging, but still has to take roots building on experience of the Education Sector Pooled Fund (ESPF) and Joint Annual Review (JAR) exercise.

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One of the requirements for effective Sector Wide Approach is the alignment between the MTEF and annual budget in terms of program structure. The current program structure is fragmented and driven by institutional or administrative approach. It does not provide with a comprehensive and policies based overview of how and on what the funds are spent in the education sector. In preparing for the updated KESP, the MEST could re-think its current budget program structure with a view to acquire better alignment with the future KESP. Initially this could be done “for information”, while fully implemented in the Kosovo MTEF / budget in later years.

Besides MTEF / budget presentation problems, the MEST also does not have a full control of the education sector financing. Significant parts (above 50%) of the sector money are allocated directly to the municipalities or higher education institutions from the budget. In the MEST, there is no comprehensive information / data base on all these streams of financing of the sector. This is a significant obstacle for sector wide strategic management.

KESP implementation is assessed through so called Joint Annual Reviews (JAR), but this process does not provide with a full review of the KESP implementation. The results of the JAR are expressed in the document called Aide-Memoire. However, it is not strongly and clearly linked to the MTEF / budget process or the Government Annual Work Plan (GAWP).

Sector Wide (Strategic) Financial Management Issues

Currently there are no specific rules for allocation of funds to recently established universities. The University of Pristina is an autonomous organization treated as both a separate budget organization and a separate budget program over which the MEST does not have full control. Other 4 universities, which appear as sub-programs within MEST structure, do not have such autonomy. No specific rules are used for allocation of resources to these universities. The budgets of these universities are prepared on historical basis with initially appropriated amount used as a “baseline”. Universities are missing basic data necessary for developing a formula-based system for their financing.

Own source revenue management in the education system is somewhat fragmented. Neither the MEST nor the Ministry of Finance have a complete data of collected revenues, thus their efficient utilization in the education system is questionable. A policy on Own Source Revenues for the Education Sector, particularly the higher education, should be developed to help with predictability of these revenues. However, this would require close engagement also of the Ministry of Finance.

There is lack of timely access to actual spending data from the local governments by the MEST. That results in ineffective use of data on actual spending for policy decision-making as well as resource allocation to priorities within the Pre-University Education. Currently, the MEST is required to request such data from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury. The lack of timely data available regarding the execution of the budget at local level, results with variations between planned and actual budget, which is mainly reflected with overspending in certain budget categories at the local level.

At the same time, service delivery units (schools) in general have no full control over their budgets, with exemption of pilot schools. Heads of schools often are not aware about the resources available to their schools, whereas MEDs perform the procurement procedures for supplies. MEDs often serve as procurement centers for school network under their supervision only, therefore deviating their focus from strategic issues. Local governments are required to develop, and submit to Ministry of

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Finance, the medium term budget framework, which sets out the priorities for each Directorate, including education. However, one may not rely on the accuracy and the quality of such Municipal MTBFs.

MEST Specific Financial management Issues

Overall, our conclusion is that there are limited skills as regards the finance management of the sector within the MEST. Besides, there is a need for further involvement of the political level into policy and budgeting process. The current process lacks strong top-down guidance and target setting.

Over the period 2012-2014, MEST has reported to the Ministry of Finance / Treasury in average 8% (9,69% in 2011, 5,06% in 2012, 9,83% in 2013) of actual expenditures as unpaid obligations (arrears). Such trend may jeopardize the financial stability of the Ministry in the nearest future. There seems to be an issue with commitment management, since the budget users can enter into unfunded obligations.

The MEST currently uses the standard public financial management IT systems that are provided by the Ministry of Finance. However, these systems are not fully appropriate for internal management of the Sector, where there is the need to track execution of finances (and activities) at the „cost-centre” or unit level. Lack of appropriate internal accounting system/MIS contributes to poor expenditure management. Often tracking of expenditure is not linked to monitoring of performance vis-à-vis planned activities. Policy and budgets exist in parallel.

There is some systematic inconsistency between approved and executed capital projects. Thus, there is a need to improve costing and financial planning of project implementation. The current practice results in a tendency of underestimating the costs of capital projects. That, in turn, often results in contract amendments to cover additional works cost overruns.

Very importantly, the Division of Budget and Finance (DBF) lacks some of the most critical internal regulations for reducing risk of non-compliance (and to serve as the basis of effective audits). The main gaps include no instruction on the budget execution; asset management; and petty cash management. Equally, there is no guidance on preparation of the Annual Financial Statements and preparing the Cash Flow and Commitment Plan.

Internal Audit and Control

The Office of Auditor General (OAG) has expressed a number of concerns as to financial management within the MEST. In 2014 it has identified 19 recommendations while 21 was pointed to in 2013. There is a significant “control agenda” to be addressed.

However, the number of staff deployed on the internal control function is far too limited compared to the needs and workload. The current state is also not in line with the Administrative Instructions No 23/2009 determining that institutions above 5 million EUR annual budget have to have at least 3 internal auditors. Notwithstanding, the planned funds for the MEST are set at 50.3 million EUR in 2015.

A system for identifying and monitoring risks in all organizational units of the MEST has not been established yet. Also Division of Internal Audit does not have a manual that would define the risks in

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the organizational parts of the MEST and the method of assessing and ranking risks. Hence risk based auditing has not been practiced, yet.

Annual Work Planning, Monitoring and Reporting

The MEST has its Annual Work Plan. It is comprehensive and rather detailed. But MEST also has other operational plans, some of them prepared by donors / projects, which do not find their way into the MEST’s Annual Work Plan, hence the lack of ownership. Very importantly, the Work Plan does not directly cover contributions by the Development Partners. Their contributions are planned elsewhere. This makes it difficult for the MEST to follow the links as well as creates unnecessary reporting burden. Most importantly, it diminishes the ownership.

On the other hand, other prepared plans and reporting frameworks, such as the GAWP or the Action Plan for Implementation of the SAA have different structure to the MEST’s Annual Work Plan, and there is no effective cross-referencing among them. The KESP is operationalized through the Action Plan, but this tool is not rolling. It is expected that in 2015 the MEST will have to link its Annual Work Plan to several other national planning frameworks such as the “Vision for Skills 2020”; Kosovo SEE2020 Action Plan; NDS Roadmap and others. There is a need to think how these integrate in the MEST planning and reporting system.

Policy Making and the Use of Data

Concept documents and explanatory memorandums are the main policy making instruments in any ministry. They should precede drafts of legislation. But identified Government standards for policymaking and coordination are not yet taking place within the MEST. The Legal Department without substantial involvement of other MEST structures, usually drafts concept documents as a matter of filling the procedural requirement for drafting legislation. This practice needs to be changed. The DEUIPC needs capacity support in this regard.

There is also need to increase awareness among departments on their role and responsibilities in policy making. Moreover, specific training through practical exercised on development of concepts documents can be held with respective staff.

Several IT based systems provide data for MEST’s policy-making and budgeting. The Education Management Information System (EMIS) is the main such system. Others systems, which, are developed and maintained separately are Matura Evaluation Database; the School Investments Database; Teacher Qualifications Database, and E-school system. These all IT systems are not integrated. There are plans to undertake a significant change of the EMIS, however, this is not to happen before few years from now.

In terms of relevance of education statistics, overall the data produced by the EMIS is relevant and in line with international standards. However, out of 31 indicators in the EMIS only 9 can be produced automatically from the system. Thus is because there is a lack of integration with external data sources – be it census or other data provided by the Ministry of Finance, KAS or other institutions. Most importantly, the student data entry mechanism and format are such that many mistakes are possible and are often detected. This needs fixing before a major EMIS revision takes place, if the MEST is to rely on accurate student data.

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There are several structural and capacity issues that need to be addressed. Firstly, the structure of data presentation and indicators need to be suited to multiple users. Secondly, there are issues of awareness and understanding of its use in policy management. Thirdly, there are issues of technical nature. Last but not least, there are procedural constraints - data entry process does not have clearly indicated access owners (e.g. school directors, IT teachers). There are issues of lacking quality assurance in data entry and processing.

As to the final use of the EMIS data, the reports from the system have been improving. However, there is still the need to improve data visualization and presentation. This, in turn calls for capacity development of the MEST’s unit in charge of the EMIS.

Coordination of International Development Partners in the Education Sector

The donor coordination takes place through regular meeting of the donors and the MEST. Some donors to the sector have joined up to establish the Education Sector Pooled Fund focused on MEST’s capacity development. Both are good donor coordination initiatives. However the way forward requires more forward looking, pro-active and priority driven programming of the donor assistance to ensure that critical gaps are identified and filled in a manner where sector donors add value without the risk of duplication.

There is a need for a single information point of all donor initiatives, past, ongoing and planned, including the project documents, reports and plans of activities. The later shall be aligned with the MEST’s annual work plan and link to the KESP and MTEF clearly.

There is a need for technical support, coaching and training to the donor coordination process and o other foreign aid issues including EU financial instruments.

Institutional Capacity for Coordination within the Sector

When it comes to policy planning and coordination within the MEST, it is responsibility of the Department of European Integration and Policy Coordination. Besides policy coordination and EU integration agenda, the department is responsible for international cooperation, donor coordination and operation of the EMIS. In addition to this, the Department is overloaded with other ad hoc and technical responsibilities that belong outside of its core mandate. Such broad scope of duties often represents an overload for the 9 staff working there. So far the above-described limited capacity has prevented the Department to actively involve in drafting of various education sector policy documents.

The Regulation on Internal Organization and Systematization of Job descriptions of MEST and Government Administrative Instruction on DEICPs define the terms of references for these units. Despite of this, the current job descriptions of individual staff are not harmonized with the mandate of the Department. Similarly, MEST’s guidance to MEDs on internal organization and job descriptions is rather outdated and does not reflect the existing mandate and priorities of local education. MEDs do not have a standard operating procedure and guidance on internal organization, management and minimum human resource standards.

In the MEST there are no guidelines on how various policy documents and plans shall be prepared. Consequently, the drafts often are prepared without paying sufficient attention to making them consistent in terms of both methodology and alignment with each other.

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Linking to Municipal and School Level

The Strategy Plan for Education 2013-2016 (SPE), as approved by the Education Collegium, which is organization formed by the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, provides with the overview on how the municipalities intend to implement the KESP. However, the connection between the two is not clear-cut in terms of contents, and there is no mechanism for monitoring, follow-up and feedback. There is no link to financing at the level of the Strategic Plan.

Individual municipalities, according to the present system, also shall have municipal education plans (stand alone or integrated in the general socio-economic development plan of each a municipality). Most MEDs have some form of such plans, however, there multi-annual financial planning, multi-annual infrastructure planning – both requirements by MEST - are rather underdeveloped. MEST’s role is to support the MEDs in strategic planning including on how to “translate” the KESP into the MEDs level planning. However, capacity to do so in the MEST is limited.

Similar situation could be observed in case of the school – level plans. They are also mandatory. But not all schools have them due to low planning and management capacity. In particular, the budgeting and financial management, both highly important components of management at the school level, are underdeveloped.

1.2. Component 2 – Organizational development and sound HRM procedures

The new legislation on civil service and organization of the state administration sets a challenging agenda for all public administration institutions in Kosovo. New rules and standards were introduced and business processes re-formatted. The implementation of the new systems was not accompanied with proper and timely guidelines and capacity building for the implementers. Thus, the procedures started to be implemented with delays, and in some cases were only compliance oriented. Below we summarize the MEST specific findings and conclusions regarding this.

Organizational structure in the MEST and organizational development

The new internal organization of the MEST is mostly a ”transfer” of the old structure to the new one based on rules and standards established by the Government. The entire reorganization process was not a fully-fledged functional review exercise, as required by the legislation. The new functional descriptions are almost identical with the old ones.

In addition, the MEST’s new organizational structure depicts a rather broad management span. Such span of control makes it difficult for the top management to effectively establish priorities, set targets, monitor performance and control activities of all these units. 8 department directors and 2 heads of autonomous divisions report directly to the General Secretary. He is also responsible for indirectly supervising the agencies reporting to MEST, 14 altogether.

The job evaluation, key part of the new Civil Service reform, was not finalized. This was also due to the lack of a job catalogue, which had to be provided by the MPA, but was missing at the time when the exercise took place. The provisional job evaluation resulted in a simple “transposition” of the

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old coefficients into the new salary scheme. The content of job descriptions is also very similar to the old ones.

The job evaluation process as implemented to date, is based on the “egalitarian principle”, while the new Government level regulation calls for a differentiation in the job’s value, based on specified criteria. This will confer equity in the organization and adequately motivate the performing staff. The HR Division and the managers of the MEST need to improve understanding of the job evaluation methodology and principles. They also need technical guidance.

Reviewing the organizational structure and the functional descriptions of the units requires full commitment of the top management of the Ministry, including at the political level. Providing with good examples could stimulate this commitment. The project agreed with the MEST to pilot the functional review of the DEUIPC. This could include elaboration of a new functional description for the unit and job descriptions for the staff. The experience gathered can be extended to other units, provided there is support from top management in MEST.

The organizational development function should be seen as the key process for better performance of the organization. However, there are examples of this not taking root in the MEST, yet. The recent decision to transform the Education Inspectorate Department into a separate agency was not accompanied with analysis why this unit should be separate from the Ministry. The best modality of organizing this important function was hardly discussed. Other issues, such as reporting to the Ministry; set-up for support services; performance evaluation of inspectors; financial costs, etc., have remained unresolved. In the future such sporadic transformations need to be disciplined by better assessment.

There is an urgent need for coaching throughout the organization on various organizational design and HR issues. HR Division and other managing officials need to improve capacities and understanding of the type of institutions that can be created and their cost and benefit solutions. Existing capacities are insufficient to elaborate proper functional frameworks, operational schemes and staff transitional plans for new agencies. HR Division and managers require additional capacities to perform quantitative functional analysis and business processes re-engineering to address management span and recourse allocation issues. These capacities can be acquired through formal training, or coaching through the process.

The MEST is responsible for the whole education sector. The capacities within the Ministry therefore should steer and manage the whole education portfolio and provide support to the MEDs. HR Division should support implementation of HR procedures within the MEST and guide the agencies under the MEST.

Internal organization in MEDs and capacities involved vary significantly, with repercussions in implementation of policies and standards promoted by the MEST. While municipalities have independence in determining their internal organization, the MEST might provide recommendations on how to organize MEDs and the framework of capacities required. The project intervention would be to support MEST elaborate a model organizational structure for MEDs and a functional design.

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Human Resources Management System

The HR management function within the MEST is confined to administrative processes and is not involved in strategic development. Capacities’ assessment is not integrated in the policy-making cycle and strategic plans are not followed by the HR development plans. The Capacities Development Plan, implemented also with the support of the ESPF is a very good example that should be systematically followed.

The assessment has found that personnel plans are not elaborated in the MEST. Also, it is evident that strategies and organizational development activities are not accompanied with staffing plans, including quantitative and qualitative analysis. SOPs on personnel planning are missing and capacities to perform quantitative analysis are not sufficiently developed.

Performance appraisal and performance management are not implemented based on the spirit of the regulations. A new regulation is in force and the procedure will be implemented for the first time this year. Caps are set for the top three levels of appraisal. Capacities to plan and implement the procedure are weak, and the necessary guidance was not provided to MEST. There is an obvious need to train all managers in performance appraisal procedure and interviewing skills to conduct the appraisal, as well as in setting objectives based on institutions objectives.

While the HRM system represents the backbone of human resource policy, the Human Resource Development allows taking the function to the level of strategic management and ensuring that improvements lead to improved actual staff and institutional performance. HR Development plans should be elaborated based on TNA implemented according to the new performance appraisal procedure, but this has not been the case. The information from performance appraisal (available in January) should be combined with analysis on capacities’ requirements to implement strategic objectives from strategic documents.

This information can be generated from the JAR process this year (February-March 2015). The capacities framework to be elaborated for managers in the MEST should inform the HRD plan. Support needs to be provided to HR Division to elaborate the information and produce the plan. Further they should be able to follow the implementation progress and report to managers.

HR practices are highly manual and lack the electronic management of the information. Consequently, HR staff spends considerable amount of time in manually processing several

Provisional capacities assessment

Performance appraisal results

JAR findings Capacities framework for MEST

HRD plan (March 2015)

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procedures. The implementation of the HRMIS with project’s support will not only facilitate day to day operations and allow to HR staff to elaborate several reports and manage the data, but will create additional working time to be devoted to strategic activities within HR Division.

Recruitment of new staff is implemented fairly well, although not much recruitment takes place, given the low turnover in MEST. The written part of the testing procedure is regulated in details, and the MPA provided support for topics and questions to be prepared (including a database of already prepared multiple choice questions). Participants in the recruitment panel highlighted some issues regarding the oral interview related to both skills of panelists and quality of questions and topics prepared. HR Division should provide this methodological support and advice during the process.

Specific attention should be paid to new-comers in the institution. Induction programs are not in place and accommodation periods are relatively long. Taking into consideration the provisions on redundancy list from the civil service legislation, the HR Division should initiate programs for facilitating the migration of staff from one position to the other, following re-organizations. Specific procedures should be created.

Standardized procedures describing the roles of all stakeholders in the different HR procedures should be elaborated, then distributed and implemented in the MEST. SOPs and guidelines should cover all these procedures. Besides the detailed procedural explanations, user friendly manuals with examples would boost the implementation and support the managers. Therefore the HR Handbook is very useful not only for the HR Division, but for all managers and civil servants in MEST and in the subordinated agencies. The HR Division should disseminate the manual and inform all stakeholders about it.

1.3. Component 3 – Capacity development

Capacities’ development is a constant concern in the MEST, given also the rapidity of the developments in the sector and the needs to adapt to new requirements. The project supported completion of the first self-assessment of the MEST managers, selected civil servants and MEDs directors. The response rate was 72%. Thus, statistically the information is credible1. The follow-up self-assessment survey will be completed at the end of the project to assess the impact. Results from the self-assessment survey were combined with information from the semi-structured interviews completed with the staff (28 interviews). This information will serve as the baseline. This activity was completed in cooperation with the HR Division.

The capacities assessment showed several areas that require improvements, especially in strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, process management, planning and managing human resources, planning and managing financial resources and evidence-based planning and reporting. While formal training will target general groups within the MEST, the project proposed coaching and peer learning as an effective tool to improve knowledge and practical skills within the organization.

1 Detailed information in the HR capacities gaps report

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The Capacity building activities will be organized in a way to match the normal cycle of business processes within the MEST to maximize the impact of the training.

With regard to capacity gaps and interventions, the MEST would need to enhance skills and work processes respectively to ensure that the strategic planning cycle enshrines national priorities, European integration priorities and sector-wide priorities. Furthermore, relevant stakeholders within the MEST would also need enhanced skills in the entire policy and planning cycle including on engaging stakeholders, scenario planning, linking strategic priorities with MTEF and sector-wide approaches in human resource development. Capacity interventions should also attempt to enhance skills in monitoring and evaluation which goes from the existing input-oriented to a future output-oriented reporting.

Implementation of strategies in the MEST context happens in a relatively decentralized sector. It is important that relevant stakeholders within the MEST have enhanced skills in both integrating the demands of the sub-sectors and municipal level into the Sector Strategy. The mandate of the MEST also calls for enhanced skills in producing policies, regulations and guidelines for the sub-sectors and establishing work processes and upgrading skills in monitoring the implementation in a systematic and coherent manner. Attempts to upgrade individual capacities for planning and implementation should go hand in hand with strategies to enhance financial planning and reporting skills and human resource planning and management. Least but certainly not last, MEST capacities to plan, regulate and implement would be greatly facilitated by a capable workforce to collect, analyze and communicate education evidence and statistics. A considerable part of capacity building activities will be implemented using the TalkOn curricula / approach. The first cycle will be completed in December and the ministry has already started the procedures for accrediting the modules. An evaluation of the whole process will be completed in December 2014 and eventual adjustments will be proposed to address the issues highlighted during pilot stage. MEST will have the final decision on these adjustments.

Considering the success achieved so far and the appreciation expressed by MEST, it was agreed with MEST representatives and GIZ to organize TalkOn training for two groups in 2015: one group with MEST officials and one group with MEDs officials (18 training days for each group). Detailed calendar, participants and final curricula will be decided in cooperation with MEST after the evaluation for the pilot phase is completed.

While TalkOn training will address initial and general training needs in the areas covered by the curricula, several more specific and targeted capacity building activities will be organized by the project for the staff involved in the different business processes. These activities will involve in general a smaller number of participants and will be mostly coaching and on the job training, while it is not to be excluded the organization of workshops for a larger number of participants. In organizing these specific trainings the project intends to cooperate with other development partners to avoid doubling the efforts and increase efficiency in using the resources.

Despite the large offer of training and other capacities’ building activities, there is a concern regarding the effectiveness of the training and the practical impact. Participation in trainings was not properly managed and not all civil servants benefited the same exposure to capacity building. The training process in MEST is offer driven and TNA process not implemented substantially.

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Consequently, the training plans are not elaborated by HR Division. Also the Identification of required capacities, based on strategic plans is not implemented in MEST. Trainings are not registered and HR Division does not control the process.

MEST should take advantage of the resources involved in training and other capacity building activities by development partners. The HR Division should create a library of all training curricula and try to create a continuous learning process in the institution. The implementation of the HRMIS should improve the training management activities and distribution of trainings. However, strong support is required from the top management in MEST to introduce and enforce the registration of participation in trainings and a peer learning process.

V. Visibility strategy as a communication platform and gender issues

The activities promoted through this project influence a large variety of stakeholders in the MEST and the education sector in general. While activities foreseen in component 1 seek to improve several core business processes in the MEST and involve almost all departments and MEDs, activities in component 2 influence the labor relationship of all civil servants in the MEST. Therefore it is important to create a momentum and inform all the stakeholders on the objectives and expected results of the intervention.

The communication platform is intended as a tool to support the implementation of objectives and outputs of this project and will accompany separate interventions during the whole implementation cycle. We did not create a specific communication component, but rather integrated communication and information activities and practices within the other components and activities.

The overall communication objectives are:

To establish a feasible and efficient system of communication to contribute to policy and decision-making of project activities,

To inform about the project activities/outcomes and to raise awareness on the key issues addressed by the project among stakeholders and beneficiaries and

Facilitate knowledge sharing among the relevant partners and beneficiary.

Component 1 activities are accompanied with information events on different processes (example the JAR process, the IPS philosophy and methodology, the KESP implementation review process, the policy making manual, etc.). These information events will be large conferences with participants from the sector and external stakeholders, or smaller events with narrower group of participants.

Component 2 activities are mostly focused on the MEST staff and partially on the MEDs staff and the outreach mechanism of the intervention will be different, mostly using the MEST website, group emails, distribution of informative papers and FAQ forms.

It was agreed with the Communication Division in the MEST to create a space in the MEST website to publish information, reports and other relevant materials produced in the project’s framework. This

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space and the information will be jointly maintained and updated by the project and the Communication Division.

To improve the communication skills and increase the outreach effect of the messages transmitted by the MEST, we analyzed the capacities of the Communication Division and agreed on some capacity building activities for the staff to improve their web management skills and most importantly their skills on contemporary communication techniques for public institutions (e.g social media, audience-based communication etc.).

An important element in the communication strategy will be to promote the ESPF as an innovative approach in coordinating all development partners and government institutions towards the achievement of common goals. Communication with other development partners to coordinate the activities and avoid overlapping is a constant concern of the intervention.

An important factor to be considered relates with gender streamlining activities. The project intervention intends to increase capacities of the MEST in designing gender sensitive strategies and policy papers. This will be more important in the process of the KESP Progress Report to evaluate impact of current policies and design measures for the next cycle to address the issues. It is assumed that the successful implementation of the project will support an enhanced policy framework for gender mainstreaming in policy analysis planning due to improved planning, monitoring and reporting capabilities. This in turn will lead to better gender outcomes. In addition to this, during project implementation we will be careful to ensure gender balance among the beneficiaries and participants in our activities. The following indicators will be collected and reported:

- Number of women participating in training and capacity building activities; - Number of women working as experts in the Project.

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VI. Risk assessment and mitigation strategy During the inception period we reassessed the risks influencing objectives and outputs from the ToR. There are a number of risks that should be considered while implementing the project, due to the large scope of project interventions and the high number of stakeholders involved. In addition, some outputs relate to processes promoted by other institutions and cooperation with them and support is a sine qua non condition for the success. Below we represent the updated risks and mitigation strategy table:

Risk ID Risk Definition Proposed Mitigation Strategy

1. The political stalemate after 2014 elections will continue and changes of leadership and senior management in MEST as well may delay reform priorities.

Risk Nature: Political This is a medium impact risk. From the start of the project the Team Leader and the High Level Advisors Panel will establish an immediate and regular link to the senior management including political leadership of the MEST. In case of any changes within this management group resulting from the elections, the project, using the High Level Advisory Panel, will ensure it provides all the necessary information, communication and support to ensure buy-in and continuity. Ongoing coordination with the education sector Development Partners will also be ensured. To make an impact, we will also use opportunities provided by other related projects our consortium already implements in Kosovo, such as the National Development Strategy preparation.

Likelihood: Medium

Impact Area: All components

Potential Control: Limited

2. Diminished commitment and ability of the MEST senior management to participate in capacity development activities including training.

Risk Nature: Political /Organizational

This is a high impact risk. The Capacity Building Plan 2013/14 ad well as our extensive experience in Kosovo, including in the MEST, suggests that this risk is possible and could have adverse impact on project’s objectives. Therefore it has to be well managed. Our Risk Mitigation Strategy does include ongoing communication to the senior management; tailoring training and other programs to the specific needs of the management; ensuring that most of the training is delivered through on the job coaching. Our core team of KEs is fully Albanian speaking, which will allow us to ensure this.

Likelihood: Medium

Impact Area: All components

Potential Control: Medium

3. For various reasons MEST political leadership is not willing to embark into a functional review process and review functional descriptions of units

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Risk Nature: Political This is a high impact risk. However, to prevent this risk from taking place, we will start the project with a series of high level discussions and targeted workshops with the MEST senior management to ensure that they have good understanding of the proposed administrative and HR changes and are clearly aware of the impact and benefits they bring. We will also adopt a step by step approach by piloting in one department and show the positive aspects to them.

Likelihood: Low

Impact Area: Organization & HRM

Potential Control: Low

4. Government of Kosovo, for various reasons (including agreements with IMF) will not approve the job catalogue and will not intervene in the salaries reform

Risk Nature: Organizational This is medium to high impact risk. Considering the delays in implementing the salaries reform and financial impact involved with that, the government might reconsider implementing the salaries reform. Job evaluation and job description procedures will be affected by this situation. In case it materializes the project team will work with the HR Division to increase their understanding on the process, build capacities to independently implement the procedures and raise awareness among managers and other stakeholders of the importance of the process, to ensure wider support. Our approach to implementation will be shaped based on such analysis.

Likelihood: Low

Impact Area: Organization

Potential Control: Low

5. The EMIS system fails to become operational with the foreseen improvements and radical decisions are adopted by MEST

Risk Nature: Technical This is a medium impact risk. Implementing similar projects elsewhere we have encountered similar risks before. We believe that the best risk mitigation strategy in such a case is an early detection and analysis of the problem. Close coordination with other development partners involved in supporting EMIS will be established and activities will be implemented in a concerted manner.

Likelihood: Low

Impact Area: M&E

Potential Control: High

6. MEDs may find it difficult to implement the improved system of data collection and its utilization for management of education

Risk Nature: Capacity This is a medium impact risk. To mitigate this risk from taking place, the project will devise a strategy based on Capacity Assessment of MEDs and identify specific training and coaching interventions that would lead to increased capacity of MEDs in this area. The project will also work to

Likelihood: Medium

Impact Area: M&E

Potential Control: High

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disseminate the best practice and to ensure peer-to-peer learning takes place among MEDs.

7. Coordination among the MEST, MOF, MPA is not sufficient to ensure that administrative, HR and financial management and control reform requirements are sufficiently understood and internalized within the MEST

Risk Nature: Organizational This is a medium impact risk. Our consortium is well placed to mitigate this risk as we work on the issues related to this contract in other counterpart institutions (MPA – Public Sector Modernization Project; MoF – Integrated Planning System and Financial Management and Control). We will ensure that communication between institutions is regular, and that involved consultants share information and approaches as well as transfer knowledge from each other.

Likelihood: Medium

Impact Area: All components

Potential Control: High

8. Approaches and methodologies to MEST organization, capacity development and policy planning, M&E are not well coordinated among the Development Partners and their technical assistance projects in particular.

Risk Nature: Organizational This is a medium impact risk. To mitigate the likelihood of this risk happening, the project team at the start of the project will identify all TA (in specific terms) that is relevant for the MEST organization, HR and M&E, and will assist the MEST in setting up a technical coordination process to ensure that approaches used by various TA projects are complimentary and synergetic.

Likelihood: Low

Impact Area: All components

Potential Control: High

9. The scope of the project and pace of the proposed schedule of deliverables, as in the ToR, is too ambitious for the MEST in terms of absorption capacity

Risk Nature: Organizational This is a high impact risk. The project ToR is very ambitious compared to the 16 month available including the inception. We will manage this risk in 2 ways. First, we already have deployed the team of specialists on PAR, HR and M&E that can work with the MEST from the day one and in local language. Second, we will ensure that the work plan is flexible and adaptable to the changing needs. Thus, every SC meeting we will present the progress made, achievements and resources used as well as proposals to adjustments of timing if and when necessary.

Likelihood: Medium

Impact Area: All components

Potential Control: High

10. MEST leadership is not sufficiently leading and participating in the process of organizational capacity development supported by this project. Improving internal coordination and communication procedures is not sufficiently supported

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Risk Nature: Political, managerial

This is a high impact risk. Considering experience to date, we see this risk as highly likely. The project has planned to address it through introducing the High Level EU Advisors Panel in the project’s structure (see section on the Strategy). It will help to engage with the senior leadership of the MEST and develop more effective on the job coaching approached.

Likelihood: Medium to high

Impact Area: All components

Potential Control: Medium

11. Not all key stakeholders support moving to a more streamlined and strategic but also effective strategy planning process within the education sector. There is strategy-inertia and fatigue

Risk Nature: Communication This is a high impact risk. We believe the

likelihood of this risk can be addressed by effective communication of project’s proposals as well as practical support to implementation of sector strategy / policy streamlining.

Likelihood: Low to medium

Impact Area: M&E component

Potential Control: High

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