Algeria - Basic & Secondary Education Support Project

 ICRR 11111 Report Number : ICRR11111 ICR Review Operations Evaluation Department 1. Project Data: Date Posted : 02/05/2002 PROJ ID : P004954 Appraisal Actual Project Name : Basic & Secondary Project Costs 64 57.1 Education Support Project US$M ) (US$M) Country : Algeria Loan /Credit (US$M) Loan/ US$M ) 40 35 Sector (s): Board: ED - Primary Cofinancing education (46%), US$M ) (US$M) Secondary education (45%), Tertiary education (5%), Central government administration (4%) L/C Number : L3573 Board Approval 93 FY ) (FY) Partners involved : Closing Date 03/31/2001 03/31/2001 Prepared by : Reviewed by : Group Manager : Group : Helen Abadzi Roy Gilbert Alain A. Barbu OEDST 2. Project Objectives and Components a. Objectives The project was to support quality and efficiency improvements in basic and secondary education with replicable innovation and change at province (wilaya) level to: (a) assist the Ministry of National Education in improving its institutional capacity in assessing pupils' learning achievements and in measuring quality and efficiency in education by developing six groups of standard indicators; (b) support pedagogic research programs of the National Pedagogic Institute (IPN) through: (i) institutional strengthening of the IPN; (ii) pedagogic research on design, lay-out and evaluation of curricula and schoolbook texts; (iii) provision of about 5,000 new library books, research journals and periodicals in pedagogic research areas relevant to IPN; (c) improve supply and use of pedagogic materials in schools through: (i) provision of pedagogic materials to about 14,000 basic and secondary schools; (ii) improved provision and use of school science laboratory products in about 3,500 grade 7-12 schools and related technical equipment and staff training; and (iii) provision of spare parts, technical equipment, technical assistance, and staff training, and rehabilitation of maintenance facilities for improved maintenance services to schools. b. Components The project financed staff training and technical assistance, documentation, pedagogic materials and technical equipment. Components were: (a) design and introduction of a pilot system to assess learning achievement; (b) pedagogic research; and (c) improved provision and more efficient use of school materials. c. Comments on Project Cost, Financing and Dates The project was approved on 3/16/1993 and completed on schedule. The unused balance of US$5 million was cancelled in July 2000 at the request of the government. 3. Achievement of Relevant Objectives: The objectives were partly achieved . A pilot system was designed to assess learning achievement but it was not implemented. However, staff were trained and educational indicators were developed, thus improving the Ministry's capacity to assess learning achievements . Pedagogical research was carried out and disseminated, but its impact was modest, since inspectors were not trained in its applications . Textbooks and pedagogical materials were distributed to 14,000 primary and 250 secondary schools, exceeding expected targets . A maintenance study was delayed until the end of the project; thus, procurement, maintenance, and repair of school materials remained inefficient. Component (c) was downscaled during implementation; the storage unit was dropped and funds were used to rehabilitate 193 primary and 76 general schools whose facilities had been destroyed by acts of terrorism. 4. Significant Outcomes/Impacts: The government showed much commitment to the project despite the deteriorating economic and security conditions . Targets were met or exceeded for distribution of textbooks, laboratories, and other instructional materials to schools (see above). As a result of pedagogical research, several textbooks in science, language, and math were revised to make them more easily comprehensible by students . About 27 professionals received training abroad in management, information technology, and electronics . Thirty six experts in pedagogy were trained in curriculum and textbook design, and the training was passed on to the regional (wilaya) personnel. 5. Significant Shortcomings (including non-compliance with safeguard policies): Bank supervision was difficult; the project was supervised from Paris as well as from Tunisia, partly with the help of a local consultant. Field visits were rare and dangerous, due to the country's security situation . Task managers changed frequently, and the qualitative aspects of the project were not sufficiently supervised . About US$54 million of the loan proceeds were spent on goods, but it was not possible to verify that materials were distributed to schools, as government indicated. 6. Ratings : ICR OED Review Reason for Disagreement /Comments Outcome : Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Many planned activities occurred and some numerical targets were surpassed . However, the pilot system to assess learning achievement was not launched and improvements and reforms of CAMEMD (the center for procurement & maintenance of teaching materials ) were not achieved, limiting improvements in efficiency. This is not a downgrading of the project, since the ICR guidelines do not allow Bank staff to assign a moderately satisfactory rating . Institutional Dev .: Modest Modest Sustainability : Likely Non-evaluable The government commitment to the agreed upon reforms appears firm . However, due to the difficulty of carrying out extensive on-site supervision (see section 5), there is insufficient information in the ICR to fully evaluate project sustainability. This rating will be revisited at the time of OED's PAR (see below) Bank Performance : Satisfactory Satisfactory Project preparation, based on joint sector work with the country, was satisfactory; the project design took into account ongoing security problems. Bank supervision by headquarters staff was supplemented with visits by a local consultant (according to information provided by the region). On the other hand, high Bank staff turnover contributed to inadequate monitoring & analysis of assessment and pedagocic research activities. Borrower Perf .: Satisfactory Satisfactory Government showed commitment to the project objectives, reflected buy -in to the project objectives based on sector work prior to project effectiveness . Substantial activities were accomplished, despite low supervision from the Bank. Quality of ICR : Satisfactory NOTE: NOTE ICR rating values flagged with ' * ' don't comply with OP/BP 13.55, but are listed for completeness. 7. Lessons of Broad Applicability: 1. A project with realistic objectives, a simple design, and honed to the borrower's priorities is essential to ensuring project implementation during difficult political circumstances . 2. Adequate preparatory work prior to project start -up significantly contributed to the degree of achievement . 3. It is important to establish output, outcome, and impact indicators with baseline values and explicit targets to adequately monitor the degree of achivement of improvements in the quality and efficiency of the education system . 8. Assessment Recommended? Yes No Why? To validate the achievement of objectives, which is difficult to ascertain at this point because of the limited supervision by Bank staff, the inability to visit the field, and limited monitoring & performance indicators at the outset. 9. Comments on Quality of ICR: The ICR is generally satisfactory . More explanation and detail on outcomes would have been useful . However, it is possible that due to the limited supervision, available information on the project is also limited . Also, the ICR should have mentioned the field visits made by a local consultant (this information was later provided to OED ).