Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No. 19045 IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT TURKEY SECOND INDUSTRIAL TRAINING LOAN Loan No. 2922-TU March 24, 1999 Human Development Sector Unit Europe and Central Asia Region 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. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of December 1998) Currency Unit = Turkish Lira US$1 = TL 305,600 AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATES 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 2,120.30 2,606.36 4,168.11 6,864.36 10,965.42 29,669.76 45,678.35 81,035.40 151,238.89 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Metric System ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS APL - Adaptable Program Loan ECA - Europe and Central Asia FTVE - Faculty of Technical/Vocational Education IBL - Industry-based Learning ILO - International Labor Organization ITU Industrial Training Unit LACI - Loan Administration Change Initiative MOE - Ministry of Education MOT - Ministry of Tourism PBIT - Policy Board for Industrial Training PIU - Project Implementation Unit TA - Technical Assistance TTC - Technician Training Centre TUREM Tourism Training Centre UN United Nations YOK Council for Higher Education TURKEY'S FISCAL YEAR January 1- December 31 Vice President: Johannes Linn, ECAVP Country Director: Ajay Chhibber, ECCO6 Team Leader: Michael Mertaugh, ECCTR Sector Leader: James Socknat, ECSHD IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT TURKEY SECOND INDUSTRIAL TRAINING LOAN LOAN NO. 2922-TU Contents PART I. Project Implementation Assessment A. Background and Project Objectives B. Achievement of Project Objectives C Implementation Record and Major Factors Affecting the Project D. Project Sustainability E. Bank Performance G. Assessment of Outcome H. Future Operations I. Key Lessons Learned PART II. Statistical Tables Table 1: Summary of Assessments Table 2: Related Bank Loansi Table 3: Project Timetable Table 4: Loan Disbursement: Cumulative Estimated and Actual Table 5: Studies Included in Project Table 6A: Project Costs Table 6B: Project Financing Table 7: Status of Legal Covenants Table 8: Bank Resources: Missions Appendixes: A. Mission's aide-memoire B. Map All preceding operations closed IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF TURKEY SECOND INDUSTRIAL TRAINING LOAN (L2922-TU) Preface This is the Implementation Completion Report (ICR) for the Second Industrial Training Loan in Turkey, for which loan (2922-TU) in the amount of US$ 115,800,000 million equivalent was approved on March 22, 1988, signed on April 8, 1988 and made effective on June 15, 1988. The loan was closed on June 30, 1998, compared with the original closing date of June 30, 1996. Final disbursement took place on August 23, 1998, at which time a balance of US$2,314,117.11 was cancelled. The ICR was prepared by Anthony Wheeler, ECSHD, of the ECA Region and reviewed by Ajay Chhibber, Director, ECCO6. The Borrower provided comments at an early stage of ICR preparation, but did not respond to the invitation to comment on the completed draft. Preparation of this ICR was begun during the Bank's final supervision/completion mission, April 13 to May 1, 1998. It is based on material in the project file. The borrower contributed to preparation of the ICR by providing comments on the draft. Comments were also received from the implementing agencies. IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF TURKEY SECOND INDUSTRIAL TRAINING LOAN (LN 2922-TU) Evaluation Summary Introduction 1. There has been a long program of Bank lending to Turkey in the areas of technical and vocational education and industrial training, with a view to relieving scarcities of technically qualified and skilled labour. The Second Industrial Training Loan was targetted on improving the supply of technicians and trained technical teachers, with a secondary role of increasing the supply of qualified staff in the rapidly expanding tourism sector. Project Objectives 2. The project objectives were: (a) to strengthen YOK's capacity to plan and coordinate technician and technical/vocational teacher-training; (b) to alleviate scarcities of technicians by expanding their pre-service training; (c) to meet a projected shortfall of technical/vocational teachers by expanding the related training and improving its quality; and (d) to improve MOT's capacity to train skilled workers for the tourism sector. At a late stage in the project it was amended to add a series of diagnostic studies in higher education, intended to provide a basis for higher education reform and possible future Bank lending in that context. 3. These objectives were expressed mostly in quantitative terms (increased student outputs, etc), which were easily achieved, partly because the relevant parts of the education and training system expanded far faster than initially envisaged. But related institutional development was more limited since, while the implementing agencies established effective project implementation units, higher-level policy-making and leadership capacity made less progress, due to frequent staff turnover and lack of institutional innovation. 4. The continued rapid expansion of related training facilities and activities potentially puts at risk the sustainability of the realization of project objectives, particularly in qualitative terms, because training institutions tend to become overcrowded, and competent trainers spread too thinly. Implementation Experience and Results 5. Project implementation was slow in the initial years because Turkish budget constraints delayed the construction or refurbishment of project training institutions (a counterpart responsibility), which in turn delayed equipment procurement, instructor-training, and technical assistance. One other minor project activity - the translation of foreign training materials into - iii - Turkish - had to be discontinued because the necessary copyright authority was often unobtainable. 6. Experience with foreign technical assistance was generally positive, with YOK's ITU progressively taking over the TA management, and national staff gradually replacing foreign expertise in various TA roles, so that the funds could be stretched further than initially envisaged. Similarly, domestic training replaced most overseas training, being both more cost- effective and more productive. Equipment procurement was a major activity in the project, with respect to both diversity and level of sophistication of the equipment, particularly for the YOK components. In the course of project implementation the ITU staff became very proficient in operating with the Bank's procurement procedures. 7. The main difficulty faced during project implementation derived from a high rate of counterpart staff turnover in the project institutions, among both managers and instructors. Since all these staff are part of the higher education personnel structure, they tend to move through project institutions as one phase of a broader higher education career, rather than remaining in the technical sector and developing related expertise. A separate cadre of staff for the technical/industrial sector of higher education is needed if the standard of institutional management and instructor expertise is to continue to be improved. Ironically, in a technician training project, there has been a continuous shortage of technicians in the training institutions, due to the limited numbers of established posts for them, and the uncompetitive technician salaries in higher education. Since all the TTCs and FTVEs in the project are constituehts of universities, the autonomy of university rectors has sometimes created difficulties in implementation, since some rectors saw the project as impinging on their authority, and reacted adversely. The YOK leadership and Bank supervision team had to take remedial actions with rectors on several occasions. 8. Sustainability of the (small) MOT component of the project is questionable, mainly because of repeated turnover of the senior officials responsible for it, so that there has been no cumulative development of project ownership. YOK leadership has been increasingly supportive of those project components for which they are responsible, and employers have taken significant actions to support and enhance the technician training component, responding positively to initiatives by institutional managers. Moreover, this progress has been sustained in the interval since project closure. More open to question is the future role of university rectors, who control the availability of the budget resources needed to purchase consumables and to update equipment so that training remains effective. Continued pressure from YOK leadership will be essential to reinforce and sustain the commitment of rectors, and in this context the inability so far to establish a dedicated unit within YOK to oversee industrial training is regrettable. Summary of Findings, Future Operations, and Key Lessons Learned 9. Although the project has been effectively supervised, it may be questioned whether the Bank's appraisal team took sufficient note of the institutional environment within higher education during project preparation. As a result, the extent of the autonomy of university rectors has sometimes been a source of difficulty in project implementation. The borrower's implementation performance, particularly in the initial years of the project, was adversely - iv - affected by factors beyond the control of implementing agencies. In particular, budget constraints delayed construction, which in turn delayed other project activities, and political instability prevented YOK from obtaining legislative approval for needed structural changes. Nevertheless, overall implementation performance has shown a steadily improving trend, with the loan 98% disbursed at closure, and several project institutions demonstrating significant innovative capability in building on the foundations laid through the project. Therefore the project is considered broadly successful with respect to implementation experience, and also to a lesser extent in terms of development outcomes. 10. While MOT has committed itself to sustaining the achievements of its component of the project through a variety of steps, it is not clear that this is backed by the necessary budget resources. YOK has a three-year plan of operations for the activities initiated through the project, which is updated annually. However, this will need the ongoing commitment of university rectors to be implemented effectively. In addition, the higher education studies which were added to the project at a late stage at YOK's request have been implemented promptly, and YOK has expressed the intention to use their findings as the basis for future higher education reforms, possibly with Bank financing. 11. The principal lessons learned during project implementation have been the need to take account of the evolving institutional environment during project preparation and design, the adverse effect on project implementation of managerial and staffing discontinuities, and the cost impact of rapidly innovating technology (especially computers) on the continuing provision of state-of-the-art equipment for technical training. The positive response of employers to the output of technicians from the project is indicative of the importance of this type and level of skills in a process of rapid and diversified industrialization. IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT REPUBLIC OF TURKEY SECOND INDUSTRIAL TRAINING LOAN (LN 2922-TU) Part I. Project Implementation Assessment A. Background and Project Objectives 1. The industrialization of Turkey in recent decades has been marked, and constrained, by continuing shortages of entrepreneurs, managers, technicians and skilled workers, paralleled by an excess supply of migratory unskilled workers from rural areas. This situation was exacerbated for many years by migration abroad, particularly to Germany, which often involved the more skilled among the Turkish labour force. There have been considerable efforts to expand the secondary and higher levels of the Turkish education and training system to address these shortages. The Bank's assistance to the development of Turkey's education and training system has taken place through a series of loans since 1971. Earlier loans focussed on various aspects of secondary technical and vocational education, including a first Industrial Training Loan (Loan 2399-TU) which assisted the improvement of post- secondary pre-service technician training and in-service industrial training. There was also a loan supporting non-formal vocational training in order to create opportunities for self-employment and income generation, and most recently the Bank has financed a large APL to assist the extension of compulsory basic education from 5 to 8 years. 2. The first Industrial Training Loan confined itself to equipping and developing training programs in 8 post-secondary Technician Training centres, together with related developments in in-service industrial training. The Second Industrial Training Loan (2922-TU) had a more extensive set of objectives, and also was more complex in that it involved two completely separate implementing agencies - the Higher Education Council (YOK), and the Ministry of Tourism (MOT), in turn requiring two distinct project implementation units. The project objectives of 2922-TU were: (a) to strengthen the institutional capacity of YOK to plan the development and coordinate the implementation of technician and technical/vocational teacher-training programs; (b) to alleviate scarcities of technicians in industry by assisting YOK in the development of additional pre-service technician training programs targeted to produce about 3,100 graduates per year by 1996; (c) to meet a projected shortfall of over 13,700 technical and vocational teachers in secondary, post-secondary and non-formal skill training institutions through: (i) expanding and improving the quality of teacher-training programs at three Faculties of Technical Education and one Faculty of Vocational Education; and (ii) strengthening the institutional capacity of these Faculties to carry out pre-service and in-service training as well as research and development in technical and vocational education; (d) to strengthen the institutional capacity of the MOT to plan the development and coordinate the implementation of basic level hotel and tourism training programs at 10 Tourism Training Centres (TUREMs) and thereby meet a projected annual shortfall of about 1,800 skilled workers in tourism occupations. - 2 - 3. At the time of project appraisal, by now some ten years ago, the above objectives were expressed with a degree of specificity which may have seemed appropriate at the time, but has long been overtaken by time and the subsequent path of development of the Turkish economy and education/training system. In the interim, the country has become much more industrialized, and the service sector has also developed extensively. Also, the relevant sections of the education and training system have expanded substantially, far beyond the scale envisaged ten years ago - the number of students in post-secondary education more than doubled from 1988 to 1996, while the number of universities also doubled. At the time of project appraisal there were 75 Technician Training Centres (TTCs), whereas today the number has increased to well over 300, with new ones still being opened by universities. Similarly, whereas the project was intended to focus on one vocational education and three technical education faculties (FTVEs), the vocational education faculty has split into three more specialized faculties, all still covered by the project, and universities have sought and received Parliamentary authorization to open further new faculties, to a total of 15 by July, 1998. With respect to tourism training, the number of TUREMs, envisaged to expand from five to ten under the project, in fact increased to twelve, and in addition a number of private training facilities have opened, and tourism training is also being undertaken within the secondary education system and in the Technician Training Centres on the YOK side of the project. 4. The project objectives were expressed only in terms of strengthening the institutional capacity of implementing agencies, and of achieving specified outputs of graduates. There was little or no policy content in terms of developing the substance and orientation of training, or of strengthening the role of employers in relation to training. Thus there was little in the project which should have been especially demanding for the agencies implementing it, and the only aspect which was complex derived from the volume, sophistication and diversity of the equipment to be procured for training purposes. However the main implementing agency took the initiative, with Bank support, to engage employers more actively in improving the quality and relevance of technician training. Responsiveness to changing borrower priorities was indicated by the agreement between Bank and borrower to include a new component for higher education studies late in the life of the project, to provide a knowledge base for future higher education reforms, and possibly further Bank lending for the development of higher education. B. Achievement of Project Objectives 5. The achievement of the quantitative dimension of the project objectives, the expansion of training outputs, has been more than fully realized, as a function of the greater than envisaged expansion and diversification of training facilities. Annual outputs of graduates from the projectFTVEs increased from 1,823 in 1990 to 3,100 in 1997, and new enrollments have increased commensurately to 3,775 by 1997, so that institutions complain of being overloaded and have opened second shifts. Similarly in the project TTCs enrollments grew from 13,525 to 18,014 between 1995/6 and 1997/8, leading most of the TTCs to open second shifts also, while graduates increased from 6,706 in 1995 to 8,787 in 1997. Institutional managers often complain of being overloaded with students, but this is a function of the rapid growth of the whole education system, and in particular of public demand for greater access to higher education. There is also a "pull" factor in that teaching staff appreciate the opportunity to teach extra hours and thereby increase their incomes, which has both good and bad aspects from the pedagogical point of view - staff turnover is thereby reduced and experienced teachers retained, but class sizes risk becoming too large, reducing the effectiveness of teaching. However, the institutional development aspect of the project objectives succeeded only in the narrowest sense, i.e. each implementing agency established a project implementation unit with a relatively stable staff who became rather effective in the detailed work of project implementation, e.g. procurement, supervision of technical assistance, reporting, etc. But at the policy-making level within the respective implementing agencies there was a much less consistent - 3 - achievement of institutional development. This point is worth discussing separately for each agency, as there were some differences between them. 6. In MOT the project was initially under the direct authority of the Under-Secretary, and subsequently under the Director-General of Training, a lower-level (though still senior) official reporting to the Under-Secretary, but conversely the one most directly concerned with the substantive content of the MOT component of the project. During the last three years of the project the holder of the Director- General's post changed approximately every six months, perhaps at least in part due to the continuing political instability in Turkey. This lack of continuity - each Bank supervision mission met with a new interlocutor - meant that there was no cumulative development of commitment to the project at the senior management level of the Ministry, and no possibility of establishing improved expertise at this level. This point will be discussed further with respect to project sustainability. 7. The situation of YOK was somewhat different, deriving from its distinctive position within the Turkish governmental structure. The President of YOK, although of ministerial level, is not a member of the Government, being appointed by the President of Turkey, not by the Prime Minister. This has the advantage that YOK is, at least to some extent, shielded from fluctuating political influences. But conversely YOK has less freedom than a Ministry in controlling its internal affairs, e.g. in making internal structural changes, because it is not an independent budgetary agency, but is restricted by the provisions of the law which established it. Hence while it was specified in the Staff. Appraisal Report that YOK would create an Industrial Training Unit (ITU) to be responsible for the development of both technician training and technical teacher training, in practice it has only been possible to do this in an informal fashion, i.e. without making ITU a part of the formal structure of YOK, and without having fully- budgeted posts for the senior staff. Instead, ITU has been staffed on a part-time basis by university professors seconded from their regular activities. They have generally been assiduous in their ITU duties, and have been responsive to Bank suggestions for strengthening ITU's role, even beginning recently to take their own initiatives in this respect, while at the same time also assisting other Bank-financed projects in areas such as procurement on the basis of their developed expertise. In addition, one member of the Governing Council of YOK has specific responsibility for industrial training, and the ITU Director reports to that Council member. But the absence so far of permanent financial provision for the staffing of ITU raises the risk that, with the closure of the project, the expertise developed in ITU will be dispersed as staff may return full-time to their previous duties. 8. Although in the early phases of the project YOK management appeared reluctant to establish a permanent ITU, more recently they have tried several times to address this issue, but so far without success. In 1994 proposals were submitted to the Prime Minister's Department for the creation of permanent cadre posts for ITU's management positions, but the proposal was rejected. After this setback, YOK prepared legislation to modify its structure to facilitate the creation of new posts, and this was sent to Parliament for consideration, but Parliament was dissolved through a political crisis before the proposal could be discussed. Recently, YOK has again submitted draft legislation to Parliament to strengthen its structure and give it a general power to reorganize itself in the light of changing needs in the future, which would inter alia permit the formal creation of ITU. This proposal has the support of both the President and the Prime Minister, but university rectors are nervous that any enhancement of YOK's status will impinge on their own autonomy, and they have been lobbying in political circles against the proposal, so its passage through Parliament remains at issue. 9. In short, the project has realized its quantitative objectives in terms of training outputs, in the process significantly raising their quality as a result of improvements in training facilities and equipment, instructor-training, course content and institutional management. At the same time, for the reasons noted above, the institutional strengthening of the implementing agencies which the project also aimed to achieve has been less than fully realized, particularly in the case of the Ministry of Tourism. - 4 - 10. The additional activity added as the basis for the second one-year extension of the project, namely the set of higher education studies undertaken as a preparation for possible future reforms, was fully realized by the target date (see Table 7). Since then, YOK has begun work on reform proposals based on the findings of these studies. C. Implementation Record and Major Factors Affecting the Project 11. Implementation Record. In its initial years the project was slow to disburse, principally due to delays in the construction of the facilities for the institutions selected to benefit from the project. This construction was the responsibility of the borrower. The main cause of this delay was the inadequate availability of Turkish budgetary funds, frequently exacerbated by the delayed release of theoretically available funds until late in the fiscal year, so that they could not be used effectively during the remaining months or weeks. Construction delays had an adverse knock-on effect for other project activities. Procurement of equipment could not be initiated until there were facilities in which to install it, and similarly the equipment-related aspects of instructor training were in turn delayed. This also meant that technical assistance for the development of instructors and managers had in part to be postponed. This cumulation of delays principally affected the YOK components of the project, though by project closure the single outstanding construction activity was the completion of MOT's TUREM in Gaziantep, the equipment for which could not therefore be procured. The construction delay was beyond the control of the implementing agencies, but within the overall control of government. 12. One other small activity envisaged under the project which could not be realized in full was the provision within the YOK component of textbooks and teaching aids translated from other languages into Turkish. In this instance the main difficulty was in obtaining the necessary copyright authority from foreign publishers and authors. Where this was not available, which was frequently the case, the activity had to be suspended. Eventually YOK decided that the time and effort spent in failed attempts to obtain copyrights was counter-productive, and so with the Bank's concurrence this activity was discontinued. Instead, more effort was devoted to local preparation of indigenous teaching materials and aids. This factor was clearly beyond the control of either the government or the implementing agency. The MOT component of the project avoided this difficulty by having all its training materials prepared with the help of the technical assistance team. 13. Both implementing agencies made extensive use of technical assistance in the implementation of their respective components of the project. At an early stage in the implementation of the project, the technical assistance provided to YOK was discontinued because of a conflict of interest issue, following which the contract was re-bid and another contractor hired. After this initial discontinuity the performance of the technical assistance contractors was generally satisfactory. In the case of MOT the contractor also handled equipment procurement through its own procurement service, using the Bank's procurement rules, and this procedure was fully satisfactory. In the YOK components the management of the technical assistance initially operated in parallel to ITU, but with experience ITU was able to take over this role itself, so that in the final years of the project it managed a substantial continuing operation, in the process enabling the technical assistance funds to be stretched further for technical as opposed to administrative purposes. Initially a large part of the YOK technical assistance funds were devoted to fellowship training abroad, but it was found that many of the returning trainees had derived limited benefit from this training, due to inadequate knowledge of English (though they were given prior language training). Therefore it was decided to concentrate the training of instructors in-country, which had the further significant benefit of being much cheaper to operate, so that much more training could be provided, bringing the trainers from abroad, and using interpretation as necessary. In later years, as project experience accumulated, some aspects of training could be successfully undertaken by former - 5 - trainees who were by now experienced instructors or TTC managers, which again allowed technical assistance funds for training to be used more extensively than initially envisaged. 14. On the YOK side of the project, equipment procurement has been a major activity, because of both the extent of equipment provision and the diversity and sophistication of the advanced technical training promoted through the project. In many respects the items provided through the project are more modem and advanced than anything to be found in the engineering faculties of Turkish universities. (This situation has sometimes led to difficulties, because university rectors have wanted to transfer project-financed equipment to their engineering faculties, but at the Bank's request YOK has stipulated firmly that equipment may not be moved, but that engineering students may use itin situ at times when it is not required for technical training purposes.) ITU staff have become very proficient at handling equipment procurement to the Bank's satisfaction, while at the same time meeting the onerous requirements of Turkish administrative procedures, e.g. with respect to Ministry of Finance and customs clearances, and VAT payments. There have been a number of complaints from dissatisfied bidders, but in all cases these have been resolved, though not without significant effort in several instances, e.g. in one case with resort to external review of a bid evaluation, which found in favour of ITU. 15. Both YOK and MOT have kept detailed project accounts, and regular audits have been carried out by the Turkish Government (Treasury) auditors, as has been the practice hitherto with Bank-financed projects in Turkey. In general, there has been timely submission of the audit reports for this project. The only difficulty in this respect derived from the national auditors' reluctance to accept that, because the TA contractor for MOT's component of the project was a UN Specialized Agency, and detailed auditing of their activities is routinely carried out by the UN's own auditors, under the Convention governing the provision of services to Bank-financed projects by such entities, they only present a statement of expenses to the domestic implementing agency and hence are not subject to the same degree of audit by the national audit body. 16. Major Factors Affecting the Project. In the broadest sense, counterpart staff turnover has been a source of multiple difficulties for project implementation. This has manifested itself in various ways in all parts of the project. On the industrial training side of the project (TTCs) the fundamental problem has been the degree of autonomy of university rectors in making appointments to management positions in the TTCs. Since rectors can appoint anyone of sufficient academic rank, and replace them at will, there have been instances of appointments of TTC managers with no relevant subject background, and instances of recently-trained managers being moved on to other assignments. Conversely, there are instances of managers remaining in the job for some years who have been able to develop a high degree of expertise and ensure a cumulative improvement in the TTCs that they manage. The need is to develop a cadre of qualified staff for management of the various types of technical training institutions, promoted from the ranks of instructors and deputy managers, so that this can become a distinct career stream within the broader higher education career structure, instead of the present situation where such specialist positions are simply one step within a professor's career where general academic duties are the longer- term concern. Similarly, in the technical and vocational teacher-training faculties there has been a continuing problem of turnover of Assistant Deans, to whom the Deans have usually delegated responsibility for implementation of this component of the project. One effect of this situation has been that the Regional Faculty Advisory Councils which were intended to guide their work never remained effective for very long, because the new incumbents were unaware of their intended role. On the MOT side of the project the rapid turnover of senior MOT officials has already been mentioned, but there has been an increasing problem of retention of TUREM instructors, for whom competing jobs in the tourist industry or in private training facilities have become more available. Similarly, it was never possible to recruit a local staff to be trained as a trainer in food preparation, even with the carrot of overseas training, because any competent candidate could earn far more by working as a chef, even without training. (MOT finally resorted to issuing trainees with recipe books, as a gesture of last resort to supplement their basic - 6 - training.) Although efforts have been made during supervision to discuss the various aspects of the counterpart staff issue with university rectors, and some have been responsive to it, even this tactic has had a limited effect, because rectors themselves are also subject to replacement, or at least re-election, after three years in office. 17. The attitude of university rectors has also been a source of difficulty in another context. Because of the extremely constrained budgetary situation of higher education in recent years, the ability of training institutions to earn money from activities such as consultancy and product quality testing, with the resulting income being placed in revolving funds for future developmental purposes, has been of great importance. Typically, TTC staff receive a share of the earnings thus generated, which is a valuable incentive in light of their low basic salaries, and has the additional benefit of increasing their practical experience. This has not been observed to have an adverse impact on teaching duties. However, while some project institutions have been able to establish such funds and operate them for their own benefit, in other instances the rectors have insisted on having a single university revolving fund into which all income had to be deposited, with no guarantee that the earning institution could then derive the benefit from its efforts. This has had a deterrent effect in certain instances, because technical training generally has a low position in the hierarchy of higher education, so is generally not well-placed to compete with, say, medical or engineering faculties for supplementary funding, even when it has been a source of the university's earnings. 18. In a period characterized by weak governments and shifting political alliances, university rectors have strengthened their power, both individually and as a group, since their numbers have considerably increased. At the provincial level they rank second to the governor in precedence. Although there is a formal procedure for budgetary allocations to universities through the government machinery, including YOK, in practice rectors lobby parliamentarians during the budget approval process to get their individual allocations increased and finalized. YOK's specific status, with a President of ministerial rank but appointed by the Head of State instead of the Prime Minister, is the source of both strength and weakness - strength because YOK is somewhat removed from the political constraints which have frequently impacted on recent coalition governments, and weakness because YOK itself is not an independent budgetary agency, so its freedom of action is constrained by the provisions of the law which established it. Thus YOK's effectiveness tends to be a function of the personal standing and commitment of its president, in particular vis-a-vis that of the university rectors, both individually and collectively. Since many of the larger and better - developed TTCs are located within university campuses, and dependent on the university for all their services, it is scarcely feasible in practical terms to make them independent of the universities. Rather the need is to strengthen and reorganize YOK and make it more effective in relation to the universities so that it can play a stronger advocacy role on behalf of technical training and other relatively neglected aspects of post-secondary education. 19. The inability of successive governments to have legislation passed through Parliament to strengthen the independence of YOK, and in particular to give greater status to industrial/technical training within higher education through the creation of a permanent ITU within the structure of YOK, has impacted adversely on the project. If such a structure could have been formally established, then it would probably have been easier to give greater status to TTC management, and hence ensure broader and more lasting qualitative improvement of the TTCs, instead of the somewhat patchy and intermittent improvements (though on an upward curve of achievement) which have been the reality. The temporary staff of ITU have certainly been dedicated to achieving such improvements, but their efforts have too often been undermined by TTC management turnover or handicapped by inappropriate management appointments. 20. A continuing source of difficulty in the project institutions has been the inability to recruit sufficient numbers of technicians to service and maintain training equipment and prepare laboratory and -7 - workshop facilities for training use. This problem has affected both TTCs and Faculties, but particularly the latter. It has been due partly to the inability to offer sufficiently competitive employment conditions to attract qualified technicians, but also because university rectors have been unable or unwilling to provide sufficient technician posts to respond to the expanding needs of the institutions. The MOT side of the project also suffered from a scarcity of technician support, even though it had a lower need because of the less sophisticated equipment involved. D. Project Sustainability 21. This issue is best discussed separately for the different components of the project, since the various implementing agencies have no linkages with one another. 22. Ministry of Tourism. Although the MOT component has been implemented capably by the PIU, including the creation of an instructor-training facility, and there has been some successful revenue- generating activity through the provision of training to several other ECA countries, it is not yet fully evident that MOT is committed to building on the foundation thus established. In particular the provision of recurrent budget for the TUREMs established through the project shows a tendency to decline, so that shortcomings of maintenance are beginning to appear, and the supplies of consumable materials needed for training are diminishing. The loss of instructors has already been mentioned, and those remaining have a growing need for updating training beyond the end of the project. A certification system for TUREM training, which would ensure industry recognition of the training received, has been prepared, but is only beginning to be implemented. In order to make more intensive use of the TUREM training facilities, responding to the rapid increase in the number of applicants for training, two years ago a second annual course was introduced, but MOT has discontinued this initiative. Admittedly it proved difficult to find in-service training opportunities for all of the second course trainees, because their need for in- service training came during the tourism "off-season", but this should not have impeded such training in the main urban centres, where there is year-round use of hotel and restaurant facilities. Recently MOT has announced an intention to close three of the existing TUREMs, and relocate them in new facilities, which is only acceptable if the new facilities are ready for use before the existing ones cease operation, so that there is no interruption to the output of trainees. Although theMOT's Activity Plan attached to its Project Completion Report proposes to address certain of these issues, the recurrent budget problem is not mentioned, and neither is the question of TUREM closures and replacements. Hence the extent of MOT commitment to project sustainability remains open. 23. YOK. Faculties of Technical and Vocational Education. The project has greatly increased the capacity of the Faculties to provide improved and updated training through its provision of modem equipment and facilities, together with related staff training. But a number of conditions will have to be fulfilled in order to sustain this capacity. Among the factors which will affect the continued satisfactory provision of training capacity, and which are potentially open to question, are the availability of technicians to maintain and service equipment, the availability of adequate stocks of consumable training materials, and the continued capacity to upgrade or even replace training equipment as it becomes obsolete (in computer-related areas this happens both quickly and repeatedly). The key condition will be the availability of adequate recurrent budgets and investment funds for updated equipment, both of which are controlled by the university rectors. In theory Faculty staff could generate extra-budgetary funds for such purposes from extra-curricular activities, but in practice equipment and staff are used so intensively that such opportunities are limited. Thus the principal condition for the future effectiveness of this component will be the continuing commitment of university rectors to provide recurrent budgets, and to update equipment and staff. -8 - 24. YOK Technician Training Centres. The TTCs are also largely dependent on the support of university rectors for their sustainability, and for similar reasons. In addition, some rectors have endeavoured to move equipment out of project TTCs to other parts of their universities, and YOK has had to prevent this, and must continue to do so as long as the Loan agreement provisions apply. But the Managers of TTCs have potentially more scope than the Deans of Faculties to generate external support for their institutions, though this scope varies between different TTCs. In several instances, TTC Managers have been able to develop extensive relationships with local industry, facilitating placements of students for in-service training and also after graduation, and receiving donations of equipment in return for developing new training courses related to a local field of production. Such achievements depend in the first instance on the initiative (and continuity) of the Manager, but given this willingness, they are seen in locations where industry is well-developed or rapidly expanding, e.g. Izmir, Tekirdag, Bursa, and Gaziantep. In these instances it can be said that institutions which were created through the project have begun to take on a momentum of their own, and to develop in a self-sustaining way beyond the initial conception of the project. But the scope for such initiatives is much more limited as yet in those areas such as Elazig or Ordu where industrial development is still at an early stage. However, the fact that Turkish industrial management has begun to be concerned about the quality of the human resources available for industrial employment, and has become proactive towards industrial training establishments, is the best guarantee of project sustainability. An important step in this process at a late stage of the project was the conclusion of a protocol between YOK and the Istanbul Chamber of Industry for the promotion of industry-based learning for TTC students, and related certification. This was a Turkish initiative which the Bank was happy to support, as evidence of a sustainability action. In the same context, the Ministry of Finance, at the urging of universities, has recently agreed to make supplementary payments to the TTC instructors who supervise students' industry-based learning - again an initiative from the borrower's side to address a project weakness. 25. The project-supported TTCs can also play an important role in the general sustainability of technician training, in the process making the project's achievements in this component more sustainable. As mentioned earlier, the project-supported TTCs are only a small fraction, in institutional terms, of the total system of technician training, though they tend to be the largest, best-staffed, and best-equipped institutions. Therefore "project" TTCs have been encouraged to become "best-practice" institutions for the other TTCs attached to their parent universities, e.g. through acting as a focus for staff training, sharing of new curricula and training materials, etc. This in turn strengthens the potential value of the "project" TTC to the university rector, and hence its likely access to the necessary budgetary and other resources. 26. YOK Management. As already noted, YOK's inability so far to establish a formal Industrial Training Unit to oversee the development of technical training within higher education has a potential to impair project sustainability, because it leaves university rectors with a virtual monopoly of control over the fate of TTCs and Faculties financed through the project. Against this, the decision of YOK's President, agreed to by the Bank, to apply US$1.5 million of project funds to a series of studies for higher education reform in preparation for future Bank support of the sector, part of which YOK wishes to be for industrial training, implies a commitment to sustainability of the present project, failing which future Bank support would be less likely. E. Bank Performance 27. The initiative for the Second Industrial Training project originally came from YOK, which prepared a feasibility study with the help of consultants employed by the then ongoing First Industrial Training project. Although the Bank team which then prepared and appraised the project performed efficiently, it is not clear, in the light of subsequent experience, that they fully appreciated the -9- implications of the institutional environment within which the project would be implemented. In particular they appear not to have taken into consideration the degree of autonomy of university rectors, and hence the extent of their control over project institutions. As noted previously, this has caused a number of difficulties in project implementation, and also is a source of risk for project sustainability. In the course of successive supervision missions these difficulties came to be better appreciated, and remedial action was taken accordingly to the extent possible. Thus while Bank supervision performance has been satisfactory, some deficiency at the time of preparation and appraisal may be noted. F. Borrower Performance 28. Preparation. Although the borrower (through YOK) took the initiative in project preparation, and deserves credit for this, it is not clear at this distance in time (some 10 years) that full account was taken of the specific institutional environment for the project, and its implications. (The MOT component of the project was only added at a late stage of preparation, and the above comment does not apply to it.) 29. Implementation. The borrower's implementation performance has been adversely affected by several factors beyond the control of the implementing agencies. In particular delays in releasing funds for the construction of project institutions has in turn caused postponements in the procurement of equipment, and also hindered the timely action of technical assistance contractors. At a later stage of the project the unstable political environment has more than once prevented YOK from taking the necessary steps to establish the formal ITU envisaged in the project design. Thirdly, the turnover of staff, both in implementing agencies and in project institutions, has had the effect of slowing implementation, and making some project institutions less innovative than others. At the operating level of project implementation units there has been a trend of improving performance, with a significant degree of staff continuity accompanied by a willingness to learn from the technical assistance contractors, more recently reinforced by a capacity to take over where the contractors left off, and to innovate in response to emerging situations. At the senior management level of the implementing agencies the experience has been varied; earlier in the project YOK management appeared less committed, but has been much more supportive in recent years, whereas in MOT there has been too much turnover of senior staff, especially in recent years, for any great commitment to become evident. In sum, borrower performance in project implementation has progressively improved over the life of the project, which has been reflected in effective operation of project institutions, but there remains a question mark as to project sustainability, especially with regard to the MOT component. Overall, borrower performance should be rated as satisfactory. G. Assessment of Outcome 30. The overall rating of the project is satisfactory with regard to implementation performance, though as noted above there is reason to question the extent of project sustainability, especially with regard to the MOT component (but this represents less than 10% of the value of the project). Conversely, YOK added a new component to the project late in its life (Higher Education Studies), which is intended to lay the groundwork for a related future project, and which can therefore be regarded as at least in part a commitment to the sustainability of the current project. Whereas the pace of implementation was slow in the earlier years, it speeded up more recently, and the Higher Education Studies were completed within a tight deadline. Although YOK has not so far succeeded in having a formal ITU approved by Parliament, in its current form ITU has shown a steady improvement in performance. Successive supervision missions have observed growing commitment to maintenance and further development of the institutions realized through the project, on the part of their staffs. As noted earlier, several institutions have taken significant initiatives on their own behalf, and with the support of industry, to build on the foundations - 10- laid through the project, which gives legitimate reason to feel a degree of optimism about the sustannability and development impact of at least part of the project. H. Future Operation 31. The Ministry of Tourism has indicated that it intends to sustain the achievements of the project by updating training materials and the knowledge and skills of instructional staff, by regulating training, and by increasing access to training. However there has been no mention of action to address the financial constraints which have inrreasingly been limiting the effectiveness of training centres, or of steps to strengthen industry involvement in support of training. 32. On the YGK side of the project, ITU has a three-year strategic plan through the year 2000, which is to be updated annually. This plan, which concerns both TTCs and FTVEs, is intended to: (i) strengthen the role of ITU with its constituents; (ii) establish an ongoing curriculum renewal process; (iii) enhance in-service training of administrators, instructors, and support staff; (iv) promote facility and resource utilization; (v) increase collaboration with industry and business, and the Ministry of Education; and (vi) bring world-class practices into the Turkish industrial training system. 33. YOK rapidly and fully implemented the higher education studies which were a late addition to the project, and which are intended to be a basis for reforms in higher education, particularly in the areas of govemance and financing. Therefore it is to be expected that YOK will now seek Bank financing for a future higher education reform project, part of which is also likely to involve further strengthening of the TTC system, in particular in those universities which did not benefit from the First and Second Industrial Training projects. 1. Key Lessons Learned 34. The main lessons that can be learned from the experience of preparing and implementing the Second Industrial Training project relate to the institutional context and to managerial and personnel discontinuities. 35. Institutional Context. During project preparation and appraisal, and also during the initial phase of implementation, it is not clear that Bank personnel were fully aware of the institutional environment of higher education, and in particular of the dominant role of university rectors (although this was a repeater project, new staff were in place following the 1987 reorganization). The failure to take this into account during project design has meant that much supervision time has had to be spent on gamering the support of rectors for project implementation in those institutions under their control. In one or two instances where rectors were not prepared to abide by Bank rules for utilization of equipment procured under the project, that equipment, and the related training courses using it, had to be transferred to other project institutions. 36. Managerial Discontinuities. A major problem during the project has been the high turnover in management positions in some project institutions under YOK. Undoubtedly this has been due, at least in part, to the lack of any distinct career stream for TTC managers within the structure of higher education. As a result there is no guarantee that an appointee to TTC management will have a related technical background, with a resulting disincentive to effective management. Also, since TTCs (although at post- secondary level) are outside the faculty structure of the universities, and so seen by many academics as an inferior component of higher education, professors appointed to TTC management by rectors often see themselves as excluded from the academic hierarchy and hence seek an early return to a faculty position. - 11 - 37. The problem of managerial discontinuity has manifested itself in a different way in MOT, where it has been concentrated at the central administration of the Ministry rather than at the level of project institutions. This is more a function of governmental or ministerial instability, since incoming ministers tend to install their own appointees at senior administrative levels, or at least to reshuffle the incumbents of senior posts. In either case the result is a lack of senior management familiarity with ongoing project activities or objectives, and hence lack of any increase in commitment during the life of the project, despite successful implementation. 38. A Lesson for the Future. The pace of growth in the field of information technology has meant that much of such equipment provided through the project has rapidly become outdated, necessitating upgrades if not total replacement. Any project which seeks to produce competent high-level technical or professional staff must address this issue if its training outputs are to continue to be attractive to potential employers. Because of the technical awareness of YOK staff, and the availability of unallocated project funds, this problem could be addressed during the project, but it is less clear that this will be so following project closure. However in the MOT component this issue, though of much less significance, was not raised until the very end of the project, too late for it to be addressed. This suggests the need in any similar future project for long-term forward planning of infbrmation technology procurement, with a margin of provision for unforeseen technical innovations or upgrades, in order to keep training equipment in a "state of the art" condition. 39. The Structure of Technical Training. In choosing to focus the project on TTCs rather than Engineering Faculties, the Turkish authorities correctly recognized the key role of technicians in industrial development, acknowledging that in many countries this has been the most neglected category of skills, so that engineers becomes less effective because of the scarcity of qualified technicians to work with them and exploit their initiatives. It is frequently stated that Turkey has an excess of engineering graduates, the evidence cited being that many such graduates are unemployed, while some others only find jobs which do not utilize their professional competence. Conversely, there is growing evidence that employers seek to recruit TTC graduates, e.g. recruitment advertisements appear which specifically ask for them. Moreover, in a growing number of instances, employers have been responsive to requests to invest directly in TTCs to equip new facilities and support new training options, which in turn lead to potential employment opportunities for their graduates. - 12 - Table 1: Summary of Assessments A. Achievement of Objectives Substantial Partial Ne1iibl Not aMficable Macro Policies 2[3 Sector Policies Financial Objectives E II0 Institutional Development Physical Objectives 3 a Poverty Reduction I Cl El Gender Issues E E 0 I Other Social Objectives El E El Environmental Objectives E E E I Public Sector Management 1 [ E E Private Sector Development Cl L C Other (specify) n E E (Continued) - 13 - B. Project Sustainability Likely Unlikely Uncertain (V) (/) (.1) Hig C. Bank Performance satisfactory Satisfactory Deficient (/) (V) (v') Identification II I II Preparation Assistance [ [ n Appraisal Supervision IZ Highly D. Borrower Performance satisfactory Satisfactory Deficient (.1) (V) (/) Preparation D ERK Implementation F FC Covenant Compliance n LI Operation (if applicable) n LI LI Highly Highly E. Assessment of Outcome satisfactory Satisfactory Unsatisfactory unsatisfactory LI) LI) U/ - 14 - TABLE 2: RELATED BANK LOANS2 Loan l'itle Purpose Year ot Status approval 10o tocus on quality enhancement and management improvement 199 Active 1. National Education aspects of the Govemment's broad sectoral development programs Development Project through improved student achievement, educational efficiency, (Ln.3192-TU) teacher education, and organization management. Achieve universal coverage in an expanded, eight-year basic Active 2. Basic Education I education cycle (fonrerly five years); to improve the quality and relevance of basic education; and to mak-e basic education schools a learning resource for the community. TABLE 3: PROJECT TIMETABLE Steps in project cycle Date Planned Date Actual Identification January 28, 1987 Preparation .February 23T 1987 Appraisal September 2 1987 Negotiations .February 8 1988 Board Presentation March 22, 1988 Signing . April 8, 1988 Effectiveness June 1.5 1998 Project Completion December 31. 1995 December 31, 1997 Loan Closing June 30, 1996 June30. 1998 TABLE 4: LOAN DISBURSEMENTS: CUMULATIVE ESTIMATED AND ACTUAL (US$ thousands) FY89 FY90 FY91 FY92 FY93 FY94 FY95 FY96 FY97 FY98 FY99 Appraisal Estimates -.0 2 4.1 45.1 683 89.3 104.1 112.5 115.8 115.8 115.8 115.8 Actual 15.91 15.94 26.52 56.87 61.69 72.9 | 83.72 104.01 110.04 113.23 |113.45 Actual as% o estimate 1.1 [6 59 83 69 273 74 9 9 5 98 98 - Date of ftinal disbursement - August 23 199l 2 All preceding operations closed - 15 - TABLE 5: STUDIES INCLUDED IN PROJECT Study Purpose as defined at Status Impact of Study appraisal/redefined 1. Establishment of an These studies were the subject Completed As all the studies were Academic Assessment of a loan amendment dated completed just before loan Mechanism and Structure for July 30, 1996. Their purpose closure, it is premature to Higher Education in Turkey was to provide information for evaluate impact, but the study higher education reform findings are being used by proposals, possibly to be YOK management as inputs to implemented with a future higher education reform. loan from the World Bank. 2. Development of New Completed System for Allocating Public Resources to Individual Higher Education Institution in Turkey. 3. Development of Completed Informatics Education Programmes in Turkish Universities. 4. Analysis of Nationwide Completed Distance Education Altematives. 5. Parental Income, Completed Educational Expenditures, Financial and Job Expectations of University Students. TABLE 6A: PROJECT COSTS Appraisal estimate (UJS$M) Actual (US$M) Item Local Costs Foreign Co Total Local Costs Foreign CoE T'otal 1. Equipment 34T0 8. T11T6.0 8.TT 81.7 2. 1echnical Assistance 3.0 ' 3 T0.0 0 31.1 31.1 3. Buildings Extension to existing facilities 8.2 2.2 10.4 56.5 56.5 Renovation of existing facilities 3.0 1.0 4.0 1.7 1.7 Furniture 1.8 .6 2.4 l 4. Textbooks & Teaching Aids 0. 0.0 0.0 0.0 .62 .62 TO7TAL 50. 11.8 165.8 58.2 113.5 171.7 (Borrower's costs higher than appraisal estimate because more training centers were constructed than estimated at appraisal) TABLE 6B: PROJECT FINANCING _________________ Appraisal Estimate (US$M) jActual/estimate (US$M) Source Local Costs Foreign cos :otal Loca Costs ForeignCOE Totat IBRD 1 115.8 115.8 l 113.5 1T3.5 Government T0.0 _ 50.0 | 58.2 58.2 TFOTIAL -50.0 11r5.8 165.8 - |37- 58211. 71.7 l -16- TABLE 7: STATUS OF LEGAL COVENANTS Republic of Turkey Industrial Training 11 Project Compliance with Loan/Credit Conditions Agreement Section Covenant Status Original Revised Description of Covenant Comments Type Fulfillment Fulfillment Date Date Loan No. Section OK . I he Borrower declares its All project 2922-TU 3.01 (a) of commitment to the objectives institutions the Loan of the project. YOK and MOT operational, and Agreement shall carry out their parts as set YOK and MOT forth in Schedule 2 of the are committed agreement, in conformity to their appropriate engineering, continued technical, educational and operation. administrative practices .The Borrower shall carry out Section the Project in accordance with 3.01 (b) of the Implementation Program Loan set forth Schedule 5 of the Agreement agreement. Section OK 03/3189 03/31/T79 Establish by March 31, IY89, Operation of 5(A) (a). under the chairmanship of the the Board. The Council of YOK a Policy first meeting Board for Industrial Training was held on (PBIT). March 31, 1990, and subsequent meetings thereafter. Schedule M AssignOthelU's oordinatorto 5(A) (b). operate as the secretary of the PBIT. Schedule M Pending 03/3r1789 12311779 Organize, by March 31, 1989, 'I'he l''U has 5(B) (1) an Industrial Training Unit been formed (ITU) as a permanent structure and is operating capable of coordinating the three technician training programs sections. and liaison with industry the Permanent ITU would have three sections: support staff Technician Training; (12) have been Vocational and Technical appointed. The Teacher Training; and Projects Director and Implementation. other high level staff are professors, who are teaching about 10 hours per week. YOK has three times submitted proposals to Parliament for the appointment of full-time management staff for ITU, but continued political instability has prevented their approval. The latest - 17 - Agreement Section Covenant Status Original Revised Description of Covenant Comments Type Fulfillment Fulfillment Date Date submission is still pending before I ~~~~~~~~Parliament. Schedule OtUK ()3131189 06/30/93 Established by March 31, The March 5(B) (2) of 1989, an Advisory Board for 1989 deadline the Loan each of the 4 FTVEs with the was not met Agreement responsibility to advise such due to the FTVEs on requirements for longer lead time teachers of technical subjects needed to and on curriculum define the development and teacher operation of the training in new specializations. Regional Boards and appoint its members, and then one faculty split into three. The 6 faculties have now constituted their Boards; The ITU should take all however there necessary action, including the is a continuing Schedule 5 T OK 12/31/95 allocation of funds towards need to provide (c) of the achieving a ratio for 12:1 guidance to the Loan trainees to instructor by Boards on their Agreement December 31, 1995. functions, related to the needs of the MOE as regards technical and vocational teachers. The ITU has significantly surpassed this target. Schedule OK Implementation of the MO'' 'I'e 5(D) of the component shall be through a Undersecretary Loan Management Committee for Tourism has Agreement headed by the Deputy agreed to Undersecretary of Tourism and implement the will comprise the four project as Directors of General Tourism, envisaged in the Marketing and Promotion, Loan Tourism Investment, and Agreement. Training. Also, a General Collaboration Secretary will act as with the DG of coordinator of an Training is implementation unit. assisting in achievement of project objectives, but constant staff tumover has impaired improvement of effectiveness, except with the PIU. Section 1 ()K Ihe Borrower shall maintain Both YOK and 4.01 (b) (i) records and accounts, including MOT maintain of the Loan those for the Special Account good records of Agreement for each fiscal year, audited, in project accordance with appropriate expenditures. - 18 - Agreement Section Covenant Status Original Revised Description of Covenant Comments Type Fulfillment Fulfillment Date Date ..__________ .._________ auditing pnnciples. Section T O -012 Ithe Borrower shall not later I'he audits were 4.01 (b) (ii) than six months after the end of carried out and of the Loan each fiscal year (June 30), have been Agreement furnish to the Bank an audit submitted to the report of such scope and in Bank, with such detail as the Bank shall satisfactory have reasonably requested. opinions. - 19 - TABLE 8: BANK RESOURCES: MISSIONS Performance Stage of Month/ No. of Days in Specialized staff skills Implementati Development Types of Project Year Persons field represented on status Objectives Problems Cycle Preparation 3/87 4 17 1 Economist 2 Technical Education I Implementation Specialist 6/87 4 14 1 Economist 2 Technical Education I Implementation Specialist Appraisal 10/87 5 12 1 Economist 2 Technical Education I Implementation Specialist I Operation Assistant Appraisal 3/88 1 1 Economist through Board Approval Board 6/88 Approval through Effective- ness Supervision 6/88 4 25 1 Economist I Implementation Specialist 2 Education Specialist 2/89 2 18 i Economist Need to focus I Technical faculties on Educator production of teachers rather than engineers 10/89 2 118 1 Operation Assistant 2 2 I Technical Educator 12/89 1 10 I System Analyst 5/90 3 2 1 Project Officer 2 2 MOT Personnel I Technical Educator changes. Lack I Implementation of ITU Specialist Personnel Construc- - 20 - tion delays - TTC Language problem for fellowship 12/90 1 16 Technical Educator 2 2 TTC cons- Truction, ITU staffing 5/91 2 12 1 Project Officer 3 3 Institution I Technical Educator building - YOK TTC construction Fellowship training MOT PIU problems 2/92 3 18 1 Project Officer 3 3 YOK/ITU I Technical Educator University I Employment & autonomy. Training Specialist Construction delays 9/92 3 18 1 Technical Educator 2 3 In-service I Project Officer training of Resident Mission instructors 1/93 4 22 1 Technical Educator 2 3 Delay in TA I Project Officer negotiation, I Computer computer Specialist installations I Resident Mission 6/93 4 16 1 Technical 2 2 TA delays Educator impacting on I Project Officer procurement I Resident Mission and on Faculty course development 4/94 3 17 1 Economist 2 2 ITU's broader I Technical Educator mgmt role, and I Computer Specialist rectors' independence. Technician scarcity. Overdue audits. 10/94 3 11 I Economist S S Scarcity of I Human Resources technician Specialist (Resident scarcity. and Mission) consumables. I Training Specialist Limited capacity Of MOE to hire FTVE graduates. Impact on non- project TTC and Faculties. 4/95 3 18 1 Economist S S Consumables. - 21 - I Human Resources Commitment to Specialist (RM) practical I Training Specialist training Faculty delays for equipment installation 10/95 2 9 1 Economist S S YOK Faculty I Human Resources delays equip Specialist (RM) installation preparation Project TTC to be center of excellence for rest of system. MOT Food production expert Expansion of Applicants. GAZIANTEP contract. 3/96 2 19 1 Economist S S New I Human Resources procurement Specialist (RM) embargo by Govt. Admin of 1 BL GAZ delay. 9/96 2 18 1 Economist S S Govemment I Human Resources fall before ITU Specialist legislation passed. GAZ delay. IBL admin. 5/97 2 10 I Economist S S Counterpart I Human Resources funding to Specialist (RM) cover VAT on equipment. Find payment of ILO TA. YOK guidelines for managerial appointments. 11/97 2 10 I Economist S S GAZIANTEP I Human Resources TUREM. Specialist (RM) 4/98 2 17 1 Economist Technicians, I Human Resources consumables Specialist (RM) and equipment updating. Position of rectors, MOT- certification of training, staff salary levels. - 23 - Republic of Turkey World Bank AIDE MEMOIRE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING II PROJECT - LOAN 2922-TU PROJECT COMPLETION MISSION - APRIL 13-MAY 1, 1998 I. INTRODUCTION 1. A project completion mission was carried out by Mr. A. Wheeler (Education Economist) and Ms. Ferda Sahmali (Project Officer and Human Resources Specialist, RMT), in order to provide inputs to the Project Completion Report (PCR) for the above project, and to assist the implementing agencies in preparing their contributions. The mission was received by the President of YOK and by the Under- Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism (MOT), and worked closely with the respective staffs in the Industrial Training Unit (ITU) of YOK and the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of MOT, and with the concerned Treasury officials. The mission made field visits to TTCs in Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Bilecik, Izmit, Tekirdag, and Kayseri, to the Faculty of Technical Education in Marmara University and the Vocational Education Faculties in Gazi University, and to TUREMs (MOT tourism training centres) in Kutahya, Istanbul, and Urgup. The members of the mission wish to express their sincere thanks to their counterparts for their assistance to the work of the mission, and to the staffs of the institutions visited for their kind reception and efforts made to contribute to the mission's work. 2. Since this aide-memoire is a step in the preparation of the Project Completion Report, it does not follow the usual format previously used in supervision mission aide-memoires. The PCR will follow the standard Bank format, but the aide- memoire concentrates on those parts of the PCR dealing with the achievements, outstanding problems, and likely sustainability of the components of the project under the different implementing agencies. II. YOK COMPONENTS 3. INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT -- PERMANENT ITU. Despite more than one attempt, YOK has so far failed to realise this component of the project -- a further attempt is currently in progress. Modification of the structure of YOK to incorporate a new unit such as a perrnanent ITU requires Parliamentary legislation to provide the legal basis for creating the necessary cadre positions to staff it, and continuing political instability has impeded this. An earlier attempt to pass legislation failed because Parliament was dissolved before the proposed legislation could be considered. There is currently before Parliament legislation to allow YOK to make some adjustments to its structure, and also to modify some practices of the higher education system. If this passes successfully, it will allow YOK to create a filly- staffed ITU as intended under the project, and YOK leadership has indicated its intention to use this opportunity accordingly. - 24 - FACULTIES OF TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION. 4. (a) ACHIEVEMENTS. At the time of project preparation it was envisaged that there would be three technical education faculties and one vocational education faculty, whereas in fact there are three of each, the original vocational faculty having been subdivided into three, with different areas of specialization (vocational, commerce and tourism, and industrial arts). Thus the project has successfully equipped six faculties instead of four, and provided the appropriate staff training. With extensive inputs of the latest equipment and related curriculum and equipment training for instructors, the Faculties have been able to significantly raise the quality of graduates from technical and vocational teacher education, which in turn can help to raise the quality of education in the secondary technical and vocational schools operated by the Ministry of Education. Because of the general pressure for entry to higher education, the Faculties are operating at or beyond their theoretical capacity in enrollment terms, since they operate evening as well as day courses. In addition, the Faculties are providing in-service training for the existing teachers in technical and vocational schools through summer courses, so that their facilities are well-used year- round. 5. (b) PROBLEMS. (i) The most serious immediate problem facing the Faculties is the shortage of technicians to maintain the sometimes sophisticated equipment which they now have at their disposal. In the long run this could seriously impair the effectiveness of this component of the project. (ii) A second concern is the availability of the consumable materials needed to use equipment, which will be a function of the access of Faculties to the necessary recurrent budget through their respective university rectors. (iii) Given the pace of technological development in many of the areas for which this component provides training, in particular in relation to computers, there is growing concern among project personnel as to how they can upgrade or even replace equipment in order to stay up-to-date. (iv) Concern has also been expressed about the utility of the overseas fellowships provided to instructors in the earlier stage of the project. Faculty staff feel that short-term (three-month) fellowships were the least useful, whereas rectors preferred to spread the believed benefits as widely as possible by emphasizing short-term awards. However, it was also the case that there was a dearth of candidates with adequate foreign-language capabilities to benefit from long-tern fellowships leading to advanced degrees. 6. (c) SUSTAINABILITY. Several of the foregoing problems raise questions as to the sustainability of this component of the project. Undoubtedly, the project has achieved a quantum leap in the capabilities of the participating Faculties, but the scarcity of technicians and limitations of recurrent budgets will progressively impair equipment utilisation unless these issues are addressed promptly, and this in turn will impact adversely on the quality of training. The university Rectors control access to the resources to remedy both of these deficiencies, so that their support is crucial. Keeping equipment up-to-date is a somewhat different issue, since it affects the continued relevance of training, and assumes Faculty staff are willing to make the effort to continuously adapt training to reflect technological advance. Besides the willingness of Rectors to provide the necessary budget for equipment updating, an additional consideration is the capacity of Faculty staffs to undertake income- - 25 - generating activities beyond their usual training duties, in order to provide the Faculties with extra-budgetary resources. But given the extent to which training facilities are currently utilised, along with staff time, the scope for income generation may well be limited. TECHNICIAN TRAINING CENTRES. 7. (a) ACHIEVEMENTS. The project has fully equipped 22 major post-secondary Technician Training Centres in various regions of the country, as well as developing curricula for the related range of new programs, and providing management training and training to instructors. The Government contribution was mainly in the form of related construction and furnishing of facilities, and of course counterpart staffing. As a result of these investments, the standard and range of education provided through the TTC system has been improved significantly, including a period of direct industrial experience as part of the courses of study; there has been growing competition among students for places in the project institutions, and employers increasingly seek to recruit their graduates. To a growing extent, the project TTCs are able to play a role as "centres of excellence" in relation to neighbouring non- project institutions which generally are less well-equipped and offer fewer study options. Assistance so provided includes staff training, new curricula and teaching materials, and opportunities for staff and students of the non-project institutions to be introduced to new equipment. A benefit of this component of the project which was not fully foreseen has been the development of the better institutions, in particular those in the more industrialized areas, as centres of expertise for local industry. They provide technical services such as product testing and application of industrial standards, introduction of industrialists to new equipment, and consultancy in industry. These can provide significant extra-budgetary income for TTCs. Also in return, in several instances industrialists have equipped new workshops or laboratories related to their fields of production, with a view to employing their future graduates. YOK has also developed a protocol with the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Foundation to establish training standards for technicians, leading to a system of certification which will be recognised by employers. 8. (b) PROBLEMS. (i) A potential difficulty which has manifested itself in certain instances derives from the dominant position of university rectors, who control both staff appointments, including managers, and budgets in the project TTCs belonging to their universities. An unsympathetic rector is able to block any significant initiative by a progressive TTC, and many rectors tend to favour their engineering faculties over TTCs. Thus it is important that TTC managers cultivate the support of their rectors, assuming that the rectors have appointed forward-looking managers ready to promote continuing innovation. (ii) The project has made considerable efforts to improve the quality of TTC management, but this can only be effective for as long as the incumbents are in post. (iii) A specific problem parallel to that in the Faculties is the scarcity of technicians to maintain TTC equipment -- again, rectors control their appointment. (iv) The ability of TTCs to find budgetary resources for consumables and maintenance of equipment, in order to continue to deliver training effectively, is also to a large extent controlled by the rector. (v) Similarly, the ability to obtain spare parts for equipment, or to upgrade it in response to technological progress, will be a factor in deternining whether the project TTCs maintain their capacity to deliver - 26 - state-of-the-art training. (vi) Overseas staff training was less than fully effective in the earlier stages of the project, many trainees returning dissatisfied due to language difficulties or the inappropriateness of courses. As a result, overseas training was discontinued and replaced by a combination of targetted domestic training and selective group study tours abroad, and this appears to be better appreciated by instructors. 9. (c) SUSTAINABILITY. As indicated above, the role of rectors will be crucial for the sustainability of this component, and the dedication and initiative of TTC managers will also be a key factor. Therefore, continuity in office of good managers is something to be encouraged by YOK wherever possible. Similarly, the ability to retain trained instructors is also very important, and TTC managers are beginning to develop incentives such as periods of experience in industry as an aid to retention. The ability of TTCs to generate extra-budgetary income can help them to address the issues of consumables and equipment maintenance, but not all TTCs have the same capacity to generate such income, the extent of local industrialization being a factor in this, along with managerial initiative. 10. HIGHER EDUCATION STUDIES. This series of studies, dealing with governance and accreditation, alternative sources of higher education finance, distance education, informatics education, parental incomes and student expectations, was added to the project at a late stage at the request of YOK, with the intention that their findings could serve as inputs to a possible subsequent project in support of higher education. All of the studies, by both Turkish and international consultants, have been completed on schedule (or close to it), and their findings are now available to YOK and the Bank, which will review them and provide comments. YOK is using the findings as inputs to proposals for future policy and investment actions. III. MINISTRY OF TOURISM COMPONENT 11. This component of the project was added late in the preparation process, leading to the involvement of a second implementing agency. It involved the strengthening or new creation of a series of tourism training institutes (TUREMs), their equipment, staff training, and development of curricula and training materials. Most of this work was carried out through a technical assistance contract implemented by ILO. The component has been capably implemented by MOT's PIU and ILO, but serious questions are emerging as to the continued ownership of the project by MOT, and hence as to its sustainability. TUREMs. 12. (a) ACHIEVEMENTS. The project has brought into existence 12 TUREMs, more than originally envisaged, and also strengthened the National Centre for Advanced Training for the Hotel and Tourism Industry (OTEIEM). Assistance included the provision of training equipment, instructor-training, and the development of curricula and training materials. As a result graduates of this training tripled during the project, and moreover the number of applicants for training increased even more than this, so that there is clearly unsatisfied demand. In this context a number of private training facilities have recently opened. There is also demand from the - 27 - tourism industry for some of the courses prepared by the project, and in particular for training materials such as handbooks and audio-visual materials. The reputation of the training provided has also spread abroad, so that courses or seminars have been provided for personnel from Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Black Sea countries, and Cyprus. The technical assistance also developed a certification system for tourism training, which has been further refined by OTEIEM experts, but is not yet being applied to the graduates of the training. 13. (b) PROBLEMS. (i) Construction of the final TUREM scheduled under the project, in Gaziantep, could not be completed by MOT due to budget constraints. As a result, the equipment to be provided through the project for the operation of this facility has not been able to be procured. (ii) The TUREM staffs complain that they lack a viable recurrent budget for operating expenses and maintenance. (iii) Also, instructors are being lost from both TUREMs and OTEIEM because their salary levels are not competitive with other career opportunities in the industry. (iv) There is a progressive need for instructors to receive updating training, but no action has been taken in this direction. (v) Two years ago a second training course was initiated in certain TUREMs in order to make better use of the facilities, but MOT has not authorized the continuation of this practice. (vi) As mentioned above, the certification system prepared for TUREM training is not yet being applied, so that industry recognition of the training is thereby reduced. (vii) The mission has been informed that MOT has announced an intention to close three of the TUREMs in 1999, in Istanbul, Vak-fikebir (Trabzon), and Alacati (near Izmir), on the ground that their facilities are too degraded to be repaired. Istanbul TUREM was visited during the mission, and there appeared to be only minor problems with the facilities, indeed, they had been renovated recently. IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO THE BANK THAT SUCH CLOSURES SHOULD TAKE PLACE UNLESS THE MINISTRY FIRST ESTABLISHES ALTERNATIVE FACILITIES FOR THE CONTIINUATION OF THE TRAINING ACTIVITIES WHICH WOULD BE DISPLACED BY SUCH CLOSURES. Also, as part of the project completion process, MOT, as an implementing agency, has to provide the Bank with detailed proposals for the project's future operation, which may well be subject to a performance audit by the Bank at a later date. 14. (c) SUSTAINABILITY. Although the MOT component of the project has been capably implemented by the PIU during the project's lifetime, there is so far no evidence that the MOT admniristration has assumed ownership of the project's achievements, or shows any readiness to ensure continued successful operation. It is also understood that the Ministry is considering opening a new TUREM in Isparta. The utility of this seems questionable when there is already a TUREM operating nearby in Burdur, and when the Gaziantep facility, located in a growth region lacking other training facilities, still awaits completion. The first training priority of the Ministry should be to ensure that existing training facilities can continue to operate viably, and indeed further improve themselves, whereas the reality appears to be that their effectiveness is gradually diminishing as they are starved of operating resources. Given the amount of resources that the Ministry has invested in past years to create these institutions, this is a particularly unsatisfactory situation. - 28 - IV. CONCLUSION 15. Following the completion of this mission, and the receipt of final information requested from the implementing agencies, the Project Completion Report will be prepared in Washington during May-June, 1998. In particular, YOK and MOT should provide the Bank with their proposals for the future operation of their respective project components by the end of May, 1998. The Project Completion Report will cover, inter alia, the achievement of project objectives, the implementation record, project sustainability, Bank and borrower performance, an assessment of the outcome, future operation, and the key lessons learned. IBRD 241 10 ~~ ANAKEALE -RKLAZER T~~~~~ER M DENIC(I SPARTA ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ AMEI L,ARAAP __ Al F V I I I /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I NE RJSSA J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~5A4 ~~~LRIALA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A~~~~~ ~~~~~ TV -. ) i/ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~ILA I KIRSEHiR ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ELEBR19
Groupe de la Banque mondiale · Implementation Completion and Results Report
Turkey - Second Industrial Training Loan Project
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Groupe de la Banque mondiale
Type de document
Implementation Completion and Results Report
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Turquie
Source
Banque mondiale