Seqaep Af Project Paper - Negotiated

8/19/2019 Seqaep Af Project Paper - Negotiated

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Document of

The World Bank

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Report No: 80615-BD

PROJECT PAPER

ON A

PROPOSED ADDITIONAL CREDITIN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 172.8 MILLION

(US$ 265 MILLION EQUIVALENT)

TO THE

THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESHFOR A

SECONDARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND ACCESS ENHANCEMENT PROJECT

October 31, 2013

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without WorldBank authorization.


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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

(Exchange Rate Effective September 30, 2013)

Currency Unit = TakaTaka 77.88 = US$1

US$1.53407 = SDR 1

FISCAL YEARJanuary 1 – December 31

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

AC Additional Class

ACT Additional Class Teacher

ACF Award Conformation Form

AD Assistant Director

ADB Asian Development BankAF Additional Financing

APD Additional Project Director

BANBEIS Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics

BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

BISE Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education

BP Bank Procedures

BSK Bishwo Shahitto Kendro

CAS Country Assistance Strategy

CCT Conditional Cash Transfer

CONTASA Convertible Taka Special Account

DA Designated Account

DD Deputy Director

DEO District Education Officer

DG Director General

DID Difference in Difference

DLI Disbursement Linked Indicator

DO Development Objective

DPHE Department of Public Health and Engineering

DPP Development Project Proforma

DRH Developing Reading Habit

DSHE Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education

EACM Education Awareness and Community Mobilization

EL English Language

EMF Environmental Management Framework

EMP Environmental Management Plan

FAPAD Foreign Aided Project Audit Disclosure

FMS Financial Management Specialist

FMA Financial Management Analyst

FSSAP Female Secondary School Assistance Project

FY Fiscal Year


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GAAP Governance and Accountability Action Plan

GO Government Order

GOB Government of Bangladesh

HIES Household Income and Expenditure Survey

HOI Human Opportunity Index

HT Head Teachers

ICT Information Communications Technology

IDA International Development Association

IE Impact Evaluation

IFC International Finance Corporation

IFR Interim Financial Report

IPF Investment Project Financing

KPI Key Performance Indicator

LASI Learning Assessment in SEQAEP Institutions

LGED Local Government Engineering Department

MEW Monitoring and Evaluation Wing

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

MIS Management Information System

MoE Ministry of Education

MoF Ministry of Finance

MoPA Ministry of Public Administration

MoU Memorandum of Understanding

MPO Monthly Pay Order

MTR Mid-Term Review

NPV Net Present Value

OP Operational Policies

OARF Operational Risk Assessment Framework

PAD Project Appraisal Document

P-RAMS Procurement Risk Assessment management system

PD Project DirectorPDO Project Development Objective

PMT Proxy Means Testing

PMTA Proxy Means Testing Administrator

PPR Public Procurement Rules

PPT Project Preparation Team

PTA Parent-Teacher Association

RCT Randomized Control Trial Design

RD Regression Discontinuity Design

RDPP Revised Development Project Performa

RT Resource Teacher

SESDP Secondary Education Sector Development ProjectSEQAEP Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project

SMC School Management Committee

SMF Social Management Framework

SSC Secondary School Certificate

SWAp Sector Wide Approach

TDP Tribal Development Plan

TA Technical Assistance

USEO Upazila Secondary Education Officer


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Vice President: Philippe H. Le HouerouCountry Director: Johannes C.M. ZuttSector Director: Jesko S. HentschelSector Manager: Amit DarTask Team Leaders: Ayesha Y. Vawda and Dilip Parajuli


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BANGLADESH

ADDITIONAL FINANCING SECONDARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND ACCESS

ENHANCEMENT PROJECT (P146255)

PROJECT PAPER DATA SHEET

Basic Information - Additional Financing (AF)

Country Director: Johannes C.M. ZuttSector Director: Jesko S. Hentschel Sector Manager: Amit Dar Team Leader: Ayesha Y. Vawda and Dilip Parajuli Project ID: P146255 Expected Effectiveness Date: January 1, 2014 Lending Instrument: IPF Additional Financing Type: Scale-up and Cost Overrun

Sectors: Secondary Education (92%);Public Admin Educ (8%) Themes: Education for All (100%) Environmental category: B Expected Closing Date: December 31,2017 Joint IFC: NA Joint Level: NA

Basic Information - Original Project Project ID: P106161 Environmental category: B Project Name: Secondary Education Quality & Access EnhancementProject

Expected Closing Date: June 30,2014

Lending Instrument: SIL Joint IFC: NA Joint Level: NA

AF Project Financing Data [ ] Loan [X] Credit [ ] Grant [ ] Guarantee [ ] Other:Proposed terms: 40-year maturity with a 10 year grace period

AF Financing Plan (US$m) Source Total Amount (US $m)

Total Project Cost:Cofinancing: Borrower:

Total Bank Financing:

IBRD IDA

New

Recommitted

280

15

265

Client Information Recipient: The People’s Republic of Bangladesh,Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Responsible Agency: Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), Ministry of Education (MOE),Dhaka, Bangladesh

AF Estimated Disbursements (Bank FY/US$m) FY 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018Annual 35 65 65 65 35Cumulative 35 100 165 230 265

Project Development Objective and Description


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Project development objective: The key project development objective is to improve quality ofeducation and monitor learning outcomes systematically, and to increase access and equity in projectupazilas.

Under the proposed Additional Financing, there is no change to the Project Development Objective.

Project description: The Additional Financing for SEQAEP Project will support four components,including, (i) improving quality, (ii) improving equitable access, (iii) strengthening institutional capacity,and (iv) establishing an effective monitoring and evaluation system.

Safeguard and Exception to Policies Safeguard policies triggered: Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04)Forests (OP/BP 4.36)Pest Management (OP 4.09)Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP 4.11)Indigenous Peoples (OP/BP 4.10)Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP 7.50)Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP 7.60)

[X]Yes [X] No [ ]Yes [X] No [ ]Yes [X] No [ ]Yes [X] No [ ]Yes [X] No [X]Yes [ ] No [ ]Yes [X] No [ ]Yes [X] No [ ]Yes [X] No [ ]Yes [X] No

Does the project require any waivers of Bank policies? Have these been endorsed or approved by Bank management?

[ ]Yes [X] No [ ]Yes [ ] No


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I. INTRODUCTION

1.

This Project Paper seeks the approval of the Executive Directors to provide an Additional Financing(AF) in an amount of US$265 million to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for the Secondary EducationQuality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP, PID: P106161, IDA Credit 4475-BD).

2.

The proposed AF would: (i) extend the current SEQAEP project to December 2017 and implement theexpanded project activities (across more schools and for more students within SEQAEP upazilas) to deepen theimpact of a well-performing project; (ii) initiate replication of successful activities in 90 additional upazilas fornational roll-out of successful SEQAEP interventions; and (iii) allow adequate time for Ministry of Education(MOE) to evaluate and institutionalize successful interventions from the ongoing project under a moreharmonized secondary education sector program that the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) is planning toinitiate by 2018.

II. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR ADDITIONAL FINANCING

3.

Background: Bangladesh pioneered the use of conditional cash transfers for girls’ education with the

launch of the Female Secondary School Assistance Program (FSSAP) in the early 1990s. The intervention ledto a fourfold increase in female schooling, reversing the gender-gap (female to male ratio of 1.2:1) within adecade. However, access disparities across income groups remained unaddressed (these were especially pronounced for poor boys) and there were growing concerns about high dropout rates for both boys and girls(particularly for the poor) and low learning achievements. Building on the success of the earlier interventionsand to address the remaining challenges, GOB launched SEQAEP in 2008, with IDA Credit financing ofUS$130.7 million and government counter-part funding of US$25 million. The project was approved on July1, 2008 and declared effective on September 4, 2008. The project development objective is to improve thequality of secondary education, systematically monitor learning outcomes, and to increase access and equity in project upazilas. There are four project components: improving quality, improving equitable access,strengthening institutional capacity, and establishing an effective monitoring and evaluation system. The project provides Proxy Means Testing (PMT)-targeted stipends and tuition to economically poor girls and

boys, and quality-enhancing incentive grants to schools, teachers and students (in grades 6-10) in some 7,000secondary schools and madrasahs from 125 Upazilas1 (sub-districts) in the country. SEQAEP is one of thelargest development projects under MOE. Currently, the secondary education sector receives about US$1,000million total budget from GOB, of which US$140 million (14% of total budget) is allocated as development budget2. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are the main development partners in thesector. To consolidate different projects under a unified sector plan and a more harmonized support, GOB is planning to launch a Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) in the sector from 2018.

4.

Development Objectives: The project is on track to meet its development objective (see Table 1 below for an update on progress in the original project outcome indicators). The end of project target, the endof FY 2013, set for the number of students appearing in the Secondary School Completion (SSC) exam and thesecondary school completion rates have already been surpassed. Gender parity (boys to girls ratio) was 0.87 in2012 against an end-of-project target of 0.92 and the percentage share of poor in secondary enrollment was38% in 2010 (HIES data) against an end-line target of 39%. Two rounds of learning assessments are expectedto be completed by 2013 (one already completed and second round in progress).

1 In 2008, there were 122 upazilas under SEQAEP. Because of splits of administrative areas, there are currently 125 SEQAEP upazilas(covering one-fourth of country’s 480 rural upazilas).2 IDA support of $26m per year ($131m for five years) in the ongoing SEQAEP project is about 3% of total secondary education budget and19% of the development budget. The proposed AF IDA support of $66m per year ($265m for four years) would be about 7% of total budget andabout 47% of the development budget in secondary education.


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5.

Implementation Progress: 100% of the original credit amount has been disbursed and both the PDOand IP ratings are Satisfactory. Satisfactory progress has been recorded in the implementation of all projectsub-components. Proxy Means Testing (PMT) stipend and tuition program (under Access component), havingcompleted five rounds of beneficiary-selection and award-disbursements, is the most advanced and hassurpassed original targets. To date, 1.8 million students (about 3.8 million school years) have benefited fromthe targeted stipends and tuition for secondary education in Bangladesh, and 57 percent of these beneficiaries

are girls. The quality component, so far, has benefited another 0.83 million students through performance- based monetary incentives (0.28 million), additional classes in English and Mathematics (0.1 million), and theReading Habit Program (0.45 million). The Monitoring and Evaluation Wing (MEW), under the Directorate ofSecondary and Higher Education (DSHE), now coordinates key M&E activities. Completed M&E activitiesinclude five rounds of annual school census, two rounds of PMT validation and institutional verificationsurveys, and two rounds of impact evaluation surveys. Importantly, the first ever systematic assessment ofstudent learning assessment in secondary education was completed in July 2012.

6.

Impact Evaluation: Findings from a rigorous impact evaluation study3, carried out 2 years after the project start, suggest that there is significant causal impact of the PMT stipends program on secondary schoolenrolments, and the effects are most pronounced among children from socio-economically disadvantagedfamilies. The estimates suggest that children eligible to receive PMT-stipends are 21 percentage points more

likely to be enrolled in secondary school than they would have not been able to receive the PMT-stipends. Theimpact is even more pronounced for boys (28 percentage points) and girls (26 percentage points) from the poorest two quintiles. In terms of learning outcomes, overall student test scores improved by 0.25 standarddeviations between the two rounds of survey but there was no significant net impact on stipend recipients. It isimportant to note that the PMT-stipends attracted the poorest students into project schools and yet showed testscore improvement for these beneficiaries. The finding is consistent with evidence from other studies thatshow that Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) does not automatically increase student learning in the short-run.Annex 4 provides a summary of the impact evaluation study.

7.

Rationale: The main rationale for the proposed AF is for IDA to maintain its support for a successfulSEQAEP project, which contributes directly towards GOB’s commitment to enhancing opportunities fordisadvantaged children, bringing them into the productive force for further economic growth of the country,

and providing them with the tools to combat poverty. The project is well aligned with the National EducationPolicy (2010), Sixth Five Year Plan (2010/11-2014/15), the Perspective Plan 2021, and the Bank’s CountryAssistance Strategy.

8.

Suitability of AF: The proposed AF meets the eligibility criteria under OP10.00. The ISR ratings forimplementation progress (IP) and Development Objectives (DO) over the most recent 12 months have beenrated moderately satisfactory or better. The project impact, as evidenced from the results recorded in theISRs, is consistent with targets set out in the PAD. There has been substantial compliance with key legalcovenants, including fiduciary and safeguards. Alternatives to AF approach – including processing of a newoperation, repeater operation, reallocation of cost savings and financing by borrower and/or other donors – were considered. AF was preferred because: (a) the AF processing would bring procedural gains to the borrower; (b) expanded and scaled-up activities can be accommodated in the borrower’s existing

implementation arrangements; and (c) the proposed AF activities are consistent with the project DOs andstrategically aligned with the CAS.

3 The World Bank (2012). “Bangladesh’s Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project: Interim Impact Evaluation Report”Human Development Department, South Asia Region, Washington, DC. Impact evaluation is a sub-component of Monitoring and Evaluation inthe project design. PMT-targeted stipends program was randomly phased-in (half of upazilas in the first year and the other half the followingyear). The randomized phased-in approach, coupled with baseline and follow-up household and school level surveys, allows the evaluation toestablish the causal impact of SEQAEP stipends on secondary school enrolment and learning outcomes.


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III.

PROPOSED CHANGES

9.

PDO: The Project Development Objective of the proposed AF project will remain unchanged and willcontinue to be “to improve the quality of secondary education, systematically monitor learning outcomes, andto increase access and equity in project upazilas”.

10.

AF Coverage: The ongoing project covers some 7,000 institutions from 125 rural upazilas (sub-districts) representing 61 districts (out of 64 districts) and all seven divisions in the country. The AF projectwould extend the operation into 90 additional upazilas from 50 districts, thus covering a total of 215 upazilas(out of the 484 rural upazilas in the country) representing all 64 districts. The project will continue to focus onrural areas, rural institutions and rural children. The selection of 90 additional most deprived upazilas (notsupported by other development partners) is based on their ranking on the human opportunity index (HOI)which combines the school participation rate and completion rate in the respective age-group and the factorsassociated with schooling opportunity in each upazilas (Annex 11 New Upazila List for SEQAEP AF).

11.

AF Beneficiaries: SEQAEP AF will finance: (i) continuation of SEQAEP interventions that benefitstudents and institutions in 125 project upazilas; and (ii) expansion of SEQAEP interventions in 90 newupazilas. The direct beneficiaries of SEQAEP AF would be 11,500 institutions from 215 upazilas which

provide education to over 4.5 million students annually. The project would directly benefit poor students,teachers, school management committees and parent teacher associations (PTAs) in the project supportedinstitutions.

12.

AF Design: The four project components will remain the same as in the original project: (i) improvingquality, (ii) improving equitable access, (iii) strengthening institutional capacity, and (iv) establishing aneffective monitoring and evaluation system. Based on lessons learnt from the ongoing operation and in view ofmainstreaming into the secondary SWAp planned from 2018, the AF project will aim to strengthen, expandand institutionalize key project interventions. Component 1 (quality) would include expansion of institutionalachievement award to nation-wide coverage, addition of science subject to the currently supported English andmathematics under the additional classes sub-component, and expansion of the developing the reading habitscheme to all project institutions. The PMT-based stipends scheme (under component 2) would be

strengthened through an updated PMT scoring formula and modified application booth operations to minimizeexclusion and inclusion errors and through the use of student cash card for more efficient stipendsdisbursement. Under component 3, the AF would strengthen the role of school management committees(SMC) and parent teacher associations (PTAs) through the provision of SMC and PTA grants for school-levelICT monitoring, social audits and education awareness and community mobilization activities. DetailedProject Description under the AF is in Annex 2.

13.

Component 4 (M&E): Component 4 (Establishing an effective Monitoring and Evaluation system)will be strengthened under the AF in two main ways. First, the AF project would equip the Monitoring andEvaluation Wing (MEW) – the focal agency for the component - with required financial and technicalassistance support so that it can carry out the assigned activities autonomously. Second, the AF would elevatethe importance of key activities under the component to the status of Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs)

(described below under DLI section).

14.

Results Framework: Outcome indicators, intermediate outcome indicators, and their targets have been revised to reflect scaled-up and enhanced project activities (see table 1 below). One of the KPIs from theoriginal project, SSC pass rate, would be discontinued under the AF since the SSC examinations carried out by8 different regional boards in the country do not have the same standards and SSC pass rates have fluctuatedacross time and boards, thereby putting the credibility of the indicator to measure competency based learninglevels. The project would continue to track the SSC pass rate, but as an intermediate indicator. A new KPI, acore indicator, would be on the total number of direct project beneficiary students, broken down into total


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number and the share of females. Details on the modified Results Framework and Monitoring arrangementsare shown in Annex 1.

Table 1: Key Performance Indicators

PDO Level Results IndicatorsBaseline

(2008)

Progress to date

(AY 2012)

Original Target

(FY 2013)

Revised Project

End Target

(AY 2017)

1. Completion rate in grade 10 (%) in project upazilas(a)

Proportion of 16-20 year-old primary completerswho have completed grade 10(b) Percent of G6 entrants who have passed SSC exam

20

28

29 (2011)

46

27

38

34 (2015)

50

2. Number of students appearing in SSC (‘000) in project areas(a) Total students(b) Poor

187-

29297

22070

485160

3. SSC pass rate (%) in project areas(a) Poor(b) Non-Poor

3065

89 (for all) 3872

KPIDiscontinued

under AF

4. Monitor learning levels in secondary schools (inBangla, Maths and English)

-G8

(SEQAEP)Grade 6 & 8

(SEQAEP area)Grade 6 & 8 Nationally

5. Gender parity (male-female) in enrollment in grades6 to 10 increases in project upazilas

0.82 0.87 0.92 0.92

6. Percentage share of poor children in total enrolmentin secondary schools (%) in project areas

30 38 (2011) 39 41 (2015)

7. Total number of direct project beneficiary students:(a) total number (‘000), (b) share of female (%)

- 2,20054%

(new indicator)4,24253%

Note: SSC pass rate, discontinued as KPI, will be tracked as intermediate indicator.

15.

AF Project Period: The AF project would be implemented over a four-year period, beginning inJanuary 2014 and ending in December 2017 to cover four academic years, in line with the proposed roll-out ofthe secondary education SWAp program from early 2018. In the first year, AY2014, current projectinterventions will continue in existing 125 upazilas and preparatory activities will be carried out in additional90 upazilas for roll-out from AY2015.

16.

Project Cost and Financing: The total project cost for SEQAEP AF is estimated to be US$280million, and represents an increase of about 80% relative to the original project size of US$156 million (theincrease, in large part, is accounted for by scaled-up project coverage to 90 additional upazilas relative to 125original upazilas). The ongoing project financing includes IDA support of US$131 million and the AF projectwould receive an additional IDA support of US$265 million. Table 2 below shows project component costingand financing for the original project and the AF project4.

Table 2: Project component cost and financing (US$ million)

Component Cost

Original

Cost

Changes with

AF

Revised Total

Cost

1. Improving Education Quality 37.4 72.3 109.7

2. Improving Equity and Access 106.7 179.6 286.3

3. Strengthening Institutional Capacity 9.9 21.4 31.34. Establishing an Effective Monitoring and Evaluation System 1.7 7.0 8.7

Total Cost 155.7 280.3 436.0

IDA Financing Amount 130.7 265.0 395.7

IDA Financing Share (%) 84% 95% 91%

4 As seen in table 2, while component 2 (on access and equity) would continue to receive the largest amount of resources under the AF, otherthree components (quality, institutional capacity and M&E) would see higher percentage increases (relative to their amounts in the original

project).


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17.

AF Financing: The total IDA credit, under the investment project financing (IPF) lending instrument,would be US$265 million, of which US$215 million would be transaction-based and US$50 million would bereimbursed on the basis of: (a) actual expenditure pre-financed by the government, and (b) achievement of theagreed performance targets (DLIs). Project component costing and financing under the AF are shown in table3 below.

Table 3: AF Project Costing and Financing (US$ million)

Components Total cost

Transaction-based

IDA financing

DLI-based IDA financing and

GOB contribution

1. Improving Education Quality 72 53 19

2. Improving Equity and Access 180 146 34

3. Strengthening InstitutionalCapacity 21 9 12

4. Establishing an EffectiveMonitoring and Evaluation System 7 7 0

Total280 215 65

Note: Of the amount not financed through IDA’s transaction-based credit, IDA will reimburse up to US$50 million through DLI-financing upon achievement of agreed DLI targets and actual expenditures on eligible expenditure items pre-financed by GOB.

18.

Disbursement-Linked Indicators: The main rationale for using DLI-based disbursements for a portion of AF credit is to provide incentives to the Government to strengthen M&E activities andinstitutionalize the M&E system. The DLIs are focused on M&E system strengthening that is expected to bringsignificant gains to improving service delivery, governance and accountability, and outcomes under all projectcomponents. Appropriate attention to and timely implementation of key actions to achieve the DLIs willdirectly contribute towards achieving the PDO and also generate downstream impact on the sustainability of astrong M&E arrangement for the entire secondary education sector, particularly for the expected roll-out ofSWAp from 2018. The three DLIs are: (i) a systematic learning assessment is carried out periodically and on anationally representative sample, (ii) Monitoring and Evaluation Wing (MEW) is institutionalized and brought

under revenue budget at project end; and (iii) M&E surveys are conducted as scheduled and corrective actionsare taken based on the findings of the surveys. The detailed results, pricing, and protocol (definition,responsible agencies, formality of process, and verification) are presented in table 3 in Annex 2.

19.

The total value of the DLIs over the life of the AF project is priced at US$50 million. DLI-basedfinancing is relatively small, representing only 19% of total IDA support, and at the same time denotes areasonably large enough incentive amount for the government to focus on achieving the agreed DLI targets.DLI-based disbursement would be used to finance eligible expenditure items under the project that are notfinanced by IDA’s transaction-based credit. These eligible items are in three project components (as seen intable 3 above) and includes performance-based incentive awards under component 1; general stipends (non-PMT stipends) and tuition grants under component 2; and SMC and PTA grants under component 3. The particular eligible expenditure items have been chosen to be under the DLI-financing for the following reasons:

they are currently being fully financed by the government counterpart funding (such as tuition grants, non-PMT general stipends); they are part of the nationwide expanded coverage that the government is keen onincluding in its regular budget (such as performance-based incentives); and they are those school grants thatthe government is introducing to strengthen school level capacity and accountability (such as SMC and PTAgrants). All these items would be pre-financed by the government and up to US$50 million would bereimbursed from IDA as incentive for the DLI achievements. The detailed table on the financing categoriesunder the transaction-based and the DLI-based financing is provided in Annex 6 (Financial management and

disbursement arrangements).


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20.

Implementation arrangements: Under guidance from an inter-ministerial Steering Committeechaired by MOE Secretary, DSHE would be responsible for AF project implementation. DSHE will continueto be supported by two units: SEQAEP Unit headed by a Project Director and MEW, headed by a Director, andreporting to the Director General, DSHE. As in the current project, project management and implementationcapacity will be augmented through the use of several government and private specialized partner agencies (for

example, services in areas such as PMT, disbursement of funds, reading habit program, additional support inEL and Math, Science, and data processing services etc.). The key actors at the field level such as school head-teachers, School Management Committees (SMCs), Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and UpazilaSecondary Education Offices (USEOs) would work with guidance from Zonal Directors and District EducationOffices. During the AF project period, implementation arrangements, including those for school grants, will befurther streamlined to prepare for the proposed SWAp roll-out from 2018. Annex 5 presents detailedimplementation arrangements.

21.

Original IDA Financing: As mentioned earlier, 100% of original IDA credit is disbursed and thisincludes US$7.5 million that is in the Designated Account (DA) still to be fully documented. This amount isexpected to be fully documented by the Original Financing Closing Date (June 30, 2014). Therefore, theFinancing Agreement for the original IDA Credit 4475-BD will not be amended. Furthermore, the updated The

Environmental Management Framework (EMF) and the Social Management Framework (SMF) for the AF project, described in the safeguards section below, will apply to activities financed under the AF IDA credit,and not to activities financed by the original IDA credit.

IV. APPRAISAL SUMMARY

A.

Economic analysis22.

The results of the economic analysis for the AF suggest that the project remains economically justified. The main sources of data and parameter estimates used in the analysis come from SEQAEPMonitoring and Information System (MIS), HIES 2010, the impact evaluation study of SEQAEP (2009-2010),and the detailed costing exercise for SEQAEP Project Paper. Cost streams associated with the four-yearSEQAEP AF period include the AF project costs, private costs that comprise direct household outlays as well

as opportunity costs for schooling, and costs for additional teacher positions due to increased enrolments. The benefits come from primarily two sources: improved access and retention in secondary education resulting inincreased number of secondary school (grade 10) completers who earn higher wages (relative to non-completers) and increased quality and relevance of education resulting in higher productivity and earnings forall grade 10 completers (relative to grade 10 completers of non-SEQAEP supported institutions). Based on adiscount rate of 12 percent for the benefit and cost streams, the present discounted value of benefits isestimated to be $1,827 million while the present discounted value of costs is estimated to be $838 million;therefore, the net present value (NPV) of program benefits is $990 million. The internal rate of return (IRR)associated with this NPV is 22 percent. A large part of the benefits accrue from wage-premium for SEQAEPsecondary school completers. Annex 13 provides further details on the economic analysis.

B.

Technical feasibility

23.

Quality Component : The objectives of this component remain the same, but the AF will furtherstrengthen, expand and institutionalize activities in view of mainstreaming them into the secondary SWApfrom 2018. The incentive schemes for encouraging rural students, teachers and institutions to reach andmaintain better performance have been enhanced both in terms of the monetary amount and nation-widecoverage of institution achievement award. Additional Class (AC) implementation will be strengthened withtechnical assistance (TA) support based on the lessons learned that the current modality is too labor intensive.Science subject will be added to the current two subjects (English and Mathematics) to address the most problematic subjects in terms of students’ learning achievement. Developing reading habit (DRH) scheme will


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be expanded to additional 90 upazilas. Under the AF, the learning assessment sub-component would covernationally representative samples.

24. PMT Stipends Component : The AF project will support the PMT stipends and tuition program in

current 125 project upazilas from second semester of AY2013 (until the AF project closes) and in 90 newupazilas from AY2015. Current PMT beneficiaries in 125 upazilas will continue to receive stipends upon a full

and independent validation of the fulfillment of education compliance criteria. The new PMT beneficiaries(into grade 6 from AY2014) and 90 new upazilas (in all grades from AY2015) will be selected using theupdated PMT formula. A modified PMT application booth operations carried out, in conjunction with the PMTvalidation exercise, is expected to reduce exclusion and inclusion errors. Details on the PMT stipends schemeare presented in Annex 12. In view of GOB’s interest to mainstream the PMT scheme nationally under a singleharmonized stipend program, the new beneficiary selection threshold will be the bottom 2 quintiles of welfaredistribution (with coverage of about one-third of total enrolment in grades 6-10)5. PMT stipends will bedisbursed to individual students via banking system, including use of cash card, upon receipt of verifiedcompliance information from the institutions that students enrolled in.

25. M&E Component : As mentioned above, the Monitoring and Evaluation component will be

strengthened through (a) provision of required financial and TA support to MEW to enable it to autonomously

carry out M&E and learning assessment activities; and (b) the selection of key M&E areas (LearningAssessment, Institutionalization of MEW, and Project Monitoring and Evaluation surveys and activities) asDLIs to emphasize the importance of M&E system for the project and the entire secondary education sector.This component will be implemented by MEW with support from project MIS cell at Bangladesh Bureau ofEducational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) and other specialized agencies. The agreed DLIs would belinked to disbursement of the portion of IDA credit that is not transaction-based. The DLIs, their pricing anddetailed protocol are described in Annex 2. FM arrangement associated with the DLIs is described in Annex 6.

C.

Fiduciary and Safeguards

26.

Procurement: In terms of procurement arrangements under the proposed AF, the d key consultancy packages would be continued under AF with amendment of contracts. The AF project would continue the

contracts with Bishwo Shahitto Kendro (BSK) for providing technical support to the implementation ofdeveloping the reading habit scheme. The use of DLI-based financing for the portion of IDA credit is notexpected to affect procurement arrangements in the project. For procurement of goods, the implementingagency is expected to use the e-procurement system, developed and managed by Bangladesh CentralProcurement Technical Unit (CPTU). Annex 7 provides detailed procurement arrangements.

27.

FM: FM arrangements would follow the current mechanism for the transaction-based credit portion.Transaction-based portion of the AF credit will flow through two separate Designated Accounts (DAs): DA-Awill be managed by the SEQAEP Unit (operated by Project Director) and will be used to finance activitiesunder components 1 through 3 (except for component 1.4). A separate DA-B will be managed by DG, DSHEto meet the input based expenditures of component 4 and sub-component 1.4 of the project (to achieve theDLIs). For DLI-based portion of the credit, IDA will disburse the value of the DLI(s) to the Government

treasury once one or more DLIs are achieved. Disbursement under DLI based financing will be made on the basis of reimbursement of eligible expenditures not less than the value of DLIs. Disbursement for DLIsattained for any year including such disbursements in the previous years will not exceed the total eligibleexpenditures on a cumulative basis. Detailed FM arrangements for both the transaction-based and DLI-basedcomponents are in Annex 6.

5 Currently, the cutoff is 50th percentile of income distribution and coverage is about 40% of enrolments. The proposed reduction of coverage inthe AF is to align with the current non-SEQAEP stipends programs (which cover only 30% of girls and 10% of boys, effective coverage of about20% of all) and in view of sustainability after the harmonization of the stipend schemes in 2018.


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8

28.

Safeguards: Since there will be no new safeguards triggers raised, existing legal covenants willcontinue to apply. The Environmental Management Framework (EMF) and the Social ManagementFramework (SMF) have been updated to reflect expansion into new upazilas and disclosed through appropriatechannels. Annex 8 elaborates on the safeguards arrangements in the AF project.

29.

Social safeguards: In accordance with OP 4.10 Indigenous People and the SMF, the AF project will

continue to include all tribal students, regardless of poverty status, under the targeted PMT stipend scheme.The PMT MIS would continue to maintain database on tribal students’ enrolment, retention and educationachievement and periodically provide summary analysis. Similarly, the project extends stipend support to alldisabled students. In terms of gender, the AF project would introduce grants to schools to incentivize ParentTeacher Associations (PTAs) to carry out community campaigns against girls eve teasing and encourage safemovement of girls between homes and schools. Since the AF project extends to new upazilas, the educationawareness and community mobilization sub-component will also focus on the social safeguards aspects.

30.

The project does not trigger OP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement since there is no requirement for privateland acquisition, displacement of people from public or private lands or adverse impact on livelihoods.Construction activities, installation of tube-wells and latrines are carried out strictly within school premises.

31.

Environmental safeguards: As in the original project, operational policy OP/BP 4.01 will continue to be triggered and the current Environmental category B will remain the same under the AF. The AF project’s“improving school facilities” sub-component will provide safe drinking water (tube-wells, shallow tube-wellsand other alternative sources) and sanitation facilities (twin latrines for boys and girls with running waterfacilities) to targeted schools based on agreed guidelines and provisions in the EMF. On a pilot basis, theactivities will include WASH block with modern amenities to one school in each of the newly selected upazila(school selected based on needs). Activities would also include testing of existing and new project school tube-wells for arsenic, and manganese contamination, bacteriological tests for alternative sources of water anddistribution of awareness and communication materials. Beneficiary institutions will be selected on need-basisand DPHE will provide technical services for safe water testing of tube-wells and other activities. The EMFguidelines will ensure that construction and works for water and sanitation facilities be carried out followingcommunity participation procedures. The pilot WASH block will be constructed under direct supervision of

DPHE. The EMF will be part of the annually renewable cooperation agreement between the project and each beneficiary school.

D. Risks:

Risk Rating Summary Table

Stakeholder Risk Low Implementing Agency Risk

- Capacity Substantial

- Governance Substantial

Project Risks

-

Design Moderate

- Social & Environment Moderate

-

Program and Donor Moderate

- Delivery Monitoring andSustainability

Moderate

Overall Implementation Risk Moderate

32.

Risks associated with the AF project are not expected to change in any significant manner compared tothose under the current project. Given the prevailing political situation, country risk remains substantial.


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9

Despite the implementation agency capacity issues, project implementation risk is moderate in view of projectdesign and implementation arrangements with TA support agencies that make the implementation risk asmoderate and manageable.

33.

PMT-based stipends scheme is the largest component in terms of project financing. To minimize the potential inclusion (when non-poor are incorrectly included) and exclusion errors (when poor are incorrectly

excluded), the PMT selection process combines household visit based validation exercise immediately afterreceiving the applications at the field level, and allowing an appeals mechanism for those who may have beenincorrectly excluded. The project also has a provision to carry out education awareness on the eligibilitycriteria (poverty and educational) and to mobilize the community including the SMCs and PTAs to ensure thatstipend recipients are in fact from economically poor households and also complying with the educationalcriteria for continued eligibility. School grants (for various activities) constitute the next largest financingcategory in the project. The project design includes appropriate measures to ensure that the selection criteria aswell as the compliance criteria (on funds utilization) are strictly followed. An important instrument to ensurethis is the award confirmation form (for both stipends and grants) that is processed using information sent fromschools, verified by upazila education officials, and monitored by independent surveyors.

34.

FM risk is substantial given the project design which delivers stipends and grants to a large number of

students and schools. Procurement risk is also substantial given that the implementing agency has shortage ofskilled procurement staff and the project is not immune to systemic issues affecting procurement efficiencyand performance. SEQAEP AF is expected to address FM issues with placement of a full-time FMS specialist,trained accounts officers, disbursement cell at Agrani Bank, disbursement of funds through the Bankingsystem including the use of cash card that enables immediate reconciliation of project funds, requirements forreconciliation reports from the bank branches, use of compliance monitoring including ICT-based schemes andaudits (FAPAD, forensic, and social audits at the school/community level). Procurement risk would bemanaged through deployment of qualified procurement consultant to represent all procurement committees;training of procurement officers and project staff; prior and post-reviews of procurement contracts by the Bankteam; monitoring by the World Bank team on the accountability of procurement staff and consultants vis-à-vis project director and MEW director; use of e-procurement for goods; and disclosure of all procurementtransactions on project website (see Annex 9 on ORAF, new to the AF project, for details).

35.

The AF introduces a Governance and Accountability Action Plan (GAAP) to address keygovernance and accountability risks that have been identified at the project level for which a number ofmitigation measures have been proposed. The overall responsibility for the GAAP implementation will restwith the DSHE, SEQAEP Unit and MEW and the GAAP will be monitored regularly against agreed actions asreflected in the project progress reports and semi-annual World Bank mission aide memoires. (Annex 10 forGAAP).


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10

Annex 1: Results Framework and Monitoring

A. Results Framework

Revisions to the Results Framework Comments/

Rationale for Change

PDO

Current (PAD) Proposed

To improve the quality of secondary education, systematicallymonitor learning outcomes, and to increase access and equity in

project upazilas

No change -

PDO indicators


change*

1. Completion rate in grade 10 (%) in project upazilas

(b) Proportion of 16-20 year-old primary completers who havecompleted grade 10(b) Percent of G6 entrants who have passed SSC exam

Continued Increased target to reflect additional financing

2. Number of students appearing in SSC (‘000) in project areas (a) Total students(b) Poor


3. SSC pass rate (%) in project areas(a) Poor(b) Non-Poor

Removed asKPI, butretained asintermediateindicator

Removed as KPI because SSC examinations and resultsfluctuate across time and 8 different boards and do notmeasure the competency-based learning levels. It ishowever tracked as IO

4. Monitor learning levels in secondary schools (in Bangla, Mathsand English)

Continued Adjusted target to reflect additional financing

5. Gender parity (male-female) in enrollment in grades 6 to 10increases in project upazilas


6. Percentage share of poor children in total enrolment in secondaryschools (%) in project areas


7. Total number of direct project beneficiary students: (a) totalnumber, (b) share of female (%)

New Newly added as per core indicator requirement

Intermediate Results indicators


change*

1. Number of poor students receiving SSC pass award ('000) Continued Increased target to reflect additional financing

2. Number of institutions receiving SSC institution award Continued Increased target to reflect additional financing

3. Number of additional classes in mathematics, English & Science('000)


4. Number of student members of reading habit program ('000) Continued Increased target to reflect additional financing

5. SSC pass rate in project upazilas New Was KPI under the ongoing project, now IO under AF

6. Number of eligible poor girls receiving stipend ('000) Continued Increased target to reflect additional financing

7. Number of eligible poor boys receiving stipend ('000) Continued Increased target to reflect additional financing

8. % of schools with safe drinking water in project upazilas Continued Adjusted target to reflect additional financing

9. % of schools with separate latrines for boys and girls in project

upazilas


10. Proportion of project schools with functional PTA Continued Adjusted target to reflect additional financing

11. Implementation progress of quality, access, and capacity building components are regularly disseminated



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11

B. REVISED PROJECT RESULTS FRAMEWORK

Project Development Objective (PDO): To improve the quali ty of secondary education , systematical ly moni tor l earni ng outcomes, and to in crease access and equity i n pr oject upaz

PDO Level Results Indicators

C o r e

UOM

Baseline

Original

Project

Start

(2008)

Progress

To Date

(2012)

Cumulative Target Values

Freque

ncy

Data

Source/

Methodolog

y

Respon

sibility

for

Data

Collecti

on

Comments20136 2014 2015 2016 2017

Completion rate in grade 10 (%) in

oject upazilas

Proportion of 16-20 year-oldimary completers who havempleted grade 10) Percent of G6 entrants who havessed SSC exam

%20

28

28(2011)

46

27

38

-

47

33

48

-

49

-

50

Household

surveyyears

2005 HIES2010 HIES2015 HIES

BBS;MEW

(a) MTR: Targetfrequency revised;

consistency of sourintroduced(b) MTR: New ind

Number of students appearing in

C (‘000) in project areas Total students

) Poor

Num187

-29297

22070

300102

380140

470150

485160

AnnualSSC Exam

Result

SEQAE

PU fromBISE

MTR: New indicatAF: Definition of revised according tPMT cut-off

Monitor learning levels in secondaryhools (in Bangla, Maths and English)

Process - G8 G6 & 8G6 & G8 National

G6 & G8 National

Twice2014-17

Sample MEW

MTR: Bangla inclu

Year of assessmenrevisedAF: National sampstarting 2015

Gender parity (male-female) inrollment in grades 6 to 10 increases

project upazilas

Num 0.82 0.87 0.92 0.88 0.89 0.90 0.91 AnnualBANBEIS

Annual

Census

BANBE

IS

MTR: No changeAF: Target to bereadjusted based on

progress and additinew upazilas

Percentage share of poor children inal enrolment in secondary schools

%) in project areas % 30

36

(2011)39 - 39 - -

Household

surveyyears

2005 HIES2010 HIES

2012 EHS2015 HIES

MEW

MTR: Target frequrevised; source has

clarifiedAF: Non change

Total number of direct project

neficiary students total number (‘000)

) share of female (%)

Num%

-2,20054%

2,22454%

2,28854%

4,03054%

4,15054%

4,24253%

AnnualBANBEIS

AnnualCensus

BANBEIS

AF: Introduced as indicator requirem

6 AF covers from 2014-2017. Targets for 2013 for all indicators were set by the original PAD and/or updated at MTR in 2011, and they are kept here for indicative purpose. KPI3 (SSC pass rates) is removed as KPIand is now tracked as IO.


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12

Intermediate Results and Indicators

Intermediate Results Indicators

C o r e

Unit of

Measure

ment

Baseline

Original

Project

Start

(2008)

Progress

To Date

(2012)

Target Values

Frequen

cy

Data

Source/

Methodolo

gy

Responsi

bility for

Data

Collectio

n

Comments2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

termediate Result 1: To (a) increase education quality through the provision of performance achievement awards to students, teachers and institut ions; (b) improve student performance in English Language anathematics; (c) establish a program to develop the reading habit in students; and (d) measure systematically learning levels by administering internationally comparable and national curriculum-based numeracy aeracy testing, that raise awareness of policy makers and stakeholders and help them adjust policies and interventions accordingly.

Number of poor students receivingC pass award ('000)

Num - 55 35 57 77 101 105 YearlySchoolforms

SEQAEPUnit

MTR: No change AF: target numberincreased due to adupazilas

Number of institutions receiving SSCtitution award


SEQAEPUnit

MTR: Targets updaAF: Institution awanationalized

Number of additional classes inathematics, English & Science ('000)


SEQAEPUnit

MTR: No change,AF: AC in additionupazilas and sciencsubject added

Number of student members ofading habit program ('000)


SEQAEPUnit

MTR: Updated ,AF: target increaseto additional upazil

SSC pass rate in project areas % 55 89 AF: New IO

termediate Result 2: To increase access and retention of poor girls and boys; ensure their completion of secondary schooling through provision of stipends and tuition based on pro-poor targeting and educationteria; and improve school environmental conditions by selectively providing water and sanitation facilities.

Number of eligible poor girls receivingpend ('000)

Num - 517 325 525 575 640 650 Half

yearly

PMT &schoolforms

PMTA,SEQAEP

unit

MTR: Targets are rAF: PMT cut-off re

Number of eligible poor boysceiving stipend ('000)

Num - 418 288 410 475 530 550 Half

yearly

PMT &school

forms

PMTA,SEQAEP

unit

MTR: Targets are rAF: PMT cut-off re

% of schools with safe drinking waterproject upazilas

% - 93% 95% 95% 95% 96% 96% Annual Annualcensus

Banbeis

% of schools with separate latrines forys and girls in project upazilas

% - 96% 98% 98% 98% 99% 99% Annual Annualcensus

BanbeisModified to measuschools; targets to b

termediate Result 3: To (a) strengthen the existing structure for managing and implementing the proposed project; (b) develop and strengthen the capacity to implement programs aimed at increasing educationaality, and to deliver financial support to targeted beneficiaries effectively; (c) strengthen accountability at school and upazila level; and (d) raise education awareness amongst stakeholders with focus on educatioality, targeting, and accountability.

. Proportion of project schools withnctional PTA

% - N/A 20 25 30 40 50 YearlyCompliance

survey MEW MTR: New indicat

termediate Result 4: To (a) systematically document all project input, process, output, and outcomes; and (b) link project interventions with outcomes.

. Implementation Progress of quality,cess, and capacity buildingmponents are regularly disseminated

Process - Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Annual MEW,

Partners,SEQAEP

MEWMTR: New indicat


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C. Arrangement for Monitoring and Evaluation

1. Given the data-intensive design and the diverse nature of the project components, the results monitoringarrangement aims to facilitate a systematic and integrated data collection and utilization system. There are fivemajor agencies in this arrangement: (i) SEQAEP unit; (ii) PMT Administrator (LGED); (iii) external monitoringagency (BANBEIS); (iv) Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of DSHE (MEW); and (v) independent impactevaluation survey firm and learning assessment agency. Yet, information from different sources were not

consolidated and analyzed for reliability checks, utilization and timely decision-making. Mid-Term Review (MTR)mission pointed out the absence of an integrated system of data management and analysis, and streamlined thevarious monitoring activities and reorganized the responsibilities as in the following Table.

Table: Data collection, processing, and monitoring scheduleAdministrative data Verification data

No Data

Area

Info. Who Output Use of data Info. Who Output Use of data

1 PMT PMTregistration

PMTwelfare

PMTA PMTannual

report

PMTadministration

PMTvalidation

MEWandBANBEIS

PMT

validation

report

Correcting PMT procedures for better targeting

February - (i) July,

(ii) Dec.

April - June Aug-Sept

2 PMTstudentqualification

ACF PMTA ACFreport

Awarding 20% checkinstitutionsurvey

MEWandBANBEIS

20% of

school

verification

report

-Compliancecheck- Disbursementcheck-To take correctivemeasures

May - October

3 Incentives,Additional class,Reading habit, ISF,SMC and PTAGrants, USEO

Non-PMTschoolgrants

SEQAEPUnit andBANBEISthroughUSEO

- Administration of thecomponent

June - - Jul.-Aug. - October -

4 SSC SSC Info. SEQAEPUnit

- Awarding - - - -

May-Jun. Jun.-July - Aug. - - - -

5 School levelinformation

Schoolinfo. Infra,enrolment

SEQAEPUnitthroughUSEO

- Administration

School info.Infra,enrolment

BANBEIS

BANBEISAnnual

Census

report

Progress review,yearly plan

Jan.-Feb. March - - June - November Jan.

6 Overall monitoringof the project

Consolidation of allinfo.

MEW Semi-annual

monitori

ng

report

Monitoring project

- - - -

(i) Jan.,(ii) July

2.

For the Additional Financing (AF) period, a further enhanced mechanism is going to be implemented forovercoming remaining difficulties in effective monitoring, which is partly due to heavy reliance on consultantswhich jeopardized the data collection and processing when consultants are not available.

3. Monitoring and Evaluation Wing (MEW) will serve as the focal agency for overall supervision of M&Eactivities so as to strengthen the capacity of DSHE to monitor, review and evaluate the project regularly; andcoordinate the dissemination of national assessment of learning achievement, and maintain a repository ofintegrated databases, relevant reports and studies. MEW will be brought under revenue budget by 2017 and AFwill provide incentive in the form of results-based disbursement linked to achievement of MEW transfer to revenue budget.

4.

BANBEIS will establish the Management Information System (MIS) cell for undertaking data processing.BANBEIS, the MOE’s statistical agency that has a pool of technical staff and reliable IT infrastructure in theiroffice, will be taking a role for collecting and processing data associated with non-PMT related activities, including


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signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The BANBEIS would also be a partner agency for the MEWin implementing the field work of these surveys, namely: (a) PMT validation survey, (b) compliance verificationsurvey, and (c) impact evaluation surveys.

5. The design of surveys and monitoring activities are also modified for the AF period.

6. The PMT Validation survey: PMT validation survey would be carried in conjunction with the PMT boothoperations (administered by PMTA) and provide immediate correction on any false reporting by the applicants.

Enumerators deployed by BANBEIS will go to all the booths and randomly verify applications by conductinghousehold visits. This mechanism is expected to be implemented from 2014 booth operation.

7. The compliance verification survey: Institutional compliance monitoring survey will be carried out for allinstitutions every year in order to verify that beneficiary schools are indeed complying with agreed projectguidelines. The use of ICT, such as smart-phones, would be introduced for compliance monitoring. The results ofthe compliance monitoring would be provided to the project unit and USEOs both for implementation support aswell as necessary corrective actions. DSHE will sign an MOU with BANBEIS specifying the deliverables andservice charges.

Impact Evaluation Strategy

8. Building on the success of the earlier interventions and to address the remaining challenges, theGovernment of Bangladesh launched Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) in2008, with the support of IDA. The project, totaling US$155, million has been implemented in 122 Upazilas ofBangladesh covering about 6,700 institutions. The overall objective of the SEQAEP is to improve quality ofeducation and monitor learning outcomes systematically, and to increase access and equity in project upazilas. Inresponse to successful implementation of the project, SEQAEP is going to be extended with additional US$265million until 2017.

9. To evaluate the impact of introduced PMT stipends in 2008, the SEQAEP had an embedded impactevaluation component in its design. First two rounds of detailed household and school surveys were carried out in

2008 (baseline) and 2009 (first follow-up). The first follow-up survey has discovered positive impact of the PMTstipends on retention of the students while no impact on the learning outcomes within one year of introducing thestipend program. The first two rounds of surveys did not assess the impact of the quality interventions becausesuch interventions started slightly later than the covered period.

10. In order to evaluate the medium-term impact of the stipends program and the quality interventions, a fewsets of impact evaluation surveys will be carried out during the AF period. Taking into consideration the earliersurveys, three separate sets of impact evaluation are proposed, including: (i) evaluation of the PMT stipends program, based on the earlier surveys, and (ii) evaluation of the Additional Classes (AC) program in new projectareas, and (iii) evaluation of Developing Reading Habits program in new project areas. For the evaluation of PMTstipends, one follow-up survey in old SEQAEP upazilas will be expected in 2014. For AC and DRH, respectivelytwo rounds of survey, including baseline and follow-up, will be expected in 2013 and 2015 in new project upazilas.

IE surveys for AC and DRH will be carried out in conjunction with implementation arrangements on LearningAssessment sub-component (1.4) in terms of test items, field level test administration, data processing and dataanalysis.

Table 1: Impact Evaluation plans

Survey Years

Activities to beevaluated

Treatmentupazilas

Outcome variablesBaseline

yearFirst

follow-upsurvey

Secondfollow-up

survey

Evaluation 1: PMTStipends

2008 2009 2014 PMT stipends Old SEQAEPUpazilas

Enrollment,Learning outcomes(English, Math)

Evaluation 2: AC 2014 2016 - AC - English and

Math

New SEQAEP

Upazilas

Learning outcomes

(English, Math)

Evaluation 3: DRH 2014 2016 - Developing ReadingH bit

New SEQAEPU il

Learning outcomes(B l E li h)


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Evaluation 1: PMT stipends program

11. Background: The Evaluation 1 aims to evaluate the impact of the newly introduced intervention, the PMTstipend program. The PMT poverty-targeted stipends component was implemented in a phased manner. Of thetotal 122 project upazilas, 61 randomly chosen upazilas introduced the scheme during the first year of the projectfor cohort entering January 2009, the remaining 61 upazilas from the second year. The randomized phased-inapproach, coupled with baseline and follow-up household and school level surveys, allows the evaluation to

establish the causal impact of SEQAEP stipends on secondary school enrolment and learning outcomes. The baseline survey was carried out in 2008 and the follow-up survey in 2009. The household sample surveyinterviewed 2,400 households, 99 percent of whom were re-interviewed in the follow-up. In addition, theevaluation survey included school census covering more than 1,550 schools, detailed survey covering about 370secondary schools, and learning achievement tests for some grade 6 & 8 students. SEQAEP Interim ImpactEvaluation Report 2012 analyzed the baseline and follow-up survey data and the findings suggests that theSEQAEP stipends scheme had a significant causal impact on secondary school enrolment and no differentialimpact on test scores.

12. Scope of Work during the Additional Financing period : During the Additional Financing period (2014-2017), one follow-up round of the impact evaluation survey is expected. The objective of the second follow-upsurvey is to assess medium-term impact of the PMT stipends on a range of schooling outcomes, includingenrolment, attendance, grade progression, transition to higher levels of education and learning levels. This follow-up round will survey households, students and schools in the same communities/villages from the baseline and firstfollow up round.

Evaluation 2: Additional Classes program

13. Background: The Evaluation 2 aims to evaluate the impact of the Additional Classes sub-component. Thiscomponent aims to: (a) improve classroom teaching-learning processes in English Language (EL), Mathematics(Math), and Science in targeted project institutions; and (b) assist targeted students in improving their performancein respective subjects. The objective is to improve learning levels of students in these three subjects that areidentified as the most problematic subjects for secondary school students in the country. This sub-component has

been refined based on lessons learned from two rounds of pilot schemes on support of EL and Math subjects. As ofJuly 2013, approximately 1,000 Resource Teachers (RTs) have been contracted in EL and Math subjects and providing AC in 400 institutions in 55 upazilas. The impact evaluation will be focused on the 200 institutions thatstart receiving interventions in 2015.

14. Scope of Work during the Additional Financing period : During the Additional Financing period (2014-2017), two round of the impact evaluation surveys, including the baseline in 2014 and the following in 2016 areexpected. The objective of this evaluation is to assess impact of AC on learning outcomes of students, especially inEnglish and Math. The impact evaluation survey will include households, students and schools in targetcommunities/villages. MEW will carry this IE survey with support from BANBEIS and in conjunction with theLearning assessment field level test administration.

15.

Impact of AC will be rigorously evaluated by using the Regression Discontinuity (RD) design.Intervention schools are selected on the basis of low academic performance as measured by SSC examination,which will be used as an RD index. Sampling will take place around the cut-off score, including treatmentinstitutions that fall below the cut off and control institutions that stand just above the cut-off score. Institutions areselected first by upazila level SSC score and then school level SSC score. Thus, the proposed cut-off score would be subject to the upazila, resulting the design a fuzzy RD. Instruments to be used for assessing learning outcomeswill be English and Mathematics tests developed from LASI to monitor learning outcomes of grades 6-10 students.For an accurate assessment of the AC impact, the treatment and control schools should not receive the DRH program for at least 2 years although the schools can receive PMT stipends and other award programs.

Evaluation 3: Developing Reading Habits (DRH) program

16. Background: The Evaluation 3 aims to evaluate the impact of the Developing Reading Habits (DRH)program This activity helps students develop the reading habit with focus on Bangla and English using a


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has so far supported the DRH program in all SEQAEP institutions and 670,000 readers and will continue to benefitthese institutions under AF project.

17. Scope of Work during the Additional Financing period : During the Additional Financing period (2014-2017), two round of the impact evaluation surveys, including the baseline in 2014 and the following in 2016 areexpected. The objective of this evaluation is to assess impact of DRH on learning outcomes of students, especiallyin Bangla and English. The impact evaluation survey will include households, students and schools in targetcommunities/villages. MEW will carry this IE survey with support from BANBEIS and in conjunction with the

Learning assessment field level test administration.

18. Impact of DRH will be rigorously evaluated by using the Randomized Control Trial (RCT) design.Intervention schools are randomly assigned to treatment and control institutions. Because the DRH program is to be rolled out to all institutions in the project upazilas, the DRH program will be implemented in phased-inapproach. Control institutions will not receive the DRH program for 2 years in order accurately assess the impactof the DRH program while they can receive PMT stipends and other award programs. AC program will not beoverlapped in these DRH impact evaluation institutions. The students learning outcomes will be assessed by usinginstruments based on LASI Bangla and English module. For estimating externalities in other subjects, Math is alsotested.


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these three subjects that are identified as the most problematic subjects in terms of students’ learning achievementin secondary education in the country. This sub-component has been refined based on lessons learned from theexisting Additional Class (AC) intervention. The AC scheme would be evaluated further for replicability andsustainability under Sector Wide Approach program (SWAp) from 2018.

4. This sub-component finances (a) provision of additional class grants to project educational institutions forresource teachers and additional class teachers of English language, sciences and mathematics; (b) organization ofadditional classes in Project Educational Institutions before/after regular classes or during holidays; and (c)

provision of management, technical and supervisory services associated with the additional class scheme in saidinstitutions.

5. The project will support provision of EL and Math resource teachers (RTs) in the current modality inAY2014 and EL, Math and Science AC teachers through a refined modality to be fully implemented fromAY2015. Beneficiary institutions under this sub-component are selected in three steps: (a) selection of targeted ACupazilas from the pool of AF project upazilas (215) based on poverty criteria; (b) identification of inaccessibility inthese upazilas; and (c) selection of low performing institutions on SSC examination results for the past three years.Currently, additional support in EL and Math subjects is implemented in 400 institutions in 55 upazilas. Thenumber of target institutions will be gradually increased based on the agreed selection criteria7 from 400 in 2014 to2,000 by 2017. AC teachers (ACT) will be enlisted by the project based on agreed qualification criteria. Part-timeteachers who are already recruited and are serving in the selected institutions will get priority as ACTs. Theenlisted ACTs will be contracted by SMCs/MMCs and be responsible to take regular subject classes in schoolswhere there is no subject teacher and take additional classes before or after school hours.

6. Remuneration for ACTs will be: (i) base regular teacher salary; (ii) AC incentive (5,000 taka per month)for taking 10 additional classes per month; and (iii) remote upazila incentive (2,000 taka). The remunerationscheme and contractual arrangements have been designed in view of possible regularization of ACTs which wouldrequire following the government regulations including NTRCA accreditation, into the MOE system at project end.Disbursement of funds to RTs and ACTs will be made through Agrani Bank based on ACF forms prepared usingdata provided and certified by the institutions. SMS tracking monitoring system is being introduced to monitor ACimplementation. MIS Cell will be responsible for ACF preparation.

7.

Given that the current AC modality is too labor intensive and requires a lot of resources, ACimplementation arrangements will be refined with TA support of implementing partner(s). TA/consulting firmswill support development of teaching-learning materials and training modules, training of ACTs, supervision, on-site support to beneficiary institutions, and quality control of ACTs selection process. Implementing partners will be deployed by the project for this purpose. The implementation will follow agreed procedures and guidelines inthe updated AC operational manual.

Sub-Component 1.3: Developing the Reading Habit8. The objective of the sub-component is to help students develop the reading habit, with focus on Banglaand English, using a participatory approach through establishment of library systems and comprehensive reading programs. The AF project will support the DRH program in all institutions (6700) in existing 125 upazilas and all5,000 institutions in the new 90 upazilas. One of the main expected outcomes of DRH is improvement in reading

skills.

9. The sub-component finances (a) setting up of a reading program at classroom levels for grades 6 to 10, in project educational institutions; (b) the acquisition of age- and ability-appropriate books in Bangla and English,including books for awards to high performing student readers; (c) provision of grants to institutions to financeincentive for librarian and teacher-coordinators to maintain the institution’s library and reading program; and (d)the management, technical and supervisory services associated with the developing reading habit schemesincluding annual students reading tests. BSK will continue as service agency. Each institution is expected to have100 student readers (on average 20 in each grade). The project will have a four-year framework contract withdistributors/publishers which will deliver books to BSK. Packaging and delivery of books to institutions is BSK’sresponsibility. Payment to distributors will be conditional on book delivery confirmation from BSK and BSKservice fees will be disbursed upon verification of book delivery to institutions. BSK service contract will be

amended for changed scope of work.


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Sub-component 1.4: Assessment of Education Quality10. This sub-component aims to systematically measure the quality of learning in Bangla, English andMathematics by administering competency-based learning assessment on a sample basis. The results of theseindependent assessments will be fed back to policymakers and stakeholders to raise their awareness about thequality of education, and adjust quality-related policies and interventions accordingly. The long-term vision is to build the appropriate capacity to mainstream the assessment system. The sub-component finances: (a) thedevelopment of testing instruments for Bangla, English and Mathematics; (b) the administration of suchinstruments, and processing and analysis of data; and (c) dissemination/feedback to stakeholders at all levels.

MEW will be the focal agency to carry out this activity with technical assistance from international and nationalspecialized agencies. One round of assessment has been completed in SEQAEP institutions and another round isexpected to be carried out in 2013. AF will finance at least two additional round of assessment, with nationallyrepresentative samples (i.e. Covering SEQAEP as well as non-SEQAEP areas). Learning assessment is one of theDLIs in the AF project (details are in Table 3 in this annex).

Component 2 – Improving Equity and Access (Original: US$ 106.7 million, AF: US$ 179.6 million)

11. The objective of this component is to increase access and retention of poor girls and boys; ensure theircompletion of secondary schooling through provision of stipends and tuition based on pro-poor targeting andeducational criteria; and improve school environmental conditions by selectively providing water and sanitationfacilities.

Sub-component 2.1: PMT-based Stipends and Tuition to the Poor12. This sub-component aims to increase access and retention of poor girls and boys, based on pro-poortargeting and educational criteria. This sub-component finances: (a) provision of stipends to girls and boys from poor households in project institutions based on Proxy-Means Testing (PMT)-based pro-poor targeting; (b) provision of tuition grant to eligible educational institutions on behalf of the PMT stipend recipient students in (a)above; (c) provision of non-consulting services to administer the PMT scheme; and (d) provision of operating costsrelated to the disbursing bank’s service charges for PMT-based stipends. The AF project will support the PMTstipends and tuition program in current 125 project upazilas from second semester of AY2013 and in 90 newupazilas from AY2015.

13.

All students from households in the bottom 4 deciles of welfare distribution (as bottom 40 percent in percapita household’s consumption) would receive the stipend benefit. The stipend beneficiaries would includestudents in grades 6-10 during the AF project period, which covers 9 semesters (second semester of 2013 and eightsemesters of four academic years 2014-2017). In view of GoB’s interest in mainstr eaming the PMT schemenationally under a single harmonized stipend program, the stipends rates will remain at the current level. PMTStipends will be provided to eligible boys and girls twice a year at the stipulated rates given in Table 1 below.

Table 1 – Stipend Allowance Rates for PMT-based Stipends Program (in Taka)

Grade

Monthly

Stipend

SSC Exam Fees

(annual)

First

Semester

Second

Semester

6 100 600 600

7 125 750 750

8 160 960 9609 180 1,080 1,080

10 200 750 1,200 1,950

14. Repeat Beneficiaries: Current PMT beneficiaries in 125 upazilas will continue to receive stipends upon afull and independent validation of the fulfillment of education compliance criteria: (a) maintaining 75 percentaverage attendance; (b) successful promotion to next grade; and (c) remaining unmarried till completion ofsecondary school (grade 10).

15. New Beneficiaries: New PMT beneficiary students will be selected following criteria (identification of poor boys and girls using updated PMT formula) and procedures (invitation of PMT applications, PMT boothoperations to collect filled applications, sample validation through household visit surveys, processing of

application data, publication of draft beneficiary list, enrolment confirmation, processing of appeals, and AwardConfirmation Form (ACF) preparation). The new PMT applications in 125 current upazilas (into grade 6 fromAY2014) and 90 new upazilas (in all grades from AY2015) will be processed using the updated PMT formula to


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ensure that all poor eligible children are selected for PMT stipends (details on PMT scheme is in Annex 12).Details will be elaborated in the revised PMT Stipends Operations Manual.

16. ACF for each academic semester is prepared based on compliance information provided by institutions andcertified by USEOs. PMT Stipend will be disbursed via the banking system, including the use of cash card. USEOswill be accountable in ensuring that compliance information from institution is verified and forwarded to SEQAEPUnit/PMTA within scheduled date and USEO grant will be linked to these outputs.

17.

Tuition: Tuition support (stipulated rates given in Table 2) will be provided directly to eligible educationalinstitutions on behalf of all PMT stipend students. During the project period (four academic years of 2014-2017), itis estimated that more than 5 million student-years of secondary education would benefit from tuition support.ACF for tuition will be linked to ACF for PMT stipends.

Table 2 – Tuition Subsidy for PMT-based Stipends Program (in Taka)

Grade

Monthly

Tuition

First Semester Second Semester

6 25 150 150

7 25 150 150

8 25 150 150

9 30 180 180

10 30 180 180

18. Implementation Arrangement: The services of LGED as PMT Administrator will continue until projectends. PMTA will be responsible for (a) selection of PMT stipend and tuition beneficiaries, (b) ACF preparation forPMT stipend and tuition beneficiaries, and (c) maintenance of integrated database. For PMT stipends and tuition benefits each eligible institution (current or new) will be required to enter into an annually renewable CooperationAgreement (after physical verification) specifying their commitment to comply with project rules and regulations.

Sub-component 2.2: General Stipends and Tuition Program19. This program was phased out in 2010 academic year, after the PMT based stipend and tuition program wasintroduced in 125 project Upazilas. Under the AF, this sub-component finances the Government’s provision ofongoing general stipends program in new 90 upazilas in AY2014; the PMT-based scheme will be implemented inall 215 project upazilas from AY2015.

Sub-component 2.3: Improving School Facilities 20. This sub-component is intended to attract and retain girls and boys in schools, through the provision (usingcommunity participation) of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities to selective schools based on needsassessment. The provision of improved school facilities is likely to lead to better health outcomes for children andincrease their aptitude to learn. This sub-component finances: (a) provision school facilities grants to projectinstitutions for (i) acquisition of safe drinking and twin latrine facilities, and (ii) construction of twin latrines for boys and girls with running water facilities; (b) the provision of technical advisory services for testing of existingand new project institutions’ tube-wells for arsenic, salinity and manganese contamination; and (c) provision offield test kits for testing activities in (b) above. Beneficiary institutions for the sub-component will be selected on

need-basis. DPHE will provide services for safe water testing of tube-wells including 5% sample laboratory testingand other technical services such as carrying out awareness programs on school health and sanitation and advisoryservices on construction and works for water (tube-wells) and sanitation facilities which will be carried out byschool management committees using community participation procedures as per agreed project guidelines.

Component 3 – Institutional Capacity Strengthening (Original: US$ 9.9 million, AF: US$ 21.4 million)

21. The objectives of this component are to: (a) strengthen the existing structure for managing andimplementing the proposed project; (b) develop and strengthen the capacity to implement programs aimed atincreasing educational quality and to deliver financial support to targeted beneficiaries effectively; (c) strengthenaccountability at school and Upazila level; and (d) raise education awareness amongst stakeholders with focus oneducation quality, targeting and accountability.

Sub-component 3.1: Project Management

22 In order to ensure smooth project implementation the project management structure will be strengthened


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the implementing agency. It will be assisted by two units: DSHE/SEQAEP Unit, led by a Project Director andDSHE/Monitoring and Evaluation Wing (MEW), led by a Director. Upazila Secondary Education Office (USEO)will serve as the focal agency at the field level under the supervision of Zonal Directors and District EducationOffices. MEW is described in Component 4 below. This sub-component finances: (a) technical advisory services,goods and logistics assistance to SEQAEP Unit to facilitate the carrying out of the different activities undercomponents 1, 2 and 3; and (b) operating costs to support implementation of same activities.

23. SEQAEP Unit: The objective of this Unit is to enable DSHE to establish a strong management capacity to

implement project activities. SEQAEP Unit’s main f unctions will be to plan, manage, implement and coordinate project activities. In addition, project management and implementation capacity will be augmented through the useof several government and private specialized partner agencies (for example, services in areas such as PMT, banking, reading habit program, additional support in EL and Math, Science, and data processing services etc.). As per original design, SEQAEP Unit will be staffed with a modest number of key technical, procurement, andfinancial management staff, and a number of long-term national consultants to provide technical andimplementation support. To enhance horizontal and vertical communication and coordination for smooth projectimplementation, the MTR recommended a revised project organogram to account for the provision of AdditionalProject Director (professor level), removal of deputy director positions, redeployment of existing positions andaddition of select critical positions. In view of the changed project scope and revised implementationarrangements, deployment of staff would be adjusted.

24.

Zonal Director, District Education Offices and Upazila Secondary Education Offices (USEOs): SEQAEPUnit, with support from DSHE, will mobilize field level officials including USEOs to facilitate field levelimplementation of project activities. To ensure that the field level tasks are implemented in a timely and effectivemanner, SEQAEP will provide grant support of Taka 50,000 annually to cover the operational expenses of USEOs based on the following results: (i) completion of PMT beneficiary selection scheme together with PMTA (firsttrimester payment); (ii) submission of verified institutional data forms for processing first semester stipends andschool grant (second trimester payments); and (iii) submission of verified institutional data forms for processingsecond semester stipends and school grants (third trimester). The USEO operating grant will be disbursed in threeinstallments according to the agreed guidelines in the Implementation Manual.

Sub-Component 3.2: Institutional Capacity Building

25.

The objective is to strengthen the capacity of MoE to provide services at central, district, upazila, andcommunity levels. Staff development will be an essential part of capacity-building, especially for a project that hasmany new and innovative initiatives that require careful monitoring for program learning. In addition, it is plannedthat staff capacity at the secondary Upazilas offices be strengthened mainly through focused training. This sub-component will finance (a) focused orientation and workshops, and (b) in-country and international training. In-country training will be implemented based on agreed plan and international training will be carried out onselective basis (with prior concurrence from IDA).

Sub-Component 3.3: School Management Accountability 26. The objective

Documents

Seqaep Af Project Paper - Negotiated