Mauritius - MU -Second Public Sector Performance DPL : P128140 - Implementation Status Results Report : Sequence 01

 The World Bank Report No: ISR12074 Implementation Status & Results Mauritius MU -Second Public Sector Performance DPL (P128140) Public Disclosure Copy Project Name: MU -Second Public Sector Performance DPL (P128140) Program Stage: Implementation Seq.No: 1 Status: ARCHIVED Archive Date: 28-Oct-2013 Country: Mauritius Approval FY: 2013 Product Line: IBRD/IDA Region: AFRICA Lending Instrument: Development Policy Lending Implementing Agency(ies): Key Dates Board Approval Date 27-Mar-2013 Original Closing Date 30-Jun-2014 Planned Mid Term Review Date Last Archived ISR Date Effectiveness Date 12-Jul-2013 Revised Closing Date 30-Jun-2014 Actual Mid Term Review Date Program Development Objectives Program Development Objective (from Program Document) The development objective of the DPL programmatic series is to support improvements in the performance of the public sector in Mauritius by assisting the government to implement the following three reform pillars: (i) strengthening services to support and empower the most vulnerable; (ii) streamlining trade regulations and processes; and (iii) improving human resource management in the civil service and the monitoring of SOE performance. Has the Program Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Program? Yes No Overall Ratings Previous Rating Current Rating Progress towards achievement of PDO Satisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Satisfactory Implementation Status Overview This is an initial ISR. The project became effective as of July 12, 2013. The loan was fully disbursed in September 2013. Public Disclosure Copy Implementation of the project continues at good pace across most components, pending to receive information on social integration about number of people with less than a secondary school certificate placed in Placement for Training. Also, reforms in the civil service progress at lower pace than envisaged, reflecting the complexity of developing a Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS), and the company selected to develop the HRMIS has been selected in September 2013. Consolidation of schemes of service continues in line with the operation both at the Ministry of Civil Service and Administrative Reform (MCSAR) and other sector ministries but overall achievement is not quantified. Overall, many indicators are not available as they are produced only end of year and will be reported in the next ISR, to take place in 6 months. A notable exception is the number of households registered in the Social Registry of Mauritius, which with 29,318 is well above original target of 13,000. A detail of the progress on each component follows: Social protection Page 1 of 5  The World Bank Report No: ISR12074 There are substantial new social protection programs using the Social Registry of Mauritius for identifying beneficiaries. The Ministry of Housing and Lands uses it for its HOUSING scheme (10,535 beneficiaries), the National Housing development Company, under the Ministry of Housing for casting of roof (233 beneficiaries); the National Empower Foundation under the Ministry of Social Integration, for its housing general and crèche programs (480 beneficiaries), and Ministry of Social Security, NS and RI (18,070 beneficiaries). Information from NEF has not yet been received. Public Disclosure Copy Reform of prevocational education The Ministry of Education and Human Resources (MOEHR) has rolled out the implementation of the reform of prevocational education adopted in 2012. This reform is expected to provide more flexibility in transitioning between programs and institutions and facilitate transition for a larger number to vocational education and/or the labor market. Key measures include a phasing out of the NTC Foundation year, and provision of 4 years of prevocational education, with a gradual integration of trade skills and entrepreneurial skills right from Year 1. This would enable students to be eligible to obtain access directly to the first year of vocational education of the Mauritius Institute for Training Development (MITD). The Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE) in consultation with the MITD has developed a new curriculum aligned on the New National Curriculum Framework – Secondary, based on 4 key domains of learning for the prevocational stream, namely: (1) Communication Skills, (2) Numeracy and Problem-Solving Skills, (3) Life Skills, (4) Livelihood and Trade Skills with ICT cross-cutting the different domains. The new curriculum for Year 1 and Year 2 was prepared by the MIE and is being implemented in all Pre Vocational schools since January 2012. The new curriculum for Year 3 is implemented jointly by the MOEHR and the MITD since January 2013. The Ministry plans on phasing out the NTC Foundation in 2014, to introduce the fourth year Pre Vocational Education and the first exams leading towards the Pre Vocational Certificate. New resource materials have been introduced along with a new pedagogy, shifting from the traditional subject teaching to domain teaching. Emphasis is laid on activity-based teaching and learning, and team–work. The implementation of the curriculum is being monitored by the Quality Assurance and Inspection Division of the MOEHR and two Prevocational Coordinators have been appointed to support this task. Streamlining existing regulations and systematically ensuring that the design of new regulations is conducive to business The specific reforms supported by the DPL series were (i) Cabinet approval of a Memorandum detailing the establishment of the Business Regulation Improvement Committee (BRIC), its composition, its mandate, its level of representation, and the structure of a related technical Secretariat and (ii) the Cabinet approval for elimination of permits issued by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection for six products to further facilitate trade in the country. Following the Cabinet approval, the Business Regulation Improvement Committee (BRIC) was established and it has now been replaced by an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) which has more power to advocate for regulatory changes. Since its establishment, one of the major interventions of the IMC has been to facilitate land development by lifting barriers created by ineffective processes and red tape. The regulatory framework was enhanced in January 2013 through the introduction of guidelines for Morcellement permits and setting timeline for approval of requests. The guidelines set the number of days that the Morcellement Board has to request additional information. If within three weeks of date of receipt of an application at the Morcellement Unit, an applicant is not requested to submit further clarification(s)/document(s)/information, the date of receipt of the application is deemed to be the “effective date.