Malawi - First Education Sector Credit

Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No. 14661 IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT MALAWI FIRST EDUCATION SECTOR CREDIT (CREDIT 1767-MAI) JUNE 19, 1995 Population and Human Resources Division Southern Africa Department 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 World Bank authorization. MALAWI FIRST EDUCATION SECTOR CREDIT CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS At Appraisal (September, 1986) = US$1 = MKwacha 2.00 At Partial Completion (December, 1993) = US$1 = MKwacha 4.45 At Full Completion (December, 1994) = US$1 = MKwacha 14.97 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Metric System FISCAL YEAR OF BORROWER April 1 through March 31 ACADEMIC YEAR October 1 through August 31 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AfDB African Development Bank CERT Center For Educational Research and Training DCA Development Credit Agreement DEMATT Development of Malawian Traders Trust EP&D Economic Planning and Development GTZ Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (German Technical Cooperation Agency) GDP Gross Domestic Product ICR Implementation Competition Report IDA International Development Association JC Junior Certificate MANEB Malawi National Examination Board MASTEP Malawi Special Teacher Education Program MCDE Malawi College of Distance Education MCE Malawi Certificate of Education MIE Malawi Institute of Education MOE Ministry of Education ODA Overseas Development Association PCR Project Completion Report PIU Project Implementation Unit SAR Staff Appraisal Report SDR Special Drawing Rights TA Technical Assistance TTC Teacher Training College UNDP United Nations Development Program USAID United States Agency for International Development FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface........................................ ............ ii Evaluation Summary Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii Project O bjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii Implementation Experience and Results ............................... iv Sum m ary of Findings ...................................... v Part I: Project Implementation Assessment Background ............................................ 1 Project Objectives and Description .............................. 2 Achievement of Project Objectives .............................. 3 Implementation Record and Major Factors Affecting the Project ............ 4 Project Sustainability and Future Operation .. ......................... 6 Bank Performance ........................................ 7 Borrower Performance ..................................... 7 Assessment of Outcome ....................................... 8 Key Lessons Learned ...................................... 8 Part II: Statistical Annexes Table 1 Summary of Assessments . .......................... 10 Table 2 Related Bank Credits ............................. 11 Table 3 Project Timetable ................................ 12 Table 4 : Cumulative Estimated and Actual Disbursements ............ 13 Table 5 : Planned and Actual Completion Dates of Project Components . ... 14 Table 6 : Direct Benefits of the Project ........................ . 15 Table 7 : Studies Included in Project........................... 16 Table 8A : Project Costs.................................. 17 Table 8B: Project Financing ............................... 18 Table 9: Status of Legal Covenants ........................... 19 Table 10: Bank Resources: Staff Inputs . ....................... 20 Table 11: Bank Resources: Missions ......................... 21 Appendices Appendix A Borrower Contribution to the ICR ..................... 23 Appendix B Figures and Other Tables B.1 Construction Schedule of Primary Classrooms and Teachers' Houses. 25 B.2 Fee Schedule for Secondary Schools and University per Annum ... 26 B.3 Names of Officials Met and/or Talked to During Mission ...... 27 B.4 Institutions Visited .............................. 28 B.5 Reports and Official Documents on File .................. 29 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 World Bank authorization. I IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT MALAWI FIRST EDUCATION SECTOR (CREDIT 1767-MAD Preface This is the Implementation Completion Report (ICR) for the First Education Sector Credit in Malawi, for which Cr. 1767-MAI in the amount of SDR 21.4 million (US$ 27.0 million equivalent) was approved on May 7, 1987 and made effective on June 15, 1987. The Credit was closed on December 15, 1993 (the original scheduled date), with the exception of Categories 1 and 3 (Civil Works and Consultancies, respectively) of the Development Credit Agreement (DCA), which were extended to December 15, 1994. In addition, a grace period of four months was granted through April 15, 1995 to complete claims for expenditures incurred prior to the closing date of the Credit. The extension was necessary to allow for completion of some of the already started primary school and teacher houses and one secondary school. Of the total credit amounting to SDR 21.4 million, about SDR 21.0 million was disbursed. The balance, amounting to SDR 0.4 million, will be canceled. The ICR was prepared by Noel Kulemeka from the Malawi Resident Mission assisted by Yisgedullish Amde (AFlHR), and reviewed by Roger Grawe (Division Chief) and Jacomina de Regt (Acting Operations Advisor). The borrower provided its own assessment of the project in the Completion Report, submitted to IDA on February 1994. The report is included as Appendix A to the ICR. The report was first prepared in early 1994, following guidelines for the preparation of Project Completion Reports (PCR), which were in effect at the time. However, due to the extension of the project's closing date to December 1994, and the introduction of the Bank's revised guidelines for Implementation Competition Reports (ICR) in July 1994, it was decided to recast the report into the new format for ICRs. The ICR is based on, among other things: the findings of a mission that visited Malawi in February 1994; the Staff Appraisal Report; the Development Credit Agreement; supervision progress reports by the Borrower; semi-annual reports; correspondence between the Bank staff and the Borrower; Borrower's policy documents; internal Bank memoranda; and interviews with Bank and Malawi Government officials who were closely associated with the project. 11  FIRST EDUCATION SECTOR Credit 1767-MAI MALAWI Evaluation Summary Introduction 1. Since independence in 1964, Government's effort to develop the education system has been an integral part of a wider national policy. In this regard, the World Bank has been actively assisting the sector, with the first education project approved in 1967. Four additional education projects were carried out prior to this project, their focus being on expansion of primary and secondary education, teacher training, as well as strengthening management and planning. This project reinforced previous IDA assistance to the sector, and additionally endeavored to strengthen the sector further by including elements such as cost recovery measures beyond primary schools, and through improvement of the examination systems. Project Objectives 2. The objectives of the project were: (a) primary school expansion and quality improvement; (b) expansion of secondary schools; and (c) institutional development. Project objectives were in line with the sector's needs that were identified at the time. 3. Out of the total estimated project cost of US$34 million, IDA was to finance US$27 million for: (a) At the primary level: the construction and equipping of about 1500 classrooms and associated staff housing, provision of about 2 million basic student textbooks, in-service training (upgrading) for primary school teachers, and strengthening school supervision through provision of transportation (motor-bicycles) to supervisors; (b) At the secondary level: the construction and equipping of two boarding schools and one day school, and conversion of three MCDE facilities to day secondary schools; and (c) Institutional development and support: seeking Government's agreement to increase the share of allocations for education from 13% to a target of 15.5% by the end of the project; improvement of education management through the provision of technical assistance and fellowships; the consolidation of the two national teacher examination systems; improvement of MCDE's organization and operations; the carrying out of studies to monitor and evaluate the efficiency of implementing project investments, the cost effectiveness of various education inputs and instruction methods, and a tracer study on the income effects of post primary schooling; establishment of cost recovery schemes for post-primary education; and a university student loan plan. iii Implementation Experience and Results 4. Overall, the project's "hardware" parts formed about 80% of the credit (61% for civil works, 19% for furniture, books and other equipment), while the "software" parts, consisting of the institutional development components, were allocated about 20%. By December 1993, when the project was initially scheduled to close, only 71 % of planned classrooms and teacher houses, and 5 of the 6 secondary schools had been completed. Since there was a sizeable fund left over shortly before the project closing date, it was decided to extend the closing date by an additional year to allow for the processing of outstanding claims and to complete one of the secondary schools. 5. Overall, the project has achieved mixed results: * The project objectives were partially attained in physical and quantitative terms. At the primary school level, 1074 new classrooms out of the planned 1,500, and 520 out of the 750 teachers' houses were completed. This enabled over 64,000 pupils to enter school. Furthermore, school supervision at the primary level was improved through the purchase of 39 motor-bicycles for the use by inspectors, thereby increasing the average number of school visits from 1 in over six weeks to 1 per month. At the secondary level, all of the planned six schools were constructed and upgraded as well. The sixth, though, has a smaller intake than the other standard secondary schools. The original plan had envisaged a total number of 480 students per school or a total of 2,880 student places. However, additional resources were provided at four of the day secondary schools so that they could operate on double shift, thereby increasing the number of student places provided by the project to 4480. The project also provided furniture and equipment to both the primary and secondary schools. * A key policy objective of seeking Government's agreement to increase the allocation of the budget share to education sector was surpassed, as the education share in 1993/94 reached 17.5%, which was 2% above the target. * Another major result has been the merging of the two national teacher examination systems at MANEB which the project assisted by providing office space, technical assistance, computer and printing equipment. This system has simplified the process and improved the efficiency of MANEB. * The Ministry headquarters also benefitted from the strengthening program of its staff in the planning and research sections through overseas and local training. The planning section, though, has since lost many of the staff that were trained under this project through either promotions to other departments or posting to other agencies. The Project Implementation Unit (PIU) was also strengthened and localized. Its professional staff in the fields of architecture, quantity survey, procurement and general management have all been filled by local personnel; but its overall role in capacity building suffers from its isolation from the Ministry. * MCDE's organization and operation was significantly improved. Technical assistance on financial management streamlined the decision making process which enhanced the management and quality of the correspondence system. In addition, training for managers and technical personnel was provided in printing, and some of the printing machines were rehabilitated. The strengthening of management at MCDEs, however, was not accompanied with adequate financial provision by MOE for the provision and distribution of learning materials and basic iv equipments (such as radio) needed for distance education. As a result, the quality and effectiveness of MCDEs remains weak and inferior to that of regular secondary schools. * Education quality improvement through teacher upgrading and provision of textbooks was partially fulfilled. Teachers with no JC/MCE certificates enrolled with MCDEs and became certified. But due to logistical and financial problems, the upgrading of underqualified teachers was undertaken in the follow-up project. Textbook provision was also cancelled in light of changes in the curriculum of textbook and teachers' guides. This objective was also successfully implemented under the second education credit. * Post-primary cost recovery and university loan schemes were initiated, but the university loans could not meet increasing demands (due to enrolment expansion and fee hikes), and repayment rate was not adequate, with only 40% of the borrowers traced and followed-up for repayment. * Studies that were planned under the project were not satisfactorily done. Only one study, the "Primary School Quality Study", of the proposed three was completed, and partial work on another was undertaken, but no report was issued. 6. Sustainability of the project's achievements are closely linked to the prospects for the sector overall, as the project is fully integrated with the school system. After the completion of the project, serious problems in educational quality and management have arisen in view of a massive increase in primary school enrollment in 1994 along with the hiring of twenty thousand untrained primary teachers, due to the new Government policy of eliminating all fees and associated costs of primary education. In addition, the grave macro-economic situation threatens to reverse the progress made in the sector, even with the increase in budgetary shares. However, there is now a widespread and strong political commitment to education which should contribute to solving these current crises, and this commitment enhances the prospects for sustainability to some extent. 7. In terms of the physical facilities, the effectiveness of the Maintenance Unit at PIU will affect how well these primary as well as secondary school facilities are sustained. However, the Government is well aware that the Unit needs to be restructured and given sufficient funds to carry out routine maintenance in a cost effective way. 8. The introduction of the merged teacher examination systems at MANEB will be sustained since this has been accepted and adopted without difficulty. One area that needs further improvement is at the Ministry headquarters where there is a need to establish continuity of personnel in the planning section. The problem, which stems from placing planners and economists in "common services" at EP&D, is well known throughout the civil service, and Government, with IDA's assistance, is tackling the issue in the broader context of public sector management. Summary of Findings 9. There are valuable lessons to be drawn from the experience gained on this project. Important lessons from the project are: * In providing new facilities with important inputs such as textbooks and furniture, a careful assessment should be made of the needs of nearby schools for these inputs. Otherwise, existing inequalities would be exacerbated in the provision of educational inputs, and hence quality of learning. Moreover, IDA's assistance should carefully balance the need for physical infrastructure (classrooms) with the need for instructional inputs such as learning/teaching materials and for training and capacity building. v * The spirit of community self-help which was present in Malawi for a long time, began fading away during the last decade. This led to delays in the construction process and also escalated the project costs since bricks and sand which used to be supplied by the communities had to be purchased from the market. In this regard, the lesson to be drawn from this project is to realize that potential delays can arise from such a dependence, and thus to formulate a flexible framework for community participation whereby communities can provide their contribution/input for school construction without holding up the project. Based on such experience, the project which is currently under preparation, Third Education Sector Credit, is taking a different approach to community input. The Project will construct classroom "shells", consisting of frame and roof, and communities will provide the in-fills (walls, windows etc.). This approach has two benefits: First, communities' participation will come in after the shell completion; thus the shell construction will not be affected by possible delays in the response of communities; and secondly, these shells can be used without the in-fills so that children who are taking their lessons in temporary facilities and under trees can immediately utilize these classroom shells. * As the borrower also indicated (in Appendix A), most of the small contractors, who were awarded primary school classroom construction contracts, did not have adequate experience with such type of contracts and were ill-equipped, lacked adequate working capital and were, therefore, a very risky group to advance any payments to. Most of these were absentee contractors who rarely visited the sites. This inevitably made implementation of construction works very difficult and costly, although the quality of the construction was deemed to be acceptable. Small contractors should accordingly be first carefully screened to determine their financial and technical capability through a pre-qualification process before they are allowed to compete for a civil works project. * The establishment of the preventive maintenance unit at MOE Headquarters did not work very well. It proved to be impractical and too costly (in terms of travel and per-diem expenses, and time). It was apparent that almost all maintenance work was done on an ad hoc basis when problems occurred and that no routine maintenance was done. The main lesson to be derived in this regard is that maintenance responsibility and resources should be located as close as possible to the facilities (at regional or district levels) which they are intended to service, with funding and authority for contracting similarly decentralized. Some work in this direction has been started at present, but need to be pushed further to be effective. * Less that than satisfactory results were obtained in the institutional strengthening and capacity building endeavors. An all-too-frequent TA/Counterpart syndrome took place with the result that skills were not imparted. The counterparts themselves were not well equipped with basic knowledge to learn from the TA. No proper training plan was put in place to allow for an effective interface between the course programs and transfer of skills. In some cases there was no interest nor commitment among the counterparts since about half of those in the Planning unit belonged to the economic common service -- and have since left the Ministry of Education. The experience gained from the implementation of this project confirms the conclusions of other projects in that the appointment of TA staff should be closely timed with the availability of suitable local counterpart staff. There is also a need to assess the role of TA in terms of long- term needs, in which TA can be utilized in building local capacity, while the short-term TA provision can be directed to specific critically needed interventions. * Even though the university loan scheme was successfully initiated, difficulties arose in loan collection and excessive demands that could not be met. The experience in this project reinforces findings in other Bank-financed projects that the feasibility of student loan schemes in particularly low-income countries should be considered in light of both administrative capacity and economic viability. vi EDUCATION SECTOR CREDIT I Credit 1767 MALAWI PART I: Project Implementation Assessment Background 1. Exogenous shocks and inappropriate macroeconomic policy response slowed Malawi's economic growth starting in the late 1970s. Falling international prices for export commodities, soaring oil prices, and a gradual disruption of traditional external transport routes through Mozambique led to a deterioration of the terms of trade, while drought reduced agricultural production and made it necessary to import maize. This brought hardship on the Malawian economy which resulted in Government budget running large deficits with a GDP growth of only 1.7 per cent per annum between the period 1979/80 -19984/85. Along with a high population growth of 3.1 per cent per annum, pressure on the education sector escalated, both in terms of access and quality. 2. As a result, there was an urgent need for Government to come up with a solution, and education was seen as a catalyst for economic development as well as for a higher standard of living for the population. Malawi's Statement of Development Policies which formed the basis for economic and social development plan for the decade (1985-1995) stated its objectives to be the reduction of poverty, ignorance, and disease through rapid and sustainable economic growth; improvement in income distribution; and welfare stabilization for both the individual and the nation. The Statement also recognized the key role that education can play in development, both in the medium-term through the provision of specific skills that are needed, and in the long-term through an overall economic and social gain for the population and the country. 3. The Ministry of Education and Culture embarked on the Education Development Plan (1985 - 1995) at the same time, setting the improvement of coverage and quality of primary education as its priority. The national target was to increase the net enrollment ratio of 50% for the 6-13 age group to 80% by 1995, and 100% soon thereafter. In order to achieve such goals, there was a need for substantial investments in facilities, teachers, and supporting services, together with tighter control over drop-out and repetition rates. Curriculum development, teacher aids, inspection and supervision also required support. These efforts provided a useful guide as to what the investment needs were going to be. Project identification and preparation for the First Education Sector Credit (Cr 1767) coincided with the preparation of these two major Government development plans, thereby enhancing the relevance and timeliness of the proposed project. 4. This particular credit followed several IDA investments in the sector dating as far back as 1967. The preceding credit, Fifth Education Project (1330-MAI), assisted inter alia with the publication of the National Education Plan which provided the basis for this operation. The project is followed by the on- going Second Education Sector Credit (2083-MAI), with emphasis on: curriculum development; teacher training; strengthening of examinations, inspectorate, and planning; and supporting the Faculty of Commerce at the university. The Bank was also active in sector work in the preparation of "Financing and Efficiency of Education" (Report No. 4894-MAI) and had undertaken a Human Resource Development Study, assessing the medium term skilled manpower need for the country. I Project Objectives and Description 5. The First Education Sector Project provided support to the first phase (1984/85-1990/91) of the Government's ten year Education Development Plan which aimed at improving the quality, access and efficiency of education. The Government's Education Investment Plan for that period amounted to MK190 million. An allocation of MK54 million was made available under this credit (at the exchange rate prevailing in 1987). In line with the Education Development Plan and the Policy Framework, the project had three main objectives: (a) primary schools expansion and quality improvement; (b) expansion of secondary schools and introduction of cost recovery; and (c) institutional development. The specific components to be financed under this credit at appraisal were: (a) Primary Schools Expansion and Quality Improvement, including: (i) constructing, furnishing and equipping 1,500 new class-rooms and 750 teachers houses; (ii) upgrading almost 2,450 under-qualified and undertrained teachers, and 1,800 trained teachers without JC/MCE; (iii) providing one bicycle and one motorcycle for each of the 28 education districts for use by school inspectors; (iv) merging the two existing national teacher examination systems by providing technical assistance, adequate office space, and computers at MANEB: and (v) as part of the effort to improve educational quality, providing about 2 million basic student textbooks and concurrently seeking assurances from the Government to provide a supplemental subvention of MK2.00 per pupil per year specifically earmarked for the provision of textbooks and other learning materials; (b) Expansion of Secondary Education, including: (i) constructing, furnishing and equipping 2 new boarding secondary schools, and 1 day secondary school to accommodate 480 students per school for a total of 1440 student places; (ii) converting 3 existing MCDE centers to double shift systems to cater for a total of additional 1440 students; and (iii) introducing cost recovery schemes at secondary levels; (c) Institutional Development, including: (i) Seeking Government's agreement to increase the share of allocation for education from about 13% to a target of 15.5% at the end of the project (ii) strengthening education management to cope with the rapidly evolving education system through provision of short-term consultants (two staff-years in total) to assist with education planning, 12 staff years of fellowships on education research and evaluation, as well as through workshops for up to 1000 ministry staff; (iii) improving the research and evaluation capacity of the Planning Section by providing 4 staff years of TA for researchers, 6 staff years of Malawian economists, and in conjunction, fund 3 studies to (a) assess the delivery and utilization of school and classroom inputs provided by the credit, (b) determine the cost effectiveness of various educational inputs and instructional methods, and (c) assess the income effects of post primary schooling (tracer study); (iv) improving correspondence education by establishing a transitional management for the Malawi College of Distance Education with an experienced partner institution; (v) strengthening the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) by funding 6 staff- years of external training, 3 months of local training, and provide for administrative and operational expenditures; (vi) improving school maintenance unit by merging the MOE's maintenance unit with that of the PIU to create a preventive school maintenance unit within PIU for the 3 regions; and (vii) providing initial capital to establish a loan scheme for University students along with introduction of cost recovery system. 2 6. The overall objectives and the specific components of the project were consistent with the Policy and Sectoral strategies set out by Government. The "hardware" parts formed about 80 % of the Credit (civil works 61 %, furniture, equipment, vehicles and books 19 %). The "software" parts (20%) consisted of reinforcement and improvement of management, provision of consultants' services, training of teachers and other personnel, fellowships, and the establishment of a university students' loan scheme. Achievement of Project Objectives 7. With respect to the main objectives and also in line with the National Education Plan, the credit has assisted Government to achieve the following: (a) Primary School Expansion and Quality Improvement: For primary schools, 1074 new classrooms and 520 teachers houses were constructed, furnished and equipped, 426 classrooms and 230 houses less than planned (29% shortfall). The selection of sites was done according to Government policy of providing schools where need was the greatest (5% located in Northern, 42% in Central and 53% in Southern Regions respectively). This enabled not less than 64,000 additional pupils to enter primary school. Teachers who did not have either a JC or MCE certificate enrolled with the MCDEs and were able to pass their respective exams, and the upgrading of school heads was also achieved with support from the link arrangement with Brandon College of Canada. On the other hand, due to logistical and financial problems, the upgrading of under-qualified teachers was not undertaken, but was successfully completed in the follow-up project, Education Sector II (Cr 2083). Changes in the curriculum of textbook and teachers' guides were introduced during the period, which also necessitated this sub-component to be picked up by the second education credit. In line with its objectives, the project assisted MANEB to merge the two national teacher examination systems and provided office space, technical assistance, computer and printing equipment. The supervision at primary level has been also improved through the purchase of 39 motor-bicycles. This has increased the average number of school visits from I in over six weeks to 1 per month, which has allowed supervisors to more effectively supervise and provide the necessary support to the schools. (b) Expansion of Secondary Education: The project established, furnished and equipped two boarding secondary schools (Mayani and Lisumbwi), I day secondary school (Chipasula), and converted 3 MCDEs (Katoto, Likangala, and Zingwangwato) to day secondary schools. Enrollment was expected to be 480 per school accommodating a total of 2880 students. This was achieved as planned in all but Mayani which accommodates only 160 students. The enrollment shortfall at Mayani was partially compensated by conversion of 4 schools instead of the planned 3, to double shift system, allowing 160 more students access to secondary school education than was initially planned. Cost recovery system at secondary school was also introduced which resulted in increased fees, from MK65 in 1987/88 to MK440 in 1993/94 per student per year (including book deposit and boarding). (c) Institutional Development: A key policy objective of the project was to seek Government's agreement to increase the share of allocations for education to a target of 15.5% in 1993/94. On average, education's share had steadily increased (except for 1991/92) during the project period until the target was reached in 1992/93 and actually 3 surpassed as the share of education in 1993/94 reached 17.5%. The share of the education budget allocated to primary school education also rose from 57.5% to 66.0% in the same period. Mixed results were however obtained in terms of strengthening MOE's capacity to manage and develop the education system. The technical support in the areas of financial analysis, management, planning and evaluation was fielded and worked with the Ministry. A committee to monitor and evaluate programs was put into place but did not meet regularly. The last time it met was in 1992 and it issued no reports since 1991. The research and evaluation unit was upgraded and strengthened, but due to frequent staff transfers, only two out of six posts were filled by the time the project closed down. Studies that were planned under the project were not satisfactorily completed. The only one that was fully completed was the "Primary School Quality Study", and some of its recommendations are being implemented by the Ministry. Partial work on the "Tracer Study on Income Effects of Post Primary Schooling" was done but no report has been produced. The establishment of CERT (Center for Educational Research and Training) with IDA assistance could provide the opportunity to complete policy-oriented studies such as those mentioned above. The project also provided training at MCDE headquarters for managers and technical personnel in printing, and some of the printing machines were rehabilitated. In addition, technical assistance on financial management introduced a streamlined decision making process which improved the quality and management of correspondence system significantly. Improving the PIU and establishing the maintenance unit were also achieved successfully. The PIU is now fully staffed and localized, but decentralization of this unit will be needed to make it more efficient nationally. The Project Implementation Monitoring Committee which was set up to monitor PIU was very beneficial to the unit. The committee met every 3 months and was effective. However, PIU's isolation from the Ministry has reduced its role in capacity building. Tuition fees were introduced for the first time at university level at MK200 in 1987 and increased to MK360 in 1993/94 per student per year (see Appendix B, Table 1). The university student loan scheme was successfully initiated, but faced some problems including a high demand for such loans that could not be met due to increases in enrollment and nominal fees charged. The repayment rate has been less than satisfactory as well. Only 40% (cumulatively) of students who graduated could be traced and followed-up for repayment. Lack of staff at the University and proper records contributed to the low repayment rate. Implementation Record and Major Factors Affecting the Project 8. A principal factor affecting the project within Government's control was the inadequate counterpart contributions to the project during the first years. The Government failed to submit its financial allotment to the project in a timely manner. Frequent delays, especially at the beginning of the project, impeded the project from moving forward according to schedule. A factor outside the Ministry's control which adversely affected the project was the devaluation of the Kwacha which caused significant price increases, especially of imported construction materials. This was one of the reasons for scaling down the Mayani secondary school building, which was started much later. The major difficulty within the implementing agency, PIU, which is technically a part of the Planning Department of MOE, but in reality, a rather freestanding entity, was staffing. The project, especially civil works, 4 had a slow start due to insufficient staffing of PIU (including lack of a permanent project manager) and a large workload because of other ongoing projects, primarily the 5th Education Project. The lack of inadequate staff was partly redressed in 1990 by engaging local consultants as architects, design coordinators, supervisors and quantity surveyors. Permanent staff was then added on as well, but a permanent project manager did not come on board until December 1991. At present, PIU appears to be well staffed, but there are some lingering doubts about its cost-effectiveness, and its ability to handle larger integrated projects, such as the upcoming Third Education Project. 9. Owing to the above-mentioned problems, most of the civil works did not start until two years later than planned in the SAR. Often completion dates for civil works were delayed by one to five months, and in one case, the delay stretched to eleven months. It was not until 1992 that the yearly disbursement almost reached the planned amount and then doubled in 1993. This shows a clear relation between output and the greatly improved staffing situation within PIU. 10. Contracts for primary schools were awarded on the basis of LCB as stipulated in DCA, due to their small sizes and the scattered sites. Most of the contractors were very small and inexperienced. A selection of these contractors based on previous performance could not be done as they were all virtually unknown entities. Professional skills and management capabilities were very limited. There was also a lack of understanding of the tendering system as well as a deficiency of working capital. Although the quality of the construction was acceptable, the pace of work by these contractors was much slower than anticipated. The average construction time was approximately 70 weeks, which was more than twice what was planned. Another cause of delay was the inability of some communities to provide sufficient number of bricks (community self-help scheme). PIU tried (starting in 1992) to improve the quality of primary school construction as well as to shorten the construction time by combining several projects into bid packages that were more attractive to the larger and more experienced local contractors. This approach yielded better results and the yearly production increased substantially during 1992 and 1993. It was, however, not possible to make up for the total backlog. Only a total of 1074 classrooms and 520 teachers houses were constructed by May 1994, leading to reduction of the primary school construction program by about 29%. Other components essentially remained as planned and were completed by the end of 1993. Closing date for categories 1 (civil works) and 3 (civil works consultants) was extended by a year to December 1994. This extension helped to complete construction and processing of payment claims. By the time the project ended, almost 98% of the credit was disbursed, and the remaining balance was cancelled. 11. The secondary schools have generally been well built, except for leaks in some of the roofs. On the whole, secondary schools are costly and over-designed. IDA's recommendation to simplify the designs and increase the size of student intakes at these schools, thereby cutting down costs, has been accepted by Government, and will he taken into account in the design for secondary schools that will be financed under the forthcoming project (Education Sector Credit Ill). These measures will have a sector- wide impact by allowing Government to increase secondary school enrollments at a reduced cost. On the other hand, some of the secondary schools have their own water supplies and sewerage disposal system, but have no permanent maintenance personnel, which is of a great concern. Another problem, school vandalism, is more prevalent in the urban areas -- especially in the two-shift schools. There is also a need, in both primary and secondary schools, for considering alternative surface treatment of classroom walls since the white colors used for plastering and painting get easily smudged giving the rooms a rundown appearance after a few weeks. It may be advisable to leave at least the lower part of the walls with exposed (sealed) bricks. 5 Project Sustainability and Future Operation 12. Since the project itself is fully integrated with the school system and thus the education sector as a whole, its sustainability depends on the sector's overall prospects. In physical terms, the sustainability of both the primary and secondary buildings at an acceptable level will largely depend on whether the school maintenance unit, established under the project, is provided with adequate resources to perform effective school maintenance. On the other hand, sustainable quality of education is contingent upon the provision of sufficient non-salary recurrent cost for components such as text books, instructional materials, and teacher training and supervision. The introduction of the merged teacher examination system at MANEB will be sustained since this has been accepted and adopted without difficulty. But there is a need to establish continuity of personnel in the planning section at the Ministry headquarters. This problem, arising from placing planners and economists in "common services" at EP&D, is well known in the civil service, and Government, with IDA's assistance is addressing the issue in the broader context of public sector management. 13. Serious problems in education management and quality have nevertheless arisen, after the completion of the project, due to the massive primary enrollment expansion (additional 1.3 million primary school students) in 1994, along with the hiring of twenty thousand untrained new primary teachers, as a result of the new Government policy of eliminating all fees and associated costs of primary education. In addition, despite an increase of budgetary allocations to the sector, there is a danger of reversing progress made in overcoming education hurdles, owing to the current grave macro-economic situation. However, there is a widespread and strong political commitment to education from the current Government, which should contribute to solving these crises. 14. The Second Education Credit has picked up where this project has left off, and has in addition further emphasized education quality and institution building. In terms of improving education quality, the focus has been on teachers' training, including special teacher training program, and provision of textbooks and science kits for secondary schools. This project has also focused on institution building, through decentralization of MOE, further strengthening of PIU, and provision of technical assistance for MIE and CERT. 15. The Bank is at present preparing a Third Education Sector Credit. The main objective of the proposed project is to support the first phase (1996/97-2000/01) implementation of the Government's sector development policy, which is being finalized, with parallel financing by a number of donors, including USAID, ODA, EC, GTZ. and AfDB. Strong donor coordination has been forged especially over the past few years, and Government is increasingly taking a proactive role to ensure donor assistance takes place within the framework of its sector development program. This project will help alleviate the education crisis that is faced by the country at present. Severe shortages of classrooms, textbooks and learning supplies exist as a result of the vastly increased enrollment. The proposed IDA operation would support the following activities in the Government's sector development program: Improving the quality of education through teacher training (especially those untrained teachers who were recruited to cope with the large influx of primary students), provision of learning materials, and strengthening teacher support and supervisory services; provision of classrooms and related facilities; and strengthening sector planning and management. 6 Bank Performance 16. As noted in Government's contribution to this report (Annex B), Bank staff involvement in the implementation of the project has been professional in all aspects. The Bank's supervision missions have been adequate (14 missions over 7 years). The composition of the teams regarding expertise has been good and there has also been considerable continuity in staff involvement. Especially worth noting is that the same mission leader participated in 9 of these 16 missions and was also involved in the country for several years prior to project start, including being the leader of the Appraisal mission. 17. The Bank was especially mindful during identification that the project goals were in accord with Government's over-all plan and development strategies. A concerted effort was also made to expand the project focus to include such elements as post-primary cost recovery issues, and improvement of teacher examination systems, in addition to the other components that were traditionally funded by IDA. The preparation phase identified the sections of the project in detail with Government, and the financing aspect was also finalized. An appraisal was done in June, 1986, with the project being categorized into four major components. In terms of financing, an agreement was reached that due to a gap of US$ 9 million, that the project fundamentally focus on aspects related to quality improvement of primary education. During supervision, the Bank was continuously flexible, and initiated changes to expedite project implementation. A big concern during the time was that implementation, especially of civil works, was lagging behind, and supervision of the large number of small contractors was lax. The Bank urged PIU to increase site supervision. The Bank was also creative and supportive in regards to the strengthening of PIU, stressing the importance of having all vacancies filled and recommending the engagement of consultants to compensate for lack of staff. There was also a problem with the auditing procedures in the beginning, which was rectified later by hiring a private firm to prepare the accounts for Government. Borrower Performance 18. The borrower has over the years, through five previous IDA-assisted projects, attained a good knowledge of the Bank lending regulations and procedures. The first few years of the project showed slow progress partially because the PIU was understaffed, lacked a permanent manager, and took on the almost impossible task to coordinate and control the works of, as well as furnish materials and disburse money to, a number of inexperienced small contractors operating in more than 300 primary school sites, scattered all over the country. The progress was also slow due to the fact that government's contribution to the project was initially much lower than agreed upon. Moreover, the accounts were not controlled properly, which caused parts of the project to be almost deleted (for example Mayani Secondary School) due to anticipated lack of funds when in reality there were enough funds available. 19. Audits often experienced delays. Again this was a general problem throughout Government as no private sector auditing firms were hired to audit Government books. This was made worse by the fact that the project did not have a qualified financial analyst for a long time. The accounts, therefore, were not ready and the audits could not be done on time. The situation was salvaged by hiring a private firm to prepare the accounts which allowed Government to expedite audits. The situation improved significantly when a Malawian financial analyst was eventually recruited. 7 Assessment of Outcome 20. Overall, the project achieved mixed results against original objectives and sector goals. Construction of primary and secondary schools, which accounted for the bulk of the budgeted expenditure, was achieved, with primary school construction shortfall of about 29%, along with the newly restructured maintenance unit. Teachers successfully attained their JC/MCE certificates, and inspection at schools was improved through provision of motorbikes to inspectors. But in the long-run, the effect did not have the intended outcome on account due to lack of maintenance of the motorbikes. Post- primary cost recovery programs and university loan schemes were also initiated, although loan collection rates at the University remained low. The merging of the two national teacher examination was initiated. However, not all activities were implemented, including textbook provision (due to changes in curriculum), and teacher upgrading (due to logistical and financial problems). Studies to be financed under the project, did not fare well, with only one out of the planned three studies, fully completed and put to use, while another one was partially finished. Sector objectives, including increased budget shares for education sector, and for primary education in particular, were exceeded; but subsequent policy decisions and macro-economic imbalances have resulted in severe challenges to the current financial viability of the system. Key Lessons Learned 21. The major lessons to be derived in the implementation of the project may be summarized as follows: (a) There is not only a need for new school construction, but for improvement and maintenance of the existing ones. Provision of furniture and textbooks should not only be limited to the new schools, but the requirements of nearby schools for these inputs should also be assessed. This would alleviate the unevenness in quality of learning that would otherwise transpire. Moreover, there is a need for IDA to balance its physical infrastructure component with the requirement for instructional inputs such as learning/teaching materials and for training and capacity building in future projects. All these inputs are required for 'effective' learning to take place. (b) The Government has benefitted from the spirit of self-help and community participation that had existed in Malawi for a long time, it was quite evident from the implementation of this project that this spirit is fading quite fast. It was a major assumption for primary school construction work that communities would mould bricks. However, the bricks were often not available or not sufficient at the time they were needed, and the quality was often sub-standard. There was also varying level of commitment among communities. This resulted in delays and high costs since bricks had to be purchased. As a consequence, not all classrooms and teachers' houses were completed, causing a drop of 29% from what was planned in both cases. The clear lesson to learn from this is that the Bank should have a realistic assessment of the level of community involvement in the design and implementation of Bank-assisted projects, and to accordingly formulate a flexible framework for community participation whereby awaiting communities' contribution for school construction will not cause a project delay. Based on such experience, the project which is currently under preparation, Third Education Sector Credit, is taking a different approach to community input. The Project will construct classroom "shells", consisting of frame and roof, and communities will provide the in- 8 fills (walls, windows etc.) This approach has two benefits: First, communities' participation will come in after the shell completion; thus the shell construction will not be affected by possible delays in the response of communities; and secondly, these shells can be used without the in-fills so that children who are taking their lessons under tress can immediately utilize these classroom shells. (c) The use of small local contractors for civil works for mostly small primary schools was a major problem. The borrower has also indicated in its assessment (Appendix A) that this arrangement caused significant delay and implementation difficulties for the project. Most of the contractors did not have adequate experience with such type of contracts; were ill equipped; lacked adequate working capital, and were a very risky group to advance any payments to. Many of them were absentee contractors who rarely visited the sites, thus exacerbating the situation. The lesson derived from this is that proper selection for pre-qualification of potential contractors should be carried out to ascertain the financial and implementation capacity of these contractors. (d) The establishment of an organization for maintenance (including preventive maintenance) is advisable. To place it within PIU as a central organization is, however, impractical and too costly because of travel and per-diem expenses, and time. The lesson to be derived in this regard is that while the establishment of a school maintenance unit is of critical importance, careful attention should be given to its institutional basis. There is also a need for the maintenance responsibility and resources to be located as close as possible to the facilities they intend to serve, with funding and authority for contracting similarly decentralized, in order to maximize their efficiency and cost effectiveness. Although the decentralization has been started, this process needs to be expedited and completed for an increased effectiveness. (e) While it is recognized that strengthening the management capacity at MOE headquarters was crucial for sustaining the increased demands on it, the technical assistance program and the skills development and transfer program were not successful. The Ministry for instance did not have sufficient influence on who should be selected as TA. Also, the counterparts themselves were not well equipped with basic knowledge to learn from the TA. No proper training plan was put in place to allow for an effective interface between the course programs and transfer of skills. In some cases there was no interest nor commitment among the counterparts since about half of those in the planning unit belonged to the economic common services -- and have since left the Ministry. The lesson from this is the need to plan the sequencing very well. Counterparts have to be in place before the TA arrives and training programs for counterparts, if necessary, have to fit in very well with the TA's duration of stay. Transfer of skills has to be made part of the Terms of Reference to be evaluated in the TA work Program. One also needs to assess the role of TA in terms of long and short term needs. In the long run, TA can be utilized in building local capacity, while the short-term TA provision can be directed to specific critically needed interventions. (f) Although the university loan scheme has been introduced successfully, there have been difficulties encountered in terms of excessive demand that could not be met, and in the practical problems encountered in loan collection. This adds to the growing Bank wide experience on the feasibility and advisability of student loan schemes in the context of low-income countries, in light of both administrative capacity and economic viability. 9 Part U Table 1 Table 1: Summary of Assessments A. Achievement of objectives macro policies XX sector policies xx financial objectives xx institutional development xx physical objectives xx poverty reduction xx gender issues xx other social objectives xx environmental objectives xx public sector management XX C. Borrowe performance preparation asi c xx implementation xx covenant compliance XX operation XX E. Assessment of outcome xx 10 Part H Table 2 Table 2: Related Bank Credits Credit Achievement/Purpose Year of Status _I IApproval Preceding operations 1123 - MAI Enrollment expansion in secondary schools as well as 1981 Closed Fourth Education output of secondary school teachers from the university 12/86 Project was successfully achieved. The National Education Plan was well prepared and put to good use. 1330 - MAI Expansion of primary teacher training, secondary school 1983 Closed Fifth Education enrollment including MCDEs as well as enrollment of 9/90 Project accountancy students was successfully achieved. Borrower was still heavily relying on expatriate staff for project implementation. Following operations 2083 - MAI Curriculum and text-book development. Expansion of 1990 In progress. Second Education facilities for in-service teachers' training. Improvement of June 30, Sector Credit administration and assessment of examination tests. 1996 is the Strengthening of PIU. Provision of TA and scholarships scheduled for Faculty of Commerce as well as TA for MIE and closing CERT. Provision of roofs for primary school buildings date. and teachers' houses as well as classroom furniture. Provision of science kits for secondary schools. Improvement of library services to secondary schools. Construction of additional MCDEs. 190 Inpoges Part H Table 3 Table 3: Project Timetable Item Actual Date (Month/Year) Reconnaissance Mission 9-10/84 Identification Mission 5/85 Preparation Mission 12/85 Appraisal Mission 7/86 Negotiations 2/87 Board approval 3/87 Credit Effectiveness 6/87 Project Completion 3/94 Closing Date for categories 2,4,5,6 and 7 12/93 Closing Date for categories 1 and 3 12/94 Comments on timetable 22. An extension of time was given for disbursements from categories 1 and 3 in February, 1994. Thus the closing date of civil works as well as architectural, engineering and auditing services was set for December 15, 1994. The closing date for the rest of the categories remained as December 15, 1993. The ICR mission was carried out as originally planned, in February 1994, with categories 1 and 3 updated subsequently. 12 Part II Table 4 Table 4: Cumulative Estimated and Actual Disbursements (US$ Millions) Bank FY 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Appraisal 1.6 7.3 14.9 21.3 25.7 27.0 ------- ------ Estimate Actual 0.5 3.5 6.8 13.6 25.6 26.9 28.6 28.6 Actual % 1.7 12.2 24.2 47.3 87.9 92.3 98.0 98.0 of Credit Dates of final disbursements: April 15, 1994 for categories 2,4,5,6 and 7 April 15, 1995 for categories I and 3 Comments on Credit Disbursements 23. Actual disbursements are given as their historical US$ equivalents. The current cumulative disbursement exceeds the total value estimated at appraisal, due to fluctuations of the Malawi kwacha and the US dollar against the SDR. The outstanding balance was cancelled. 13 Part H Table 5 Table 5: Planned and Actual Completion Dates of Project Components Planned Completion Actual Completion Months of Delay Project ComponentsSA ReidPU SAR Revised PIU SAR Revised PIU CIVIL WORKS A. Primary Schools 6/90 8/90-12/93 11/90-12/94 5-54 0-45 B. Secondary Schools 6/90 4/91-11/91 7/91-10/92 13-28 1-11 10/93* 1/94* 43 3 C. Central Institutions -MANEB 12/88 5/90 9/91 33 16 -MASTEP -- -- 7/90 -- -- FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT A. Primary Schools 6/90 8/90 - 12/93 11/90 - 12/94 5-54 0-45 B. Secondary Schools 6/90 4/91 - 11/91 7/91 -10/92 13-28 1-11 10/93* 1/94* 43 3 C. Central Institutions -CERT -- -- -- -- -- -MANEB 12/88 5/90 9/91 33 16 -MASTEP -- -- -- -- -- -MIE * The Mayani Secondary School was initially dropped from the project due to PIU's concern for cost overrun. Construction was then started when it was found that funds were available. It was, however, built to accommodate only 160, as compared to planned 480 pupils. Comments on Completion of Components 24. The SAR shows an optimistic implementation schedule with all activities completed on or before mid- 1990. These are the dates shown in the first column under "Planned Completion" and "Months of Delay". The revised dates were planned completion dates set by PIU for the individual contracts. The difference between planned and actual implementation is also illustrated in Figure 1, prepared for the primary school component. 14 Part II Table 6 Table 6: Direct Benefits of the Project Indicators Closing Date A. Enrollment in the New Schools and Classrooms Built Under the Credit: (i) Primary School: Girls 21,440 Boys 42,880 Total 64.320 (ii) Secondary School Girls 1,523 Boys 3,566 Total 5,089 B. Number of MCDE Centers Upgraded to 3 Day Secondary Schools: C. Teacher Upgrading for Undertrained Teachers 1,800 D. Staff Upgrading at PIU: 23 E. Strengthening Education Research and Evaluation: - Number of Workshops 3 - Short-term Consultancies 24mm - Fellowships 144mm - Technical Assistance 144mm F. Commencement of University Loan Scheme Oct. '87 15 Part II Table 7 Table 7: Studies Included in Project Title/Description Status 1. Assess the extent to which school inputs financed by Study completed but on a broader subject of Primary School the Credit are delivered and utilized in schools and Quality classrooms. 2. Determine the cost effectiveness of various Not completed educational inputs and instructional methods. 3. Assess the income effects of post primary Not completed schooling (tracer study) 16 Part II Table 8A Table 8A: Project Costs (US$ Million)* CATEGORY APPRAISAL ESTIMATE ACTUAL Local Freign** Total Local Foreign Total 1. Civil Works 8.6 8.6 17.2 2.9 19.3 22.2 2. Equipment, 1.1 4.2 5.4 0.0 5.6 5.6 Furniture, vehicles and books 3. Architectural, 0.2 0.3 0.5 2.5 1.0 3.5 engineering and auditing consultants' services 4. TA. Consultants' 0.9 3.4** 4.3 0.0 0.4 0.4 services and training 5. Project admin. 0.9 0.9 1.9 0.3 1.0 1.3 (excluding salaries) 6. University students loan 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.1 1.1 scheme 7. Unallocated 2.2 2.5 4.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 TOTAL* 13.9 19.9 34.0 5.7 28.6 34.3 * Figures do not add up due to rounding. ** This includes ODA co-financing of one TA staff, which was later changed to parallel financing (see Comments below). Comments on Project Costs 25. During appraisal, it was planned that British ODA was going to co-finance US$2.56 million. The ODA however never co-financed the project but financed some of the activities in parallel financing. This change reduced the total cost of the project to $31.44 million, with IDA financing $27.0 million and Government $4.44 million. The Kwacha difference between the appraisal estimate and actual disbursement amount is due to devaluation. 17 Part II Table 8B Table SB: Project Financing (US$ Million) Source of funds Planned at Appraisal Revised Actual* IDA 27.0 27.0 28.6 ODA 2.6 Government 4.4 4.4 5.7 TOTAL 34.0 31.4 34.3 Actual amounts differ from the planned due to SDR appreciating over the dollar. 18 Part II Table 9 Table 9: Status of Legal Covenants (Reference to Development Credit Agreement) Section/Para Covenant Compliance 2.01 (b) Borrower to establish and maintain in U.S. Dollars a Special Account Complied in a Commercial Bank on terms and conditions satisfactory to IDA. 4.01 (a) Borrower to maintain records and accounts in accordance with sound Complied accounting practices. 4.01 (b) Borrower to have all records and accounts, including the Special Complied but not on Account and the University Students Loan Scheme, to be audited by a timely Fashion. independent auditors acceptable to IDA, and to furnish an annual audit Also scope and detail report of adequate scope and detail, not later than six months after the not always adequate. end of the Borrower's fiscal year. 4.01 (c) For withdrawals made on the basis of statements of expenditures Complied but not (SOEs), Borrower to maintain all records evidencing such systematically. expenditures; to allow IDA missions access to these records; and to these records; and to provide annual audits as per Para. 4.01 (b). Schedule 4, All project, activities to be monitored by the Committee on Committee has been Para. 1 Monitoring and Evaluation, chaired by the Principal Secretary within set up but reporting MOE; the Committee to provide IDA semi-annual progress reports on is ad hoc. 3/31 and 9/30 during implementation. Schedule 4, Borrower to increase user charges for boarding at secondary schools Partial. Full cost Para 3 (a) to MK135 by 1988 and thereafter to fully recover the cost of recovery was not boarding. implemented. Schedule 4, Borrower to implement tuition fee at the University of MK200 (net of Partial. Para 3 (b) living allowances) during 1988 academic year and make periodic adjustments thereafter. Schedule 4, Borrower to prepare by December 1, 1987, a comprehensive Para 4 Complied, but loan Para 4 plan, acceptable to IDA, for the establishment and administration of a collection is low. student loan scheme at the University. Schedule 4, Borrower and IDA to undertake mid-term review of project On the whole Para 5 implementation status and monitor achievement of agreed targets in: complied; many of primary and secondary education; teacher training; vocational and the educational technical education; university education; and level of recurrent targets have been expenditure. achieved or even exceeded. 19 Part II Table 10 Table 10: Bank Resources: Staff Inputs Stage of the Project Cycle PLANNED ACTUAL HQ FIELD HQ FIELD Through Appraisal 55.1 16.3 Appraisal -Board 18.2 29.6 Board-Effectiveness -- -- 1.4 2.1 Supervision 61.4 50.2 51.8 43.8 20 Part II Table 11: Bank Resources: Missions Table 1 Stage of project MonthlYear Number of Staffweeks Specialized Performance ratings by activities Type of Problems cycle Persons in field staff skills General Procurement Management Financial represented (1) Pre-Identification Oct-84 3 2.1 E. A. a' Identification Nlay-85 2 4.6 E, GE Preparation Dec-85 4 8 6 E. GE, A- a Preparation Mar-86 1 1.0 E Appraisal Jun-86 8 29.6 SE, A 2GE, 1, , Post-Appraisal Dec-86 3 2.1 2E. A Supervision Sep-87 2 2.1 E. d, 1 I Mar-88 4 3.7 2E GE, d' 2 - I Civil wors one year behind schedule. No provision made in FY 88/9 ___ budget for textbook supply fund. Oct-88 5.6 E, GE, A 2 2 Alar-89 3 4.1 E. d', A 2 2 1 Dcvelopment'production oftextbooks awainting completion of curriculum revision in May/89. Oct-89 2 1.9 GE, a' 2 1 Anticipated shortfall ofNlKIO million ifcredit is to meet its objective. Allocation of MOEC bas not exceeded 9.6% since 1984/85. Government has committed itself to achieving 12.8% of total recurrent budget Due to the large number of small, inexperienced contractors, PIU needs to increase site supervision. Feb-90 1 0.5 E 2 2 2 2 NDOEC wants to delay introduction of new PLSC exam beyond 991 contravening credit agreement between IDA and Government. Audited accounts are not fully received by IDA. Suggested that Psnl hire full-time local architectural consultant to supervise primary schools __________ _________ _______construction program. Jun-90 3 1.7 GE, A, a' 2 2 2 1 Fslds insufficient to cover planned activities. Need for PRU to monitor construction more carefully. Recommendation to give MCDE self- accounting status still not implemented. Concern over delays in getting ostudies approved. Oct-90 3 1.9 2E, A 2 1 2 1 Numerous suggestions forwarded (including employment of experienced manager) due to the missions concern that PIJ lacked capacity to manage such a program. Problems of dealing with small contractors, procurement of textbooks, secondary school design. 21 Part II Table 11: Bank Resources: Missions Table 1 Stage of project MonthlYear Number of Staff weeks Specialized Performance ratings by activities Type of'Problems cycle Persons in field staffskills General Procurement Management Financial represented (1) Supervision Mar-91 3 2.6 E, GE, A 3 1 3 2 Only about MK45 million of the MK63 provided in the budget will be disbursed due to problems at PIU, contractors, and brick unavailability. No PIU manager as of yet. Major delays in civil works. Problems with institutional reforms. Jun-91 3 2 6 E. A. a 3 1 2 I Outstanding audit reports. Constmuction. and textbook still delayed. Recommended one secondary school constniction be dropped due to cost overrun. Sep-91 3 3.1 E, GE,A3 1 2 2 Apr-92 1 0.9 g 2 - 1 2 Need to appoint financial controller and procurement officier at PIU. Sep-92 - 3 3.0 GE.E.A 2 A - 1 2 Mar-93 2 1.7 GE, e 2 1 1 2 Oct-93 2 2.3 GE F 2 2 1 _ 2 Feb-94 I 21 GE 2 2 1 2 Oct-94 2 0.5 GE,-A 2 2 1 2 ompletion Mar-94 4.0 E, A 2 1) E Economist a! = Examination specialist e! School management specialist GE General educator b/ = District learning specialist fl= Textbook specialist A Architect c/ = Institutional development specialist g/ = Sociologist d/ - TechnicalIvocational educator 22 Appendix A Page 1 of 2 APPENDIX A: Project Review from The Borrower's Perspective 1. As a borrower, we do concur with the analysis contained in Part I. The objectives of the project were, on the whole, achieved probably with the exception of civil works in the area of primary and secondary education. Out of 1,500 classrooms to be built, only 1074 were constructed: and 520 teachers' houses were built out of 750 houses. All the staff houses are now occupied, and the classrooms are fully utilized, thereby improving the learning environment. The funds that were available, after other commitments, were used to build Mayani Secondary School in a reduced capacity of 160 students. This, therefore, makes Mayani the smallest secondary school run by Government, and hence not optimally operating. 2. In general terms, from our point of view as borrowers, the size of the project was manageable although civil works under primary education component were most difficult to implement because of the involvement of small - scale building contractors, the majority of whom lacked capital and previous experience in the building industry. It is, however, gratifying to note that there is now a pool of good and reliable contractors who can be used in similar projects in future. 3. In regard to civil works at MANEB, MASTEP, CERT and MCDE headquarters no detailed work was done for the simple reason that these components were only added at the implementation stage. It has been observed that this was unsatisfactory arrangement and that this ought to be avoided in future to avoid jeopardizing the implementation of the identified key components of any project. When the agreements have been reached there should be unnecessary extensions added which will eventually have cost implications in both financial and staff terms. Evaluation of Bank's Performance and Lesson Learned 4. The successful implementation of this project is attributed to the constructive suggestions, and advice of the World Bank Mission Officials. However, one major lesson learned was that the total project cost should have been the same both at appraisal stage and at credit agreement stage. At appraisal stage, it was agreed that 2 day secondary schools should be built, 2 MCDE Centers should be converted into day secondary schools and 1,500 classrooms should be built at a total cost of MK68,045.80. When the credit was negotiated, some components were modified and new ones were added in the following manner:- 1,500 classrooms and 750 teachers' houses 2 boarding secondary schools and one day school; conversion of 3 MCDE Centers to Secondary schools; introduction of double shift system in urban secondary schools; and civil works at MANEB, CERT and MASTEP. 5. The consequence of the changes and the additional components increased the project costs with the result that some primary school classrooms and teachers houses have not been built as well as our inability to introduce double shift system at Chichiri and H.H.I. Secondary Schools in Blantyre as was 23 Appendix A Page 2 of 2 agreed at identification stage.' Major Lesson Learned 6. When implementation of this project started our Project Implementation Unit (PIU) did not have the capacity to implement the project. Indeed, the implementation process took a positive direction after the appointment of the Project Manager, the Financial Analyst, additional architects and quantity surveyor, the Principal Accountant and the Principal Stores Officer and the Procurement Officer. It is our considered view that a project of this magnitude can only be successfully implemented if there is sufficient management capacity at PIU. In view of the impending 3rd Education Sector Credit, all efforts should be made not to allow the deterioration of the existing management capacity that has firmly taken root at PIU among all other factors to ensure sustainable implementation capacity. Evaluation of Borrower's Experience and Lesson Learned 7. The Second major problem encountered was the persistent delay in getting bidding procurement documents approved by the Bank. The Bank had insisted that these bidding documents should conform to their format which took PIU long to learn and master. However, PIU has now acquired the skills and procurement has also significantly improved. But, in addition to lack of knowledge of the World Bank format, the procurement section at PIU was poorly staffed at the beginning of the implementation process and there is still need to further strengthen our Procurement Section to cope with the volume of work in future projects. In addition, training programs in procurement and disbursements helped to improve the situation further. 8. The third major problem cropped up in the primary sector civil works. At many project sites, the communities were unable to provide sufficient numbers of bricks of the acceptable size and quality. It was evident that the spirit of self-help had waned. It was seriously being considered that, in our future projects, local communities should be asked to contribute sand and aggregates for the construction of classrooms and teachers houses. 9. It is also our considered view that the effective cooperation that existed between us and the World Bank Mission Officials was instrumental in the successful implementation of the Projects. The supervision mission consisted of appropriately qualified people who were conversant with the project and were able to solve some problems with the project staff within Malawi and at times on the spot. One example of their sympathetic and realistic approach to our problems was the Bank's decision to extend categories I and 3 of this particular project to December, 1994 to enable us complete all remaining civil works. 10. There were no co-financiers in the project. (Written by MOE/PIU) 1 According to Bank project staff, only 70% of primary school construction (classrooms,and teachers houses) were completed, not because of "increase in project costs", as stated in the Government's contribution to the ICR, but because of delay in project implementation. In the end, about SDR 400,000 of the credit will be cancelled. Also, there was no civil work envisaged at either CERT or MASTEP and only minor remodelling at MANEB. which was completed. 24 Appendix B.1 Construction Schedule of Primary School Classrooms and Teachers' Houses CLASSROOMS ~120, , I 1 1200, 80 SARl PIU PIA NED PLAN MA _ 9.00~lI-..** 60T ACTU L -- IT I f .1 . 300 /r ALL SITES / 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 NYTES: - I Teacher's house was built for each 2 classrooms (1 block). - This component was divided into 313 small projects, varying, in size, from 2 classrooms/1 teacher's house to 6 classrooms/3 teachers' houses. - Locations: 5% were in the Northern Region, 43% in the Central Region, and 52% in the Southern Region. 25 Appendix B.2 Appendix B.2: Fee Schedule for Secondary Schools and University Per Annum Institution Effective (1987/88) Completion % Increase (1992/93) University MK2002 MK360 80 Secondary School: Book deposit: MK5 MK5 0 Tuition: MK20 MK60 200 Boarding: MK40 MK375 838 Total Secondary: MK65 MK440 577 The University was actually paying out-of-pocket allowances to students of MKl2 per months in addition to book and stationery allowances. 26 Appendix B.3 Appendix B.3: Names of Officials Met and/or Talked to During Mission 1. Ms. M. Nkaonja, Deputy Chief Methods Advisor - MOE 2. Ms. L. Massi, Asst. Controller - Education Services (TTC) 3. Mr. F. Malata, Principal Planning Officer - MOE 4. Mr. B. Khonje, Asst. Chief Methods Advisor - MOE 5. Mr. P. Moyo, Registrar of Teachers - MOE 6. Ms. J. Nyangulu, Senior Planning Officer - MOE 7. Mr. P. Yonamu, Planning Officer - MOE 8. Mr. Ben Chidyaonga, Deputy Project Manager, P[U 9. Mr. Harry K. Mkwezalamba, Project Quantity Surveyor, PIU 10. Mr. Edmund S. Msiska, Project Architect, PIU 11. Dr. Catherine Chimwenje, Executive Secretary, MANEB 12. Mr. MacMin Mulaga, Deputy E.S., MANEB 13. Dr. Dan D. Chimwenje, Principal, MIE 14. Mr. Wise E. Chauluka, Publishing Manager, MIE 15. Mr. Bestor Kalombo, Regional Edue. Officer, South 16. Mr. M.H. Longwe, Acting Principal, MCDE H/Q 17. Mr. B.E. Mughogho, Senior Producer, MCDE H/Q 18. Mr. B.B. Phiri, Senior Tutor, MCDE H/Q 19. Mr. H.C. Kaliwo, Headmaster, Machinga F.P.Sch. 20. Mr. R.M. Kalanje, Deputy Head, Machinga F.P. School 21. Mr. R.B. Kamwendo, Headmaster, Lisumbwi Sec. Sch. 22. Mr. L.M. Jussa, D.E.O., Mangochi 23. Mr. E.B. Suzi, Headmaster, Kanama F.P. School 24. Mr. P.M.B. Butao, Deputy Head, Kanama F.P. Sch. 25. Mr. C.E. Chikhungu, Deputy Head, Mayani Sec. Sch. 26. Mrs. Florence R. Mbale, Head, Chipasula Sec. Sch. 27. Mr. A.B. Jeremiah, Finance Officer, University Office 27 Appendix B.4 Appendix B.4: Institutions Visited 1. Ministry of Education H/Q., Lilongwe 2. Malawi National Examination Board (MANEB), Zomba 3. Malawi Institute of Education (MIE), Domasi 4. Malawi Center for Distant Education (MCDE), Blantyre 5. St. Anthony Primary School, Zomba 6. Machinga Primary School, Machinga 7. Lisumbwi Secondary School, Mangochi 8. Kanama Primary School, Dedza 9. Mayani Secondary School, Dedza 10. Chipasula Secondary School, Lilongwe 11. Project Implementation Unit (PIU), Blantyre 28 Appendix B.5 Appendix B.5: Reports and Official Documents on File A.Reports Yearly Audit Report 1989 Yearly Audit Report 1990 Yearly Financial Report 1989 Yearly Financial Report Final Accounts as of March 31, 1991, Audit Opinion Final Accounts as of March 31. 1992 Half-Yearly Report, June 30, 1987 Half-Yearly Report, June 30, 1988 Half-Yearly Report, Dec. 31, 1989 Half-Yearly Report, June 30, 1990 Half-Yearly Report, Dec. 31, 1990 Half-Yearly Report, June 30, 1991 Half-Yearly Report, June 30, 1992 Half-Yearly Report, Dec. 31, 1992 Half-Yearly Report, June 30, 1993 Fourth Yearly Report, July-December 1988 by Dr. M.R. Mundangepfupfu, Student Loan Scheme Accounts B. Official Documents Jan. 13, 1987 Letter from Ministry of Finance to Bank with attachments: - Statement of Policy - Plan of Action for Educational Development March 5, 1987 Recommendation of Statutory Committee to the President of IDA May 7, 1987 Covering Letter from Republic of Republic of Malawi to IDA regarding public debt, with attachments April 14, 1987 Authorization Letter from Minister of Finance giving authorization to their Ambassador to sign the Credit Agreement on behalf of the Governor of Malawi May 7, 1987 Development Credit Agreement May 7, 1987 Designation of Authorized Representative, signed by Minister of Finance Nov. 11, 1988 Letter from IDA Director, Southern Africa Department to Minister of Finance regarding Amendment of Schedule 1, Category (6): - University Loan Scheme 29  u   I MAG ING Report No: 14661 Type: ICR