China - Fourth Basic Education Project

Document of The World Bank Report No: 28252-CHA IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION REPORT (IDA-29540 TF-29401) ON A CREDIT IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 61.5 MILLION TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FOR A FOURTH BASIC EDUCATION PROJECT April 30, 2004  CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (Exchange Rate Effective June 30, 2003) Currency Unit = Chinese Yuan-RMBY RMB 1.00 = US$ 0.12 US$ 1.00 = RMB 8.26 FISCAL YEAR January 1 December 31 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS BEIV - Fourth Basic Education Project CAS - Country Assistance Strategy CEP - Chinese Experts Panel EDPP - Education Development in Poor Provinces Project EMIS - Education Management Information System FILO - Foreign Investment and Loan Office FMS - Financial Management Services GOC - Government of China IBRD - International Bank for Reconstruction ICB - International Competitive Bidding ICR - Implementation Completion Report IDA - International Development Association MOE - Ministry of Education MOF - Ministry of Finance NCB - National Competitive Bidding NDRC - National Development and Reform Commission NP - National Program NYCE - Nine Year Compulsory Education PSR - Project Supervision Report QAG - Quality Assessment Group QER - Quality on Entry QMPRP - Qinba Mountains Poverty Reduction Project QVPEP - Qinba Village Primary Education Program SAR - Staff Appraisal Report SDR - Special Drawing Right SEDC - State Education Commission TSN - Teacher Services Network TTL - Task Team Leader UBE - Universal Basic Education WBOB - World Bank Office Beijing Vice President: Jemal-ud-din Kassum Country Director Yukon Huang Sector Manager Christopher J. Thomas Task Team Leader/Task Manager: Edurado Velez-Bustillo  CHINA FOURTH BASIC EDUCATION PROJECT CONTENTS Page No. 1. Project Data 1 2. Principal Performance Ratings 1 3. Assessment of Development Objective and Design, and of Quality at Entry 2 4. Achievement of Objective and Outputs 4 5. Major Factors Affecting Implementation and Outcome 10 6. Sustainability 11 7. Bank and Borrower Performance 11 8. Lessons Learned 13 9. Partner Comments 15 10. Additional Information 15 Annex 1. Key Performance Indicators/Log Frame Matrix 16 Annex 2. Project Costs and Financing 28 Annex 3. Economic Costs and Benefits 30 Annex 4. Bank Inputs 31 Annex 5. Ratings for Achievement of Objectives/Outputs of Components 33 Annex 6. Ratings of Bank and Borrower Performance 34 Annex 7. List of Supporting Documents 35  Project ID: P036952 Project Name: CN-BASIC ED. IV Team Leader: Eduardo Velez Bustillo TL Unit: EASHD ICR Type: Core ICR Report Date: May 12, 2004 1. Project Data Name: CN-BASIC ED. IV L/C/TF Number: IDA-29540; TF-29401 Country/Department: CHINA Region: East Asia and Pacific Region Sector/subsector: Primary education (44%); Secondary education (43%); Tertiary education (12%); Central government administration (1%) Theme: Education for all (P); Rural services and infrastructure (P); Access to urban services for the poor (P); Gender (S) KEY DATES Original Revised/Actual PCD: 07/15/1996 Effective: 09/24/1997 09/24/1997 Appraisal: 01/02/1997 MTR: 10/01/2000 10/01/2000 Approval: 05/27/1997 Closing: 06/30/2003 09/30/2003 Borrower/Implementing Agency: PRC/Ministry of Education Other Partners: STAFF Current At Appraisal Vice President: Jemal-ud-din Kassum Jean-Michel Severino Country Director: Yukon Huang Nicholas C. Hope Sector Manager: Emmanuel Y. Jimenez Joseph Goldberg Team Leader at ICR: Eduardo Velez Bustillo Hena Mukherjee ICR Primary Author: Sandra F. Erb; Halsey L. Beemer 2. Principal Performance Ratings (HS=Highly Satisfactory, S=Satisfactory, U=Unsatisfactory, HL=Highly Likely, L=Likely, UN=Unlikely, HUN=Highly Unlikely, HU=Highly Unsatisfactory, H=High, SU=Substantial, M=Modest, N=Negligible) Outcome: S Sustainability: L Institutional Development Impact: SU Bank Performance: S Borrower Performance: S QAG (if available) ICR Quality at Entry: S S Project at Risk at Any Time: No  3. Assessment of Development Objective and Design, and of Quality at Entry 3.1 Original Objective: Context. In 1995, the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE) requested support form the World Bank for the development of a basic education project. Subsequently, the MOE and the World Bank began work on what was to be the fourth in a program of basic education projects. When the identification and design work began for the Fourth Basic Education (BEIV) Project, the government's policies continued to place the highest priority on the achievement of universal basic education (UBE) in poor and remote areas by the year 2000 or as soon as it was practical. This project was to support China's goal of development, modernization and elimination of illiteracy. This priority drove both targeting and design. After working with the Bank project development team, the MOE set the following objectives: (a) to increase access/equity in primary and junior secondary education for the absolute poor in poor and minority rural areas to achieve universal primary education and to expand junior secondary education, with particular attention to girls and minority nationalities; (b) to enhance quality in primary and junior secondary schooling and the corresponding teacher education and training of trainers' programs; and (c) to improve efficiency in the delivery of education by improving educational management at the national, provincial, county and project institutional levels. These objectives reflected MOE policies to: (a) accelerate the decentralization of education by establishing principles to guide provincial and local governments in the development of their education services at the county and village levels; (b) implement the Compulsory Education Law by using available resources, and (c) pursue national and provincial education targets in their own way. It was also critically important to improve the targeting of education financing to the poorest populations in a province, to increase the efficient use of these funds, and to tap available intergovernmental transfer mechanisms to achieve these objectives. The objectives were consistent with the Bank's Country Assistance Strategy (CAS). This strategy focused on : (a) efficient use of resources, including teachers and facilities; (b) more equitable funding mechanisms for basic education in poor rural areas; and (c) support for institution building to increase the capacity of education authorities at all levels to carry out their responsibilities within the context of decentralization. The project consisted of two programs. The National Program (NP) included 91 counties in the provinces of Guizhou, Hainan, Heilongjiang, Hunan, Shanxi and Yunnan. The Qinba Village Primary Education Program (QVPEP) included 26 counties in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Ningxia. The National Program grew out of the GOC's original 1995 request. The QVPEP, originally part of the multi-sectoral Qinba Mountains Poverty Reduction Project (QMPRP), was, part way through the original preparation process, when it was included in the BEIV project at the specific request of the GOC. The GOC, particularly the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the MOE, pointed out that experience derived from the Bank-supported Southwest Poverty Reduction Project showed integrated multi-sectoral projects were more efficient when sectoral line ministries assumed primary responsibility for project design, preparation, counterpart financing, and implementation of specific sectoral components. Therefore, the MOF agreed that the MOE would have primary responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the basic education sub-component of the Qinba Mountains Poverty Reduction Project. Thus, the MOF requested the MOE and the provincial education bureaus of Sichuan, Ningxia and Shaanxi to take responsibility for the design, preparation and implementation of the QVPEP. The QVPEP, implemented in the same counties and townships as the QMPRP, supported the QMPRP's multi-sectoral approach to poverty reduction. The goals of the QVPEP program were similar to those of the National Program; all of the financing, implementation, and monitoring were the same. Therefore, combining the QVPEP with the NP's other six provinces had merit. - 2 -  3.2 Revised Objective: Not Applicable 3.3 Original Components: The National Program comprised activities in three project components. The components were: (i) access to nine-year compulsory education; (ii) enhancement of the quality of education; and (iii) improvements in education management. Because of reduced funding from the QMPRP credit and the more aggressive poverty targeting, the QVPEP program focused only on primary schools. Investments were at the village level in Ningxia, Shaanxi and Sichuan Provinces. These poor villages had major problems in achieving their primary education goals. Therefore, it was agreed that the QVPEP would focus on the first five or six years of education. (Primary education in some provinces was five years, and six years in others.) Investments in both the National Program and the QVPEP supported the construction of schools, upgrades in the quality and reliability of teaching services, and new ways to ensure access to these services by the absolute poor. The QVPEP had the same components as the NP but a limited number of sub-components. National Program - Component 1: Access to Nine Year Compulsory Education - The access to nine year compulsory education component included upgrading physical facilities, improving instructional equipment at primary and junior secondary schools, expanding scholarship programs to include student assistance programs, and introducing a pilot textbook rental scheme in Shanxi Province. The goals of the textbook rental were to reduce the cost of textbooks to parents and remove a barrier to basic education. National Program - Component 2. Quality Enhancement Component