Innovation processes in a smallholder goat development project: Experiences from Mozambique
Project Name Mozambique-Higher Education Project Region … · 2016-07-17 · Report No. PID10008...
Transcript of Project Name Mozambique-Higher Education Project Region … · 2016-07-17 · Report No. PID10008...
Report No. PID10008
Project Name Mozambique-Higher Education Project
Region Africa Regional Office
Sector Tertiary Education
Project ID MZPE69824
Borrower(s) GOVERNMENT OF MOZAMBIQUE
Implementing Agency
Address MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION,
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYContact Person: Lidia Brito, Minister
Tel: Mobile: 258-82-322026
Email: [email protected]
Environment Category C
Date PID Prepared February 22, 2001
Projected Appraisal Date June 5, 2001
Projected Board Date October 15, 2001
1. Country and Sector Background
Background:Education and poverty: Mozambique is one of the poorest
countries in the world, with a per capita income of US $260 (1999). The
latest census figures confirm that 70 percent of the population live in
total poverty. Two issues are of fundamental importance for the future of
the Mozambican people. The first is the attainment of economic growth,
which in turn will increase national income and employment, the second is
the reduction of poverty. These issues are interrelated and education is
crucial for achievement of both goals. The principal concern is the
overall level of education in the population and labor force. 60 percent
of those aged 15 and over are illiterate, including 56 percent men and 85
percent women. As part of the Government's National Policy for Education
(1995) and Strategic Plan for Education 1999-2003 supported by the Bank
under the US$700 million sector wide Education Sector Strategic Program,
over the last several years basic education has received significant
attention and funding. As a result enrollment into primary education has
almost doubled and increased by 900,000 children since 1993. In 1998 theprimary gross enrollment rate was 92w, one of the highest in the region,
but only one out of five children completes grade 5. However, substantial
efforts are underway to improve the quality of teaching and learning. A
similar steady trend is evident at the lower secondary level and the upper
secondary pre-university level which again the Bank is supporting.
Nevertheless, the education system and the country as a whole continues
to suffer from a very limited number of higher level graduates. Only 3
percent of the population have attended secondary school, technical
education or higher education. Although, the enrollment into upper
secondary education have increased almost ten times since 1993, with about
9,000 students enrolled, the demand for secondary graduates remains high.
Aside from the shortage of professionals in the economy such as doctors,
accountants, engineers etc., the education system itself is suffering from
the lack of teachers with a college degree to teach at the post primary
levels. The lack of skilled professionals is a major concern of the
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Government. With progress being made on basic education, but facing
competing demands for the limited number of higher education graduates,
the Government has had little choice but to accelerate the development of
a strategy for higher education to ensure that social and economic
achievements are sustained. The economy, prospects for growth and poverty
alleviation: Since the first free elections in 1994 the Mozambican economy
has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Buoyed by good
agricultural seasons, recent economic performance has been impressive,
though it represents recovery from very low base levels. GDP growth
averaged 5.5 percent annually between 1987 and 1996 and 11 percent
annually between 1997 and 1999. At the same time, investor confidence has
grown. Between 1996 and 1998, consumption grew by an average of 9 percent
annually, and investment by 13 percent annually. Merchandise exports
increased by 42 percent from 1996 to 1998. Foreign direct investment
(FDI) has also increased, and as a result of large investment associated
with the Mozal aluminum smelter it reached US$213 million in 1998. This
represents a tenfold increase over FDI in the early 1990s and, at about
3.3 percent of GDP over 1996-98, it is high relative both to the size of
the economy and to other African countries. While recent figures may
reflect a peaking of infrastructure investments, signs suggest that
foreign investor confidence is growing rapidly and FDI sources are
becoming more diverse and Mozambique is expected to continue to grow at 7
to 8 percent per annum over the next five years. Reducing poverty will
depend on the success in maintaining these high economic growth rates,
supporting investment in new areas, expanding employment opportunities and
increasing national income and government revenues. Increasing revenues is
the basis for increasing provision of public services and addressing
inequities especially in the social sectors. However, the potential for
increasing revenues depends on the composition of the labor force and its
taxable base, and the contribution of the economic sectors to GDP and
national revenues. In 1998, the formal sector accounted for more than one
third of the gross domestic product of US$3.5 billion and about 60 percent
of domestic revenues (World Bank, Growth Prospects Paper, 2000). In the
short term an increase in revenues can be achieved by expanding the fiscal
base, but in the longer term income growth will be dependent on the rate
of expansion in the economy. Mozambique's prospects for long term growth
are strengthened by the country's untapped natural resources. However, the
lion's share of future growth and revenue will continue to be generated
from the formal modern sector and depend on foreign investor confidence
and investments -- areashighly dependent on the availability of high level
managerial and professional skills. Labor force: structure, demand and
supply: The National Statistical Institute (INE) estimates that the labor
force is expected to reach 9.7 million by the year 2000, an increase of
about 60 percent since 1990. Approximately 9 percent, or about 800,000
people, are employed in the formal modern sector. Informal labor market
surveys show that there are essentially no Mozambicans employed in middle
and higher level management positions in the largest foreign companies.
Many industries are currently facing the need to replace an aging stock of
educated professionals trained in the period preceding the civil war, and
now nearing retirement. Thus far, the country has relied on imported labor
to meet labor market demands for either professional or highly trained
staff. This strategy has not only failed to build capacity in the country,
but has pushed the government to limit the employment of foreigners in
companies, thus, possibly jeopodizing future investments, if the number of
Mozambican professionals is not increased. Further evidence of excess
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labor market demand is provided by frequent anecdotal reference to
students from the engineering and economic faculties of UEM leaving for
employment before completing their thesis and formally graduating. In the
public sector (totalling 120,000 people (excluding the armed forces))
about 30 percent of employees have a post-secondary degree. Assuming, very
conservatively, that only 10 percent of the formal sector labor force are
higher level professionals, that attrition due to retirements or death is
only 1 percent, and with no allowance for any expansion in the economy,
Mozambique would still have to replace about 800 professionals every year
to fill the available jobs. In comparison, in 1999, total enrollment in
higher education was 11,600, but the total number of new higher education
graduates in Mozambique was only 483 in 1998 (World Bank, Education Cost
and Financing Study, 2000, Strategic Plan for Higher Education, GoM,
2000). This represents the high level manpower stock from which national
and international companies and the public sector must recruit future
leaders, managers and professionals. Under a more positive and realistic
growth scenario, evidenced by the current level of investment, the
shortfall of trained professionals will be even more severe and the demand
for graduates and high level professionals correspondingly greater.
Finally, in addition to demand for normal replacement the prevalence of
HIV/AIDS is likely to have a severe impact on overall attrition rates.
Higher education investment: The current project in support of higher
education has to be seen and justified against this picture. It could be
argued that the country's state of poverty and the slowly changing
enrollment profile provide little basis for investment in higher education
at this time. Neither the Government nor the Bank share that view for
several reasons. First, efforts are being made to by the government, the
Bank and external partners to expand enrollment and improve quality and
relevance at the basic and secondary levels. In this context support for
higher education does not diminish investment at the lower levels, but
rather complements it as envisaged under the sector wide approach. These
investments are not substitutable. Second, the extent and severity of
Mozambique's shortage of highly trained professionals for managerial and
economic policy leadership is unique in Africa and an impediment to growth
and investment and to national leadership of it. The shortage of
capacity is so great that the country is re-importing sizable numbers of
expatriates to take-up leadership in the private sector. The social and
political implications of this situation have led government to legislate
the number of such individuals who can be employed. Third, reform of
Mozambique's university degree structure will bring it into line with
higher education elsewhere in the region and the world, providing
expanded access to international facilities and scholarship, and
permitting the country to become a partner in the creation and exchange of
global knowledge. Fourth, a major goal of the government is to create a
national system of education and, within this, an integrated higher
education sub-sector is an important component. While a coherent system
of higher education can not solve problems of inefficiency at the basic
and secondary levels, or redress equity problems arising from
geographical and historical disparities at those levels, it can reinforce
efforts being made at the lower levels and contribute to an efficient,
functional and equitable system. Fifth, while it is difficult to
demonstrate how any university reform program makes a direct contribution
to the alleviation of poverty, there can be little doubt that in
Mozambique an increase in the number of well trained and committed
doctors, teachers and lawyers will provide the potential human resource
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pool for the delivery of services previously inaccessible to poorer
segments of the population. Finally, there is a public good argument,
going beyond market demand, for investment in the higher levels of
education in Mozambique: for a country with a painful colonial and post
colonial history, in a continent itself torn by strife, ethnic cleavages
and mismanagement, the university system can play an important unifying
and leadership role in helping to define the identity of Mozambicans and
the mission of the Mozambican nation. Higher education issues:The central
sector issues for the higher education sector are described in detail in
the Government's Strategic Plan for Higher Education, 2001-2010, Working
Document 1. Among key issues are the following:Inadequate supply and
limited access: The higher education system reflects the country's
history. At first there was only one university, Eduardo Mondlane
University (UEM), offering courses modeled on the Portuguese system, with
a rather long period of study leading to a single qualification
(licenciatura). During the civil war many areas were cut off from the
capital and most Mozambicans had no access to higher education. In 1990,
77T of a total of 3,750 higher education students were in UEM. Even after
the peace agreement in 1992 UEM remained the main provider of higher
education, accounting for about 75t of total enrollment. By the end of
1995 there were only three higher education institutions in Mozambique
with a total of 6,844 students, of whom 76t were in UEM and only 25
percent were women. New admissions remained fairly stable between 1992 and
1995, at around 1,000. Only recently has the system begun to expand and
diversify, but on a very weak financial basis. There are currently six
HEIs in Mozambique: Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), Pedagogical
University (UP), the Higher Institute for International Relations (ISRI),
the Higher Institute of Science and Technology of Mozambique (ISCTEM),
the Advanced Polytechnical University Institute (ISPU) and the Catholic
University of Mozambique (UCM). By 1999 total enrolment had increased to
11,619 and new admissions doubled from 1,088 in 1995 to 2,155 in 1999. At
the same time the number of applicants to HEIs continues to be ten times
that of the available vacancies (Strategic Plan for Higher Education,
Working Document, GoM, 2000). Concurrently, there are certain programs or
areas of education that are not offered, but are in high demand by both
the public and private sectors -- such as accountancy (there is no
national accountancy institute), tourism (there is no tourism schools or
programs), programming or business management. Other sectors are in a dire
need for graduates, such as teacher trainers for the teacher training
colleges. Low graduation rate and low internal efficiency: The number of
new graduates remained stagnant at around 260 a year between 1992 and
1994, increasing slightly to 398 graduates in 1995 and 483 graduates in
1998. Expressed as a proportion of total student numbers however, the
graduation rate is very low, at only around 5t per year. The low level of
graduation points to a high degree of wastage and low efficiency of the
system. This combined with internal inefficiencies of institutional
governance and management resulting in low utilization of staff and
facilities has resulted in the low graduation rates and high costs per
graduate. The average expenditure per student is at par with average per
capita spending in Anglophone and Francophone Africa (in Mozambique the
average expenditure per student represents 6.4 times per capita GNP,
compared with an average of 6.3 in Anglophone and 5.6 in Francophone
countries). But because of the low internal efficiency the cost per
graduate is very high.Poor quality and inadequate relevance: Another cause
and effect of the low graduation rate is the situation that most courses
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and programs offered at HEIs, particularly the public HEIs, are outdated,
of limited relevance and poor quality and do not respond to the demands of
a fast growing economy and to specific needs in individual provinces or
emerging sectors. The limited capacity (and incentives) among academic and
administrative staff in HEIs to improve teaching and learning, devise new
courses and deliver them to an expanded number of students, and similar
limitations of management capacity in the new Ministry charged with
leading higher education reform, have led to a lack of relevance and
responsiveness to changing needs. The UEM has undertaking the
implementation of a curriculum reform. But with the anticipated reforms
under the PEES and continuing changes in the economy the curriculum will
further have to be updated, not just at UEM, but in all institutions. In
general research facilities, library and educational materials are limited
and out of date negatively affecting the overall quality of the learning
environment.Low integration of sector and weak capacity for policy design
and implementation: Another important feature is the fact that the HEIs
are not well integrated with limited (or no possibilities at all) for
students to move across comparable programs. Furthermore, general policy
coordination and monitoring of sector performance is weak if not totally
absent. Finally, in the absence of a definitive legal framework, there is
an inadequate demarcation of responsibilities and articulation between the
new Ministry and the HEIs.Weak external efficiency: Equally important for
understanding the development of higher education in Mozambique is the
fact that for many years the university system operated under a centrally
planned economy, paying limited attention to internal and especially
external efficiencies and such issues as allocation and management of
resources. The failure of current policies on institutional financing,
cost recovery, subsidies and student support to ensure equity of access
and resource distribution and financial sustainability has further
contributed to this. The lack of responsiveness to changing external needs
is further evidenced by the fact that while the labor force is estimated
to have increased by 3.7 million people over the past decade and as stated
before the economy has been growing at 9t, the number of university
graduates have only increased to about 500. Inequity in access and
socio-economic disparities: In Mozambique, there are still severe
geographical disparities of access between Maputo and most other
provinces, resulting from a concentration in the south of HEIs, leading to
unequal opportunities for access and subsequent employment; between 1990
and 1999 about 60 W of students were from Maputo or the South, compared
with only 109 from the North and 309 from the Central (and poorest)
provinces. This is of course further exacerbated by the existence of a
dominant, traditional and highly respected university (UEM) which has
tended to monopolize the production of graduates. The UEM operated until
recently under a privileged status with a sizable public subsidy, but with
outdated course structures, antiquated curricula and centralized
management systems which combine to produce internal inefficiencies,
notably high drop out and repetition rates, and a lack of responsiveness
to new labor market needs. However, with increasing demand for higher
education, in the last seven years this has resulted in the emergence of a
differentiated system of public, private and non-profit institutions
which have begun to compete with UEM in terms of relevance, equity,
efficiency and cost. Nevertheless, this expansion continues to benefit the
higher income groups (Education Costs and Financing Study, 2000) and the
weak financial solidity of the newer private HEI points to the inadequacy
of resources among students.These issues and facts help to explain the
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reality of a rather rigid and unresponsive higher education system, and
the current recognition of the need for reform so that the system can
better serve its students, teachers and the country as a whole.Government
strategyThe Government of Mozambique recognizes that improving and
expanding higher education is vital in order to meet the demands of the
labor market and to supply the professionals required for economic
management and policy leadership, and that if economic growth is
constrained by a shortage of professional skills, it will undermine long
term prospects for poverty alleviation.Signaling the seriousness of its
intent and awareness, the government formed a new Ministry of Higher
Education Science and Technology (MiHEST) in early January 2000. Together
with the higher education Task Force established in October 1999, this
accelerated the preparation of a National Strategic Plan for Higher
Education (PEES). The rapid development of a national strategy for higher
education therefore demonstrates the Government's awareness of the
problem, and its determination to address the challenge of the severe
shortage of professionals. The Plan, one of the more impressive of its
kind in the region, has been the subject of extensive consultations
throughout the provinces and was refined in a major national seminar in
July 2000 opened by President Chissano. It is national in scope and its
main points of focus are to expand access, to increase regional and gender
equity, to reduce costs per graduate and to improve the internal
efficiency of the whole sub system. Government and universities alike
recognize that a critical part of the strategy is to reduce the length of
the undergraduate degree course by instituting a new bachelor level
degree and speeding up the time taken to complete degree programs, thereby
providing the expanding formal modern sector and the economy as a whole
with the graduates and professionals needed. The task of turning the
Strategic Plan into an operational document, which can be the basis for a
Bank project, has already begun. Implementation will be in regions or
zones and an inventory of existing institutions in each province is
already underway. To ensure the necessary articulation between higher
education and lower levels of education, particularly with policies and
strategies for pre-university and technical and professional schools, the
Government has contracted with the government of the Netherlands for
assistance in this task. It is intended that both public and private HEIs
that establish permanent university-level activities in the Provinces
should receive state support, in terms of resource allocation, fiscal
stimuli and import and customs facilities, but the provincial governments
will also have to contribute fiscal resources from the province itself.
Leading and coordinating this reform process is a complex task for a new
Ministry. The Minister's intention is for all programs to be implemented
at the institutional level, leaving the Ministry to deal with overarching
issues such as planning, resource allocation, monitoring and evaluation.
For this purpose a crucial component of the project will be the
establishment of strong finance, planning , monitoring and evaluation unit(FMU) which will be responsible for project oversight. In addition, the
Ministry intends to initiate analysis of key issues, at both system-wide
and institutional level, in order to clearly understand underlying
problems such as low internal efficiency and inequalities of access, to
develop policies to address these problems and to explore the feasibility
of new forms of financing, including tuition fees, scholarships, student
loans and commercial credits for private institutions etc.
2. Objectives
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Phase I: The project will establish the physical and institutional
conditions and capacity to implement improved programs of teaching,
learning and research. Improving efficiency and the use of resources will
improve graduation rates, equity and relevance of education in higher
education institutions (HEI).Phase II: The project will expand coverage
and improve equity, along with the internal and external efficiency of the
system, by reducing repetition and drop out, increasing completion rates,
expanding access, lowering the cost per graduate and improving the overall
flexibility and diversity of programs and courses.
3. Rationale for Bank's Involvement
Beyond the injection of extensive inexpensive funding the Government
perceives several key dimensions of value that Bank involvement will
add. They include:Knowledge within the Bank team, and among consultants,
of experience from African and elsewhere of higher education systems that
have committed themselves to a similar reform process.Technical expertise
and practical experience in what is required for the successful design and
implementation of major higher education projects,Responsiveness and
flexibility in being able to provide support from the on going CBP project
and to speedily apply PHRD and Norwegian Trust funds to project planning
and preparation. Prior involvement in the CBP permits the application of
lessons learned and more important it has enabled the largest external
supporter of higher education in Mozambique to establish relationships of
trust and the experience of continuity amounting to a comparative
advantage that can now be extended to a project which involves the
national system.
4. Description
1. Project components (see Annex l)Component 1. Strengthening institutions
of higher education. This component will support the improvement of
academic quality and the relevance of training, improvements in
efficiency, as well as infrastructure rehabilitation/construction at
institution level. Specific activities will be identified through
preparation of mid-term development plans prepared by the HEIs and
approved by the Higher Education, Science and Technology Council (CESCT).
The component will include three windows. Window A. Academic quality and
relevance of training programs (ET).This window will provide support for
(i) strengthening staff academic capacities and (ii) improving the
quality and relevance of programs and courses. Specific activities will
include training of staff, support for mentoring arrangements, visiting
lecturers and academic exchange. Twinning arrangements between institutes
of higher education will be promoted. The institutions will be able to
include the following activities for their development plans:Strengthening
staff academic capacities:(a) training for faculty and staff; (b)
scholarships for faculty for academic training in new disciplines; (c)
stipends for visiting lecturers in key disciplines; (d) programs for
bringing business and public leaders to teach higher education courses;
(e) IT capacities and connectivity for faculty staff.Improving the quality
of programs and courses:(a) upgrading existing academic curricula and
courses; (b) introducing student-centered learning strategies; (c)
designing and starting short (one to two-year long) certificate or diploma
programs in new specialities [ TBDI, (d) designing and starting evening
programs in new specialities [TBDI; (e) designing new modular based
programs and courses.Window B. Capacity for internal efficiency
improvement (ET).This window will support efforts to reduce the time
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needed for successful completion of study (graduation), and reduction in
repetition and drop-out, thereby lowering the cost per graduate.
Activities to improve internal utilization of resources (faculty,
facilities, equipment) will also be supported. The component will support
the following activities:(a) introduction of "bridging" courses for
candidates to HEIs; (b) introduction of institutional incentives for
academic excellence; (c) design and implementation of activities to change
the culture of "failing students" on the basis of national analysis
undertaken under component... ; (d) training of management and
administrative staff of institutions; (e) design and introduction of
internal budgeting, financial planning, management and accounting systems;
(f) development of career advisory service and linkages with private
sector for facilitation of student placement.Window C. Institutional
expansion and infrastructure rehabilitation (ET).This widow will finance
the rehabilitation and expansion of facilities, equipment and library
upgrading in existing institutions, as well as setting up of new
facilities to expand the availability of programs in new locations. Both
existing academic programs and programs in new areas such as [TBD:
agriculture and farm management, finance, accounting, tourism/hotel
management and public administration] will be assisted. This will include
the following activities:(a) physical rehabilitation of existing buildings
and construction of new facilities; (b) provision of IT, communication and
laboratory equipment for teaching, reasearch and administrative purposes;
(c) provision of textbooks, learning and research resources in libraries
and subscriptions for information sources; (d) design and management of
institutional expansion programs. Component 2. Sector and institute
management reform and improved coordination and external linkages
(ET).This component will provide system-wide policy analysis, design of
specific reform initiatives, capacity building and training for effective
monitoring and coordination at system level, and for improved internal
management at institutional level.The objectives of the component will be
achieved through provision of technical assistance, training of staff,
procurement of IT, office and communication equipment and development and
implementation of strategies for information dissemination, communication
and promotion of labor market linkages. The component will support the
following activities:(i) analysis of policy issues (current and projected
relevance of produced skill mix , regional disparities in access, analysis
of low graduation, high repetition and drop out rates etc. ), design of
policy recommendations on the basis of these studies for higher education
reform;(ii) design and testing of funding formulae and resource allocation
mechanisms (capitation, institutional grants, etc) and revised financing
policies (strategies for cost sharing and targeted student financial
support);(iii) development and introduction of human resource management
policies in public higher education (contracting scheme for faculty staff
of the universities, evaluation principles etc.); (iv) building of
planning, budget and financial management capacity at MiHEST, including
design of guidelines, staff training, development of IT and communication
strategies and equipment procurement;(v) establishment of management
information system (MIS) for national higher education, including regular
surveys of HEIs to collect and analyze academic and financial information
for planning and monitoring at both the system and institutional
levels;Component 3. National academic excellence program.This component
will build academic capacity and capacity for academic program
certification; design and development of quality assurance mechanisms,
including monitoring of existing programs and accreditation of new courses
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and institutions. Activities will include:(i) design and development of
quality assurance mechanisms and monitoring and accreditation system(ii)
creation of a national program for faculty academic excellence
awards;(iii) design of a national program for student academic excellence
awards;(iv) design of and introduction of student-oriented
learning.Component 4. Higher education scholarship fund - national pilot
(ET). This component will finance the design, start up costs, initial
operation and evaluation of a Higher Education Scholarship Fund. The fund
will serve as a pilot instrument for allocation of public funding to HEIs
on a capitation basis, to improve responsiveness to student and employer
demand, and improve targeting of public funding to vulnerable groups. The
fund will offer individual scholarships for graduates of secondary schools
to finance tuition costs in various higher education training programs,
including both public and private institutions. The criteria for
eligibility, selection and allocation procedures will reflect: (i) the
need to support access to higher education for disadvantaged groups, and
(ii) labor market needs for technical skills in specific areas.
Possibilities for private sector sponsorship or financing of scholarships
will also be assessed and explored. Component 5. Program implementation
(ET).This component will provide support for overall program
implementation with the final aim of building national management capacity
in the higher education sector at national and institutional levels. It
will finance the following activities: (i) technical assistance to the
Ministry in coordination, administration and management of a national
higher education system; (ii) technical assistance in the area of
procurement; (iii) technical assistance for the setting up of monitoring
and evaluation mechanisms; (iv) support for program development.
Component 1. Strengthening institutions of higher education.
Component 2. Sector level management reform and improved coordination and
external linkages
Component 3. National academic excellence program
Component 4. Higher education scholarship fund (national pilot)
Component 5. Program implementation
5. Financing
Total ( US$m)Total Project Cost 80
6. Implementation
Overall project coordination and governance. The overall project strategic
coordination will be in the hands of Higher Education, Science and
Technology Council (CESCT) that will be established shortly as a strategic
entity to advise the Minister, assist with development of higher
education, science and technology policies and oversee implementation of
policies. The CESCT will have broad representation of the Government,
Institutes of Higher Education, also to include provincial and local
government, civil society, the productive sector (public and private),
academic and research community, secondary and technical and vocational
education sectors. The Council will be convened bi-annually to approve the
project annual budget, development plans and its execution, assess
progress towards project and component objectives and other project
strategic issues.A higher education operation and change committee and
financial management board (constituting the heads or directors of
planning and finance) would probably be the clearance house and monitoring
of day to day project implementation on which basis the FMU would release
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funds quarterly. The Financial Management Board would monitor the
execution of the program and report on problems with disbursement and
procurement. The procurement and financial management consultants would
report to the Board.Project implementation/institutional arrangements/PIU:
Two options for project implementation were considered: one included
establishing a financial management and planning unit under the Ministry
for Planning and Finance, which was rejected because of the lack of
educational ownership and control. Therefore, the second option is
currently under discussion. Under this option the project oversight will
be delegated to a Financial Management, Monitoring and Planning Unit (FMU)
to be placed under the MiHEST. The staff of the FMU will not be civil
servants, but externally hired consultants and will include component
coordinators, procurement and a financial management specialists. The FMU
will be accountable to the Minister of Higher Education and to
CESCT.Implementation at Institutional level. Existing and new HEI will be
involved in implementation of the project, including the Eduardo Mondlane
University (UEM), Pedagogical University (UP), the Higher Institute for
International Relations (ISRI), the Higher Institute of Science and
Technology of Mozambique (ISCTEM), the Advanced Polytechnical University
Institute (ISPU), the Catholic University of Mozambique (UCM). Overall
responsibility for the project implementation will be with the Rectors and
Academic Councils of these institutions and implementation will use
exisiting institutional structures. Each institution will appoint two key
contact persons for project implementation. Procurement and financial
management consultants will be hired in each HEI and integrated into each
institutions respective financial and administrative department (DAF). The
interrelation and contractual arrangement of the consultants and final
set-up will be determined during preparationDisbursement and audits:
Because of the complexity and cash flow requirements disbursement will be
based on LACI, with quarterly reporting and annual audits of each
institution and the FMU.Program period and implementing agencies: The
project will be implemented over a 7 year period, divided into two phases
of 3 and 4 years through the Ministry for Higher Education, Science and
Technology (MiHEST) and the HEIs.Monitoring and Evaluation: Project
implementation will be monitored on the basis of overall project
performance and component indicators. It will be done on the basis of
quarterly and annual project reports and indicators of higher education
sector performance to be developed within the project. Besides regular
monitoring indicators, special triggered for the next phase of the program
will be developed by the time of project appraisal. They will reflect both
progress toward achieving development objectives of the program as well as
internal project performance. The project will support development and
introduction of the sector performance monitoring system to be established
within MiHEST. Once established, it will be used for monitoring of the
project and overall system performance. Design of monitoring system will
be supported through one of the project components.
7. Sustainability
Financial sustainability: It is likely that policies supported by the
project activities will incur some additional fiscal expenditures. These
will be assessed during the project preparation and necessary
recommendations provided for MTEF. Additional budget expenditures would be
needed to finance additional salary costs of expanded higher education
system; any government shortfall in other items can be met from the phase
two and three of the credit. The size of this expanded envelope is
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expected to be minimal as soon as the project is concentrating on improved
efficiency in the use of existing staff and facilities, introduction of of
more effective modes of instruction and shorter courses and programs.
Introduction of elements of cost sharing will also reduce the dimension of
potential increase. Institutional sustainability: The project will support
development of Government capacity to fomulate policy, monitor and
coordinate sector perfromance. At institutional level training of
management staff, development of financial managment capacities and
introduction of improved governance procedures will ensure sustainability
of improved efficiency of institutional management. This will ensure that
the capacity and processes put in place will be utilized beyond the
project's life.Relevance of education and quality: Introduction of shorter
courses and programs in the areas of highest demand will improve relevance
of provided education, will improve relevance and develop linkages of the
sector with key employers and private sector at large. These linkages will
help improve sustainability of higher education institutions.To institute
sustainable reform in the sector is not a short term endevour. Therefore,
a 7 years project period that can be adapted is considered a suitable
approach for ensuring this.
8. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector
Several lessons have been learned from the Capacity Building Project with
UEM which was the forerunner to this project. and have been included in
its design. Key lessons are: (i) an initial focus on institutional and
operational arrangements, including procurement and financial managment,
and capacity building (ii) integration of project implementation into the
HEI structure, (iii) flexibility in design and possibility of adaptation
to changing need (the appropriateness of an APL), (iv) early preparation
of implementation and procurement plans, (v) clear drafting of contracts
and managment set up for twinning arrangments, and (vi) longer term
planning of scholarships and study abroad activities.Other higher
education projects in the region, most notably Ghana, Kenya and Madagascar
offer useful lessons, for both design and implementation stages, while
outside the region the project in Vietnam is particularly instructive. All
are being taken account of in the preparation of this project and offer
pertinent lessons:n In recognition of the fact that in Mozambique, as in
Ghana, universities possess an organized and influential constituency of
staff students and alumni who can act as powerful interest groups, broad
and sustained consultation and institutional participation has been
adopted in project design and will be continued in implementation, despite
the more than normal supervisory attention that this requires.n Where, as
in the Mozambique project, enrollment expansion is a primary objective,
care will need to be taken to ensure that it does not become led by
political considerations in defiance of quality assurance. The Ghana
experience, as well as the cost differentials between HEIs, have
persuaded this project to adopt reduction in cost per graduate as the
main performance indicator for monitoring the balance between expansion
and quality as well as improvements in efficiency. n In the Mozambique as
in the Ghana project improvement in the quality of higher education is an
explicit project objective. On the basis of the Ghana experience relevant
performance indicators which measure student learning (e.g. standard
examination results) will be utilized or created.From the Kenya
Universities Investment Project come several pertinent lessons: n Both
Kenya and Mozambique are moving from a situation of a dominant national
university to an integrated system of multiple differentiated
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institutions. The Kenya experience underscores the importance of a
project design in Mozambique that provides for an appropriate balance
between decentralization of responsibilities to universities and central
coordination. n As the Mozambique project , like that of Kenya, involves
a lending operation in support of a small number of universities which are
self accounting organizations, it is planned on the basis of Kenya
experience to ensure that at appraisal there is a record of the structure
of the revenues and expenditures of the beneficiary institutions and
their unit costs, so that subsequent progress reports can routinely
monitor these aspects.n To the extent that the Mozambique project will
require the installation of equipment, the Kenya experience points to the
necessity of clear procedures and allocated responsibilities for receipt,
inspection acceptance and testing of such equipment.n Universities in
Mozambique, as in Kenya and Ghana, are on a path to becoming large-scale,
complex organizations with an increased market orientation. This will
require the inclusion in this project of correspondingly greater
attention than before to managerial training at all levels.The case of
Madagascar offers two general notes of encouragement arising from the fact
that with bank support the system in Madagascar has improved from a
dilapidated state, akin to that of Mozambique after the civil war, to a
functioning system of quality and relevance.n Madagascar underlines the
long term nature of education reform and innovation such as is being
contemplated by Mozambique and the need for continuity in bank staff
involvement.n It also confirms the key importance of a firm but flexible
policy framework, as is manifested in the Mozambique Strategic Plan which
will be operationalized through the harmonization of the development plans
of constituent institutions, the very process in which the Government of
Mozambique is now engaged for the preparation of this project. From
outside the region two useful lessons are suggested by the Vietnam
project:n The higher education project in Vietnam supports a regular
survey of all HEIs to collect data on universities' financial operations,
student teacher ratios, drop out, repetition and graduation rates and
other performance indicators, which are used to monitor institutional
performance and will also be used to monitor project implementation at HEI
level. It also supports a regular graduate tracer study and development
of career advisory services in HEIs to improve linkages with the labor
market. This project could support such development in Mozambique.n One of
the features of the Vietnam project is that HEIs that apply for investment
funds from the project have to demonstrate that they are using data
collected through the annual institutional and graduate tracer surveys in
their own internal strategic planning ,including curriculum reform and the
introduction of new courses to respond to labor market needs. This
project will pay particular attention to developing such incentives for
HEIs in Mozambique.
9. Program of Targeted Intervention (PTI) N
10. Environment Aspects (including any public consultation)
Issues None
11. Contact Point:
Task Manager
Soren Nellemann
The World Bank
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1818 H Street, NW
Washington D.C. 20433202-473-8294
12. For information on other project related documents contact:The InfoShop
The World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20433
Telephone: (202) 458-5454Fax: (202) 522-1500
Web: http:// www.worldbank.org/infoshop
Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may
not be necessarily included in the final project.
This PID was processed by the InfoShop during the week ending March 2, 2001.
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