FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No: PAD3609 Public Disclosure Authorized INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT
ON A
PROPOSED CREDIT IN THE AMOUNT OF EURO 18.2 MILLION (US$20 MILLION EQUIVALENT) FROM THE
Public Disclosure Authorized IDA18 REGIONAL SUB-WINDOW FOR REFUGEES AND HOST COMMUNITIES
AND
A PROPOSED GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 87.2 MILLION (US$120 MILLION EQUIVALENT) INCLUDING US$20 MILLION EQUIVALENT FROM THE IDA18 REGIONAL SUB-WINDOW FOR REFUGEES AND HOST COMMUNITIES
TO THE
Public Disclosure Authorized REPUBLIC OF NIGER
FOR A
NIGER LEARNING IMPROVEMENT FOR RESULTS IN EDUCATION PROJECT
March 16, 2020
Education Global Practice
Public Disclosure Authorized Africa Region
The World Bank
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.
The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS
(Exchange Rate Effective January 31, 2020)
Currency Unit = Euros ( EUR ) EUR 0.90604331 = US$1 SDR 0.72624278 = US$1
FISCAL YEAR January 1 - December 31
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
AAP Annual Action Plan AFD French Development Agency (Agence Francaise de Développement) ARMP Public Procurement Regulation Agency (Agence de Régulation des Marchés Publics) BNEE National Office for Environmental Studies (Bureau National des Études Environnementales) CAPED Pedagogical Advisory Unit (Cellule d’Animation Pédagogique) CCV Comparison of CVs CERC Contingency Emergency Response Component CERD Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination CGDES Decentralized School Management Committee at the Secondary Level (Comité de Gestion Décentralisée des Etablissements Scolaires) COGEP School Management Committee at the Primary Level (Comité de Gestion des Écoles Primaires) CONFEMEN Conference of the Ministers of Education of Francophone Countries (Conférence des Ministres de l’Éducation des États et Gouvernements de la Francophonie) COOPI Italian International Cooperation (Cooperazione Internazionale Italia) CPF Country Partnership Framework CQS Selection Based on the Consultants’ Qualifications DA Designated Account DDES Departmental Directorate for Secondary Education (Direction Départementale de l’Enseignement Secondaire) DEP Directorate of Studies and Programing (Direction des Etudes et de la Programmation) DFIC Directorate of Preservice and In-service Training (Direction de la Formation Initiale et Continue) DFIL Disbursement and Financial Information Letter DP Development Partner DPI Directorate of Information and Technology Promotion DREP Regional Directorate of Primary Education (Direction Régionale de l’Enseignement Primaire) DRES Regional Directorate of Secondary Education (Direction régionale de l’Enseignement
The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Secondaire) DSI Directorate of Statistics and IT services (Direction des Statistiques et de l’Informatique) ECVMA National Survey on Household Living Conditions and Agriculture (Enquête Nationale sur les Conditions de Vie des Ménages et l’Agriculture) EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment EMIS Education Management Information System ENI Teachers’ Training College for the Primary Cycle (Ecole Normale d’Instituteur) ENS Teachers’ Training College for the Secondary Cycle (Ecole Normale Supérieure) ESCP Environmental and Social Commitment Plan ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework ESS Environmental and Social Safeguard FCSE Sectoral Trust fund for Education and Training (Fonds Commun Sectoriel de l’Éducation) FCV Fragility, Conflict, and Violence FM Financial Management GBV Gender-based Violence GDP Gross Domestic Product GER Gross Enrollment Rate GIZ German Development Agency (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) GPE Global Partnership for Education GOLD Governance of Extractives for Local Development Project GRM Grievance Redress Mechanism GRS Grievance Redress Service HR Human Resource ICT Information and Communication Technology IDP Internally Displaced Person IFR Interim Financial Report IPF Investment Project Financing IRR Internal Rate of Return ISA Implementation Support Agency IT Information Technology JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency LEG Local Education Group LIRE Learning Improvement for Results in Education M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MAB Most Advantageous Bid MAP Most Advantageous Proposal MEP Ministry of Primary Education (Ministère de l’Enseignement Primaire, de l’Alphabétisation, de la Promotion des Langues Nationales, et de l’Education Civique) MES Ministry of Secondary Education (Ministère des Enseignements Secondaires) NGO Nongovernmental Organization NPV Net Present Value PAEQ Support to Quality Education Project (Projet d’Appui à une Éducation de Qualité) PARCA Refugees and Host Communities Support Project (Projet d’Appui aux Réfugiés et aux Communautés d’Accueil)
The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
PASEC CONFEMEN Educational System Analysis Program (Programme d'Analyse des Systèmes Éducatifs de la CONFEMEN) PBC Performance-based Contract PCR Primary Completion Rate PCU Project Coordination Unit PDES Plan for Economic and Social Development (Plan de Développement Economique et Social) PDO Project Development Objective PIM Project Implementation Manual PMAQ Targeted Minimum Package for Quality Education (Paquet Minimum Accès sur la Qualité) PPSD Project Procurement Strategy for Development PSC Project Steering Committee PSEF Education and Training Sector Program (Plan Sectoriel de l’Éducation et de la Formation) PTSEF Education and Training Sector Program Transition Plan (Plan de Transition du Secteur de l’Education et de la Formation) QCBS Quality and Cost Based Selection RESEN Country Education Status Report (Rapport d’État du Système Éducatif National) RFB Request for Bid RFQ Request for Quotation RMR Risk Mitigation Regime RSW Sub-Window for Refugees and Host Communities RTSU Regional Technical Support Unit SDDCI Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth Strategy (Stratégie de Développement Durable et Croissance Inclusive) SDI Service Delivery Indicator SDR Special Drawing Rights SEAH Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment SEP Stakeholder Engagement Plan SMC School Management Committee SOE Statement of Expenditure SWEDD Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project TA Technical Assistance TMC Technical Monitoring Committee ToR Terms of Reference UAM University Abdou Moumouni UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UP Pedagogical Unit (Unité Pédagogiques) USAID United States Agency for International Development WB World Bank XOF West African CFA Franc
The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Regional Vice President: Hafez M. H. Ghanem Country Director: Soukeyna Kane Regional Director: Amit Dar Practice Manager: Meskerem Mulatu Task Team Leader: Pamela Mulet
The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
TABLE OF CONTENTS DATASHEET ...... 1 I. STRATEGIC CONTEXT...... 7 A. Country Context...... 7 B. Sectoral and Institutional Context ...... 8 C. Relevance to Higher Level Objectives ...... 17 II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION...... 17 A. Project Development Objective ...... 17 B. Project Components ...... 18 C. Project Cost and financing ...... 28 D. Project Beneficiaries ...... 29 E. Results Chain ...... 30 F. Rationale for World Bank Involvement and Role of Partners ...... 30 G. Lessons Learned and Reflected in the Project Design ...... 31 III. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ...... 34 A. Institutional and Implementation Arrangements ...... 34 B. Results Monitoring and Evaluation Arrangements...... 35 C. Sustainability ...... 36 IV. PROJECT APPRAISAL SUMMARY ...... 36 A. Technical, Economic and Financial Analysis ...... 36 B. Fiduciary ...... 37 C. Legal Operational Policies ...... 39 D. Environmental and Social ...... 39 V. GRIEVANCE REDRESS SERVICES ...... 40 VI. KEY RISKS ...... 41 VII. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING ...... 43 ANNEX 1: Implementation Arrangements and Support Plan...... 55 ANNEX 2: Targeting Methodology...... 80 ANNEX 3: Economic and Financial Analysis ...... 86 ANNEX 4: Matrix of Partner Interventions ...... 93 ANNEX 5: Refugee Context ...... 94 ANNEX 6: Contribution to Niger’s Risk Mitigation Strategy ...... 98 ANNEX 7: References ...... 101
The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
DATASHEET
BASIC INFORMATION BASIC_INFO_TABLE Country(ies) Project Name
Niger Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project
Project ID Financing Instrument Environmental and Social Risk Classification
Investment Project P168779 Moderate Financing
Financing & Implementation Modalities
[ ] Multiphase Programmatic Approach (MPA) [✓] Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC)
[ ] Series of Projects (SOP) [✓] Fragile State(s) [ ] Disbursement-linked Indicators (DLIs) [ ] Small State(s)
[ ] Financial Intermediaries (FI) [ ] Fragile within a non-fragile Country
[ ] Project-Based Guarantee [ ] Conflict [ ] Deferred Drawdown [ ] Responding to Natural or Man-made Disaster
[ ] Alternate Procurement Arrangements (APA)
Expected Approval Date Expected Closing Date
06-Apr-2020 30-Apr-2026
Bank/IFC Collaboration
No
Proposed Development Objective(s)
To improve the quality of teaching and learning conditions in select regions, and strengthen education planning and management
Components
Component Name Cost (US$, millions)
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Improving Teaching Practices 72.00
Promoting Learning for Girls and Boys 18.00
Strengthening Systems and Capacities for the Delivery of Education Services 36.00
Project Administration and Coordination 10.00
Contingency Emergency Response Component 0.00
Unallocated 4.00
Organizations
Borrower: Republic of Niger Implementing Agency: Ministry of Secondary Education Ministry of Primary Education
PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions)
SUMMARY-NewFin1
Total Project Cost 140.00
Total Financing 140.00
of which IBRD/IDA 140.00
Financing Gap 0.00
DETAILS-NewFinEnh1
World Bank Group Financing
International Development Association (IDA) 140.00
IDA Credit 20.00
IDA Grant 120.00
IDA Resources (in US$, Millions)
Credit Amount Grant Amount Guarantee Amount Total Amount Niger 20.00 120.00 0.00 140.00
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
National PBA 0.00 100.00 0.00 100.00
Refugee 20.00 20.00 0.00 40.00
Total 20.00 120.00 0.00 140.00
Expected Disbursements (in US$, Millions)
WB Fiscal Year 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Annual 0.53 10.09 17.21 22.08 20.00 17.55 12.54
Cumulative 0.53 10.62 27.83 49.91 69.91 87.46 100.00
INSTITUTIONAL DATA
Practice Area (Lead) Contributing Practice Areas Education
Climate Change and Disaster Screening This operation has been screened for short and long-term climate change and disaster risks
SYSTEMATIC OPERATIONS RISK-RATING TOOL (SORT)
Risk Category Rating
1. Political and Governance ⚫ High
2. Macroeconomic ⚫ Substantial
3. Sector Strategies and Policies ⚫ Substantial
4. Technical Design of Project or Program ⚫ Substantial
5. Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability ⚫ Substantial
6. Fiduciary ⚫ Substantial
7. Environment and Social ⚫ Moderate
8. Stakeholders ⚫ Substantial
9. Other ⚫ High
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
10. Overall ⚫ High
COMPLIANCE
Policy Does the project depart from the CPF in content or in other significant respects? [ ] Yes [✓] No
Does the project require any waivers of Bank policies? [ ] Yes [✓] No
Environmental and Social Standards Relevance Given its Context at the Time of Appraisal
E & S Standards Relevance
Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts Relevant
Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure Relevant
Labor and Working Conditions Relevant
Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management Relevant
Community Health and Safety Relevant
Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement Not Currently Relevant
Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Not Currently Relevant Resources
Indigenous Peoples/Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Not Currently Relevant Local Communities
Cultural Heritage Relevant
Financial Intermediaries Not Currently Relevant
NOTE: For further information regarding the World Bank’s due diligence assessment of the Project’s potential environmental and social risks and impacts, please refer to the Project’s Appraisal Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS).
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Legal Covenants
Sections and Description The Recipient shall ensure that the MPE and the MSE, not later than six (6) months after the Effective Date, recruit and/or designate focal points responsible for the coordination, with the Project Coordination Unit, of the following aspects of the Project: (i) procurement; (ii) monitoring and evaluation; (iii) financial management; (iv) accounting; and (vi) information and communications technology in accordance with Section 1.A.1 of Schedule 2.
Sections and Description The PCU shall, not later than three (3) months after the Effective Date, recruit and thereafter maintain, throughout the Project implementation period: (i) a monitoring and evaluation specialist; and (ii) two international fiduciary experts, each of whose qualifications, experience and terms of reference shall be acceptable to the Association, in accordance with Section 1.A.4(c) of Schedule 2.
Sections and Description The Recipient shall, not later than six (6) months after the Effective Date, establish and thereafter maintain, throughout the Project implementation period, Regional Technical Support Units (“RTSUs”) in each of the five (5) deprived regions of Diffa, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillabéri and Zinder, to help ensure coordination of activities under Parts 1.2, 1.3, 2, and 3.1 of the Project at the regional level, each with mandate, composition and resources satisfactory to the Association, as shall be further described in the Project Implementation Manual, in accordance with Section 1.A.5 of Schedule 2.
Sections and Description The Recipient shall, not later than six (6) months after the Effective Date, recruit and thereafter maintain, throughout the Project implementation period, an external technical expert to act as an independent verifier, in accordance with Section I.E.1 of Schedule 2.
Sections and Description The Recipient shall, not later than one (1) month after the effective date, establish a Project Steering Committee in accordance with Section I.A.2(a) of Schedule 2.
Sections and Description The Recipient shall, not later than one (1) month after the effective date, establish a Project Technical Monitoring Committee, in accordance with Section I.A.3(a)of Schedule 2.
Sections and Description The PCU shall, not later than one (1) month after the Effective Date, (i) recruit and thereafter maintain, throughout the Project implementation period, (A) an environmental safeguards specialist; (B) a social safeguards specialist; (C) an information and communication technology specialist; (D) an international auditor; and (E) an accountant, and (ii) acquire a computerized accounting information system in accordance with Section I.A.4(b) of Schedule 2.
Sections and Description The PCU shall, not later than six (6) months after the Effective Date, recruit and thereafter maintain, throughout the Project implementation period, (i) an external auditor; (ii)five (5) regional accounting assistants; and (iii) five (5)
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regional internal controllers, in accordance with Section I.A.4(d) of Schedule 2.
Conditions
Type Description Effectiveness The Association is satisfied that the Recipient has an adequate refugee protection framework
Type Description Effectiveness The Recipient has prepared and adopted a Project Implementation Manual in form and substance satisfactory to the Association, in accordance with Section I.B of Schedule 2
Type Description Effectiveness The recipient has recruited the following key staff for the Project Coordination Unit, each on the basis of terms of reference, qualifications, an experience satisfactory to the Association and in accordance with the provision of Section I.A.4 to Schedule 2: (i) a project coordinator: (ii) a financial management specialist; and (iii) a procurement specialist
Type Description Disbursement No withdrawal shall be made under Category (2) unless and until the Recipient has adopted the PBC Manual in a manner satisfactory to the Association, in accordance with Section I.B.1(b)
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
I. STRATEGIC CONTEXT
A. Country Context
1. Niger is a vast, Sahelian country with a population of about 21.5 million people. Although the country has made progress in lowering poverty rates, this drop has been outweighed by rapid population growth rates, resulting in a large increase in the absolute number of poor people. Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was US$895 in 2015 (constant 2011 U.S. dollar), making Niger one of the poorest nations in the world. Between 2005 and 2014, the incidence of income poverty fell from approximately 54 percent to approximately 45 percent. However, the absolute number of people living in poverty rose from 6.8 million in 2005 to 8.2 million in 2014, and overall population growth accelerated from 3.1 percent between 1988 and 2001 to 3.9 percent between 2001 and 2012. The country now has the highest fertility rate in the world, averaging 7.6 children per woman, and has simultaneously seen a rapid decline in child mortality. The combination of high demographic growth, depletion of natural resources, and weak state institutions represent a significant risk factor that increases Niger’s fragility. These factors have also constrained welfare more generally: Niger has consistently been ranked near to last in the United Nations Human Development Index since 2010.
2. Niger’s low human development outcomes are a binding constraint to promoting growth and shared prosperity. Life expectancy at birth is estimated at about 61 years. The under-five mortality rate is 104 per 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality rate is 553 per 100,000 live births—higher than the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 546. Only 52 percent of children receive a complete set of vaccinations and 44 percent of children under five are stunted and, as a result, are at risk of cognitive and physical limitations that can last a lifetime. The World Bank Human Capital Index shows that Nigeriens born today will only reach 32 percent of their productivity potential, due to serious deficiencies in health and education services. Equally worrying is the fact that learning poverty has been estimated at 99 percent in Niger, meaning that most children cannot read and understand a simple text by the age of 10.1
3. The country is in the heart of a turbulent region, with deteriorating security conditions. The most immediate vulnerability is related to the growing regional insecurity and violent extremist groups, which threaten the country’s stability and risk to fuel intercommunal tensions. Limited economic opportunities for youth, difficulty accessing land, and low education levels further contribute to the challenging socioeconomic situation. Further, the context of insecurity, and the infiltration by insurgent groups, makes youth vulnerable to radicalization. In addition, climate hazards such as recurrent flooding on the one hand, as well as increasingly frequent droughts on the other, contribute to rural poverty, particularly for vulnerable populations, and further exacerbate public service delivery challenges, given the limited capacity within the country to respond to natural disasters.2
1 This new indicator developed by the World Bank is based on a new global database developed in partnership with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics. 2 Both floods and droughts are expected to increase in frequency in Niger in the coming years, as is extreme temperature fluctuation. The lack of disaster response mechanisms, absence of a coherent early warning system, limited capacity to manage climate-related diseases, and limited means to carefully manage water resources contribute to increased vulnerability of the population due to climate hazards.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
4. The security and displacement situation exert additional pressure on services and affect hosting regions already characterized by high poverty levels. Various regional conflicts, including the crisis in Mali, the Boko Haram regional crisis in the Lake Chad Basin, and rising insecurity in northern states of Nigeria, are causing major displacement toward and within Niger and are having an adverse impact on economic activities and access to public services. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates in November 2019, the country is hosting close to 400,000 people displaced by conflict. This includes both refugees from Nigeria (153,000) and Mali (58,000), located in the southern Diffa and Tillaberi-Tahoua regions, respectively; 27,000 Nigerien returnees from Nigeria (Diffa) and 134,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) (Diffa and Tillaberi-Tahoua).3 While the situation is set to continue in the short and medium term, the inflow and extended presence of forcibly displaced people puts additional pressures on the hosting regions already characterized by lack of access to basic services, especially education and health. Across all forced displacement situations, the conditions for women and girls are even more difficult. Gender-based violence (GBV) is highly prevalent and it is estimated that 43 percent of women nationwide have experienced physical violence at some point in their lives, while 28 percent have experienced sexual violence (UNHCR 2010). Conflict, militarization, and insecurity in some areas of the country may further exacerbate preexisting risks of GBV.
B. Sectoral and Institutional Context
5. The formal education system in Niger consists of two years of preprimary school, six years of primary education, four years of lower secondary education, and three years of upper secondary education. The Government considers primary and lower secondary education as basic education (Base I and Base II). Primary education, provided primarily by the public sector, is mandatory, and the official school enrollment age is seven. Education is administered by a complex and sometimes overlapping network of six ministries, including the Ministry of Primary Education (Ministère de l’Enseignement Primaire, de l’Alphabétisation, de la Promotion des Langues Nationales, et de l’Education Civique, MEP), which is responsible for preprimary, primary (public and private), and nonformal education (literacy, Koranic schools) and the Ministry of Secondary Education (Ministère des Enseignements Secondaires, MES), which manages general secondary education.4
6. As described earlier, Niger’s education system is evolving in a context marked by heavy demographic pressure, limited resources, and risks of major vulnerabilities. The entering population for the first year of primary school is expected to grow from 730,000 currently to more than 1 million children each year until 2030. In response, the Government of Niger has prioritized the education and training sectors in its budget; however additional resources and more efficient spending will be necessary to keep pace with growing demand for education, provision of school spaces, and teacher recruitment and training, among others. In addition, risks related to drought, food insecurity, floods, population
3 The displaced in the Diffa region are accommodated in a range of spontaneous sites, villages and towns, and the Syam Forage refugee camp. The Malian refugees mostly live in rural areas and camps that allow them to maintain the nomadic, pastoral lifestyle they practiced before their flight. 4 Other ministries include the Ministry of Professional and Technical Education (Ministère des Enseignements Professionnels et Techniques), the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation (Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation); the Ministry of Cultural Renaissance, Arts, and Social Modernization (Ministère de la Renaissance Culturelle, Arts et Modernisation Sociale); and the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports).
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
movements caused by armed conflict, and teacher strikes regularly disrupt educational service delivery in the country.
Key Issues Facing the Sector
7. Niger’s education system faces numerous challenges, including (a) disparities in access to education; (b) low quality of education; (c) weak sector management and governance; and (d) insufficient and inefficient financing. In addition, the influx of refugees from neighboring countries, as well as IDPs, estimated at approximately 400,000, including school-age children, is exacerbating regional inequities.5
Disparities in Access to Education
8. The number of students enrolled in the education system has increased over the past 10 years but remains low. The average annual growth between 2009–2010 and 2016–2017 was 16.5 percent in preprimary, 7 percent in primary, 13.9 percent in lower secondary, and 16.7 percent in upper secondary. Overall, students enrolled in the basic education cycle (primary and lower secondary levels) increased from 1.98 million in 2009–2010 to 3.4 million students in 2016–2017. The public sector has supported the largest share of this increase and enrolls 96 percent and 87 percent of students at the primary and lower secondary levels, respectively. However, the schooling coverage progressed slowly over the same period and remains low in comparison with countries in the subregion. In 2016–2017, the gross enrollment rate (GER) was only 11.8 percent in preprimary, 72.2 percent in primary, 30.7 percent in lower secondary, and 7.6 percent in upper secondary (against, 3.9 percent, 60.1 percent, 17 percent, and 3.6 percent, respectively in 2009–2010). This means that the education system does not have the capacity to enroll much of its school-age population and keep pace with the demographic growth. In addition, many students leave the education system without completing any cycle. Only 8 percent of students who enter primary school access upper secondary school, and only 4 percent complete the secondary education cycle.
9. Both supply- and demand-side constraints negatively impact access and retention in the Nigerien education system. Overall, 51 percent of children, ages 7–12, and 60 percent of children, ages 13–16, are considered out of school.6 Although there is a dearth of accurate information on the out-of- school population, these numbers likely include children attending religious schools (Makarantas7). Educational opportunities are unequal and vary significantly according to the place of residence, gender, and social background. They are particularly unfavorable for girls and rural students, but all the regions, except for Niamey, are affected by high out-of-school rates, as shown in figure 1.
5 As stated earlier, according to UNHCR (November 2019) there are close to 400,000 forcibly displaced people, over half of whom are refugees from neighboring countries (Mali, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso). The Government’s response to refugees, and estimates of student enrollment, are provided under Government Response. A full annex (annex 5) is also provided. 6 The Country Education Status Report (Rapport d’État du Système Éducatif National [RESEN] 2018) including both those children who have never enrolled and those who have dropped out. 7 Makaranta is the name in Hausa for a traditional Koranic school. The main educational component is the memorization of the Koran. Literacy and numeracy are not typically taught.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Figure 1. Percentage of Out-of-school Children Among Population Ages 7–12 (by gender, area, and region)
80 74.8 70 57.8 60 55.6 55.4 53.1 55.5 45.3 50 42.7 43.7 39.6 40 30 20 15.9 10 7 0
Source: Niger Education Country Status Report (2018). Note: *Regions with large refugee populations.
10. On the supply side, constraints may include absence of a school or long distance to schools. In addition, retention is severely affected by schooling discontinuity whereby a school does not offer all levels of a cycle: only 60 percent of primary schools in Niger, enrolling 50 percent of students, offer a complete cycle of education. Where supply exists, parents may have a perception that public school does not suit their religious or cultural beliefs, and therefore refrain from enrolling their children. Demand-side constraints are also financial in nature. Although primary school does not have formal fees, some parents are unable to afford the informal costs of sending their children to school (transport, food, books,8and so on) or prefer to keep them at home to support agricultural and domestic chores. This perceived short- term opportunity cost is aggravated by a lack of confidence in the public-school system.
11. Girls are especially disadvantaged in accessing quality education services, especially in rural areas. Expansion of access to basic education has been accompanied by progress in the gender parity index that improved from 0.81 in 2010 to 0.87 in 2017. However, a significant gender gap persists and increases as students move through the education system. There is gender parity in urban areas, but the gender parity index is only 44 percent in rural areas. In primary school, the GER was 90 percent for boys compared to 79 percent for girls in 2016. The primary completion rate (PCR) stands at 64 percent for boys and 56 percent for girls. Indeed, it is not only initial access that is a challenge, but higher dropout and repetition rates for girls who do make it to school. In 2016, about seven out of 10 girls completed basic cycle 1. The gap continues to widen by education level: at the lower secondary level, the GER is 44 percent for boys and 36 percent for girls, while the completion rate is 20 percent for boys and 15 percent for girls. Ethnographic work by Perlman, Adamu, and Wodon (2018) suggests that there are a mix of obstacles which lead most girls to not pursue their education beyond the primary level in Niger. Social norms and gender roles have a significant impact, especially in forced withdrawal of married adolescents from school. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that Niger has the highest prevalence rate of child
8 As a policy, textbooks at the primary level are produced by the Government; however, they often do not make it to the hands of children within schools, due to challenges in distribution.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
marriage in the world, with 77 percent of the girls being married before the age of 18 (Demographic and Health Survey 2012) and 28 percent before the age of 15.
12. Niger’s security situation further complicates the delivery of basic education services in certain areas. The regions of Diffa, Tahoua, and Tillaberi, already characterized by high levels of poverty, are particularly affected by attacks by armed groups and extremists resulting in forced displacement of populations and school closures. For the academic year 2018–2019, more than a hundred schools have been closed due terrorist threats on teachers, population, and security forces and burning of classrooms.9 Since October 2018, 30 schools have been closed in the Diffa region due to insecurity. With the recent deterioration of the situation along the border with Burkina Faso, 128 primary schools and 17 secondary schools have suspended their activities in the Tillaberi region. In response, since March 2017, the Government of Niger declared a state of emergency in 12 departments in the regions of Tillaberi and Tahoua along the border of Burkina Faso and Mali. The state of emergency includes a travel restriction which paralyzes the educational support functions of school authorities in 266 schools attended by more than 30,000 children.
Low Quality of Education
13. For children enrolled in the education system, weak education outcomes translate into a severe learning crisis. The Human Capital Index shows that children in Niger can expect to complete 5.3 years of preprimary, primary, and secondary school by age 18. However, when years of schooling are adjusted for quality of learning, this is only equivalent to 2.6 years, with a learning gap of 2.7 years. Indeed, very few students master basic skills at the completion of the elementary education cycle. The 2014 CONFEMEN Educational System Analysis Program (Programme d'analyse des systèmes éducatifs de la CONFEMEN, PASEC) survey showed that at the beginning of primary school, more than nine out of 10 students have low reading scores and nearly three-quarters of students, at the same level, have significant difficulties in mathematics. According to the same source, at the end of the primary schooling cycle (Grade 6), less than 10 percent of pupils perform at adequate reading and mathematics levels.
14. Important factors which contribute to low learning outcomes are (a) poor quality of teaching; (b) severely limited teaching and learning materials; (c) poorly managed curriculum and instruction rollout; and (d) limited school readiness as elaborated in paragraphs 15 to 18.
15. Poor quality of teaching is largely due to (a) a shortage of qualified teachers; (b) low quality teacher training; and (c) poor supervision and management of teachers.
(a) While the teacher diploma is the official level of qualification for primary school teachers in Niger, in practice qualified teachers represent only 12 percent of the teaching staff. Eleven teachers’ training colleges (Ecole Normale d’Instituteurs, ENIs) spread throughout the national territory, have production capacity, which is, in theory, enough to meet the additional needs of 6,000 primary school teachers per year. However, this is not the case in lower and upper secondary schools where training is only offered by the Teachers’ Training College for the
9 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Niger, bulletin humanitaire October and November 2018, retrieved from https://www.unocha.org/niger.
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Secondary Cycle, (Ecole Normale Supérieure, ENS). Moreover, the entry criteria and the training framework at ENIs and ENSs do not guarantee the quality of incoming and outgoing applicants.
(b) Teacher training is of low quality. Preservice training offers extremely limited opportunities for practical training, and both pre and in-service professional development opportunities are hampered by the lack of skilled trainers, absence of mechanisms to identify training needs, the low base of content and pedagogical competencies of both trainers and teachers, and lethargic coaching units.10
(c) Teacher subject and pedagogical competency is low. A service delivery indicator (SDI) survey revealed that less than 1 percent of the primary teachers tested had the minimum level of knowledge to teach French and mathematics at the primary education level. Increasingly concerned with the underperformance of both students and teachers, in 2017, the Government launched a national assessment of primary school contractual teachers11 (representing 70 percent of the teaching staff), which showed that only 34 percent of them met the minimum requirements. This stocktaking exercise was considered as a necessary first step in supporting teacher management and deployment reforms.
(d) There is limited supervision and accountability of teachers. According to the SDI survey, during unannounced inspection visits, 16.6 percent of teachers were absent from school, and 27 percent were absent from the classroom. On average, the actual teaching time in public schools is just over 4 hours per day, or nearly 1.5 hours below the policy. Furthermore, school directors are not equipped with the necessary skills to effectively manage schools, as they receive little training. In addition, the existing 470 school inspectorates in the eight regions are currently unable to play a critical role in improving teaching given the inadequate pedagogical support staff to teacher ratio and limited resources.
16. Weak educational inputs in the classroom and weak management of resources also hamper the learning process. While the student-teacher ratio in primary schools at the national level has improved with a ratio of 37 to 1, there are large disparities across regions. For example, the differences range from 26 to 1 in Diffa to 45 to 1 in Maradi. The same holds true for the student-teacher ratio at the secondary level. In 29 percent of cases, the distribution of teachers is based on criteria other than the number of pupils, which reflects the lack of coherence in the management of teachers. Poor instructional conditions and weak management are also characterized by a lack of textbooks and guides and an imbalanced distribution of resources. The SDI survey showed that 91.3 percent of the pupils surveyed did not have textbooks and only 23.4 percent of public schools had minimum equipment.
17. A complex curriculum reform in national languages has been under way for more than a decade. Planned in 2004 and launched in 2009, the MEP officially started its piloting in 2012. The curriculum reform was subsequently rolled out in Grade 1 with five national languages in 500 pilot schools in 2015
10 Occasional professional development opportunities are provided through classroom training, distance learning, training through pedagogical advisory units at the local level (Pedagogical Advisory Unit [Cellule d’Animation Pédagogique, CAPED] and mini-CAPED[CAPED at school level]), and inspection visits. 11 In Niger, only 24 percent of teaching staff are civil servants. The majority of teachers (75.4 percent), are ‘contractual teachers’ (enseignants contractuels) with fixed-term contracts and reduced salaries, and often no prior training. A minority of teachers (0.6 percent) are volunteers.
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and extended to 5,000 schools in 2017 for Grades 1, 2, and 3. This reform faces serious challenges in terms of planning, resource mobilization, and execution. In the face of budgetary uncertainty and the many implementation challenges, the Government agreed to put the reform on hold and carry out an external evaluation to assess its technical viability and financial sustainability with solutions for better budgeting and planning in subsequent years. Meanwhile, the MEP revised the 1988 version of the primary school curriculum to provide a simplified program that will allow teachers to teach to the level of their students. Using this new program (Programme rénové), finalized in September 2019, the MEP plans to develop basic structured lessons and exercises to provide teachers with detailed pedagogical guidance.
18. Young Nigeriens entering primary school are not school ready. In Niger, only 11.8 percent of children ages five–six are enrolled in a form of preschool education (of which 50 percent are girls). This is one of the lowest rates in the West and Central Africa region-—where the average is 29 percent. Preschool provision is fragmented between public (73 percent), private (11 percent), and community providers, including traditional and koranic schools (16 percent), all operating with different standards in terms of physical infrastructure and profile of educators. This subsector is still nascent and the Government’s objective of reaching a 14 percent preschool enrollment rate by 2022 remains modest. Only two of the existing 11 ENIs, in Dosso and Diffa regions, offer training for preprimary teachers.
Weak Sector Management and Governance
19. Management of the sector is constrained by lack of reliable information, and weak implementation, which affects education service delivery. This includes the following:
(a) Weak governance and accountability. The MEP and MES are faced with numerous constraints regarding the management of personnel, including limited control over staff, inequitable deployment and utilization of teaching staff, lack of supervision and regulation mechanisms at all levels of human resource (HR) management, staff turnover, lack of management tools and software, and lack of communication between and within ministries of education. The inefficiencies of teacher management are symptomatic of a lack of high managerial and technical capacity to provide a clear strategic and operational direction for the sector and limited capacity for personnel planning, management, and supervision.
(b) There is no systematic approach to assess student learning. Because Niger does not have a national system with adequate structure, mechanisms, and skilled staff to carry out large-scale standardized assessments of student outcomes, the Ministries of Education resort to international comparative assessments such as PASEC or SDI and occasionally administer numeracy, literacy, or subject tests on a sample or an ad hoc basis. In the face of limited assessment data, the Government is unable to act upon evidence and align system elements to address learning gaps.
(c) There is limited capacity to produce, manage, and analyze education data for planning purposes at all levels (national, regional, and school). This constrains the Government’s ability to pilot approaches in the education system and introduce accountability and transparency mechanisms. Data are generally collected using cumbersome paper-based questionnaires at the school level and processed at the central level.
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(d) The move toward a higher degree of decentralization presents both challenges and opportunities for the education sector. Niger started to operationalize the decentralization of the state with the first local elections in 2004 and the establishment of regional councils in 2011. However, the process remains largely incomplete and regional and local authorities (Collectivités Territoriales) and the Regional Education Directorates do not perform their intended role. The main constraints include (i) weak management capacity; (ii) unclear division of labor; (iii) lack of human and financial resources and inadequate financing mechanisms for local authorities; and (iii) absence of mechanisms to ensure performance and accountability at all levels.12
Insufficient Sector Financing and Internal Inefficiencies
20. Insufficient sector financing. To meet the increasing demand for education, the Government mobilized significant financial resources: in 2016, public spending on education represented 20 percent of total public expenditures and 5.2 percent of GDP, compared to 16 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively in 2008. Yet, a volatile economic and financial environment, difficulties in further mobilizing domestic resources, and increased spending on national security (17.5 percent of total public expenditure in 2018 against 13.6 percent in 2014) are affecting the state’s capacity in financing the education sector. In 2018, public spending on education decreased to 17.3 percent of total public expenditures. In addition, budget implementation is weak, with an average rate of 55 percent for the education investment budget over the past years. In a tight budgetary environment, Niger is increasingly dependent on foreign aid: in 2016, external financing represented 33 percent of the state’s total revenues. In the education sector, 87 percent of the budget is funded by the state. However, 65 percent of foreign aid which complements the education budget is implemented outside the Finance Law and state financial circuits, which raises issues in terms of alignment of the interventions of development partners (DPs) with the national program.13
21. High repetition and dropout rates underscore serious internal efficiency issues. In 2016–2017, the repetition rate was 3.6 percent in primary, 20.5 percent in lower secondary, and 19.7 percent in upper secondary. While repetition in primary school has decreased since 2010, it has increased in secondary school and reaches the highest level in the subregion. The internal efficiency coefficients are 82.3 percent in primary school and 53.2 percent in lower secondary school, meaning 17 percent and 45 percent of resources, respectively, allocated to these cycles are wasted due to high repetition and dropout rates. Years of expected schooling are progressing particularly slowly: on average, students completed 5 to 6 years of education in 2016–2017, against 4.7 years in 2009–2010. Although Niger is one of the Sub- Saharan countries with the highest share of public spending on education as a percentage of GDP (5.9 percent), its school-life expectancy remains much lower than the regional average of 8.1 years in comparator countries, which underlines the inefficiency of the education system.
Government Strategy
22. Strengthening human capital features among the key priorities of Niger’s strategic vision for 2035 as elaborated in the Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth Strategy (Stratégie de
12 Progress was made in 2016 with the adoption of a decree stipulating the transfer of resources and competences to municipalities and regional councils in four areas, including education, but this process remains ineffective despite the adoption of the operationalization plan 2018–2021 outlining concrete activities, evaluation of resources, and implementation and assessment modalities. 13 RESEN. 2018.
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Développement Durable et Croissance Inclusive, SDDCI) (2035). The strategy proposes a long-term plan for a prosperous and peaceful country with a diversified and dynamic economy that can create jobs for its young population. In line with this vision, the Economic and Social Development Strategy (Plan de Développement Economique et Social, PDES) for 2017–2021 aims to bring about a transformation of the country at all levels and eradicate poverty and inequality. Niger places high priority on the education sector as a key driver of human capital and economic growth as articulated in Program 3 of the PDES. Specific objectives include (a) increasing enrollment in the education and training system; (b) offering remediation to out-of-school youths; (c) raising the literacy rate; (e) improving the quality of education; (f) increasing the efficiency of education management; (g) increasing capacity for research and innovation; and (h) strengthening governance and coordination of the education sector.
23. The Government’s action in the sector is guided by the ‘Education and Training Sector Program’ (Plan Sectoriel de l’Éducation et de la Formation, PSEF) which defines key objectives by subsector over a 10-year period. In basic education, the PSEF 2014–2024 places an emphasis on revamping the teaching policy to facilitate effective teacher allocation and management, strengthening initial and in-service teacher training, and making the teaching profession more attractive. Other strategic orientations include the development of multigrade teaching, construction of classrooms, introduction of national languages in the first years of primary education, and development of a new model of rural lower secondary schools. A review of the PSEF implementation, conducted in February 2019, revealed some limited results but also showed that many additional interventions were carried out even though they were disconnected from the PSEF planning, raising questions about the relevance of both the plan itself and the strategic management of the sector. Serious challenges in collecting and analyzing data for the education system caused the Government to postpone the preparation of the next 10-year education plan (PSEF) to 2022.
24. In the meantime, a three-year PTSEF (2020–2022) has been approved and prepared with support from DPs to improve the education information management system (EMIS) and sector governance more broadly. The PTSEF sets short-term priorities to develop equitable access to education, improve the quality and retention, and enhance the management of the education services. In addition, in October 2019, the MEP endorsed a road map for improving the monitoring and management of educational quality (Amélioration du pilotage de la qualité) at the central, deconcentrated, and local levels. The road map includes the following four priority areas for primary education: (a) developing pedagogical tools and innovations, (b) revamping pedagogical support to teachers; (c) promoting a social contract to enhance stakeholder’s accountability and performance; and (d) overhauling the student assessment and counselling system.
Refugees and Host Communities14
25. The Government is committed to addressing the needs of refugees and host communities. Despite limitations, the overall legal and protection environment in Niger is considered conducive to an effective socioeconomic response to the forced displacement crisis. Niger is a signatory to applicable
14 See annex 5, for more detailed information on refugees and host communities.
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international conventions on refugees, IDPs, and stateless persons,15 and has integrated most of these instruments,16 meaning that refugees are to be treated equally under the law with respect to key socioeconomic rights: property ownership, security, access to the courts, access to basic services, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement. Efforts are also under way to strengthen the legal framework applicable to IDPs, with the adoption by the Government of Niger of Law 2018-74 on protection and support to IDPs. The World Bank, in consultation with UNHCR, has confirmed that Niger’s refugee protection framework has been updated in 2020 and is adequate for the purposes of receiving financial support through the Sub-Window for Refugees and Host Communities (RSW). In line with the approach of the Global Compact on Refugees, the Government of Niger seeks to improve access to basic services, promote social protection and economic prosperity for refugee populations, and enhance their resilience and self-reliance. Among key interventions, the Government of Niger and UNHCR have embarked on the ambitious challenge of accelerating the socioeconomic integration of Malian refugees and camps closure through an urbanization process by the end of 2020.
26. Some interventions are ongoing to benefit refugee populations, which are particularly vulnerable, in the affected regions. The Government, in collaboration with UNHCR, has been integrating refugee children into national education programs since March 2016. In the regions of Tillaberi and Tahoua, refugee children from Mali are now fully integrated into the Nigerien curriculum and the Ministry of Education works to ensure the availability of teachers in the hosting schools. This strategy includes upgrading semipermanent school infrastructure and building new classrooms, housing for teachers, and latrines. However, national capacity is limited, and many gaps remain in the provision of an adequate education service for all children in general, and displaced populations in particular. There are limitations in the areas of (a) construction and rehabilitation of additional classrooms and latrines; (b) the lack of teachers and absence of teacher training to meet the specific educational needs of refugees; and (c) limited availability of alternative education programs (‘classes passerelle’) for children who have passed school age or have been out of school for a long time. Refugee children may face additional challenges in terms of integration due to differences in language and culture as well as lack of school readiness. According to the latest estimate in refugee-hosting areas, enrollment rates for refugee children range from 17 percent to 25 percent, except for an enrollment rate of 56 percent in Niamey area.17
15 Niger is a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention), 1967 United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (1967 Protocol), and 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (Organization of African Unity Convention), without any reservations. Niger is a signatory to the 2009 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention). On December 3, 2018, the national Assembly unanimously voted for the adoption of a national law for the protection and assistance of IDPs, and in doing so became the first country in Africa to transpose the provisions of the Kampala Convention into the domestic framework. 16 The Government has affirmed both in national legislation and at representations to the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) that refugees are to be treated equally under the law with respect to all rights: property ownership, security, access to the courts, access to basic services, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement (CERD 2013). Article 10 of the 1997 law ensures the equal treatment of refugees in the protection of property; freedom of movement; and access to health, education, and housing. Elsewhere, the Labor Code prohibits discrimination based on nationality in hiring, and Décret no. 87-076/PCMS/MI/MAE/C of June 18, 1987, permits foreigners to be contracted for employment, provided that the contract is approved by the Ministry of Labor. 17 Estimates by UNHCR Niger, June 30, 2019.
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C. Relevance to Higher Level Objectives
27. The project design incorporates the recommendation of the Country Partnership Framework (CPF, FY18-FY22, Report No. 123736-NE) that ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option for Niger. Building on the Government’s SDDCI 2035 and the PDES 2017–2021, the CPF objective is to move Niger toward increased rural productivity and incomes; improved human capital and social protection; and better governance for jobs, service delivery, and growth, with a specific focus on empowering women and girls and mitigating the risks of conflict and fragility. This project contributes to the second pillar by supporting Objective 2.2: increased access to quality education and training services—which is aligned to the PTSEF.
28. The project is aligned with the priority areas and activities of the Risk Mitigation Regime (RMR) for Niger and the higher-level objectives of the IDA RSW. Through its geographic coverage and beneficiary targeting, the project will contribute to Niger’s RMR priority areas by ‘increasing opportunities for youth and women in fragile regions’ and ‘reducing grievances through more equitable and transparent institutions and improved local governance and service delivery’, particularly through ‘reinforcing a positive state presence’. It will also contribute to the RSW’s objectives by supporting the commitments of the Government to address the social and economic dimensions of refugees’ situation and by working to absorb student-aged refugees into the national education system, while recognizing and addressing the needs of the host communities.
29. The project aims to help tackle the learning crisis in Niger as a foundation for improved human capital outcomes. To support the most vulnerable, synergies have been built with both national and regional operations which focus on girls and refugee and host populations. There are synergies with the First Laying the Foundation for Inclusive Development Policy Financing (P169830), which has as one of its objectives reduction of gender gaps, and with the Population and Health Support Project (P147638) which supports the reproductive health of adolescents and girls in school. The project will also work in targeted areas where the Niger Adaptive Safety Net Project 2 (P166602) and Skills Development for Growth Project (P163467) are already operating. In fragile and conflict regions, the project focuses on improving access to education services for new and existing refugees and host communities in the zones of intervention selected by the Niger Refugees and Host Communities Support Project (PARCA) (P164563). While PARCA will enhance the schools’ reception capacity in refugee-hosting areas by strengthening local infrastructure, the project will complement it by focusing on learning quality improvement in the same areas. Lastly, the project contributes to the objectives of regional projects, which target adolescent girls (SWEDD, P171827), and digital transformation (under preparation, P171352).
II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
A. Project Development Objective
PDO Statement
The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve the quality of teaching and learning conditions in select regions, and strengthen education planning and management.
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PDO Level Indicators
• Targeted teachers in basic education demonstrating improved teaching practices in the classroom (% increase) • Students benefiting from direct interventions to enhance learning (number) • Out-of-school children and adolescents benefiting from direct interventions to support learning (disaggregated by general population, host communities, and refugees) (number) • Primary and lower secondary schools benefiting from a performance grant and meeting the minimum requirements in terms of teaching and learning conditions (%) • National large-scale standardized learning assessments completed (number)
B. Project Components
30. The project will implement a set of linked interventions, which focus on the key determinants of learning. Component 1 will support improved teaching practices, while Component 2 will support direct interventions to enhance learning for all children and remedy the most critical learning deficits. Component 3 will strengthen the overall management of the education system, including through increased efforts for the monitoring and assessment of education outcomes, and Component 4 will focus on project administration and coordination. A fifth component is an emergency contingent response.
31. While some interventions will be national in coverage, the project will support implementation primarily in five select regions: Diffa, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi, and Zinder. These regions have been identified as being the most deprived areas, based on a combination of indicators of poverty, fragility, and education outcomes (detailed in annex 2). This includes prioritizing regions and districts that have the highest numbers of refugees, as well as those that have the lowest enrollment and completion rates of girls and high out-of-school rates.
32. Given the fragile context, implementation will be sequenced. The interventions are a carefully selected combination of system-wide improvements (reform of preservice and in-service teacher training and introducing performance-based grants) as well as critically needed remediation programs for particularly vulnerable youth (including in-school and out-of-school support for girls, refugees, and children identified as at risk). The former relies on a set of pre-elaborated areas for technical assistance (TA) which will contractually obligate prespecified capacity-building plans, and the latter builds upon preexisting initiatives and the local relevance and technical capability of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), where needed, to ensure effective service delivery. The sequencing has been developed for inclusion in the project implementation manual.
33. The project is responsive to the fragile context of Niger to ensure better service delivery and mitigate implementation risks. In addition to contingency funding to allow for flexibility, simplified procurement procedures, and use of NGOs to help support interventions in difficult to reach areas, significant investments in technology-based teaching and learning materials, and close collaboration with UNICEF and UNHCR are built into the project to allow for emergency delivery of education should the security situation lead to additional school closures. These approaches would draw from similar distance learning initiatives in Burkina Faso and Mali if needed, as Sahelian governments work together to prepare emergency response plans.
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34. Niger meets the eligibility criteria for the IDA18 RSW18: (a) as of September 2019, Niger was host of 218,000 refugees; (b) the World Bank, in consultation with UNHCR, has determined that Niger adheres to a framework for the protection of refugees that is adequate for the purpose of the IDA18 RSW; and (c) the Government of Niger supports the identification of long-term solutions to challenges facing refugees and host communities (out-of-camps policy and support to refugees and host communities and improved access to basic services through inclusion into national systems).
35. IDA18 RSW financing (grant of US$20 million and credit of US$20 million) is included in the project design to strengthen the Government’s education policies in refugee-hosting areas and support the education needs of refugees and host communities. By design, the support to refugees and host communities is cross cutting rather than through a stand-alone dedicated component, given that the aim is to strengthen the system to better absorb and meet the needs of refugees and host communities. The support includes (a) specialized training modules for teachers on psychosocial support to and inclusion of refugee children and teaching and learning materials under Component 1; (b) access to remedial prevention programs and second-chance programs under Component 2; (c) implementation of performance-based management mechanisms to promote improved governance, results, and inclusivity at the school level; and (d) strengthening of data collection and monitoring processes in refugee-hosting areas under Component 3.
Component 1: Improving Teaching Practices (US$72 million equivalent, of which US$67 million IDA grant, US$5 million IDA credit)
Subcomponent 1.1 Strengthening Teacher Education Colleges
36. The purpose of this subcomponent is to create a sustainable, quality initial teacher preparation program to ensure quality classroom instruction at preprimary, primary, and secondary education levels. It aims to do so by reforming the 11 existing ENIs and ENSs through the following activities:
• Improved curriculum and training methods. This includes updating the curriculum and training delivery, enhancing the internships (practicum system) and use of schools of application (écoles annexes), as well as introducing modernized assessment methods and updated qualification requirements for student-teachers. This overhaul will include updating the selection process for trainers and their intensive training. Given the emphasis on teaching future teachers to develop engaging, interactive classrooms, pedagogical tools to support effective teaching will be supported including full operationalization of the existing initiatives such as ENIs’ research and practice teaching initiatives (salles de micro-enseignement) for recording and providing feedback on teaching approaches. • Improve governance through performance grants and capacity building. Performance contracts between the MEP and ENIs on one hand, (approximately US$9,000) and between the MES and University Abdou Moumouni (UAM) (approximately US$17,000) for ENSs on the other hand, will be introduced to improve management of the institutions. These will include simple indicators
18 To be eligible, countries supported by IDA need to (a) host at least 25,000 refugees, or refugees must amount to at least 0.1 percent of its population; (b) have an adequate framework for the protection of refugees; and (c) have an action plan or strategy with concrete steps, including possible policy reforms for long-term solutions that benefit refugees and host communities.
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focused on improved accountability, and capacity building for institutional management. Targets will be focused on improved HR management, budgeting, and planning. • Improve the training environment based on results of a physical audit to be carried out in each of the colleges. This will include a minimum package of infrastructure and equipment investment including access to sustainable sources of energy, water, and, where possible, reliable high-speed Internet, as well as necessary equipment to outfit the colleges. The building design will incorporate ‘green’ design approaches, where possible, such as more efficient approaches to waste management and environmentally friendly building materials.
Subcomponent 1.2: Developing a teacher coaching and supervision system
37. This subcomponent aims to improve the quality of classroom instruction by developing a teacher professional development program and delivering local and individualized coaching activities to upgrade the content knowledge and pedagogical practices of teachers with a focus on literacy and mathematics. The project will build upon existing platforms, through the revitalization of CAPED at the primary level and the Pedagogical Unit (Unité Pédagogiques, UP) at the secondary level. It will also include the development of basic scripted lessons19 to support a structured pedagogy facilitated by the coaches.
38. The approach will consist of an initial intensive ‘boot camp’ training program to upgrade the subject matter and pedagogical competency of teachers in literacy and numeracy, given the low proficiency as evidenced by the SDI. Building upon a pilot, supported by UNICEF, teachers will then be supported through a coaching program designed to encourage higher rates of adoption of new teaching methods through regular structured feedback and practice opportunities. These sessions will include targeted teacher training on educational and psychosocial needs of refugee children in regions with high numbers of refugees.20 The project will build upon and strengthen the Government’s ‘initiative qualité,’ which is a national mechanism for providing additional in-classroom support to students who are considered at risk.
39. Coaches will use facilitator manuals and will be trained to provide constructive feedback based on utilization of a classroom observation tool to assess teacher practices,21 as well as through the development of a technology-based platform for regular check-ins and face-to-face mentoring during group meetings within CAPED and UP. Given that a critical mass of coaches does not exist, the project will support the selection, retraining, and upskilling of a pool of candidates who will act as facilitators for the new coaching activities. The project will also explore the possibility of establishing a simple certification mechanism to ensure the quality of selected coaches. The potential pool of candidates includes experienced pedagogical advisers within CAPED and mini-CAPED, as well as candidates from ENSs.
19 The development of scripted/structured lessons will build on earlier experiences in scripting/structuring lessons in Niger funded by UNICEF and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 20 The project will work with UNHCR which has developed teacher training materials to support teachers in primary and secondary education in teaching the topic of refugees, asylum, and migration in a fact-based and age-appropriate manner. The toolkit also contains guidance for teachers working with refugee children who are learning new languages and may be suffering from stress or trauma. 21 The project will explore synergies with the current UNICEF-funded classroom observation tool pilot that is under way.
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Subcomponent 1.3: Teaching and Learning Materials
40. The objective of this subcomponent is to ensure the availability of relevant educational materials in the classroom. It will include the following: • Development and digitalization of various teaching materials at the primary level including clear sequencing and simplification of the school curriculum,22 and standardized exercises and classroom assessments in the two to three most-spoken national languages and in French.23 Video recording of best teaching practices and facilitator guides will also be developed in conjunction with the coaching program under Subcomponent 1.2. This digitization of teaching and learning materials also allows for quicker adaptability and modified delivery of lessons, e.g by radio, should the security situation deteriorate. • Learning materials. Supplementary early grade books in local languages, including locally developed children’s books and read-aloud books will be supported, given the extremely low supply of reading materials (particularly in local languages) and their critical importance in ensuring ample opportunities for reading practice.24 At the secondary level, the project will support the creation, edition, and reproduction nationally of student and teacher manuals to increase the autonomy of the MES in its mandate and enhance the relevance of instructional content in line with the national curriculum for secondary education. • Improved supply chain management and distribution mechanisms for all teaching and learning materials will be supported at both primary and secondary levels. This includes piloting an improved distribution method and community verification to ensure more cost-effective and timely development and distribution of materials.
Component 2: Promoting Learning for Girls and Boys (US$18 million equivalent, of which US$8 million IDA grant, US$10 million IDA credit)
41. Component 2 aims to improve learning for vulnerable populations in Niger by providing critical alternative pathways to education to meet their learning needs. The interventions are targeted to the most vulnerable in Niger, including girls, displaced children, and out-of-school rural poor. The component consists of a series of direct interventions focused on improving reading proficiency and numeracy and adapted to different student populations and settings, with complementary awareness-raising activities within communities. The three-pronged approach includes (a) targeted community-based prevention activities to provide remedial support for children considered at risk of dropping out of the system; (b) an accelerated ‘catch-up’ or second-chance program targeted toward children in the most vulnerable regions of Niger so that they may engage or reengage in formal education; and (c) integrating reading and numeracy curriculum into Makarantas to ensure provision of foundational skills. The activities are
22 Based on the Programme Renove. 23 Given challenges with the preexisting reform, the simplified curriculum and structured pedagogy proposed here are meant to build upon what is working and simplify what is not without an interruption in service delivery to schools. It focuses on two to three local languages to pilot in the schools already rolling out the mother tongue language reforms, as well as French for the ‘Classique’ schools. 24 TA for the initiative, including children’s storybook competitions to source local stories in local languages, quality review to ensure fair and unbiased representation within the stories, and capacity building of local authors, illustrators, and publishers is being supported by the Sahel Reading Initiative funded by a Results in Education for All Children Trust Fund also managed by the World Bank.
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carefully built upon preexisting initiatives and implemented with support of NGOs to ensure that implementation is feasible.
Subcomponent 2.1: Remedial Prevention Programs
42. Remedial prevention programs, which are designed to support students who are not performing well academically and are at risk of leaving the education system, have shown to be effective in cases where they (a) adequately identify and assess at risk learners; (b) meet learners where they are; and (c) are taught by well-trained instructors.25 By building on promising approaches already under implementation in Niger, and elsewhere in the region, this subcomponent will put in place remediation programs that integrate additional instruction outside school hours, in addition to enhanced instruction during the school day to support mastery of foundational skills and higher rates of academic completion. The activities will focus specifically on promoting the acquisition of reading proficiency and math. Support to at-risk students with difficulties will include the following: • Community-based Remedial Prevention through the Targeted Minimum Package for Quality Education (Paquet Minimum Accès sur la Qualité, PMAQ) program. PMAQ is a remedial education program designed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), focused on reading and mathematics using a participatory and community-based approach. It aims to reduce repetition and dropout rates and was piloted by JICA and the World Bank under the previous Global Partnership for Education (GPE)-funded Project (P132405) with positive outcomes for children.26 The program will target children currently enrolled at the primary and lower secondary education levels, in municipalities with the highest dropout and repetition rates, including communities with high rates of displaced populations. • Learning spaces for girls in lower secondary. Research shows that incentives for keeping girls in schools have been effective in improving school completion and that local partnerships, including those between communities and schools, are of importance in fragile settings.27 As such, this intervention aims to pilot a holistic, community-engaged approach to support girls’ attendance and completion in secondary school. It consists of four interrelated aspects: (a) activities to enable girls to learn and practice life skills through classes, workshops, and extracurricular activities; (b) local mentors who act as role models for girls and facilitate both individual and group mentoring sessions; (c) provision of material support, where necessary, including tuition fees, uniforms, transportation fees/bicycles, and exam preparation services; and (d) family and community engagement to create environments that support girls’ success in school and beyond. The project will partner with an international NGO28 to design and implement this program.
25 World Development Report, 2018. 26In June 2018, 174,358 students benefiting from the PMAQ initiative (Grades 1–4) were tested in mathematics. Students’ outcomes, in June, were, on average, 33 percentage points higher than scores obtained during the pretest in January 2018. 27 World Development Report 2018; (Mansuri & Rao, 2013). 28 Strategic partnership with experienced NGOs such as Room to Read or Save the Children, among others, will be explored to tap into extensive experience in developing and implementing holistic girls’ education interventions that are relevant in the context of Niger.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Subcomponent 2.2: Second Chance Programs for Out-of-school Children
43. Given the large out-of-school population, in which girls, children from rural areas, and those from non-educated households are disproportionately represented, the project will support the development of an accelerated ‘catch-up’ program, with a focus on these marginalized populations, to integrate children into the formal school system. The program design will be based on the mapping and assessment of the existing initiatives such as the bridge classes and the experience from Niger’s nascent Alternative Education Centers. This reintegration program will target children ages seven to 16 in the municipalities with the highest percentage of out-of-school children in the five most deprived regions,29 including those that have higher rates of displaced children. Due to the extremely volatile environment, NGOs with experience in fragile contexts will deliver this program.
Subcomponent 2.3: Grants for Results in Reading and Math to Selected Makaranta Schools
44. This subcomponent will introduce the teaching of foundational skills into Makaranta schools, which do not currently provide opportunities for enrolled children to learn literacy and numeracy. The intervention builds upon the outcomes of preliminary analytical work conducted by the World Bank, as well as previous interventions implemented by the Islamic Development Bank and various partners in Makaranta schools in Niger. The subcomponent aims to (a) foster policy dialogue on cognitive and socioemotional development of children in the nonformal settings of Makaranta schools and (b) introduce a minimum number of hours a week dedicated to the teaching of foundational skills into the curriculum of 100 targeted Makaranta schools, on a voluntary basis, through a call for proposals.
45. Performance-based grants (approximately US$3,000) will be made available to these schools on the condition that children are taught reading and mathematics by facilitators trained under the project. This will be managed through a contract, which includes explicit reading and mathematics targets as well as provisions for health interventions (including deworming). The intervention will be accompanied by a pre and posttest of students to assess improvement in reading and mathematics. Targeted Makaranta schools will receive allocations based on performance and will be paid in two parts: one initial allocation at the beginning of the academic year upon approval of the improvement plans and the second half way through the year after a mid-year evaluation. The manual of procedures will define the allocation criteria and implementation and reporting processes, including the regular monitoring of schools that receive performance-based grants.
Component 3: Strengthening Systems and Capacities for the Delivery of Education Services (US$36 million equivalent, of which US$32 million IDA grant, US$4 million IDA credit)
Subcomponent 3.1 Performance-Based Management
46. This component will focus on improving the governance and decentralization of the system by introducing performance grants with clear indicators by each level of management in the education sector, based on evidence-based practice from the region. The introduction of performance-based contracts (PBCs) at three levels (a) regional; (b) inspectorate; and (c) school level, will necessitate clear
29 Diffa, Zinder, Tillaberi, Tahou, and Maradi.
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roles and responsibilities and achievable targets by level, meant to strengthen accountability in the management chain, as well as decision-making capacity. Specific activities will include the following: • Regional level. Grants (approximately US$4,000) based on a performance contract between targeted regional education authorities30 and the Secretary General at the central level will be introduced with the aim of improving their role in evaluation and monitoring. There will be specific indicators and targets on financial control, in-service training management, data management, administration of the national assessment, and so on. Training will be provided to strengthen the regional management and evaluation role, as well as on disaster risk management approaches given the volatile context with both security challenges and climate hazards. • Inspectorate level. Performance-based grants (approximately US$4,000) for 170 school inspectorates in primary and 33 inspectorates in secondary will be supported with the aim of improving the quality and quantity of school visits and pedagogical support, as well as improved bottom-up data collection. The grants will support the rollout of the teacher training and coaching programs under Components 1 and 2, with clear targets for inspectorate and pedagogical coaches in rolling out structured lesson plans, providing coaching sessions, monitoring remediation activities at the school level, and implementing and using assessments. In addition to the performance-based grants, standardization and digitization of school inspection reports and automatic data entry sheets will be supported, as will electronic tablets to record data on-the-go. Capacity building through training of the inspectorate on proper resource allocation, data utilization, school management techniques, and community-driven development will also be supported. This subcomponent will also support training on the pedagogical approaches of the coaching program and the importance of supporting safe and inclusive school environments (inclusion of disabled children and displaced children and prevention of GBV). • School level. Performance-based grants (approximately US$500) to 3,000 primary schools and 300 secondary schools (approximately US$1,000) (representing 30 percent of schools in the five targeted regions) will be supported to improve the capacity for school management and quality improvements at the school level. The performance-based grants will be signed between the Inspectorate and the school director and the School Management Committee (Comité de gestion des écoles primaires, COGEP, and Comité de gestion décentralisée des établissements scolaires, CGDES) and will be oriented toward improved school functioning (budget transparency, functioning school management committees (SMCs), teacher participation in coaching activities, and so on). Sensitization and training of the local school community on their role in enhancing school-level management and use of funds through a grassroots approach to resource management will be supported for greater accountability at the school level. Head teachers/school directors will be provided with training opportunities on pedagogical and administrative leadership, including the importance of creating safe and inclusive school environments (inclusion of disabled children and displaced children and prevention of GBV). • Cross cutting. The PBC and the school performance grant program will prioritize the education needs of marginalized populations including girls, and both refugee and host community children
30 Diffa, Zinder, Tillaberi, Tahoua, Maradi. The full targeting methodology has been developed and will be included in the Project Implementation Manual (PIM).
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in refugee-hosting areas, by including performance targets that champion inclusive approaches to school management. This includes targets related to: o Refugee inclusion in host communities through performance indicators related to awareness programs on sociocultural obstacles that influence school attendance for refugee children and windows for training on psychosocial support to refugee and host children. o Improving learning conditions for girls through performance indicators related to access to information on hygiene and reproductive health and sensitization on GBV for both boys and girls and equitable representation of women in school-based decision making.
Subcomponent 3.2. Strengthening Education Human Resource Management
47. This subcomponent will support implementation of the new HR strategy developed by the MEP and MES, aimed at better deployment of teachers across the country and increased performance of local education authorities to overcome HR deficiencies. The MEP and MES have recently developed plans and strategies to overcome HR deficiencies,31 with support from World Bank Projects.32 Building on the recommendations formulated in the validated HR strategy, the component will include (a) training of regional and local authorities in teacher management; (b) building capacity of HR directorates with planning and management tools as well as professional development opportunities; (c) strengthening the personnel database and staff capacity to use it; (d) completing the census for all teaching and administrative staff in both ministries to ensure adequate control and supervision; (e) reviewing and updating standards and legal texts on teacher deployment, mobility, and utilization; (f) implementing an online platform to manage the allocation and deployment process; (g) raising awareness and training of staff on the new HR legal texts; and (h) supporting the deployment and retention measures in refugee- hosting areas.
Subcomponent 3.3. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Accountability
48. This subcomponent will strengthen monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and will enhance accountability measures. It will (a) strengthen the EMIS to allow for timely, reliable, and disaggregated education data and the establishment of community-based monitoring mechanisms. The EMIS will build on efforts that are under way including by UNICEF through Niger’s Data Must Speak initiative which creates data dashboards at the school level; (b) support (i) the implementation of a national standardized assessment of students; and (ii) building the capacity of National Assessment Unit; and (c) M&E results of the project literacy intervention (under Subcomponent 1.2); and (d) support teacher deployment and retention measures in refugee-hosting areas and training in contingency planning in the event of new influx of populations.
31 Notably, a census of contractual teachers was conducted, in 2018, with the establishment of a single identification mechanism, which led to the registration of all contractual teachers at the MEP. Recent efforts also include an organizational audit of MES, the elaboration and distribution of HR procedures manuals at the MEP, training of trainers on teacher management, diagnosis of HR functions at the MEP and MES, elaboration of a compendium of all HR legal texts, and the elaboration of a strategy to reform HR management in both ministries. 32 These include the Capacity and Performance of Public Sector for Service Delivery Project and Support to Quality Education Project (Projet d’Appui à une Éducation de Qualité, PAEQ, P132405).
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49. An impact evaluation specifically on coaching is being developed given that (a) there is clear evidence that coaching and sustained support to teachers can be highly impactful; and (b) a coaching model is new and highly innovative in the context of the Sahel.
Component 4: Project Administration and Coordination (US$10 million equivalent, of which US$9 million IDA grant, US$1 million IDA credit)
50. The component will finance the logistics and expertise needed for overall project implementation. It will put in place efficient coordination mechanisms, proper financial management (FM) and procurement practices, and effective M&E of project outcomes at the national and subnational levels. This will include, among others, TA, communication campaigns, audits, training, preparation of monitoring reports, supervision of implementation of the safeguards instruments, goods, operating expenses, and salaries of the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) staff. To support the implementation of the digital technology which cuts across project components, specific information technology (IT) staff will be hired.
51. Building on the experience of the previous project PAEQ/GPE, the project will support TA for the duration of the project under the leadership of the MEP and MES. To ensure skills transfer, a systematic capacity-building plan will be developed which elaborates a clear approach to pre-identified areas that require TA (including both financial and technical aspects) and time-bound capacity-building measures to strengthen the implementing agencies. This means that for pre-identified core areas of TA (for example, reading, coaching, curriculum development, fiduciary, and procurement), firms or consultants contracted will be obligated to include direct capacity-building measures into the TA to improve the sustainability of activities and build capacity within implementing agencies. The component will also support thematic studies and surveys to assess specific project interventions, using iterative beneficiaries monitoring.
Component 5: Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC)
52. A no-cost CERC will be included under the proposed project in accordance with the World Bank Policy and Directive on Investment Project Financing (IPF), for contingent emergency response to an eligible crisis or emergency, as needed. This will allow the Government to request rapid reallocation of project funds to respond promptly and effectively to an eligible emergency or crisis that is a natural or artificial disaster or crisis that has caused or is likely to cause a major adverse economic and/or social impact. This includes the increased risk of natural disasters due to climate change. If the World Bank agrees with the determination of the disaster and associated response needs, this component will draw resources from the categories financing Components 1, 2, 3, and 4 and/or allow the Government to request the World Bank to recategorize and reallocate financing from other project components to cover emergency response and recovery costs. RSW funds that may go to the CERC will only be used to support refugees and host communities, including those IDPs that are also host communities. Disbursements will be made against a positive list of critical goods or the procurement of works and consultant services required to support the immediate response and recovery needs.
Unallocated (US$4 million from IDA grant)
53. The unallocated funds will be allocated during project implementation to address changes in (a) cost contingencies for planned activities (changes in exchange rates, inflation, and/or required quantities); (b) project activities that produce strong results and demonstrate higher implementation capacity than
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foreseen at project approval; and/or (c) unforeseen activities that are deemed necessary or desirable to achieve the PDO. According to experience, the fragile context of Niger, including the risk of political crisis and natural catastrophes, requires faster and more frequent adjustments and flexibility in the implementation phase. Any reallocation of the unallocated portion will follow the guidelines of the World Bank. It will require a budget, justification of costs, and an action plan with revision of indicators.
Cross-cutting Design Elements
54. In addition to a cross-cutting approach to refugees and host communities, outlined in the project approach, the project is aligned with the World Bank’s corporate strategies related to gender and technology. These aspects have been elaborated in the following paragraphs for ease of reference.
55. Gender equality and girls’ education. The project directly supports the attainment of the first pillar of operations of the Niger First Laying the Foundation for Inclusive Development Policy Financing (P169830) which aims to reduce gender gaps. In addition to the interventions in Component 1, which focus on improved learning for all boys and girls, there is a specific girl-targeted program under Subcomponent 2.3 focused on adolescent girls’ access, return, and retention at school, as well as support to disaggregated data (by gender and region) under Component 3. At the national level, the project supports the recently adopted government policies which focus on supporting girls’ education. In August 2019, the Government adopted three decrees on protecting girls at school: the ‘conditions of protection, support, and accompanying girls at schools,’ the ‘creation of community centers and specifying the conditions of school enrollment for girls from 8 to 9 years,’ and the ‘conditions of school enrollment of girls ages 8 to 9 years’. The project will help distribute these policies and associated tools to key stakeholders.
56. The project also seeks to mitigate risks related to GBV/sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH) through several mitigation measures at different levels of the education system, including ENIs, ENS, and basic education schools. Key activities include the following: • Capacity building and management training for leadership of teacher training colleges and directors of primary schools, which is focused on creating safe, inclusive schools, and directly addresses issues of GBV. • Establishing student working groups within teacher training colleges to raise awareness around GBV and elaborate protocols for the identification and care of students affected by GBV, including referral pathways for care. • Codes of conduct for teachers and administrative staff that include prohibitions against SEAH will be developed and adopted by the ministries of basic education and diffused online on the national education web platform. It is expected that all relevant stakeholders will sign and be trained on the codes of conduct. This will be linked to the grievance redress mechanism (GRM) for reporting.
57. Use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools for learning. The project will use education digital technology to improve the efficiency of system management, enhance gender-balanced and equitable deployment across schools, and support teacher effectiveness.
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Table 1. Harnessing Technology for Effective Teaching, Learning, and Systems Strengthening Levels Tools and Their Usefulness Users Central level KoBoTool box to collect education data including in hard-to- • Ministry reach or conflict-prone environments and made net-accessible • Central technical for decision making at the central level with support of Geo- directorates Enabling Initiative for Monitoring and Supervision. • HR and fiduciary Inspectorate Tools to strengthen bottom-up data collection, including (a) • Inspectors level formatting of school inspection reports and automatic data • Pedagogical adviser entry sheets, (b) digitalization of PBCs, and (c) electronic tablets to record data on-the-go and provide access to teaching materials (best practice demo videos and so on). School level Tools to allow communities to report on the quality of service • Community delivery notably school functioning, reality of resource transfers as indicated in the school improvement plan, and concerns in fund utilization. Classroom level Electronic devices will be used to support delivery of curriculum • Mentor framework and dissemination of best practices. • Teacher Teachers training Access to the online national education platform, including • Trainers colleges level digitalized teaching material and video recording of best • Teachers teaching practices. • Administration staff
C. Project Cost and financing
58. The project will be implemented using a combination of credit and grant proceeds under IPF for a six-year period. A substantial country risk, due to financial and procurement assessments, as well as security concerns makes the IPF instrument the most appropriate as it can be used to facilitate direct inputs to sector reform and leverage institutions to implement those strategic reforms. In addition, IPF- proposed interventions require dedicated funding and hands-on support and supervision, which are critical given the sector’s capacity constraints, and the need for scaffolded TA throughout project implementation. A move to general or sector budget support is not appropriate at this stage considering the risks associated with the still weak, albeit notably improved FM and implementation capacity.
Project Cost Table 2. Project Cost per Component (US$ million) Project components Project Cost IDA Grant IDA Credit financing Financing 1. Improving Teaching Practices 72 67 5 2. Promoting learning for girls and boys 18 8 10 3. Strengthening systems and capacities for the delivery 36 32 4 of education services 4. Project administration and coordination 10 9 1 5. Contingent Emergency Response (CERC) 0 0 0 Unallocated 4 4 0 Total Project Costs 140 120 20
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D. Project Beneficiaries 59. The project will benefit more than 2 million students, including displaced children, at the basic education age and more than 50,000 teachers in primary and secondary schools per year. The project will also benefit out-of-school children, as well as teacher trainers and students within 11 ENIs and 1 ENS, and regional directorates, inspectorates. Table 3. Project Beneficiaries Summary Components Coverage Beneficiary Grade Level Geographic Component 1: Improving Teaching Practices Subcomponent 1.1: Preservice teachers Preprimary, primary, National Strengthening teacher lower secondary education colleges Subcomponent 1.2: In-service teachers, Five deprived regions (Diffa, Developing a teacher inspectorates and pedagogical Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi, and coaching and supervision advisory units Zinder) system Subcomponent 1.3: Students and teachers Pedagogical tools and innovations Component 2: Promoting learning for girls and boys Subcomponent 2.1: Students, girls Primary, lower Five deprived regions (Diffa, Remedial prevention secondary Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi, and programs Zinder) Subcomponent 2.2: Second Out-of-school children, chance programs for out-of- Refugees school children Subcomponent 2.3: Grants Out-of-school children for results to selected Makaranta Schools Component 3: Strengthening systems and capacities for the delivery of education services Subcomponent 3.1: Performance-based Systemwide management Subcomponent 3.2: Strengthening education Systemwide human resource management Subcomponent 3.2: Monitoring, evaluation, and Systemwide accountability
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E. Results Chain Figure 2. Project Results Chain
F. Rationale for World Bank Involvement and Role of Partners
60. The rationale for public sector financing of education is strongly justified in Niger. Education is a national priority to improve human capital outcomes in the country, and with 20 percent of the general budget allocated to education, the public sector remains the sole source of education provision in most areas of the country, except in Niamey where there is some private sector presence. The project will support the Government to enhance the quality of education services and the overall management of the system, which will lead to improved efficiency of public spending on education. Second, the economic and social returns to public investment in basic education are well established. The project will reach out to vulnerable children, including girls transitioning to secondary education, out-of-school children and children attending non-formal class in Makaranta schools, to provide them with enhanced learning opportunities. Other benefits to improving teaching practices and learning for all children, especially to disadvantaged populations, include improvements in health outcomes, demographic transition, and greater equity and social welfare. Finally, the project will lay the foundations to strengthen the education system and place it on a trajectory that will contribute to continuously improving education quality and eliminate learning poverty.
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61. The value added of the World Bank's support comes in several forms. The World Bank’s engagement in the education sector in Niger has been significant over time and has increased in recent years.33 This project will build upon lessons learned and capitalize on previous interventions to continue shaping the policy dialogue on key education areas including teacher training and management, and the improvement of learning outcomes and performance and accountability of education management. In addition, the project will also benefit from the World Bank’s strong convening power, including with other DPs, to leverage complementary resources to achieve its objectives. Based on its established experience in financing fragile and conflict countries, the World Bank has been able to mobilize already significant additional resources for the initial IDA envelope through the IDA RSW and the RMR. Finally, as an active member of the Local Group of Education DPs with recognized experience in education in Niger, the World Bank may introduce innovative global solutions and mobilize high-level technical expertise.
62. Various DPs are supporting the education sector in Niger. The recently created Sectoral Trust fund for Education and Training (Fond Commun Sectoriel de l’Éducation, FCSE) brings together financing from multiple donors34 to support the Government’s program in education, and the European Union provides budget support, part of which is conditional on the achievement of specific results by the Government in the areas of access, quality, and governance of education. Niger will benefit from a new GPE funding (US$85 million)35 which will be disbursed to the FCSE with the French Development Agency (Agence Francaise de Développement, AFD) as the grant agent. This new funding is expected to primarily support basic education, in line with GPE’s priorities, to increase equitable access to education, improve the quality of learning, and enhance the efficiency of the education system. In addition, UNICEF is also providing funding to enhance the quality of education, and JICA and German Development Agency (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ) support the sector. Finally, UNHCR is providing emergency support to help provide refugee children with access to education.
63. The proposed project seeks to ensure alignment and complementarity to the existing DPs areas of intervention, as described in annex 4. The relevant interventions financed by donors, which the World Bank will capitalize on, include the JICA’s remedial program, PMAQ, and the UNICEF’s Classroom Best Practices Observation. To address the learning needs of refugees and IDPs, the project will coordinate its interventions with other donors and members of the Education Cluster involved in education in emergencies (UNHCR, UNICEF, World Food Programme, Save the Children, Plan, Cooperazione Internazionale Italia (COOPI), International Rescue Committee, Norwegian Refugees Council, World Vision, and Concern).
G. Lessons Learned and Reflected in the Project Design
64. The project’s technical design draws on strong analytical evidence and international good practices and reflects lessons learned from ongoing and completed operations. The project also builds
33 The World Bank had been the grant agent for the GPE-Multi-Donor Trust Fund-funded Niger PAEQ (P132405), co-financed with the AFD and the Swiss Cooperation and implemented from June 2015 to June 2019. The World Bank also supports the training and vocational education system through the Niger Skills Development for Growth Project (P126049) and Additional Financing (P163467). In addition, the World Bank is providing analytical and advisory services on early childhood education (P168794) and on Makaranta schools (P168795). 34 AFD (EUR 30 million), the Luxembourg Cooperation (EUR 25 million), Switzerland (EUR 8 million), and UNICEF (EUR 28 million). 35 The new GPE grant will be in place no later than January 2020 after validation by the Local Education Group (LEG).
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upon the World Bank Group’s global experience in basic education across the globe and in the Africa region. The key lessons are elaborated in the following paragraphs.
65. Ensuring greater national leadership of projects and effective implementation, and the fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) context, requires simpler program design, earlier engagement of technical counterparts, and better links across the World Bank Group portfolio, according to lessons derived from the review of the Niger Country Partnership Strategy 2013–2016 (Report No. 76232-NE). The task team has engaged with the MEP and MES at an early stage of project preparation through the project preparation committee composed of directors from both ministries who were actively involved in project design. The project will capitalize on links with other World Bank Group projects in Niger, including Capacity and Performance of Public Sector for Service Delivery (P145261), Governance of extractives for Local Development (GOLD, P164271), SWEDD (P150080), and PARCA (P164563).
66. When multiple activities are implemented in many different areas, it can diversify risk, but it also makes it more difficult to achieve decisive breakthroughs in any given area. Under PAEQ, multiple activities were planned under different components and subcomponents. For example, dozens of trainings, interventions, and information campaigns—including for students and teachers, ministry and local staff, and local populations and organizations—were implemented under the project. This makes it more difficult to allocate sufficient resources to conduct proper M&E and ascertain impact, for example for improved pedagogy and learning in the classroom. The LIRE Project will support fewer but more focused activities and interventions, with an emphasis on improving teaching practices and learning experiences. Regarding in-service teacher training, the project will support the development of the coaching supervision system deemed in the latest literature as the most effective approach to positively impact teaching practices in the classroom, instead of multiple trainings organized by different directorates. Also, the project will only support capacity-building activities at the MEP and MES that are well aligned with the new HR strategy adopted by both ministries.
67. Ensuring effective teaching for literacy. Teachers in many countries are not providing the types, sequences, and amounts of instruction that students need to learn to read. The evidence shows that when students are taught in the right way, nearly all of them learn to read (Castles, Rastles, and Nation 2018). However, many teachers in low-income countries, such as Niger, lack the skills and knowledge to provide effective instruction. Teacher training interventions are effective in improving student learning outcomes, if they are individually targeted and repeated, with follow-up coaching, often around a specific pedagogical technique (Arancibia, Evans, and Popova 2016; World Bank 2018b). Successful early grade reading interventions usually introduce reading materials and teacher guides with step-by-step instructions in what to teach and how to teach. Structured pedagogy is among the top interventions that boost learning in Sub-Saharan Africa and is defined as a package of teacher training, ongoing teacher support, resources or materials for teachers, and classroom learning materials for students (World Bank 2018a). Building on this evidence, the LIRE Project will support the development and implementation of interventions focusing on improving teaching practices and pedagogy in the classroom through regular coaching activities, structured pedagogy and lessons plans, as well as direct interventions to enhance learning for all children and remediate the most critical learning deficits. Notably, this is also aligned with evidence that shows that many of the most effective interventions to improve learning for girls are not targeted and involve improving pedagogy for all children (Evans and Yuan 2019).
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68. In terms of improving access and retention of girls, many of the most effective interventions are household based, such as cash transfer programs (Evans and Yuan 2019). Under PAEQ, a pilot program for girls’ education at the secondary level was tested on 700 girls, providing them with a scholarship of US$27 per month allocated to host families and US$9 allocated to girls. This program appears to have worked well as the retention rate for the beneficiary girls was much higher than for other girls enrolled in participating secondary schools. The cost of the intervention—at US$32 per month—is far from negligible, but it is not substantially higher than other programs, and is cheaper than the cost of boarding schools or the cost of providing daily transport to schools. However, the complexity around the issue of girls’ education requires a ‘full package’ that addresses social constraints and socioemotional skills. The LIRE Project has taken this into consideration and will support a holistic approach to support girls’ attendance and completion in secondary school through the development and operationalization of the learning space for girls’ initiatives.
69. Using results-based financing with schools. Under PAEQ, grants were provided to schools to improve learning conditions and outcomes, but these resources were not allocated on the basis of a clear agreement and specific objectives, and criteria for the selection of schools remained imprecise. The proposed project will provide grants against the development and validation of school improvement plans, including performance objectives, and will support training at the community level on the management and monitoring of the use of the grant, as it has been shown to contribute to greater parental involvement in school management and increased enrollment in the early grades in Niger (Beasley and Huillery 2017) but also more globally (Lee and Medina 2019). In addition, specific measures to mitigate low capacities will be included to ensure that grants will have effects on the overall quality improvement at the school level.
70. The establishment of a robust M&E system is important to assess whether investments in pedagogy and capacity building are working. Under the GPE-financed PAEQ, substantial resources were invested in multiple areas for which an assessment of likely impacts was not feasible due to lack of M&E data. For instance, the impact of most of the trainings provided to the teachers and the support provided to ministries could not be evaluated. Through the modernization of the EMIS, the use of simple but efficient ICT tools, and the creation of classroom observation tools, the proposed project will establish a more robust M&E system to ensure that the achievements and challenges of the project will be monitored and well documented. This will allow the client and project task team to make course corrections as needed over time, and it will provide lessons for future operations in Niger and in other low-income settings.
71. Institutional and implementation arrangements. TA in the form of an Implementation Support Agency (ISA) was contracted under PAEQ to support project implementation and build the capacities of the MEP and MES; however, a fixed firm proved to be very expensive, and the knowledge transfer was not effectively carried out due to unclear expectations, high staff turnover, and inadequacy between profiles and positions in both ministries. The project, by making a capacity improvement strategy and nomination of counterparts mandatory as a part of project implementation, as well as obliging key TA contracts (for example, in reading, curriculum, coaching, fiduciary management, and so on) to include specific provisions for direct capacity building, will ensure the implementation of a time-bound capacity- building and skills transfer plan.
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III. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS
A. Institutional and Implementation Arrangements
72. Institutional and implementation arrangements envisaged for the project are aligned with the strategic approach taken by the World Bank for its portfolio in Niger to minimize implementation and fiduciary risks while progressively building the Government’s capacity. The project’s institutional and implementation arrangements build on the implementation of PAEQ and will use a PCU housed within the MES, which implements the activities concerning both the MES and MEP. In addition to the PIM, a separate manual of procedures will be endorsed to define the PBC process and the detailed roles and responsibilities of all actors at the central, regional, district, and school levels. Citizen engagement will form an integral part of project implementation to enable an effective two-way interaction between citizens and governmental officials from the education sector as it is fundamental to the success of the project.
73. The responsible agencies will be the MEP and MES. The oversight of the program will be ensured by the Project Steering Committee (PSC), composed, at a minimum, of representatives of the Ministry of Planning, MEP, MES, UAM, and the World Bank as an observer. The PSC will (a) provide project oversight and strategic guidance for project implementation and ensure coordination with other existing or proposed overlapping activities and programs; (b) oversee project implementation and approve annual action plans (AAPs) and budgets; (c) review and approve project progress reports; and (d) assess project achievements. The PSC will be in place within one month after effectiveness.
74. A Technical Monitoring Committee (TMC) will be established for both ministries (MEP and MES). Their main role will be to technically coordinate and oversee implementation of the AAPs and provide advice and recommendations to the PSC. The roles and responsibilities are fully explained in Annex 1. The TMC will comprise the Secretary Generals of the MEP and MES, all directors described in table 1.1 of annex 1, and the PCU. The TMC will be in place within one month after effectiveness.
75. A PCU, under the direct supervision of the Secretary General of the MES, will (a) be responsible for coordination, monitoring aspects, overall FM, internal audit, disbursement, procurement functions, and TA of the project; (b) liaise with the coordination structures and the MEP and MES departments; and (c) transfer skills to the MEP and MES departments during the project’s implementation. Full responsibilities are elaborated in Annex 1. The unit will comprise a coordinator, fiduciary staff, IT staff, and a TA taskforce, all recruited according to ToRs acceptable to the World Bank. The taskforce will provide TA to the ministerial departments based upon a detailed plan developed for each component.
76. In line with his/her normal mandate, the Secretary General of the MES will ensure overall technical coordination of the implementation of the project. Implementation of project activities will be under each government entity depending on the distribution of roles and responsibilities components are described in table 1.1 of Annex 1.
77. At the decentralized level, Regional Technical Support Units (RTSUs) will be set up, no later than six months after project effectiveness, in the five selected regions (Diffa, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi, and Zinder) to ensure coordination and follow-up of field activities. The RTSU, reporting to the PCU, will consist
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of a regional coordinator, one accounting assistant, and an internal controller who will work closely with the Regional Education Directorate, MEP, and MES. The RTSU’s mandate is to (a) support implementation of project activities within its specific coverage area, including refugee-hosting areas; (b) provide technical and management support to project beneficiaries and service providers; (c) draft periodic progress reports; (d) support the M&E plan and transmit data to the PCU; and (e) ensure the compliance of various subprojects with the operational rules and procedures.
78. The PIM will be adopted before project effectiveness as a compendium of procedures for project implementation, encompassing the administrative, fiduciary, M&E, and social and environmental safeguards procedures. It will include detailed ToRs for all the PCU staff. The manual describes how the project activities will be implemented and the relations, roles, and responsibilities of each contributing unit or institutions. The PCU will update the PIM on a regular basis. Directors and heads of units of the MEP and MES, who are responsible for project activities, will work as technical leads. The PIM will specify the implementation arrangements and detailed information on project-supported activities. A separate manual of procedures will be endorsed to define the PBC process and the detailed roles and responsibilities of all actors at the central, regional, district, and school levels.
B. Results Monitoring and Evaluation Arrangements
79. The project will use the Results Framework to monitor and assess progress in the implementation of activities and in achievement of the PDO. The Results Framework includes PDO-level and intermediate results indicators, baselines and target values, frequency, data source methodology, and responsibilities for data collection. Where feasible, data collected will be disaggregated by gender and refugee status to monitor interventions’ specific impact on these populations. Data to monitor the project and inform the indicators will be drawn from three main sources: official government data, surveys/evaluations, and progress reports produced by the PCU. In areas difficult to reach due to insecurity or conflict, the proposed project will use ‘Enhanced Monitoring and Evaluation’ to monitor implementation progress for ongoing investments by geo-enabled methods and supplemented by community discussions.
80. The MEP and MES have low M&E capacity and producing timely and reliable data remains an issue. The ministries do not have an effective EMIS with data collection tools and processes, and school census are carried out through paper-based questionnaires. It is expected that an M&E specialist will be recruited in the PCU to work closely with the MEP/MES and build government capacities to ensure that data collection, cleaning, analysis, and reporting are completed according to the project requirements within three months after project effectiveness. The project is also designed to support activities that will enhance the EMIS, modernize the information systems at the MEP and MES, and build the capacities of education staff in M&E as outlined in the project description.
81. The M&E activities will be performed by the TMC with regular implementation support from the World Bank. At the project level, the TMC, comprising the PCU and the MEP/MES component team leads, listed in annex 1, will meet with the World Bank team once a month to review the project’s implementation progress. The TMC will be responsible for preparing a semiannual report on progress of the project, including indicators of the project’s Results Framework. These reports will cover six-month periods across the life of the project and will be delivered to the World Bank within 30 days following the end of the period covered and for the World Bank’s implementation support missions.
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C. Sustainability
82. The proposed project is well aligned with national priorities and benefits from a strong government ownership, which is critical to its long-term sustainability. The PDO and project-supported activities are consistent with national strategies, including the PDES and the PTSEF 2020–2022. The project benefits from strong commitment of the Government which has demonstrated that improving the quality of its education system and learning outcomes is a key priority. The preparation of the project has been highly collaborative with significant donor participation led by the MEP and MES.
83. The project’s design and implementation arrangements explicitly promote long-term sustainability by focusing on institution development and capacity building. The project contributes to improving capacity to better manage human and fiscal resources by introducing performance-based management at all levels of the education system and by supporting the new HR strategy aiming at better management and deployment of teacher across the country. The project also supports the development of planning and M&E capacity within the MEP and MES, including through the modernization of the EMIS and efficient use of ICT tools. The activity to train teachers to improve teaching practices in the classroom is likely to be maintained and positively affect the system beyond the life of the project.
84. While the elements discussed earlier support the overall sustainability of the project’s objective, the limited fiscal space and the volatility of the security context may pose challenges for the sustainability of some of the activities in the long term. The aim of the project is to improve the quality of teaching and learning and strengthen education planning and management. The majority of the project’s funding is allocated to quality improvement and capacity building, which has minor implications on the fiscal space of the Government. Some of the activities, however, may imply incremental costs whose management by the government budget remains uncertain, such as the financing of school grants. It is expected that being able to demonstrate measurable impact of these activities on the improvement of teaching practices and learning outcomes will help mobilize additional domestic resources and attract further external financing needed to improve the education system in Niger.
IV. PROJECT APPRAISAL SUMMARY
A. Technical, Economic and Financial Analysis 85. The design of project activities was informed by international and national evidence of good practices, which ensures its technical viability. The technical design of the project took into consideration capacity constraints and lessons learned from previous operations in Niger, particularly the GPE-PAEQ, and was supported by analytical work, such as the World Development Report 2018 and the Ending Learning Poverty Report, as well as relevant TA such as the Advisory Services and Analytics on Makaranta schools (P168795), whose findings informed a project subcomponent.
86. The proposed project uses the 2014 household survey National Survey on Household Living Conditions and Agriculture (Enquête nationale sur les Conditions de Vie des Ménages et l’Agriculture, ECVMA) and recent administrative data to identify target beneficiaries (both in terms of poverty profile and geographic areas) and estimate the economic and social benefits of the project. Econometric methods
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are used to estimate the benefits of the project support and generate key indicators to carry out the cost- benefit analysis and estimate the economic internal rates of return (IRRs).
87. In terms of the benefits of education, Niger’s labor market provides a strong signal that investments in education yield higher returns and better employment opportunities for both individuals and households and contribute to reducing inequality in access to education as well as post-education labor market outcomes. Higher levels of education are associated with better earnings, an increased probability of wage employment, and increased likelihood of finding employment in more productive sectors; and the probability tends to be higher for women. At the national level, the rate of returns on education is positive and ranges from 35 percent for lower basic education to 177 percent for higher education. The rate of returns for women with some lower secondary education is 91 percent compared to 71 percent for men with the same level of education. Moreover, an additional year of schooling increases the chances of working in wage employment by 81 percent for women compared to only 36 percent for men.
88. Both IRR and the net present value (NPV) of costs and benefits of quality related interventions of the project show that the project is economically viable. The present value of the overall project benefits is estimated to be US$256.7 million while the present value of costs is estimated to be US$88.3 million. The corresponding NPV of the intervention benefits is US$168.4 million. The IRR associated with this NPV is 27.9 percent. Although some benefits are not fully quantifiable to measure the total potential benefit of the project, the NPV of the quantifiable benefits are larger than the NPV costs, thereby this strongly supports the efficiency of investments undertaken under the project (table 3.1, annex 3).
B. Fiduciary
(i) Financial Management
89. The new PCU to be created will manage both the technical and the fiduciary aspects of the proposed project. The MES and MEP have a successful history of co-leadership of education projects which the project builds on for implementation. The MES has successfully co-implemented PAEQ (P132405, GPE TF1665: US$84.2 million) closed in June 2019. Fiduciary compliance was deemed satisfactory for PAEQ. For example, the unaudited interim financial reports (IFRs) were submitted on time and found acceptable to World Bank. The last audited financial statements, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, were submitted to the World Bank on time with an unqualified audit opinion. The audit report was found acceptable to the World Bank. However, the assessment concluded that the current arrangements will need to be strengthened to meet the World Bank’s minimum requirements under the World Bank Policy IPF. As a result of the identified FM capacity constraints, the following actions need to be completed to ensure adequate FM arrangements for all aspects of the project: (a) preparing and adopting of the PIM before effectiveness, including FM procedures such as internal controls, budget process, assets safeguards, and description of roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders; (b) recruit a coordinator, an FM specialist, and a procurement specialist before effectiveness; (c) hire an internal auditor and an accountant within one month after effectiveness; (d) acquire accounting software within one month after effectiveness; (e) recruit international experts in support of fiduciary issues and M&E within three months after effectiveness; (f) recruit an external auditor within six months after effectiveness; (g) recruit regional accounting assistants and internal controllers for each of the five regions
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and deploy the accounting software in the regions within six months after effectiveness; and (h) hire an independent evaluator for PBC within six months after effectiveness .
(ii) Procurement
90. The Recipient will carry out procurement for the project in accordance with the World Bank’s ‘Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers’ (Procurement Regulations) dated July 2016 and revised in November 2017 and August 2018 under the New Procurement Framework, and the ‘Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants’, dated October 15, 2006, and revised in January 2011 and as of July 1, 2016.
91. All goods and non-consulting services will be procured in accordance with the requirements set forth or referred to in the Section VI-Approved Methods: Goods, Works, and Non-Consulting Services of the Procurement Regulations. The consulting services will be procured in accordance with the requirements set forth or referred to in the Section VII-Approved Selection Methods: Consulting Services of the Procurement Regulations, the Project Procurement Strategy for Development (PPSD), and the Procurement Plan, approved by the World Bank. The Procurement Plan, including its updates, shall include for each contract (a) a brief description of the activities/contracts; (b) selection methods to be applied; (c) cost estimates; (d) time schedules; (e) the World Bank’s review requirements; and(f) any other relevant procurement information. The Procurement Plan, covering the first 18 months of project implementation, has been prepared and agreed upon. Any update of the Procurement Plan will be submitted for the World Bank’s approval. The Recipient shall use the World Bank’s online procurement planning and tracking tools (Systematic Tracking of Exchanges in Procurement [STEP]) to prepare, clear, and update its Procurement Plans and conduct all procurement transactions.
92. All procuring entities as well as bidders, and service providers, that is, suppliers, contractors, and consultants shall observe the highest standard of ethics during the procurement and execution of contracts financed under the project in accordance with paragraph 3.32 and Annex IV of the Procurement Regulations. When procurement is done in the national market, as agreed in the Procurement Plan, the country’s own procurement procedures may be used with the requirements set forth or referred to in paragraphs 5.3 to 5.6 related to National Procurement Procedures.
93. Procurement documents will adopt provisions of the World Bank standard procurement documents related to environmental, social (including SEAH and GBV), health, and safety risks and impacts. This includes codes of conduct that include prohibitions against SEAH.
94. PPSD. The Recipient has prepared the PPSD which describes how procurement activities will support project operations for the achievement of the PDO and deliver value for money. The country’s context, in terms of administrative burden, economic condition, currency stability, financial constraints, technology, and inadequate national market for high value and complex procurements, identified minor safeguards issues that coupled with the country’s economic, procurement, and safeguards policies will affect the approach and response to the market and the execution of contracts. Under this project, the capacities of the MES and other identified procurement risks will affect procurement implementation. Thus, timely and adequate execution of the mitigations will help improve procurement implementation under the project. The studies and analysis show that there are opportunities for both national and international firms under the project in the country.
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.C. Legal Operational Policies . Triggered? Projects on International Waterways OP 7.50 No Projects in Disputed Areas OP 7.60 No .
D. Environmental and Social
95. The LIRE Project is nationwide. Project activities include construction and rehabilitation of classrooms within the existing structures at teachers training colleges. In project sites where civil works will be undertaken, the primary environmental and social safeguards issues relate to management of construction sites such as air quality, noise/vibrations, water and sanitation, and solid waste; uprooting of trees and cutting of shrubs made necessary by certain activities, with reduction of green spaces; risks of localized soil degradation, despite the fact that washout works will be limited in depth; safety of teachers and students during construction; and accidents and other incidents.
96. The environment risks are of low magnitude, and mostly site specific. Overall, the activities envisaged under the LIRE Project do not involve land acquisition nor physical and economic displacement of populations. All the construction work will be done on land belonging to the ENI and on government- owned premises. There are no significant long-term or irreversible adverse impacts expected from project implementation because the main activities are soft and related to education quality enhancement. The project will support enhancement measures (in a do-good approach) related to improving health and sanitation measures and GRM. However, the social assessment has identified a potential high level of GBV/SEAH risk. Several actions have already been identified (e.g. capacity building for management, codes of conduct, etc.) and these and other mitigation measures will be further detailed in a time-bound and costed action plan, to be prepared six months after Board approval.
97. The Recipient has weak capacity for managing social and environmental risks and impacts of donor-funded operations with regard to environmental and social due diligence. The legal and institutional framework for managing risks and impacts exists and seems adequate. However, implementation, monitoring, and enforcement are weak and highly challenged due to understaffing and resource constraints. Likewise, the capacity of the National Office for Environmental Studies (Bureau national des études environnementales, BNEE) to monitor implementation of the Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP), which was disclosed on March 16, 2020, in conjunction with the environmental and social safeguards (ESSs) remains limited. Significant efforts will be required to build the capacity of the PCU and familiarize the BNEE with the Environmental and Social Framework monitoring during project implementation. The project will not use the Recipient’s Environmental and Social Framework in the assessment, development, and implementation of subprojects. However, the project will comply with relevant national legal requirements, where these do not contradict the ESSs. The environmental assessment regulatory in Niger is outlined under Law no.2018-28 of May 14, 2018, which determines the fundamental principles of environment assessment and Decree No. 2019- 027/PRN/MESU/DD of January 11, 2019, which lays down detailed rules for the application of this law.
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98. At the PCU level, the Recipient will hire one qualified social safeguards specialist and one qualified environmental safeguards specialist with the responsibility of ensuring environmental and social standards implementation. The project will extend technical resources to the implementing agencies to strengthen their capacities to manage project environmental and social risks and impacts.
99. As the exact location of some of the civil works are not all determined at this stage, the Recipient will prepare an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) to provide guidance on screening for potential risks and managing unavoidable environmental and social impacts. The ESMF also provides guidance on the level of environmental and social assessment and types of instruments needed (that is, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, Environmental and Social Management Plan, and so on). The ESMF has been consulted upon and published in-country on February 14, 2020 and on the World Bank website on March 16, 2020.
100. With support from the World Bank team, the client has completed a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) proportional to the nature and scale of the project associated risks and impacts. A draft SEP has been prepared and disclosed in-country and on the World Bank website on February 12, 2020. The Recipient will seek stakeholder feedback and opportunities for proposed future engagement, ensuring that all consultations are inclusive and accessible (both in format and location) and through channels that are suitable to the local context. If major changes are made to the SEP, a revised SEP should be publicly redisclosed. The Recipient will engage in meaningful consultations with all stakeholders throughout project implementation, in line with the SEP and ESS10, paying attention to the inclusion of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. For the construction/rehabilitation purpose, the project will involve direct workers and contracted workers and, to the extent possible, community workers and primary supply workers. Most of labor will be locally hired, except for skilled workers who may not be found in the project location. This will be taken into account in a labor management procedures instrument following the requirements of the ESS2. The labor management procedures will be finalized before project approval.
101. The Recipient will provide regular reports as set out in the ESCP to the World Bank of the results of the monitoring. Such reports will provide an accurate and objective record of project implementation, including compliance with the ESCP and the requirements of the ESSs and reports on incidents/accidents. Such reports will also include information on stakeholder engagement conducted during project implementation in accordance with ESS10.
V. GRIEVANCE REDRESS SERVICES
102. Communities and individuals who believe that they are adversely affected by a World Bank (WB) supported project may submit complaints to existing project-level grievance redress mechanisms or the WB’s Grievance Redress Service (GRS). The GRS ensures that complaints received are promptly reviewed in order to address project-related concerns. Project affected communities and individuals may submit their complaint to the WB’s independent Inspection Panel which determines whether harm occurred, or could occur, as a result of WB non-compliance with its policies and procedures. Complaints may be submitted at any time after concerns have been brought directly to the World Bank's attention, and Bank Management has been given an opportunity to respond. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank’s corporate Grievance Redress Service (GRS), please visit http://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/products-and-services/grievance-redress-service.
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For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank Inspection Panel, please visit www.inspectionpanel.org.
VI. KEY RISKS
103. While the rating considers the experience gained as part of implementation of previous projects, as well as the strong commitment demonstrated by the Government of the Republic of Niger, the overall project risk is rated High.
104. Political and governance. Political and governance risks remain High for Niger. While Niger has returned to a democratically elected government since 2011, the political stabilization continues to be threatened by severe external shocks, including the security crises in the subregion. As articulated in the latest Risks and Resilience Assessment findings for Niger, the country faces a range of FCV risks: vulnerability to terrorist attacks and security risks coupled with limited governance mechanisms and fragile institutions. Therefore, it is necessary to take in to account the planned elections (both Presidential and Parliamentary in 2021). Further, Niger continues to be affected by ongoing regional instability in the Sahel, in the Lake Chad Basin, and more recently in the northwest of Nigeria and the border region with Burkina Faso. Close monitoring of project implementation, clear reporting arrangements, and third-party monitoring arrangements, as well as compliance with all security procedures will be ensured.
105. Macroeconomic. The macroeconomic environment risk in Niger is assessed as Substantial. While the Government appears to be able to continue prudent management of the economy amid major shocks, the high demographic growth coupled with limited opportunities and stressed institutions is an important risk factor that needs to be addressed. Despite these macroeconomic challenges, the Government places high priority on education given that the security situation of the country is highly related to youth unemployment. Close policy dialogue will continue so that sector funding will at least be maintained at current levels.
106. Sector strategies and policies. Risks related to sector strategy and policy is rated Substantial. The Government and DPs recently validated the PTSEF (2020–2022), which was a revision of the previous PSEF (2014–2024), endorsed by all partners in 2013. Despite the endorsement and improved data, given that the level of funding needed continues to be very high compared to the current capacity and that without donor support, it is unlikely that the country will have enough resources to meet the national targets, the rating is still assessed as Substantial. The revision of the PSEF included an assessment of the implementation for the first phase (2014–2018) of the PSEF, mainly through the annual sector review and the 2017 RESEN; development of the sector Medium-term Expenditures Framework; and finalization and endorsement of the revised PSEF by the education donors.
107. Technical design of project and institutional capacity for implementation and sustainability. Technical design risk of the project is assessed as a Substantial. While the proposed project is based on clearly identified needs and priorities and is based on extensive lessons learned from the previous education project, the introduction of performance-based management approaches will require substantial up-front external assistance (in-built through core TA activities). Ultimately however, the performance-based management reform is expected to build capacity at each level to decentralize roles and responsibilities. Institutional capacity for implementation risks is considered Substantial. High
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turnover and limited numbers of qualified staff will require substantial capacity building. Further mitigation measures include performance-based management mechanisms, support to the HR strategy, and empowering local communities. Importantly, the remediation activities under Component 2, with marginalized populations and in fragile areas, are supported through NGOs to ensure adequate implementation.
108. Fiduciary. Fiduciary risks are assessed as Substantial. The lack of adequate management capacity, leadership, and accountability structures with regard to fiduciary aspects, M&E, and project management constitute a potential risk for project implementation. Follow-up mechanisms and other capacity-building measures, including TA, will be provided to the implementing agency to ensure effective implementation of the activities, establishment/improvement of solid M&E systems, and so on.
109. Environmental and social risks. Overall, the environmental and social risks are considered to be Moderate. The project is expected to have potential adverse environmental and social impacts associated with the rehabilitation of classrooms in teacher training colleges which are generally less adverse, small scale, and site specific and thus, manageable to an accepted level. Given the nature of activities, which focus on quality enhancement of teaching practices and student learning, the project is expected to generate positive social impacts for children, adolescents, and teachers in Niger. However, the GBV/SEAH risk level for this project is identified as high due to drivers of risk such as prevalence of child marriage and early pregnancies in the country, implementation of some project activities in regions with high level of insecurity and violence, and the fact that addressing GBV is not yet a priority for the education sector. In response to these challenges, several actions have already been identified (e.g. capacity building for management, codes of conduct, etc.) and these and other mitigation measures will be further detailed in an action plan.
110. Stakeholders. Risks related to stakeholders is assessed as Substantial. Lack of effective coordination across the relevant ministries, their regional structures, and education partners presents a risk to the effective implementation of the project. Further, teachers, a key stakeholder, present a potential risk given potential discontent and possible strikes, related to deployment policies. The project aims to mitigate these risks through consultation with teachers and teachers’ unions. Further, the extensive teacher supports built into the project design through training, the coaching program, and technology-enabled feedback as well as opportunities for professional growth and increased transparency in teacher management are expected to further mitigate these risks.
111. The risk related to refugees and host communities is rated High. Although as part of the IDA18 eligibility process Niger’s protection framework was confirmed as adequate as elaborated earlier, there are a set of protection-related challenges that are important to highlight. These include (a) the lack of documentation of refugees and Nigerien nationals in the affected region; (b) the struggle of host populations and refugees alike to access key education services and support; and (c) the potential impact of refugee influx on regional stability, social cohesion, and local perceptions. These risks will be mitigated through intense community mobilization and sensitization, adoption of a holistic and sustainable approach to address the educational needs of refugees and host communities simultaneously, and the inclusion of refugee-related student data in the regular national data collection systems. .
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VII. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING
Results Framework COUNTRY: Niger Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project
Project Development Objectives(s) To improve the quality of teaching and learning conditions in select regions, and strengthen education planning and management
Project Development Objective Indicators
RESULT_FRAME_T BL_PDO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 Improved teaching practices
Increased percentage of targeted teachers in basic 20 percentage points 5 percentage points 5 percentage points 5 percentage points education demonstrating n.a. n.a increase over the project increase annually increase annually increase annually improved teaching practices in lifetime the classroom (Text)
Improved learning conditions for girls and boys
Students benefiting from direct interventions to 0.00 25,000.00 100,000.00 200,000.00 400,000.00 600,000.00 enhance learning (CRI, Number)
Female (Percentage) 0.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00
Out-of-school children and adolescents benefiting from 0.00 30,000.00 50,000.00 100,000.00 150,000.00 200,000.00 direct interventions to support learning (disaggregated by
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RESULT_FRAME_T BL_PDO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 general population, host communities and refugees) (Number)
Female (Percentage) 0.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00
Strengthened education planning and management
Primary and lower secondary schools benefiting from a performance grant and meeting the minimum 0.00 60.00 65.00 70.00 75.00 80.00 requirements in terms of teaching and learning conditions (Percentage)
National large-scale standardized learning 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 1.00 assessments completed (Number)
PDO Table SPACE
Intermediate Results Indicators by Components
RESULT_FRAME_T BL_IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 Improving Teaching Practices Pedagogical and organizational audit conducted, and reports produced for ENIs and ENS No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (Yes/No) Number of teacher trainers 0.00 0.00 75.00 115.00 150.00 150.00
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RESULT_FRAME_T BL_IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 trained (Number) Classroom observation tools to assess teaching practices are No No Yes Yes Yes Yes established (Yes/No) Number of basic education teachers participating in the new coaching activities 0.00 0.00 3,000.00 6,000.00 9,000.00 12,000.00 (Number) Number of coaching facilitators trained (Number) 0.00 60.00 120.00 240.00 360.00 480.00 Structured lessons are developed and digitized No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (Yes/No) Promoting Learning for Girls and Boys Number of students benefiting from remedial prevention programs at the primary and 0.00 25,000.00 75,000.00 125,000.00 175,000.00 250,000.00 lower secondary level (Number) Female (Percentage) 0.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 Number of selected Makaranta schools that have signed an 0.00 0.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 agreement with MEP (Number) Number of girls benefiting from the learning space 0.00 375.00 750.00 1,500.00 2,250.00 3,000.00 initiative (Number) Percentage which remain enrolled in secondary 0.00 70.00 70.00 70.00 70.00 70.00 school at the end of the year (Percentage) Strengthening Systems and Building Capacities for the Delivery of Education Services
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RESULT_FRAME_T BL_IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 Number of regional education authorities having achieved at 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.00 6.00 least 80% of their PBC objectives (Number) Percentage of targeted inspectorates having achieved at least 80% of their PBC 0.00 0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 objectives (Percentage) Number of primary and lower secondary schools benefiting from a grant based on a signed 0.00 0.00 1,000.00 1,500.00 3,000.00 3,300.00 performance agreement (Number) Number of communities trained on verifying the use 0.00 1,000.00 3,300.00 3,300.00 3,300.00 3,300.00 and implementation of school grants (Number) New protocol on teacher deployment is established No No No Yes Yes Yes (Yes/No) A time-bound capacity-building and skills transfer implementation plan is No No Yes Yes Yes Yes established and implemented (Yes/No) A national online education platform is established No No Yes Yes Yes Yes (Yes/No) Annual school census conducted through new digital No No No No Yes Yes tools and report produced (Yes/No)
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IO Table SPACE
UL Table SPACE
Monitoring & Evaluation Plan: PDO Indicators Methodology for Data Responsibility for Data Indicator Name Definition/Description Frequency Datasource Collection Collection Proportion of basic education teachers benefiting from new coaching activities who Reports from Starting in Y3 of project demonstrate improved the implementation, yearly teaching practices (using application reports of teacher Increased percentage of targeted classroom observation tool of the classroom practices will teachers in basic education Annual PCU under project). For teaching be collected from demonstrating improved teaching reporting, a random sample practices inspectorates and practices in the classroom of teachers will be selected observation pedagogical units by and the % of teachers from tools MEP/MES this sample demonstrating new skills l(via trainings) will be reported. Baseline expected Y2 or Y3. Reports from learning interventions collected by PCU. Efforts will be made to Students benefiting from direct Annual Project data PCU report disaggregated interventions to enhance learning data per cycle of education (primary and lower secondary), category of population
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(refugee, host, general), regions and districts.
Female Reports from learning interventions. Efforts will be made to Out-of-school children and adolescents Beneficiaries include report disaggregated benefiting from direct interventions to children and adolescents data per age, category Annual Project data PCU support learning (disaggregated by age 7-16 who are out-of- of population (general general population, host communities and school and/or attending population, host refugees) Makarantas schools. communities, refugees), regions and districts.
Female Tracks whether project Drawing from SDI funded school grants are survey methodology, used to improve data will be collected teaching/learning conditions through visual Primary and lower secondary schools at school level. Minimum inspections of benefiting from a performance grant and requirements defined in Y1 Annual Project data PCU classrooms and school meeting the minimum requirements in and will include sub- premises in each terms of teaching and learning conditions indicators on the availability primary and lower of essential inputs, secondary schools differentiated for primary surveyed. and lower secondary
schools. National large-scale standardized learning Administration of a national Once Project data Reports DNE/MEP assessments completed large-scale assessment using
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national data and standardized tests. The methodology used should allow for comparability of subsequent assessments (items, administration procedures, and scoring methods). ME PDO Table SPACE
Monitoring & Evaluation Plan: Intermediate Results Indicators Methodology for Data Responsibility for Data Indicator Name Definition/Description Frequency Datasource Collection Collection Audit will assess capacity/performance Audit reports will be against specific criteria. The Pedagogical and organizational audit prepared and reports will share the Once Project data PCU conducted, and reports produced for ENIs transmitted by external findings and provide and ENS auditors to the PCU recommendations to
strengthen ENS and ENIs’ capacities. Number of trainers trained to deliver training to Training reports will be Reports from students-teachers at ENIs. prepared and Annual training DFIC Number of teacher trainers trained Training takes into account transmitted by DFIC to interventions the revision and the PCU
improvement of the org/content of the ENIs. Tool to measure teacher Reports will be Classroom observation tools to assess Annual Project data PCU practice/performance. Used produced by selected teaching practices are established by inspectors during school experts at every stage
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visits but may be also used of the process be external observers. COT (conception of the is accompanied by tools, validation and classroom observation piloting) consolidated report. Considered by DFIC and established once designed, transmitted to the PCU piloted by DFIC (w/ external support) and validated by MEP/MES. Reports from CAPED and UP meetings will be Number of primary/lower prepared by the secondary school teachers facilitators, benefiting from new consolidated by DFIC Project data - coaching activities. and transmitted to Number of basic education teachers reports from DFIC with support from Measures number of Annual PCU. Efforts will be participating in the new coaching training PCU teachers who attend all made to report activities interventions group meetings organized disaggregated data by
by CAPED/UP in the 4 weeks gender, cycle of preceding time of education (primary and measurement. lower secondary), regions and districts.
Training reports will be prepared and Beneficiaries are Project data - transmitted by DFIC to pedagogical advisors, school Reports from the PCU. Efforts will be DFIC with support from inspectors, school directors Annual Number of coaching facilitators trained training made to report PCU and experienced teachers interventions disaggregated data by who act as facilitators for gender, cycle of the coaching activities. education (primary and lower secondary),
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
regions and districts.
Development of structured lessons, including standardized exercises and Structured lessons are developed and Annual Project data Reports PCU classroom assessments, in digitized 2-3 national languages and French. New materials are digitized. Reports from learning Tracks progress in the interventions will be number of primary and collected by PCU. lower secondary school Efforts will be made to Number of students benefiting from students who benefit from report disaggregated Annual Project data PCU remedial prevention programs at the remediation activities data per cycle of primary and lower secondary level focused on language and education, category of mathematics to enhance population (refugees learning under the Project and host communities), interventions. regions and districts.
Female The agreement allocates grants to Makaranta schools providing that they include in their curriculum a Project data Number of selected Makaranta schools minimum volume of Annual and signed Reports PCU that have signed an agreement with MEP teaching hours dedicated to agreements reading and mathematics, taught by facilitators trained under the Project interventions.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Tracks the implementation Number of girls benefiting from the of interventions under the Annual Project data Reports PCU learning space initiative learning space initiative supported by the Project Main indicator: Number of girls enrolled in learning spaces activity (measured at the beginning of the year) Percentage which remain enrolled in Sub-indicator: Number of Annual secondary school at the end of the girls still enrolled in
year secondary school at the end of the year/number of girls enrolled in learning spaces activity at the beginning of the year This indicator will track the implementation of PBC and Project data, the performance of Regional signed PBC Number of regional education authorities education authorities at the Annual and external Reports PCU having achieved at least 80% of their PBC primary and secondary level evaluation of objectives in the regions of Diffa, PBC Zinder, Tillaberi, Tahoua and Maradi Project data, Tracks the implementation signed PBC of PBC and the performance and Percentage of targeted inspectorates of targeted inspectorates at Annual evaluation of Reports PCU having achieved at least 80% of their PBC the primary and secondary PBC objectives level in the regions of Diffa, implementati Zinder, Tillaberi, Tahoua and on Maradi
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Project data, This indicator will track the signed implementation of the Number of primary and lower secondary performance school grant programs in Annual Reports PCU schools benefiting from a grant based on agreement select districts in the regions a signed performance agreement and copy of of Diffa, Zinder, Tillaberi, bank transfer Tahoua and Maradi
Citizen-engagement indicator. Communities will be regularly consulted on project interventions and it is expected that CE feedback will be integrated in school plans and throughout Number of communities trained on implementation. Indicator Annual Project data Reports PCU verifying the use and implementation of will monitor the number of school grants communities who have been enabled, through appropriate training, to verify the use and implementation of grants in accordance with the school plan. The protocol will support Protocols are prepared equitable deployment of New protocol on teacher deployment is Annual HR protocols and transmitted by the PCU teachers in the country established HR directorates to PCU using school-level
information. A time-bound capacity- A time-bound capacity-building and skills building and skills transfer Annual Project data Report ISA transfer implementation plan is implementation plan is to established and implemented be established between the
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
international experts of the Task force and their counterparts (homologues) officially nominated at MEP and MES to ensure national capacities are built throughout project implementation. The development of the platform, content, and its free access and use. To focus on teachers, teacher Online Reports generated by trainers, ENI staff and A national online education platform is Annual education the online education PCU administrative staff. established platform platform Platform conceived to
extend to other education stakeholders in the future, including students, parents and the general public. Digital data collection Online Census reports Directorate for Annual school census conducted through carried out and report of the Annual education generated by the online Information System new digital tools and report produced results prepared before the platform education platform
end of the school year ME IO Table SPACE
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
ANNEX 1: Implementation Arrangements and Support Plan
1. The project is consistent with the PTSEF, a sector-wide program for all education subsectors. The PTSEF is a transition plan covering only a reduced three-year term, given the difficulties posed by uncertainties in statistical data. Given the fragile context and limited data, the PTSEF opts instead for a detailed focus on a small number of priority strategies under each axis (access, quality, and management). These strategies aim above all rapid results and the systematic implementation around urgent imperatives. It covers early childhood development through higher education and encompasses primary, secondary, technical and vocational education and training, as well as literacy. External support is paramount to and embedded within the PTSE framework. Donor coordination through the LEG, which meets regularly, and joint reviews ensure that execution of each donor intervention is consistent with the sector plan objectives.
2. A significant project aim is to make appropriate arrangements to enable the provision of a sector- based budget support in the medium term. As a first step toward supporting country system strengthening consistent with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, a single PCU, based in the MES, will coordinate between both ministries and the department responsible for implementation of the components and subcomponents. At a later stage, some PCU functions will be handed over to ministry counterparts—provided there is satisfactory progress in capacity-building efforts.
Project Institutional and Implementation Arrangements
3. Recipient and executing agencies. The Recipient is the Republic of Niger, represented by the Ministry of Planning as the responsible agency for financial and legal obligations of the Government of Niger. The executing agencies are detailed in the following paragraphs.
At the Central Level
4. PSC. The PSC, chaired by the Ministry of Planning, will be established within one month after project effectiveness. The PSC will meet at least once a year to, among other tasks: (a) provide project oversight and strategic guidance for project implementation and ensure coordination with other existing or proposed overlapping activities and programs; (c) oversee project implementation and approve AAPs and budgets; (c) review and approve project progress reports; and (d) assess project achievements.
5. The PSC will be chaired by the Minister of Planning and will be composed of the (a) the Minister the MEP and the Minister the MES; (b) Secretary General of the MEP and MES; (c) the Rector of the UAM; (d) specific directors of the MEP and MES; and (e) members of the PCU.
6. The TMC will be established for both ministries (MEP and MES) to coordinate and oversee the implementation of the AAP and provide advice and recommendations to the PSC. They will (a) ensure consolidation of the different work plans into a budgeted AAP to be submitted for the approval of the PSC; (b) ensure the AAP’s consistency with the PDO; (c) validate the ToRs for studies, consultancies, and so on ensuring their compliance with the objectives of the project; and (d) oversee implementation of the
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AAP, monitoring compliance with the planned, programmed, and implemented activities. The TMC will be chaired by the Secretary General of the MES, and vice-chaired by the Secretary General of the MPE. It will comprise the Secretary Generals of the MEP and MES, all directorates describe in table 1.1, and the PCU.
7. Within the PCU, there will be only one coordinator for both ministries, under the direct supervision of the Secretary General of the MES. The PCU will be responsible for (a) coordination, monitoring aspects, overall FM, internal audit, disbursement, procurement functions, and TA of the project; (b) liaising with the coordination structures and the MEP and MES departments; and (c) overseeing the transfer of skills to the MEP and MES departments during the project’s implementation. The PCU will also carry out the consolidation of project documents, including the PIM and the FM Manual, annual work plans and budgets, M&E reports, and other progress reports. It will also facilitate internal and external communication and other supporting activities, as requested. The unit comprises a coordinator, fiduciary staff, IT staff, and a TA taskforce, all recruited according to ToRs acceptable to the World Bank. The taskforce will provide TA to the ministerial departments based upon a detailed TA plan developed for each component.
8. The project will finance an FM specialist, a procurement specialist, an accountant, an internal auditor and an external auditor, an M&E specialist, an environmental and social specialist, an ICT specialist, and two international fiduciary experts. In addition, at the administrative level, the project will finance two secretaries, a liaison officer, and three drivers. To ensure a strong focus on building local capacity, the MEP and MES will nominate counterparts, as needed, to work with the PCU staff. In addition, the operating costs of the PCU will also be financed by the project.
9. Under the authority of the Secretary General of the MES, the departments responsible for implementation of the components and subcomponents are described in table 1.1. The MEP will implement the activities related to primary education (Base I), and the MES will implement the activities related to lower secondary education (Base II). A jointly budgeted AAP with all project activities to be implemented over the year will be adopted before the end of the preceding year. The different directorates and services of the MEP and MES at central and decentralized levels will directly participate in the implementation of activities related to their respective functions.
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Table 1.1 Responsibilities of Departments in Project implementation Project Components Implementing Department involved in the Subcomponents (Individual in charge) Agencies implementation Component 1: Improving 1.1 Strengthening teacher education colleges DFIC, MEP and MES • National teachers training colleges: ENI and ENS Teaching Practices • Directorate of Information and Technology Promotion (DPI), MEP Directorates of preservice and in- • Directorate of Statistics and IT services (DSI), MES service training (DFIC) MEP and • Directorate of Educational Assessments and MES Professional Competitions • UAM 1.2 Developing a teacher coaching and DFIC, MEP and MES • Regional Directorate of Primary Education supervision system (Direction Régionale de l’Enseignement Primaire, DREP) in the MEP and Regional Directorate of Secondary Education (DRES) in the MES • Directorate of Preprimary Education, MEP • DPI, MEP • DSI, MES 1.3 Pedagogical tools and innovations Directorate of • DPI, MEP Curriculum and • DSI, MES Promotion of National • DFIC, MEP and MES Languages, MEP, and Directorate of Curriculum and pedagogical innovations, MES Component 2: Promoting 2.1 Remedial prevention programs DFIC, MEP and MES, • Management Support Directorate for Secondary learning for girls and boys and Directorate of Schools, MES General Directors of literacy and General Secondary • Department of Community Participation, School nonformal education, MEP, and Education, MES Health and Environmental Education Directorate General of • Directorate of Girls’ Education Promotion, MEP, Secondary Education, MES and MES 2.2 Second chance programs for out-of- Directorate of • Directorate of Franco-Arabic Cycle Education school children Nonformal Education, primary, MEP and Directorate of Franco-Arabic
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Project Components Implementing Department involved in the Subcomponents (Individual in charge) Agencies implementation MEP Cycle Education Secondary, MES • Directorate of Girls’ Education Promotion, MEP and MES 2.3 Grants for results to selected Makaranta Directorate of Franco- • Directorate of Nonformal Education, MEP Schools Arabic Cycle Education, • Directorate general of secondary education MEP, and Directorate • Directorate of Resource and FM, MEP, and MES of Franco-Arabic Cycle Education secondary, MES Component 3: Strengthening 3.1 Performance-based management Directorate of Studies • DREP in MEP and DRES in MES systems and capacities for the and Programing (DEP), • Directorate of Resource and FM, MEP, and MES delivery of education services MEP and MES General Secretary of MEP and 3.2 Strengthening education human resource Directorate of human • DPI MEP DSI MES, General Secretary of MES management resource, MEP and MES • DEP, MEP and MES • Directorate of Statistics • DFIC, MEP and MES 3.3 Monitoring, evaluation and DEP, MEP and MES • Directorate of Information and Technology accountability promotion (MEP) • DSI MES • Inspectorate General of Services, Directorate of Statistics • Directorate of Assessment and Professional Exam
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
At the Decentralized Level
10. At the decentralized level, RTSUs will be set up, not later than six months after project effectiveness, in the five selected regions (Diffa, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi, and Zinder) to ensure coordination and follow-up of field activities. The RTSU, reporting to the PCU, will consist of a regional coordinator, one accounting assistant, and an internal controller who will work closely with the Regional Education Directorate, MEP and MES. The RTSU’s mandate is to (a) support implementation of project activities within its specific coverage area, including refugee-hosting areas; (b) provide technical and management support to project beneficiaries and service providers; (c) draft periodic progress reports; (d) support the M&E plan and transmit data to the PCU; and (e) ensure the compliance of various subprojects with the operational rules and procedures.
11. Each DREP and DRES will be responsible in its region for (a) signing the PBC with each inspectorate and monitoring its implementation; and (b) preparing a progress report for the project in the region.
12. At the inspectorate level, inspectorates will be responsible for (a) developing the district quality improvement plans and drafting and implementing their PBCs; (b) contracting with Makaranta and monitoring the achievement of outcomes; and (c) negotiating and signing a school improvement plan with each of the public schools in the districts and monitoring and supporting its implementation. The school inspectorates, under the supervision of the DREP, will be the key entities for overseeing project activities and compiling the data supplied by the schools for M&E.
13. The PBC will have the following arrangements: each inspectorate will prepare a detailed action plan, reviewed by the Directorate of Regional Education, that details (a) all quality improvement initiatives at the inspection level, especially inspections and classroom visits by inspectors and pedagogical advisers, as a way of tracking structured lessons and structured pedagogy implementation; (b) remediation courses for students having difficulties, student assessments at the school level, and follow-up actions after assessment results are available; (c) actions to take to monitor the reduction of repetition rates as well as the use of school grants and the incentives to promote girls’ schooling; and (d) other initiatives to improve learning.
14. The PBCs will be for five years and will contain (a) the funding commitment for the first year by budgeting proposed activities and objectives; (b) funding projections for the next year of the agreement; (c) agreed targets; and (d) indicators to monitor progress. Adjustments will be made at the end of the first year based on the achievement of the targets. The indicators will be finalized in the PIM. Also, a simplified manual will be elaborated as a category 2 disbursement condition.
15. At the school level, the school head is responsible for all the project activities taking place in the school, including the purchase of teaching materials through school grants. The project is designed to strengthen grassroots communities’ responsibilities to improve accountability and efficiency in service delivery. At the community level, the COGEP and CGDES, composed of representatives of parents, school staff and local resource persons are the entities responsible for the implementation of the school projects. More specifically, and after being trained, they will be in charge of supporting schools to deliver the agreed results and monitoring and reporting on the functioning of schools.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
16. In rural areas, procurement will be carried out according to simplified procedures that are already used in the World Bank-financed Community Development Project. The COGEP and CGDES will be supervised by the local inspectorates and regional directorates for education (DREP and DRES) with the support of the decentralized PCU staff. Each specific school management committee will receive the required basic training on the simplified guidelines for procurement and disbursement for community- based investments. The procedures are detailed in the Operations Manual and in the FM Manual.
17. Citizen engagement will form an integral part of project implementation to enable an effective two-way interaction between citizens and governmental officials from the education sector as it is fundamental to the success of the project. The project preparation process is being characterized by significant consultation with stakeholders (including various disability organizations and participants from rural areas) for inputs on the selection and design of activities and overall implementation of the proposed project.
18. Workshops will be held each year to ensure continued citizen engagement and inform project adjustments to meet beneficiaries' needs. An SEP, prepared during the project preparation, will be used to ensure engagement is maintained throughout project implementation to closure. Project activities, such as PBCs, will be implemented and managed by communities/schools using a community-empowered approach. SMCs will be responsible for facilitating dialogue among school stakeholders and decision making at the school level, making information publicly available, developing an implementation plan, and leading the implementation. In addition, the project will support capacity building of communities/SMC members in key areas such as school grants and gender sensitization awareness. Other efforts that will be introduced include GRM and social accountability through deeper engagement with communities. The ESMF provides details on citizen engagement for the LIRE Project. During the implementation stage, the client will carry out beneficiaries’ satisfaction surveys in the selected sites to evaluate public satisfaction with citizen engagement measures. The feedback satisfaction surveys will be conducted through phone surveys, workshops, and community scorecards.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Figure 1.1. Implementation Arrangements
Steering Committee : Ministry of Plan, UAM, MEP et MES The Ministry of Secondary Education is responsible for institutional supervision. Transmission of the AAP to the Coordination
Technical monitoring Agreement for committee : implementation and Internal Auditor General Secretaries monitoring of the Annual Action Plans (AAPs)
Payment
validation
-
AAPs AAPsfor
pre Comments
transmissionof Coordinator Approbation
Technical Directorates of Secretariat RTSUs MEP and MES for PCU each component Fiduciary Specialist Information Five Management Monitoring Environme Two (Coordinators, and Project Working Group /Financial and - mental Assistants Accounting Expression needs for financingExpressionforneeds Procurement technology under Component 1.1 Accountant Evaluation Assistants, Specialist Specialist and social Homologue Specialist safeguard Three Internal Project Working Group Financial Controllers, Homologue specialist Drivers under Component 1.2 Notification Management Homologue Homologue Drivers and
IMPLEMENTATION Administrative Homologue Liaison Project Working Group Accountant Assistants) Procurement Procurement unit Officer
under Component 2.1 Financial unitManagement
Technology and Education unit Education and Technology
Monitoring and Evaluation unitMonitoring and Evaluation Environmental and safeguard unitand safeguard Environmental
Task force: Two fiduciary experts
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Financial Management
19. In line with the guidelines as stated in the FM Manual for World Bank IPF Operations that became effective on March 1, 2010, and was last revised on February 10, 2017, an FM assessment was conducted within the MES. A new PCU will be created and embedded at the MES to implement overall project activities according to the Financing Agreement. The new PCU will manage both the technical and the fiduciary aspects of the proposed project. The assessment of the FM capacity of MES was conducted by the Niger country office FM specialist. The objectives of the assessment were to determine the following: (a) whether this entity has adequate FM arrangements in place (planning, budgeting, accounting, internal control, funds flow, financial reporting, and auditing arrangements) to ensure that project funds will be used for purposes they are intended for and in an efficient and economical way; (b) that project financial reports will be prepared in an accurate, reliable, and timely manner; and (c) that the project’s assets will be safeguarded.
20. The MES has successfully co-implemented PAEQ (P132405, GPE TF1665: US$84.2 million), which closed in June 2019. Fiduciary compliance was deemed satisfactory for PAEQ. For example, the unaudited IFRs were submitted on time and found acceptable to World Bank. The last audited financial statements, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, were submitted to the World Bank on time with an unqualified audit opinion. The audit report was found acceptable to the World Bank. However, the assessment concluded that the current arrangements will need to be strengthened to meet the World Bank’s minimum requirements under the World Bank Policy IPF. As a result of the identified FM capacity constraints, the following actions need to be completed to ensure adequate FM arrangements for all aspects of the project: (a) preparing and adopting of the PIM before effectiveness, including FM procedures such as internal controls, budget process, assets safeguards, and description of roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders; (b) recruit a coordinator, an FM specialist, and a procurement specialist before effectiveness; (c) hire an internal auditor and an accountant within one month after effectiveness; (d) acquire accounting software within one month after effectiveness; (e) recruit international experts in support of fiduciary issues and M&E within three months after effectiveness; (f) recruit an external auditor within six months after effectiveness; (g) recruit regional accounting assistants and internal controllers for each of the five regions and deploy the accounting software in the regions within six months after effectiveness; and (h) hire an independent evaluator for PBC within six months after effectiveness.
21. Given that the MES will be reinforced by creating a new PCU to be staffed with necessary external resources and the implementation of the mitigation measures, as specified in table 1.3, the FM assessment notes that the FM residual risk for MES is Substantial.
Planning and Budgeting Arrangements
22. The budgeting process from elaboration to execution and control will be clearly defined in the PIM, including FM arrangements, and the budget will be reviewed and adopted by the PSC before the beginning of its execution. The annual draft budget will be submitted for the World Bank’s ‘no objection’ before adoption and implementation, and no later than November 30 of each year. Periodic monitoring of budget execution and variance analysis will be prepared by the PCU and included in the semiannual unaudited IFRs to be submitted to the World Bank as specified in the following paragraphs.
Accounting Arrangements
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
23. FM Manual. The PIM detailing administrative, procurement, FM, safeguards, and M&E procedures and arrangements for the project will be elaborated and adopted by the MES in form and substance satisfactory to the World Bank, before the project effectiveness date.
24. Accounting staff. Before the project effectiveness date, an FM specialist will be recruited, and an accountant will be recruited one month after effectiveness at the central level. In addition, at the decentralized level, an accounting assistant will be recruited for each RTSU, within six months after the project effectiveness date. All those staff will be recruited based on ToRs satisfactory to the World Bank.
25. Accounting information systems. A computerized FM system will be acquired and installed within one month after the project effectiveness date. The accounting software to be procured will include the following modules to be integrated: budgeting, general accounting, cost accounting, reporting, M&E, fixed assets management, preparation of withdrawal applications, and tracking of disbursements by donors. The accounting software will be deployed in each of the five RTSUs.
26. Accounting standards. The PCU will use SYSCOHADA accounting standards which are commonly used among the West African Francophone countries. The chart of accounts should be prepared to reflect various project components to facilitate the preparation of relevant monthly, quarterly, semiannual, and annual financial statements. The annual financial statements will be prepared in accordance with SYSCOHADA accounting standards and relevant International Public Sector Accounting Standards using a computerized accounting system.
Internal Control and Internal Auditing
27. Manuals. Financial procedures will be detailed in the PIM to be elaborated and adopted in form and substance satisfactory to the World Bank before the project effectiveness date. The financial procedures will cover at least the following aspects: institutional arrangements, budget and budgetary control, disbursement procedures and banking arrangements, receipt of goods and payment of invoices, internal control procedures, accounting system and transaction records, reporting requirements, and audit arrangements. The financial procedures will also include guidance for handling project funds by any relevant entity involved in the project activities’ implementation, as well as annexes with template forms and reports such as asset control form and register; budget formats; monthly, quarterly, and semiannual reports; annual financial statements; and so on.
28. The PBC procedures will form part of the PIM and will describe (a) the methods that will be used to calculate the amount of the school grants; (b) the procedures for allocating and monitoring school grants; (c) the list of eligible materials to be financed under the grant; and (d) the procedures for procuring materials. The eligible expenditure categories will be defined in the PBC manual, excluding salaries and construction works. For primary schools, the eligible expenditures and materials to be financed include training to improve the capacity for resource management, school supplies, and improvements to teaching and learning conditions. For secondary schools, the project will propose a menu of expenditures like access to hygienic products for girls and transport facilities for female students and female teachers between homes and schools. The PBC manual will also include the indicators, the respective roles and responsibilities, the application and evaluation process, the funding modalities, and the monitoring arrangements. The mechanism of funds transfers to the microfinance institution and the mobile money
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
providers, as well as the distribution of such funds to the schools and secondary schools will be included in the PBC manual.
29. In addition to the PIM, an Internal Audit Manual will be elaborated by the project’s internal auditor within six months after the consultant in charge of internal audit functions will be in place.
30. Internal audit functions. At the central level, a qualified and experienced internal auditor will be recruited with ToRs acceptable to the World Bank and will provide support to the PCU as well as the five RTSUs and the school grant beneficiaries. An internal auditor will be recruited within one month after the project effectiveness date.
31. At the decentralized level, an internal controller will be recruited for each of the five regions of focus, primarily on the activities implemented under the PBC mechanism. The regional internal controllers will be recruited six months after the project effectiveness date.
32. The project internal auditor and internal controllers will advise on the adequacy of project systems of internal controls and will conduct reviews of the implementation of project’s activities. The role of project internal auditor and regional internal controllers will also include following up on implementation of appropriate actions to improve effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes at all levels and training of project’s staff. The internal auditors will be trained on risk-based audit. Additional trainings will be recommended as part of continuing professional education. The PSC is expected to have a fiduciary oversight function.
Funds Flow and Disbursement Arrangements
33. The proposed operation is estimated at US$140 million to be allocated to the Recipient in the form of IDA credit in the amount of US$20 million and IDA grant in the amount of US$120 million. Proceeds of the financing will be used by the project for payments of eligible expenditures as defined in the Financing Agreement and further detailed in the annual work plans and budgets and Procurement Plans. Disbursement arrangements have been designed in consultation with the Recipient after considering the assessment of the implementing agency’s FM capacities and anticipated cash flow needs of the operation.
34. Disbursements arrangements. The disbursement methods that would be used under this project will be based on the Disbursement Guidelines for IPF, dated February 2017. Disbursement methods that are commonly used could be (a) direct payments to a third party for works, goods, and services upon the Recipient’s request; (b) special commitments and letters of credit; and (c) reimbursements for expenditures incurred under the project and so on. Further details about disbursements to the project will be included in the disbursement procedures described in the Disbursement and Financial Information Letter (DFIL) and the administrative, financial, and accounting procedures manual. As the implementing agency of the project, the PCU will maintain the project Designated Accounts (DAs) and the regional functional bank accounts managed by the five RTSUs. If ineligible expenditures are found to have been made from the project’s accounts (DAs and regional bank accounts), the Recipient will be obligated to refund the same. If the DA remains inactive for more than six months, the Recipient may be requested to refund to IDA amounts advanced to the DAs and regional banks accounts. IDA will have the right, as reflected in the Financing Agreement, to suspend disbursement of the funds if reporting requirements are not complied with.
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35. Banking arrangements for DA. The MES, through its PCU will open two segregated DAs denominated in West African CFA franc (XOF) one account for category 1 (DA-A) and one account for category 2 (DA-B) relating to performance contracts in a commercial bank on terms and conditions acceptable to the World Bank. The project’s DA will function under the co-signature of the project coordinator and the FM specialist of the project.
36. Banking arrangements for RTSUs: The MES will open a functional account denominated in XOF in a commercial bank on terms and conditions acceptable to the World Bank, in each of the five RTSUs. The regional functional accounts will function under the co-signature of the project regional coordinator and the regional accounting assistant.
37. Flow of funds arrangements (except PBC). Funds flow arrangements for the project (through the two DAs) and regional bank accounts are as follows:
(a) IDA will make an initial advance disbursement into the DAs for the project being implemented by the PCU in XOF, upon receiving a withdrawal application from the PCU. (b) The PCU, will make advance disbursement from the project’s DA into the regional bank accounts for the eligible expenditures agreed on. (c) Replenishment of funds from IDA to the DA and from the PCU to the five regional bank accounts will be made upon evidence of satisfactory utilization of the advance, reflected in statement of expenditures (SOEs) and/or on full documentation for payments above SOEs thresholds. Replenishment applications would be required to be submitted regularly on a monthly basis. Further details about disbursements to the project will be included in the disbursement procedures described in the DFIL and the PIM. Simplified procedures governing the PBC will be developed in the PIM.
38. Specific flow of funds arrangements for PBC. Funds will flow from the functional account to the school grant beneficiaries as follows: (a) To the DREP and DRES on requests from the Secretaries General of the MEP and MES respectively, submitted to PCU (b) To primary school inspectorates and departmental directorate for secondary education (Direction Départementale de l’Enseignement Secondaire, DDES) on requests from the DREP and DRES, respectively, submitted to the Secretary General and after that to the PCU (c) To mobile money providers on requests and according to the hierarchical channel: from school inspectorates and DDES for funds to be transferred to schools and secondary schools, respectively (d) To ENI on request from the Secretary General of the MEP submitted to the PCU (e) To ENS on request from the Head of UAM submitted to the PCU 39. Funds will flow from microfinance institutions and mobile money providers to schools and secondary schools on requests from the PCU, based on reports received from school inspectorates and DDES. Figure 1.2 depicts the funds flow mechanism that will be deployed for the project.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Figure 1.2. Flow of Funds Disbursements by Category
IDA (Credit and Grant Accounts)
Parts 1.1, 2.3 and Parts 1.2, 1.3, 2, 3.1 of project 3.2, 3.3, 4 and 5 of project Functional Account (DA-B) (Commercial bank denominated in XOF) DA-A Managed by PCU within MES (Commercial bank denominated in XOF) Managed by PCU within MES
PBCs verification PBCs verification
DREP (5) DRES (5)
RTSU (5) School Inspectorate DDES (33) s (170)
ENI (11) ENS (1)
Mobile Money Microfinance Providers institutions and mobile money providers
Schools Secondary (3000) Schools (300) (2830)
Contractors, suppliers, services providers, and other third parties
Flow of documents (invoices, expenditures justification, and so on) Flow of funds
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
40. Table 1.2 sets out the expenditure categories to be financed by the grant/credit. This table considers the prevailing Country Financing Parameter for Niger in setting out the financing levels. In accordance with World Bank standard procurement requirements, contracts will continue to be approved ‘all taxes included’ for local expenditures.
Table 1.2. Disbursements per Expenditure Category Category Amount of the Financing Percentage of Allocated (US$) Expenditures to be Financed (inclusive of taxes) Grant Credit (1) Goods, works, non-consulting services, and 102,460,000 20,000,000 100 consulting services, and operating costs, and training for the project (except for Parts 1.1.b, 2.3 and 3.1 of the project) (2) Performance-based payments for Parts 1.1.b, 2.3 15,340,000 100 and 3.1 of the project, respectively (3) Refund of preparation advance 2,200,000 100 (4) Emergency expenditures for Part 5 of the project 0 100 Total allocated amount (US$) 120,000,000 20,000,000
41. Further details about disbursements to the project will be included in the disbursement procedures described in the DFIL and the financial procedures included in the PIM.
Financial Reporting Arrangements
42. In line with the World Bank’s FM guidelines, the PCU will be required to prepare and submit semi- annual unaudited IFRs to account for activities funded under this project. The project FM specialist and accountant within the PCU are responsible for preparing and submitting acceptable unaudited IFRs to the World Bank, no later than 45 days after the end of the semester. The IFRs will be designed to provide relevant and timely information to the project’s management on all project-related activities implemented by the MES through its PCU. The formats and contents of the IFRs has been agreed on between the World Bank and the MES.
43. These reports should, as a minimum, include: (a) A statement of sources and uses of funds and opening and closing balances for the semester and cumulative; (b) A statement of uses of fund that shows actual expenditures appropriately classified by main project activities (categories, subcomponents) according to the Project Appraisal Document, including comparison with budget for the semester and cumulative; (c) A statement on movements (inflows and outflows) of the project DA including opening and closing balances; (d) An SOE forecast for the next semester together with the cash requirement; and
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(e) Notes and explanations.
Auditing and Verification
44. Project annual financial statements will be audited by an external auditor acceptable to the World Bank following International Standards for Auditing, issued by the International Federation of Accountants, and specific ToRs acceptable to the World Bank. Annual audits will cover all project funding and expenditures. Audit reports together with management letters must be submitted to the World Bank within six months after the end of the Government’s fiscal year. In accordance with World Bank Policy on Access to Information, the Recipient is required to make its audited financial statements publicly available in a manner acceptable to the World Bank. Following the World Bank’s formal receipt of these statements from the Recipient, the World Bank also makes them available to the public. The scope of audit will be detailed in the ToRs. Opinions will be required on DA, SOEs, project financial statements, compliance, and internal controls. It is required that the firm is recruited in line with the World Bank Procurement Guidelines to ensure competitive selection. In this regard, the ToRs will be reviewed and cleared by the World Bank. External auditors will be appointed within six months after project effectiveness.
45. The audit reports that will be required to be submitted by the MES through its PCU. Due dates for submission are within six months after the end of each financial year.
FM Action Plan
46. Following the FM assessment for the MES, which identified some weaknesses and areas of improvement, the FM action plan (table 1.3) is recommended as a means of mitigating any risk and helping improve the fiduciary environment during implementation.
Table 1.3. FM Action Plan Action Due By Responsible Entity 1. Prepare and adopt the PIM including FM procedures. Before effectiveness MES 2. Recruit an FM specialist with qualifications and experience Before effectiveness MES satisfactory to the World Bank in fiduciary work. 3. Recruit an accountant with qualifications and experience One month after MES satisfactory to the World Bank. effectiveness 4. Recruit five regional accounting assistants with qualifications Within six months after MES and experience satisfactory to the World Bank. effectiveness 5. Acquire a computerized accounting information system for Within one month MES the management of the proposed project, with specifications following effectiveness acceptable to the World Bank. 6. Recruit an internal auditor with qualifications and experience Within one month MES satisfactory to the World Bank to support. following effectiveness 7. Recruit five regional internal controllers with qualifications Within six months MES and experience satisfactory to the World Bank to support the following effectiveness PIU. 8. Recruit an external auditor with ToRs acceptable to the Within six months MES World Bank. following effectiveness 9. Recruit a third-party verifier for the PBC Within six months MES
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Action Due By Responsible Entity following effectiveness 10. Recruit two international fiduciary experts Within three months of MES effectiveness
Financial Covenants
47. Financial covenants related to standard FM requirements are covered under Section 5.09 of the IDA General Conditions and specific FM aspects are included in the DFIL. Further, additional covenants will be added to the Financing Agreements to reflect actions outlined in the FM action plan.
Conclusion of the Assessment
48. A description of the project’s FM arrangements as documented in the preceding paragraphs indicates that they satisfy the World Bank’s minimum requirements according to the World Bank Policy. Overall, the FM residual risk is assessed and rated Substantial. The substantial risk rating is because of inherent risk associated with the design, including among others, (a) that this the third project using the results-based financing mechanism in the country; and (b) possible challenges with multiple sectors involving in the project’s activities implementation.
Supervision Plan
49. Based on the risk rating of the project and the current FM arrangements, it is expected that in the first year of implementation, there will be four quarterly on-site visits to ascertain adequacy of systems and supplemented by desk reviews of IFRs and audit reports. The FM supervision mission’s objectives will include ensuring that adequate FM systems are maintained for the project throughout project life. In adopting a risk-based approach to FM supervision, the key risk areas of focus will include assessing the accuracy and reasonableness of budgets, their predictability and budget execution, compliance with payment and fund disbursement arrangements, and the ability of the systems to generate reliable financial reports.
Institutional Arrangements for Procurement
50. The PCU under the direct supervision of the Secretary General of the MES, will be responsible for the project for procurement planning and management. The project coordinator will be responsible for decision making during the procurement process.
51. Filing and record keeping. As part of the PIM, the procurement procedures will set out detailed procedures for maintaining and providing readily available access to project procurement records, in compliance with the Financing Agreement. An archiving room will be available, and the PCU will assign one person responsible for maintaining the records. A logbook of the contracts with a unique numbering system shall be maintained.
52. Signed contracts as in the logbook shall be reflected in the commitment control system of the Recipient’s accounting system or books of accounts as commitments whose payments should be updated
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with reference made to the payment voucher. This will put in place a complete record system whereby the contracts and related payments can be corroborated.
53. PPSD. The Recipient has prepared the PPSD which describes how procurement activities will support project operations for the achievement of the PDO and deliver value for money. The country’s context, in terms of administrative burden, economic condition, currency stability, financial constraints, technology, and inadequate national market for high value and complex procurements, identified minor safeguards issues that coupled with the country’s economic, procurement, and safeguards policies will affect the approach and response to the market and the execution of contracts. Under this project, the capacities of the MES and other identified procurement risks will affect procurement implementation. Thus, timely and adequate execution of the mitigations will help improve procurement implementation under the project. The studies and analysis show that there are opportunities for both national and international firms under the project in the country.
54. The recruitment of civil servants as individual consultants or as part of the team of consulting firms will abide by the provisions of paragraph 3.23 (d) of the Procurement Regulations.
55. Procurement Plan. The Recipient has prepared a detailed 18-month Procurement Plan that was agreed between the Recipient and the World Bank during negotiations. The Procurement Plan will be updated in agreement with the World Bank team annually or as required to reflect the actual project implementation needs and improvements in institutional capacity.
56. Training, workshops, study tours, and conferences. Training activities would comprise workshops and training, based on individual needs, as well as group requirements, on-the-job training, and hiring consultants for developing training materials and conducting training. Selection of consultants for training services follows the requirements for selection of consultants earlier. All training and workshop activities (other than consulting services) will be carried out on the basis of approved annual work plans/training plans that will identify the general framework of training activities for the year, including (a) the type of training or workshop; (b) the personnel to be trained; (c) the institutions that will conduct the training and reason for selection of this particular institution; (d) the justification for the training, that is, how it would lead to effective performance and implementation of the project and/or sector; (e) the duration of the proposed training; and (f) the cost estimate of the training. Reports by the trainees, including completion certificate/diploma upon completion of training, shall be provided to the project coordinator, will be kept as parts of the records, and will be shared with the World Bank, if required.
57. Detailed training and workshop ToRs providing the nature of training/workshop, number of trainees/participants, duration, staff days/weeks/months, timing, and estimated cost will be submitted to IDA for review and approval before initiating the process. The selection methods will derive from the activity requirement, schedule, and circumstance. After the training, the beneficiaries will be requested to submit a brief report indicating what skill or skills have been acquired and how these skills will contribute to enhancing their performance and attaining the project objective.
58. Operational cost. Operational costs financed by the project will be incremental expenses, incurred by the PCU or its regional representations (RTSU, the PSC, and the TMC), based on the annual work plans and budgets as approved by the Association, on account of project implementation,
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management, and M&E, including the reasonable costs for utilities and supplies, bank charges, communications, vehicle operation, maintenance, and insurance, office space rental, building and equipment maintenance, public awareness-related media expenses, travel and supervision, and salaries of support staff contractual and temporary staff, but excluding salaries, fees, honoraria, and bonuses of members of the Recipient’s civil service. Such service needs will be procured using the procurement procedures specified in the PIM accepted and approved by the World Bank.
59. Procurement manual. Procurement arrangements, roles and responsibilities, methods, and requirements for carrying out procurement shall be elaborated in detail in the procurement manual, which will be a section of the PIM. The PIM shall be prepared by the Recipient and agreed with the World Bank before the effectiveness date.
60. Procurement methods. The Recipient will use the procurement methods and market approach in accordance with the Procurement Regulations.
61. The Open National Market Approach is a competitive bidding procedure normally used for public procurement in the country of the Recipient and may be used to procure goods, works, or non-consultant services, provided it meets the requirements of paragraphs 5.3 to 5.6 of the Procurement Regulations (see table 1.4).
Table 1.4. Requirements and Actions for National Open Competitive Procurement No. Requirements Actions 1 Open advertising of the procurement opportunity None at the national level 2 The procurement is open to eligible firms from any None country 3 The request for bids (RFBs)/request for proposals Reinforce the related provisions by document shall require that bidders/proposers considering the aspects related to the World submitting bids/proposals present a signed Bank’s Anticorruption Guidelines (including acceptance at the time of bidding, to be without limitation the World Bank’s right to incorporated in any resulting contracts, confirming sanction and the World Bank’s inspection application of, and compliance with, the World and audit rights). Introducing a template of Bank’s Anticorruption Guidelines, including this acceptance in the bidding documents. A without limitation the World Bank’s right to World Bank-approved template will be sanction and the World Bank’s inspection and provided. audit rights. 4 Procurement documents include provisions, as Adopt provisions of the World Bank standard agreed with the World Bank, intended to procurement documents related to environmental, adequately mitigate against environmental, social social (including SEAH and GBV), health, and safety (including SEAH and GBV), health, and safety risks risks and impacts and impacts 5 Contracts with appropriate allocation of Update and consider the required new elements responsibilities, risks, and liabilities. (particularly the strengthening of environmental and social performance, health, and safety). 6 Publication of contract award information No needed 7 Rights for the World Bank to review procurement The requirement must be included in the bidding documents and activities. documents to grant rights to the World Bank to
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No. Requirements Actions review procurement documentation and activities. The legal agreement may also allow this provision. 8 An effective complaints mechanism. None 9 Maintenance of records of the procurement The requirement must be included in the bidding process. documents and in the legal agreement. The National Coordination Unit must spell out the practical modalities and the appropriate documentation to archive in the procurement manual of procedures.
62. The thresholds for specific market approaches and procurement methods and the World Bank’s prior review requirements are also provided in table 1.5.
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Table 1.5. Thresholds for Procurement Methods and Prior Review Contract (C) Contracts Subject to Expenditure No. Value Thresholda Procurement Method Prior Review (equivalent Category (equivalent US$) US$) Open Competition International Market ≥ 5,000,000 C ≥ 5,000,000 Approach and Direct Contracting 1 Works Open Competition National 200,000 < C < Market Approach None 5,000,000
C ≤ 200,000 Request for Quotation (RFQ) None Open Competition International Market ≥ 1,500,000 C ≥ 500,000 Approach and Direct Goods, IT, and non- Contracting 2 consulting services Open Competition National 100,000 < C < Market Approach None 500,000
C ≤ 100,000 RFQ None National shortlist C < 100,000 For consulting services None 3 for selection of For engineering and C ≤ 200,000 None consultant firms construction supervision International ≥ 1,000,000 C ≥ 100,000 For consulting services shortlist for 4 selection of For engineering and ≥ 500,000 C > 200,000 consultant firms construction supervision Selection of ≥ 300,000 5 Individual All values All approaches
Consultants Direct contracting As agreed in the 6 All values Procurement Plan Training, Based on approved annual 7 workshops, study All values work plan and budgets tours Note: a. These thresholds are for the purposes of the initial Procurement Plan for the first 18 months and for the risk as rated High. The thresholds will be revised periodically based on reassessment of risks. All contracts not subject to prior review will be post reviewed.
63. Procurement risk rating. The project procurement risk before the mitigation measures is High. The risk can be reduced to a residual rating of Moderate upon consideration of successful implementation of the mitigation measures contained in the action plan for strengthening procurement capacity provided in table 1.6.
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Table 1.6. Action Plan for Strengthening Procurement Capacity No. Key Risks Mitigation Actions By Whom By When 1 Lack of a procurement Develop a PIM of procedures with a PCU Before project procedures manual based section on procurement detailing all effectiveness on ‘World Bank applicable procedures, instructions, and Procurement Regulations guidance for handling procurement. for IPF Borrowers,’ dated Standard bidding documents and other July 2016, revised in standard procurement documents to be November 2017 and used. The PIM will outline the interaction August 2018 between the project stakeholders responsible for procurement 2 Lack of a procurement Recruit a procurement specialist on PCU Expected within specialist skilled in World competitive basis three months Bank procedures after project effectiveness 3 Long delays of the Closely monitor and exercise PCU Throughout procurement processes, quality/control of all aspects of the project especially in evaluation procurement process, including implementation processes evaluation, selection, and contract award in line with the provisions of the Public procurement manual. Procurement Revise, as possible, the decree on the Regulation establishment of independent expert Agency committees in externally funded projects (ARMP) to give the PCU the autonomy and speed required for project implementation. 4 Lack of a dedicated Provide adequate space and equipment PCU Expected within archiving room with for the procurement archive and set up six months trained staff for its an adequate filing system for project after the management records to ensure easy retrieval of beginning of information/data according to World project Bank requirements for archiving. implementation Designate or recruit an officer to be responsible for data management.
64. Procurement supervision. Further to the prior review and implementation support missions carried out by the World Bank, it is recommended that at least two missions be carried out each year, with at least one visit to the field to carry out post review of procurement actions.
65. Post review procurement. Post reviews can be done either by World Bank staff or consultants hired by the World Bank. They may also be carried out by third parties such as supreme audit institutions, procurement regulatory authorities, consulting firms, NGOs, and others, according to procedures acceptable to the World Bank to ascertain compliance with procurement procedures as defined in the legal documents. The procurement post reviews should cover at least 10 percent of contracts across the World Bank portfolio that have not been prior reviewed in a financial year. The sampling is risk based and considers (a) the project procurement risk rating (with the riskier project having a larger sample) and (b) the contract risk rating, to ensure that riskier contracts constitute a higher proportion of the sample. Post reviews contribute to the overall procurement performance rating of the project based on the rating of
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the post-procurement review and provide a basis for updating the project procurement risk and the risk mitigation plan. 66. Oversight and monitoring arrangements for procurement. The PIM will define the project’s internal organization and its implementation procedures. It will include, among other things, all relevant procedures for calling for bids, selecting consultants, awarding contracts, handling/managing complaints, and archiving procurement documents. The project monitoring arrangements for procurement will be specified. Detailed procurement documentation (the PPSD) may be referenced as such and retained in the project files. The detailed 18-month Procurement Plan has been agreed with the Recipient during negotiations and has been uploaded to the World Bank website. Table 1.7. Summary of Procurement Activities Contract Title, Estimated World Procurement Selection Evaluation Description, and Category Amount Bank Approach/Competition (US$) Oversight Goods and Non-consulting Services Acquisition of office 10,000 Post Limited/National RFQ Evaluation equipment review criteria (Most Advantageous Bid [MAB]) Acquisition of 200 Tablets 50,000 Post Limited/National RFQ MAB review Equipment for initial 3,000,000 Post Open and International RFBs MAB teacher training review Vehicles acquisition 280,000 Post Open and National RFBs MAB review Production of books in 450,000 Post Open and National RFBs MAB French and mathematics review Reproduction and 510,000 Post Open and International RFBs MAB distribution of teaching review materials Consultants Services Recruitment of a 417,000 Post Open and International Quality and Most Firm/consultant to carry review Cost Based Advantageous out the organizational and Selection Proposal institutional audit of the (QCBS) (MAP)-rated 11 normal schools and the criteria higher normal school Recruitment of a 52,000 Prior Open and International Selection MAP-rated firm/consultant to develop review Based on the criteria (a) administrative, Consultants’ accounting, and financial Qualifications procedures and (CQS) procurement manuals; (b) project implementation with a simplified version of the implementation manual; and (c) proposal of contracts performance
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Contract Title, Estimated World Procurement Selection Evaluation Description, and Category Amount Bank Approach/Competition (US$) Oversight Recruitment of a 157,000 Post Open and International QCBS MAP-rated firm/consultant to train a review criteria national team in the development of lessons, exercises and model answers. (modelling in teacher training: primary and secondary) Recruitment of a 35,000 Post Open and National CQS Qualification firm/consultant to select review criteria and install a ‘task force’ (international experts) to provide technical support for the implementation of the LIRE Project by a firm Recruitment of a 82,000 Post Open and National CQS Qualification firm/consultant to carry review criteria out the mapping and evaluation of nonformal education systems Recruitment of a firm to 191,000 Post Open and International QCBS MAP-rated carry out the review criteria organizational and institutional audit of the MES and MEP Recruitment of the 38,000 Post Open IC Qualification coordinator of the PCU review criteria (CCV) Recruitment of the FM 23,000 Post Open IC Qualification specialist of the PIU review criteria (CCV)
Recruitment of the 22,000 Post Open IC Qualification procurement specialist of review criteria (CCV) the PCU Recruitment of an 14,000 Post Open IC Qualification accountant of the PCU review criteria (CCV)
Recruitment of a 1,021,000 Post Open and International QCBS MAP–rated consultant/Firm to carry review criteria out the geolocation of establishments (primary and secondary)
Recruitment of a social 12,000 Post Open IC Qualification development specialist of review criteria (CCV) the PCU
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Contract Title, Estimated World Procurement Selection Evaluation Description, and Category Amount Bank Approach/Competition (US$) Oversight Recruitment of an 12,000 Post Open IC Qualification environmental specialist of review criteria (CCV) the PCU
Strategy and Approach for Implementation Support
67. The implementation support plan of the LIRE Project is based on the assessed risks of the project and the assessed capacity of the client agencies responsible for implementation. The objective of the implementation support plan of the project is to provide adequate support to the MES and MEP directorates in the implementation of the LIRE Project, focusing on results. It also considers challenges in the education sector and reflects the lessons learned from the past projects in Niger.
68. The project implementation rests under the responsibility of the MES and MEP with targeted and continuous implementation support and technical advice from the World Bank. The World Bank, together with the MES and MEP, will formally conduct a review semiannually by undertaking implementation support missions. These missions will be complemented by (a) visits from the World Bank’s task team and technical consultants and (b) continuous communication and follow-up between missions. The implementation support thus comprises (a) joint review meetings and missions; (b) regular technical meetings and field visits; (c) progress report on Results Framework; (d) M&E; and (e) close coordination with other DPs to leverage resources, ensure coordination of efforts, and avoid duplications. The World Bank’s staff may carry out additional technical missions as required. Results and progress will be shared to the Government and the LEG members by using regular Aide Memoires.
69. The main semiannual missions will cover, among other things, (a) strategic policy dialogue on major education sector matters, including access, quality, and issues around planning and accountability; (b) review of the LIRE Project’s implementation status, including progress in performance to date with respect to the PDO-level and intermediate results indicators, legal covenants, monitoring indicators, as well as reviewing the FM report, and progress on procurement and environment and social safeguards; and (c) advising on any actions and measures (including risk mitigating measures) required to keep the LIRE Project’s implementation on track, progress on pace, and performance at expected levels. More frequent missions are expected at least in the first year for specific purposes, in between the implementation support missions.
70. Findings and recommendations from the semiannual review missions will be recorded in Aide Memoires. The Aide Memoires will provide specific recommendations to the Government for improving project performance with a timeline and specific actions to be taken. Findings of missions carried out during the periods between the semiannual review missions and of regular interactions between the country office staff and the client will also be recorded in mission notes, reports, and emails. The Aide Memoires will be issues oriented and will cover project implementation progress and performance. A midterm review will be undertaken jointly with the Government to review overall project implementation progress.
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71. The prevailing security conditions in Niger are a key source of difficulty for effective project implementation supervision and support. Access to and monitoring of the service delivery under the project is likely to be hampered due to insecurity and related movement constraints. Among other measures, the World Bank team will (a) intensify implementation support and supervision; (b) continue with third-party monitoring; (c) bring in experts from within the region and the Global Practice; and (d) reverse missions by the client for specific purposes when required.
72. Role of the World Bank. The World Bank’s implementation support team will be composed of a country office-based task team leader and both headquarters-based and country office-based specialist staff, who will be closely working with the client on a regular basis on implementation monitoring. Consultants will also be engaged for additional support in the key areas of reforms including governance, ICT, fiduciary, and safeguard management.
73. Fiduciary arrangements. FM and procurement arrangements will build on and use the capacity developed under the previous projects. The World Bank FM and procurement specialists are based in the World Bank’s country office in Niamey and will support project implementation through regular reviews and on time training and capacity building of staff of the client. Formal supervision of fiduciary processes and procedures will be conducted semiannually, and implementation support will be provided as required by the client.
74. Social and environmental safeguards. The environmental specialist and the senior social development specialist on the team, who are based in the World Bank’s country office, will provide regular implementation support to MEP and MES in the implementation of the ESSs. The gender and social development specialist will also work closely with MEP and MES to promote gender benefits of the operation in the sector. The World Bank team will provide guidance and capacity building throughout the project, especially because of the requirements of the new World Bank ESSs.
75. Analytical support. The World Bank will assist the client by regularly undertaking research, pilots, impact evaluations on themes and topics that are considered high priorities for future policy formulation, and planning. These studies and evaluations will be undertaken collaboratively with the Government.
Implementation Support Resource Requirements
76. During the first two years, it is expected that stronger engagement will be required. Special attention will be paid to the strategic development and monitoring activities of the MEP and MES and the delivery of services at the regional, communes, and school levels.
Table 1.7. Main Focus in Terms of Implementation Support Focus Skills Needed Annual Resource Estimate (Staff Weeks) First 12 months • Technical review/support • Technical expertise for teacher Task team leader: 30 • Institutional arrangements quality, PBC, school grants, civil Education/operations specialists: 30 • Implementation support and works, governance, Education specialist: 20 supervision accountability, gender, IT M&E: 5 • Fiduciary support and management specialist, and teacher training Procurement: 6 specialist FM: 5
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Focus Skills Needed Annual Resource Estimate (Staff Weeks) First 12 months • Environmental and social safeguards • M&E (surveys) Environmental: 5 monitoring and reporting • Procurement training and Social: 5 • EMIS and school mapping supervision Administrative support: 10 • Design and baseline of impact • Environment and social evaluation monitoring and reporting • Preparation of teacher training • Impact evaluation specialist modules • Institutional capacity building Years 2-6 • Team leadership • Technical expertise for teacher Task team leaders: 90 • Technical review/support quality, PBC, school grants, civil Education/operations specialists: • Implementation support and works, governance, 150 supervision accountability, gender, IT, teacher Education specialist: 150 • Fiduciary support and management training M&E :25 • Environmental and social safeguards • Procurement management Procurement: 30 monitoring and reporting • FM and disbursement-related FM: 25 • Monitoring and reporting support Environmental: 25 • Student learning assessment • Monitoring and reporting Social: 25 • Project impact evaluation • Program supervision and Administrative support: 50 monitoring and reporting • Learning assessment specialist • Impact evaluation specialist Table 1.8. Required Staff Skills Mix for the Task Team Skills Needed Number of Staff Weeks Per Number of Trips Comments Year Task team leader 30 Field trips as required Country office-based Education specialist 30 Field trips as required Headquarters-based or based in region Education specialist 20 Field trips as required Country office-based M&E specialist 5 Field trips as required HQ-based ICT specialist 8 Field trips as required Country office-based FM specialist 5 Field trips as required Country office-based Senior procurement 6 Field trips as required Country office-based specialist Senior social safeguards 5 Field trips as required Country office-based specialist Environmental specialist 5 Field trips as required Country office-based Gender/social development 4 Field trips as required Country office-based specialist Teacher training specialist 3 Field trips as required HQ-based or based in region Administrative support 10 Country office-based Country office-based
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ANNEX 2: Targeting Methodology
1. Some of the project’s interventions will be targeted to specific areas with the highest needs for support. Targeting options are determined by the availability and quality of data which, in Niger, present significant challenges due to weak institutional capacity and deficiencies in the national statistical system. For the LIRE Project, the preliminary available data allow for the targeting based on indicators of poverty, fragility, the education component of the Human Capital Index (which combines expected years of schooling and harmonized test scores), out-of-school children, and the PCR. The project uses these dimensions to identify the most deprived regions and districts. Table 2.1 presents the results of this analysis for each region.
Table 2.1. Key Indicators by Region Sources CPF UNHCR Human Capital Index Data of Ministries of Basic Education Girls’ School Poverty Fragility Learning Gaps Out of School Completion Rate Share Region Expected % of 7– Number Public Public of Fertility Harmonized Refugees IDPs years of 12 of 7–12 primary secondary poor rate test scores school children children school school (%) Agadez 1 7.1 — — 6.9 307.0 28.0 28,548 60.0 34.5 Diffa 3 6.3 117,222 109,404 2.3 289.3 49.6 61,831 34.9 14.8 Dosso 15 7.7 — — 6.1 296.0 35.8 134,837 73.0 19.0 Maradi 30 9 35,214 — 4.9 308.1 32.2 235,191 61.6 14.4 Niamey 1 5.9 3,829 — 11.2 352.6 0.0 7,355 102.5 79.9 Tahoua 12 7.5 19,832 22,925 4.2 307.0 42.5 304,937 46.2 8.8 Tillaberi 14 7.8 52,691 56,043 5.3 291.5 43.7 255,807 62.8 9.9 Zinder 25 8.6 — — 4.3 289.3 50.9 387,046 40.1 10.1 National 7.6 228,788 188,372 5.1 304.9 38.5 1,415,552 57.2 17.0 Legend: Best Medium Worst
2. To prioritize the regions, a score from 1 to 8 has been given to each region along its performance on the five indicators. Score 1 is allocated to the best performing region and score 8 to the lowest performing region. Each indicator is weighted differently based on its importance to achieve the PDO. The learning gaps and girls school completion rate indicators each received 25 percent, the fragility and out- of-school indicators received 20 percent each, and the poverty rate received 10 percent. Based on this methodology, the priority ranking of regions has been established as followed: Diffa (1), Zinder (2), Tillaberi (3), Tahoua (4), Maradi (5), Dosso (6), Agadez (7), and Niamey (8). (detailed calculations are presented in table 2.2).
Table 2.2. Weighted Score per Region Indicator Weightage (%) Agadez Diffa Dosso Maradi Niamey Tahoua Tillaberi Zinder Poverty 10 2 3 6 8 1 4 5 7 Learning gaps 25 2 8 5 3 1 4 6 7
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Out of school 20 2 7 4 3 1 5 6 8 Girls’ school 25 2 8 3 4 1 6 5 7 completion rate Fragility 20 2 8 3 5 1 6 7 4 Weighted score 100 2 7.3 4 4.15 1 5.1 5.85 6.6 Priority rank 7 1 6 5 8 4 3 2
3. Based on the abovementioned values, the LIRE Project will support the five most deprived regions which are Diffa, Zinder, Tillaberi, Tahoua, and Maradi.
4. The second level of targeting identifies the most deprived districts within each selected region. Districts meeting at least one of the four following criteria have been selected to benefit from the project’s interventions: (a) districts which are below the region’s average school completion rate; (b) districts where the percentage of girls’ school enrollment is lower than the regional average; (c) districts with a percentage of out-of-school children, ages 7–12, which is higher than the regional average; and (d) districts affected by forced displacements and which are particularly underperforming on the three previous criteria.
5. Each of the selected districts will benefit from an integrated set of system interventions as described in the project description, consisting of (a) delivery of teaching and learning materials; (b) a teacher coaching and supervision system; (c) a program promoting learning for girls and boys including out-of-school children; and (d) improved governance through PBCs with the associated inspectorate.
6. In each deprived district, specific schools will be selected against three criteria for additional interventions: (a) a school with a high number of girls enrolled; (b) a school affected by forced displacements; and (c) which have particularly a high ratio of students per teacher. The selected schools will benefit from a remedial program for girls and boys and a performance-based grant to reach the project expected outcomes.
7. The proposed approach has the following advantages: (a) it focuses efforts and resources on the most deprived areas; (b) it focuses on schools hosting refugees; and (c) it facilitates the measurement of the project’s effect and impact on key education outcomes in targeted areas. Table 2.3 presents the results of this analysis for each region and district.
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Table 2.3. Key Primary Education Indicators per District Districts No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of Girls No. of Out-of- School % % Out of Presence Inspectorates Schools Teachers Students school Completion Girls School of Children Rate (%) Refugees Diffa Bosso 1 4 12 722 408 14,400 5.2 56.5 89.5 Diffa 5 116 530 18,054 9,300 11,230 51.6 51.5 33.5 Yes Goudoumaria 2 158 341 9,462 4,752 11,433 50.1 50.2 54.2 Maine-Soroa 3 194 487 12,868 6,564 12,385 52 51.0 44.9 Yes N'Gourti 1 99 131 3,386 1,349 7,378 17.5 39.8 68 N'Guigmi 1 70 260 9,564 4,650 5,004 47.6 48.6 32.5 Yes 6 13 641 1,761 54,056 27,023 61,830 42.1 50.0 49.6 Maradi Aguie 2 192 929 42,758 18,707 12,938 95.7 43.8 24.5 Bermo 1 83 161 5,270 2,278 6,307 30.1 43.2 56.2 Dakoro 10 586 1,730 81,536 29,984 60,497 59.5 36.8 44.7 Gazaoua 2 125 468 21,792 8,791 12,906 62.5 40.3 37.4 Guidan-Roumdji 7 539 2,062 99,614 42,793 17,672 82.2 43.0 15.7 Yes Madarounfa 6 319 1,618 71,418 30,321 26,797 76 42.5 27.8 Yes Mayahi 8 514 1,735 77,686 31,183 49,950 62.5 40.1 41.8 Tessaoua 6 406 1,489 64,293 26,160 47,045 54.5 40.7 42.5 Ville de Maradi 5 75 997 50,152 25,313 1,080 117.1 50.5 1.9 9 47 2,839 11,189 514,519 215,530 235,192 61.6 41.9 32.2 Tahoua Abalak 4 218 548 20,929 8,943 35,043 30 42.7 63.4 Bagaroua 1 92 332 12,720 5,153 3,997 100 40.5 25.6 Birni N'Konni 5 177 867 34,107 12,590 28,792 68.2 36.9 42.6 Bouza 7 320 1,032 51,360 18,294 44,866 51.6 35.6 46.7 Illela 4 228 917 47,948 19,526 25,679 65.3 40.7 35.3 Keita 4 256 1,045 48,899 20,053 26,466 100 41.0 36.4 Madaoua 7 428 1,326 61,621 24,270 55,950 46.5 39.4 47.5 Malbaza 2 127 555 24,939 8,866 24,726 52.2 35.6 49.3 Tahoua 6 338 1,239 55,673 22,673 36,804 100 40.7 39.5 Tassara 1 37 71 2,866 1,246 2,828 18.7 43.5 53.6 Tchintabaraden 2 168 362 14,414 6,273 18,420 28.8 43.5 58.8 Tillia 1 46 120 5,974 2,582 3,179 25.7 43.2 37.8 Yes Ville de Tahoua 5 77 834 28,120 13615 — 100 48.4 —
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Districts No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of Girls No. of Out-of- School % % Out of Presence Inspectorates Schools Teachers Students school Completion Girls School of Children Rate (%) Refugees 13 49 2,512 9,248 409,570 164,084 306,750 58 40.1 43 Tillaberi Abala 2 149 347 16,587 7,174 15,524 96.4 43.3 50 Yes Ayerou 1 63 188 6,364 3,005 5,963 51.2 47.2 48.6 Yes Balleyara 1 119 489 17,019 7,921 7,160 65.5 46.5 31.1 Banibangou 1 64 163 7,795 3,857 7,827 50.2 49.5 54.4 Bankilare 1 115 280 6,981 2,779 11,392 42.8 39.8 62.4 Filingue 5 347 862 41,105 18,533 26,993 66.3 45.1 40.9 Gotheye 2 222 636 20,993 9,667 29,999 58.7 46.0 57.9 Kollo 14 469 2039 57,084 28,330 39,428 60.8 49.6 39.4 Ouallam 5 497 1245 45,285 24,314 28,231 82 53.7 40.1 Yes Say 5 209 800 22,522 11,061 13,652 56.2 49.1 36.1 Tera 6 344 999 34,364 18,416 36,678 48.7 53.6 50.7 Tillaberi 8 282 1218 29,740 15,150 12,995 95.6 50.9 26.6 Torodi 2 184 706 20,339 10,005 19,966 37.3 49.2 50.8 13 53 3,064 9,972 326,178 160,212 255,807 61.6 49.1 43.7 Zinder Belbedji 1 130 313 12,971 5,262 8,641 53.2 40.6 41.7 Damagaram Takaya 3 202 585 22,585 10,859 30,447 37.5 48.1 58.7 Dungass 3 274 648 24,637 11,426 53,368 26 46.4 70.2 Goure 6 329 821 27,250 13,943 40,544 37.6 51.2 57.5 Kantche 6 278 1,047 41,906 18,777 43,177 41.7 44.8 50.3 Magaria 9 374 1,330 54,482 25,136 67,840 35.8 46.1 54.6 Mirriah 7 341 1,321 49,688 23,531 58,628 42.9 47.4 53.7 Takeita 3 213 704 27,520 11,970 26,853 36.1 43.5 50.6 Tanout 4 427 1,136 46,726 22,146 45,846 33.7 47.4 49.7 Tesker 1 142 207 4,283 2,005 3,826 23.1 46.8 47.9 Ville de Zinder 7 171 1,358 51,967 25,276 7,869 86.3 48.6 11.3 11 50 2,881 9,470 364,015 170,331 387,039 41.5 46.8 50.9 Total 5 regions 212 11,937 41,640 1,668,338 737,180 1,246,619 Total per selected 170 10,226 32,771 1,300,361 571,714 districts
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Table 2.4. Key Secondary Education Indicators per District No. of Districts No. of No. of Schools No. of Teachers No. of Students No. of Girls % Girls Presence of Refugees DDES Diffa Diffa 1 7 105 2,235 1,102 49.3 Yes Bosso 0 1 7 132 66 50 Goudoumaria 1 8 66 2,332 1,215 52.1 Maine-Soroa 1 8 86 2,389 1,233 51.6 Yes N'GOURTI 0 1 12 248 96 38.7 N'Guigmi 1 5 109 3,135 1,656 52.8 Yes 6 4 30 385 10,471 5,368 51.3 Maradi Aguie 1 24 294 13,995 4,762 34 Bermo 0 4 27 1,457 455 31.2 Dakoro 1 41 330 17,211 4,955 28.8 Gazaoua 1 12 98 4,316 1,118 25.9 Guidan-Roumdji 1 52 490 28,747 9,964 34.7 Yes Madarounfa 1 31 353 18,770 12,752 67.9 Yes Mayahi 1 30 210 11,804 3,907 33.1 Tessaoua 1 33 353 17,613 5,899 33.5 Ville de Maradi 1 1 4 378 13,205 5,461 41.4 Ville de Maradi 2 1 2 102 5,054 2,651 52.5 Ville de Maradi 3 1 3 235 8,739 4,098 46.9 10 10 236 2,870 140,911 56,022 39.8 Tahoua Abalak 1 9 95 2,648 933 35.2 Bagaroua 1 7 84 3,822 1,228 32.1 Birni N'Konni 1 18 201 6,961 2,425 34.8 Bouza 1 27 249 10,723 2,816 26.3 Illela 1 24 249 11,252 3,435 30.5 Keita 1 22 187 10,333 3,312 32.1 Madaoua 1 22 242 11,491 3,699 32.2 Malbaza 1 16 126 5,571 1,655 29.7 Tahoua 1 48 503 17,886 7,205 40.3 Tassara 0 1 5 112 57 50.9 Tchintabaraden 1 7 55 1922 765 39.8 Tillia 0 2 16 388 141 36.3 Yes
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No. of Districts No. of No. of Schools No. of Teachers No. of Students No. of Girls % Girls Presence of Refugees DDES 13 10 203 2,012 83,109 27,671 33.3 Tillaberi Abala 0 6 43 1,966 756 38.5 Yes Ayerou 1 4 34 1,105 458 41.4 Yes Balleyara 0 4 60 2,487 1,030 41.4 Banibangou 0 2 21 776 305 39.3 Bankilare 0 3 22 735 282 38.4 Filingue 1 30 153 7,091 3,011 42.5 Gotheye 1 15 141 3,780 1,533 40.6 Kollo 1 31 481 10,893 5,460 50.1 Ouallam 1 25 229 9,347 4,871 52.1 Yes Say 1 15 199 4,374 2,109 48.2 Tera 1 19 171 6,285 3,113 49.5 Tillaberi 1 24 278 8,676 4,646 53.6 Torodi 1 8 105 4,228 1,707 40.4 13 9 186 1,937 61,743 29,281 47.4 Zinder Belbedji 1 6 44 1,684 635 37.7 Damagaram Takaya 1 12 75 3,259 1471 45.1 Dungass 1 11 64 2,920 1,195 40.9 Goure 1 15 158 4,784 2,221 46.4 Kantche 1 19 192 8,104 2,998 37 Magaria 1 26 223 10,935 4,067 37.2 Mirriah 1 24 228 9,891 3,916 39.6 Takeita 1 13 132 4,220 1,435 34 Tanout 1 21 144 8,032 3,742 46.6 Tesker 0 1 9 245 87 35.5 Zinder ville 2 23 630 25,986 12,661 48.7 12 11 171 1,899 80,060 34,428 43 Total 5 regions 44 826 9,103 376,294 152,770 40.6 Total per selected districts 33 645 6,163 257,346 103,311
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
ANNEX 3: Economic and Financial Analysis
1. This section provides the rationale for investing in education in Niger and estimates economic IRR on education. First, an analysis of key sector issues, the reasons for investing in the education sector, and the returns to education are provided. This analysis (a) highlights key challenges in the sector; (b) investigates links between educational outcomes and the labor market; (c) examines whether Niger’s labor market provides a positive signal that investing in education yields important returns to both individuals and households; and (d) provides the rationale for investing in education in terms of quality, equity, and private benefits of education. Second, the cost-benefit analysis of the proposed project is provided, including a sensitivity and fiscal sustainability analysis.
Challenges in the Education Sector
2. The large share of out-of-school children is one of the key challenges for Niger’s human capital accumulation. As shown in figure 3.1, more than 56 percent of children, ages 6–11, in Niger are out of school, of which the majority has never been in school (55 percent). Furthermore, the incidence of out of school disproportionately affects children from economically disadvantaged groups and rural areas where more than half of them are out of school. Figure 3.1 also shows large disparities between regions in terms of out-of-school rates. For example, the out-of-school rate is lower in the capital city, Niamey (10 percent) while it reaches 79 percent in Diffa. If this chronic issue is not adequately addressed, the low education profile of the labor force will persist and will negatively affect the trend of the economic performance driven by global skills competition.
Figure 3.1. Out-of-school Rate for Children Ages 6–11 by Socioeconomic Status
Never attended Dropout 0.2
2.4 2.0 1.5 1.7 1.0 1.6 1.3 1.7 2.0 2.1 2.9 78.6 62.8 0.9 62.0 54.7 59.6 60.0 57.4 59.1 50.4 47.6 49.9 1.0 41.9 29.7 18.6 1.4
8.2
Q1 Q5
Diffa
Male
Rural
Dosso
Urban
Zinder
Maradi
Agadez
Female
Tahoua
Niamey
Tillaberi National Gender Area Wealth Quintile Region Source: Authors’ estimations based on ECVMA 2014.
3. Children from poor economic backgrounds are not only affected by the incidence of out-of- school, they also have less opportunities to accumulate human capital, as opposed to children from wealthier households. Figure 3.2 shows that the PCR for students from the rural area is less than the half of the PCR for students from the urban area. Furthermore, the PCR tends to be lower in poorest
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households (58 percent) than in richest households (63 percent). Figure 3.2 also shows regional disparities in terms of PCR. For instance, the PCR rate is higher in Niamey (118 percent), the capital city, while it is only 19 percent in Diffa.
Figure 3.2. PCR by Socioeconomic Status
118%
87% 74% 63% 62% 58% 52% 48% 47% 44% 42% 44% 28%
19% 22%
Q1 Q5
Diffa
Male
Rural
Dosso
Urban
Zinder
Maradi
Agadez
Female
Tahoua
Niamey
Tillaberi National Gender Area Wealth Quintile Region
Source: Authors’ estimations based on ECVMA 2014.
4. Learning outcomes in Niger are particularly low, results from the 2014 PASEC show that only 9 percent of Grade 6 children reach sufficient competency threshold in reading and the proportion is only 8 percent in mathematics. In addition, the project supports activities to create an enabling environment for inclusive learning to promote school retention and learning. An emphasis is placed on the provision of alternative forms of quality education for vulnerable and out-of-school children as about half of children ages 7–16 are not in school, and the out-of-school incidence varies largely across regions and wealth backgrounds. Furthermore, children in Niger can expect to complete only 5.3 years of preprimary, primary, and secondary school by 18 years. However, when the years of schooling are adjusted for quality of learning, this is only equivalent to 2.6 years. An appropriate policy action is needed to improve the quality of education, which will increase the potential of the youth and equip them with the skills that will enable them to join the productive labor force.
Returns to Education
5. In terms of the benefits of education, Niger’s labor market provides a strong signal that investment in education yields higher returns and better employment opportunities to both individuals and households and contributes to reducing inequality in access to education as well as post-education labor market outcomes. In Niger, evidence from the 2014 household survey, labelled ECVMA, reveals that higher levels of education are associated with better earnings, an increased probability of wage employment, and increased likelihood of finding employment in more productive sectors; and the
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probability tends to be higher for women. The benefits of education can be summarized under two dimensions as follows:
• First, individuals with higher levels of education have higher rate of returns and are more likely to engage in better earning economic activities and productive sectors. At the national level, the rate of return on education is positive and ranges from 35 percent for lower basic education to 177 percent for higher education. Moreover, given that the average estimated earnings in the service sector (XOF 116,322) is high, it attracts individuals with higher levels of education—only 8 percent of the working population with no education is engaged in this sector as opposed to 91 percent for those with higher education. Similarly, only 2 percent of the working age population with no education is engaged in wage employment, while the proportion is 92 percent for those with higher education. Likewise, an additional year of schooling increases the probability of working in wage employment by 46 percent and in the service sector by 32 percent. Lastly, education is a strong predictor of employment in more productive sectors. For example, 87 percent of the working age population with no formal education work in subsistence agriculture as compared to only 2 percent of the working population with higher education (figure 3.6).
• Second, educated women are more likely to receive better economic returns than educated men, thereby reinforcing education as a tool to foster equality and promote inclusive growth. The analysis shows that women have slightly higher rates of returns than men in almost all levels of education, suggesting that there are less educated women than men in the labor force. For example, the rate of returns for women with some lower secondary education is 91 percent as compared to 71 percent for men with the same level of education. Moreover, an additional year of schooling increases the chances of working in wage employment by 81 percent for women as compared to only 36 percent for men. Therefore, like in many countries around the world, Niger’s labor market strongly signals for investment in education and there is a clear economic and social rationale for investment in education (figures 3.3–3.6).
Figure 3.3. Rate of Returns on Education by Level of Education, Gender, Area, and Type of Employment
177% 180% 175% 174% 177% 164% 160% 143% 130% 121% 118% 112% 100% 108% 91% 77% 77% 81% 79% 64% 35% 36% 38% 32% 36%36% 38% 22%
National Male Female Urban Rural Private Public Gender Area Type of employment
Some primary Some lower secondary Some upper secondary Tertiary
Source: Authors’ estimations based on ECVMA 2014.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Figure 3.4. Distribution of the Working Age Population by Level of Education in Terms of Sector of Employment (left) and Employment Status (right)
Agriculture Industry Services Wage Non-wage Household enterprises Farming
Tertiary 2%7% 91% Tertiary 92% 6%2%
Some upper Some upper 25% 5% 70% 68% 7% 25% secondary secondary Some lower Some lower 64% 7% 29% 17% 19% 64% secondary secondary
Some primary 68% 10% 23% Some primary 10% 22% 68%
No education 87% 5% 8% No education 2%11% 87%
Source: Authors’ estimations based on ECVMA 2014.
Figure 3.5. Distribution of the Working Age Population by Level of Education in Terms of Sector of Employment
268,760
148,363 128,464 118,617 116,322 114,403 84,261 70,744 65,499
National Agriculture Industry Services No Some Some lower Some upper Tertiary education primary secondary secondary Sector Level of education Source: Authors’ estimations based on ECVMA 2014.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
Figure 3.6. Probability of Employment in Better Return Sectors and Employment Types
National Male Female 81%
46% 42% 36% 33% 31% 32% 29% 21% 19% 21% 19%
Industry Services Wage Non-wage household enterprises
Source: Authors’ estimations based on ECVMA 2014.
Cost-benefit Analysis
6. The cost-benefit analysis is employed to estimate the benefits brought by the Niger LIRE Project and the associated costs to assess the economic feasibility. The analysis is tailored based on component- specific intervention designing, beneficiaries targeting, and the benefit quantifying. The cost-benefit analysis only captures the economic benefit streams of the project beneficiaries realized in terms of lifetime earnings because of better learning and the intermediate benefits of the interventions. Semi- tangible benefits are benefits that are mostly associated with the quality component of the project and they are estimated based on standard benefit findings from similar interventions in other countries. Overall, the cost-benefit analysis uses two different approaches of benefit stream estimates—access and quality. However, for this project, the cost-benefit analysis uses the approach of benefit stream estimates relating to quality only.
7. The approach used focuses on the impact of interventions on quality improvement. This examines both the direct and indirect impact of interventions. The impact of direct interventions looks at student learning improvement through the provision of learning materials and learning assessments while the indirect channels of student learning improvement include, for instance, improving teaching and learning conditions and improving school-based management and capacity-building program. As the project has only quality components, the overall cost-benefit estimates will be equal to the cost-benefit of quality. To derive the cost-benefit analysis, the model makes several assumptions about the project activities, the associated costs, and benefits. The following paragraphs present the model assumption, NPV, and IRR for the project.
Assumptions for the Cost-benefit Analysis
8. The following are the key assumptions used:
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• Survival/retention. Although the project is expected to increase survival rates, the current survival rates are Grade 6: 82.7 percent, Grade 9: 68.0 percent, and Grade 12: 55.5 percent. • Rates. A 15 percent discount rate is used, the inflation rate assumed for the project lifetime is 5 percent, and the maintenance cost assumed for the life time of the construction is 7.5 percent. The official exchange rate is set at XOF 594 per US$1. • Earnings. A wage rate is estimated for different levels of education and age, using the 2014 ECVMA. The earning rate remains the same over the benefit time span. • Employment. The probability of employment remains the same and is estimated by level of education using the 2014 ECVMA. • Life span of the project. The beneficiaries from the quality component of the project engage in the labor market for a period of 15 years. • Probability of implementation. The probability of project implementation used is 63 percent, which is an average of 40 interventions in Latin America. 9. Table 3.1 presents the cost-benefit analysis results for the base scenario which is the optimal level that the project could achieve based on the strictest conservative assumptions. Both the IRR and the NPV of costs and benefits of quality-related interventions of the project show that the project is economically viable. The present value of the overall project benefits is estimated to be US$256.7 million while the present value of costs is estimated to be US$88.3 million. The corresponding NPV of the intervention benefits is US$168.4 million. The IRR associated with this NPV is 27.9 percent. Although some benefits are not fully quantifiable to measure the total potential benefit of the project, the NPV of the quantifiable benefits is larger than the NPV costs, thereby strongly supporting the efficiency of investments undertaken under the project.
Table 3.1. IRR and NPV (US$, millions) Total IRR 27.9% Discounted cost (present value of costs) US$88.30 Of which project cost US$66.62 Maintained/incremental costs US$0.00 Present value of incremental benefits US$256.66 NPV US$168.36 Benefit-cost ratio 2.9 Source: Authors’ estimations based on ECVMA 2014.
Sensitivity Analysis
10. The sensitivity analysis was conducted by changing the key assumptions from the already defined assumptions used in the base scenario. Given that the abovementioned IRR of the base scenario is generated based on strict conservative assumptions on the benefits, the sensitivity analysis shows changes in the quality of education that could result from implementations of the project under the low and high scenario assumptions. To come up with these scenarios, certain assumptions on the benefits and costs associated with the sustainability of facilities and other key parameters are relaxed. Under the worst scenario, only project implementation assumptions are relaxed, while additional assumptions on labor
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market are relaxed under the best scenario case. Table 3.2 summarizes the key assumptions which have been relaxed. The cost-benefit analysis was reestimated by changing the main parameters.
Table 3.2. Summary of the Key Assumptions Considered for the Sensitivity Analysis Sensitivity parameter Worst Scenario Baseline Best Scenario Project implementation Probability of implementation of the project (%) 53 63 73 Life span of quality 10 15 20 Maintenance rate (%) 7.5 7.5 5 Education system: survival rate in: Primary (%) 82.7 82.7 85.7 Lower secondary (%) 68.0 68.0 73.0 Upper secondary (%) 55.5 55.5 60.5 Labor market performance Probability of employment Primary (%) 74 74 79 Lower secondary (%) 61 61 66 Upper secondary (%) 39 39 44
11. The cost-benefit analysis results under the low and high scenario assumptions are presented in tables 3.3 and 3.4. The results show that even under the worst scenario, the project is still sustainable. Under the best scenario, the IRR reaches 31.4 percent and the benefit-cost ratio turns up to be as high as 4.1. The sensitivity analysis confirms this project is a good investment and worthy intervention. The monetary return of the project activities is compensated even in the worst economic scenario.
Table 3.3. NPV (US$, millions) and IRR Based on the Low Case Scenario
Total IRR 24.6% Discounted cost (present value of costs) US$88.30 Ofwhich project cost US$66.62 Maintained/incremental costs US$0.00 Present value of incremental benefits US$186.46 NPV US$98.15 Benefit-cost ratio 2.1 Source: Authors’ estimations based on ECVMA 2014. Table 3.1. NPV (US$, millions) and IRR Based on the High Scenario Total IRR 31.4% Discounted cost (present value of costs) US$88.30 Of which project cost US$66.62 Maintained/incremental costs US$0.00 Present value of incremental benefits US$366.32 NPV US$278.02 Benefit-cost ratio 4.1 Source: Authors’ estimations based on ECVMA 2014.
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The World Bank Niger Learning Improvement for Results in Education Project (P168779)
ANNEX 4: Matrix of Partner Interventions
Donor Subsector(s) Main Activities US$ UNICEF Preprimary, Supports the implementation of national education policy in over 40 US$30.88 primary, municipalities. The aim is to strengthen the monitoring of student million secondary, learning and improving pedagogical support and leadership capacity; analytical vocational Implement Data Must Speak/EduTrack initiative to improve data services and training collection and monitoring. TA European Primary and TA to the national statistical system for the education sector and US$38.33 Union secondary contributes globally to improving access, quality, and governance of million education the sector via general budget support. JICA Primary and Support to learning improvement through community participatory US$2.7 secondary approach through school management committees (SMCs) in primary million TA: education schools in Tillaberi region; Nation-wide scale-up of the SMC model in December secondary schools; and development of the SMC 2016 to April monitoring/networking system in Dosso, Maradi, Niamey, Tahoua, 2020 Tillaberi, and Zinder regions. AFD Secondary The AFD currently supports the Government’s education national US$2.7 education, policy in Niamey, Agadez, and Diffa for youth education and training. million vocational training UNHCR Preprimary, Support to basic education (incentives/assistance to teachers) and US$3.5 primary, tertiary education through scholarships provided to refugees; million secondary and Advocacy with UNICEF and other education actors for inclusion of analytical vocational refugees and other persons of concern into the education system; services and training, Education infrastructure in some areas hosting persons of concern; TA Education in Provision of sectoral education cash grants or vouchers to refugees’ emergencies families; Support to lifelong learning opportunities; Teacher training (on specific educational and psychosocial needs of refugee children) World Food Primary School feeding program US$56.63 Programme education million FCSE Whole Mechanism for transfer of funds to territorial communities From 2019 education (municipalities and regions) through the National Agency for to 2022 system Financing of Local Authorities. The FCSE is the instrument of targeted expected budget support. It is accessible to the six ministries of the education US$130.55 and training sector and to the Primature. DPs contributing to this million fund are the AFD, Swiss cooperation delegation, UNICEF, expected Luxembourg, and Norwegian cooperation. GIZ Primary GIZ has realized a geo-localization of all primary schools in the region n.a. education of Tillaberi in 2018. USAID Primary and Implemented the Niger Education and Community Strengthening n.a. secondary Project in 160 schools in Agadez, Dosso, Diffa, Maradi, Tahoua, education Tillabéri, and Zinder from 2012-18. Aim was to strengthen community participation, improve the educational environment, and improve reading and literacy outcomes. EGRA conducted in 2019 in the project area to evaluate the impact of the project on children’s reading competencies.
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ANNEX 5: Refugee Context
1. The security and displacement situation remain in flux. Various regional conflicts, including the crisis in Mali (since 2012), the Boko Haram regional crisis in the Lake Chad Basin (since 2015), and rising insecurity in northern states of Nigeria, are causing major displacement toward and within Niger and are having an adverse impact on economic activities and access to public services. As of November 30, 2019, there were a total of 210,085 refugees including 152,436 from Nigeria located in the regions of Diffa and Maradi and 57,649 refugees from Mali in the regions of Tahoua and Tillaberi. Over half are women and almost two-thirds are classified as youth. The cross-border incursions of Boko Haram insurgents and other non-state armed groups and violent security incidents perpetrated by Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb on the Malian border have also led to the internal displacement of 133,837 persons in the southern Diffa region and the Tillaberi-Tahoua districts of Niger. Besides the refugees, 26,585 returning Nigerien citizens fled from Nigeria and are still living in a displaced situation in their country of origin. The displaced in the Diffa region are accommodated in a range of spontaneous sites, villages and towns, and the Sayam Forage refugee camp. The Malian refugees mostly live in areas and camps that allow them to maintain the nomadic, pastoral lifestyle they practiced before their flight. Smaller numbers (4,354) have settled in the town of Ayorou and in the capital, Niamey. In 2018, escalation of violence along the Malian border prompted 53,510 persons to leave their place of residence and scatter across a broad geographical area, previously unaffected by internal displacements. Additionally, starting May 2019 a new influx of refugees fleeing violence in northwest Nigeria (in the states of Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina) has affected the region of Maradi. Following 63 days of biometric individual registration, 35,214 people were registered, of which 59 percent are women, 68 percent are minors, and 36 percent are concerned with specific needs.
2. The inflow and extended presence of forcibly displaced people places additional pressures on poor hosting regions already characterized by the lack of access to basic services, especially education and health. The regions of Tillaberi and Tahoua bordering Mali, which host most of the Malian refugees, have been increasingly affected by insecurity and terrorism while thousands of new people continue to arrive, especially in the Tahoua region. In Diffa, where the situation has become increasingly mixed following attacks on territory in Niger since 2015, the majority of refugees and IDPs live in spontaneous sites or with the local population, while UNHCR manages one refugee camp, with over 15,000 people. More recently, a new situation has emerged in the region of Maradi where the presence of 35,214 refugees fleeing violence in the Nigerian states of Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina has placed increasing pressure on the already insufficient public infrastructure and social services. Improving infrastructure and services delivery for host communities and resettlement sites called ‘Villages des Opportunités’ (Opportunity Villages) will remain central to much-needed humanitarian-development interventions.
3. Across all forced displacement situations, the conditions for women and girls are even more difficult. GBV and survival sex are relatively prevalent and economic opportunities and access to education are very limited for women and girls. Unless the gender dimension of the situation is effectively dealt with, progress is likely to remain elusive.
4. The overall legal and protection environment in Niger is conducive to an effective socioeconomic response to the forced displacement crisis. Niger is a signatory to applicable international
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conventions on refugees, IDPs, and stateless persons,36 and it has domesticated most of these instruments.37 Refugees are to be treated equally under the law with respect to key socioeconomic rights: property ownership, security, access to the courts, access to basic services, freedom of expression, and free movement. Efforts are under way to also strengthen the legal framework applicable to IDPs given the prevalence of mixed situations. The World Bank, in consultation with UNHCR, has confirmed that Niger’s protection framework is adequate for the purposes of receiving financial support through the RSW.
5. In line with the approach of the Global Compact on Refugees, the Government of Niger seeks to improve access to basic services, particularly education and health, and promote social protection and economic prosperity. To accelerate the socioeconomic integration of Malian refugees, who arrived since 2012 with the outbreak of conflict in northern Mali, the Government of Niger has decided to settle them outside the camps in the Tillaberi and Tahoua regions by the end of 2020. In the Diffa region, the Government of Niger and all actors involved in the response agreed on the need to engage strongly in development-oriented interventions, to foster economic recovery and long-term solutions through urbanization and improved access to national basic services. Progress is being made toward the enhancement of refugee resilience and self-reliance, in line with the Global Compact on Refugees and the operationalization of the humanitarian-development nexus, including the following:
• The Government of Niger and UNHCR have embarked on the ambitious challenge of accelerating the socioeconomic integration of Malian refugees and camps closure through an urbanization process by the end of 2020. • The UNHCR-World Bank partnership has allowed to strengthen infrastructure for public services to ensure both absorption of the refugee population and increase of their well-being indicators for the host communities. • Starting in 2018, GIZ has provided support to UNHCR’s engagement in urban development planning and construction of social housing and one-stop shops for protection and assistance in Tillaberi. • The UNHCR-International Labour Organization partnership aims at increasing sustainable and market-based livelihood opportunities to ensure a successful socioeconomic integration. 6. In addition to the proposed project, one other IDA-financed operation benefits from the RSW and supports the Government in efforts to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities to refugees and host communities in refugee-affected areas (PARCA, P164563). The LIRE Project will thus provide significant complementarity assistance to refugees, in alignment with the higher-level objectives of the RSW.
36 Niger is a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention), 1967 United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (1967 Protocol), and 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (Organization of African Unity Convention), without any reservations. 37 The Government has affirmed both in national legislation and at representations to the CERD that refugees are to be treated equally under the law with respect to all rights: property ownership, security, access to the courts, access to basic services, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement (CERD 2013). Article 10 of the 1997 law ensures the equal treatment of refugees in the protection of property; freedom of movement; and access to health, education, and housing. Elsewhere, the Labor Code prohibits discrimination based on nationality in hiring, and Décret no. 87-076/PCMS/MI/MAE/C of June 18, 1987, permits foreigners to be contracted for employment, provided that the contract is approved by the Ministry of Labor.
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7. The Government of Niger, in collaboration with UNHCR, has embarked on a process of integrating the education of refugee children into national programs since March 2016. In the regions of Tillaberi and Tahoua, refugee children from Mali are integrated into the Nigerien curriculum and the Ministry of Education is attempting to ensure the availability of teachers in all the hosting schools. This strategy included upgrading semipermanent school infrastructure and building new classrooms and housing for teachers and latrines. However, required funds are not fully mobilized and gaps remain. Challenges facing access to education for all children, but especially refugee children include (a) the need for construction and rehabilitation of classrooms and latrines; (b) the lack of teachers and lack of teacher training to meet the educational needs of specific populations (for example, socioemotional and linguistic needs of refugees); (c) the insufficient alternative education programs for children who have passed school age or have been out of school for a long time (accelerated education programs, ‘classes passerelle’); and (d) the insufficient school feeding programs. In terms of enrollment, the figures concerning the refugee children in all the refugee-hosting areas are lower than national averages (see table 5.1).
Table 5.1. Enrollment Figures for School-aged Refugee Children Regions Districts Sites Schools Total Number of school- Number of Refugee Children number aged Refugee Enrolled at School of Children Refugees Girls Boys Total Girls Boys Total % Tillaberi Abala Abala 1 15,447 3,512 3,462 6,974 738 969 1,707 7 Ouallam Mangaize 1 7,326 1,746 1,678 3,424 373 387 760 3 Ayorou Tabareybarey 1 10,690 2,460 2,516 4,976 369 478 847 3 Tahoua Intikane 6 19,832 4,890 4,825 9,715 778 1,159 1,937 8 Diffa Diffa Chétimari 9 117,222 23,355 22,852 46,207 9,078 9,080 18,158 74 Diffa Mainé Bosso Soroa Mainé Soroa Kabléwa N’Guigmi
Maradi Guidan- Garin Kaka 1 35,214 8,099 1,539 9,638 47 55 102 0 Roumdji Niamey Niamey Niamey 292 3,829 712 664 1,376 587 483 1,070 4 Total 311 209,560 44,774 37,536 82,310 11,970 12,611 24,581 100 Source: UNHCR, November 30, 2019.
8. Refugee and IDP children face a complex set of challenges in accessing quality education. Insufficient school capacity both in terms of infrastructure and teaching/learning resources, socioeconomic difficulties of refugee families to support school fees and expenses, lack of appropriate guidance and training for teachers and education practitioners who work with refugee and displaced children, language barriers, psychosocial issues, as well as limited catch-up classes are among the most important challenges faced by refugee children. Psychosocial support in primary schools is often lacking to assist teachers and refugee children, who may have difficulties in concentrating and learning in class due to stress and trauma linked to their forced displacement experience. Additional language and cultural mediation support is often scarce, yet essential in some situations (for example, for Nigerian children previously educated in English with Nigerian curriculum) to address language barriers and communication challenges with their peers and teachers, when refugee children do not have sufficient knowledge of the language of instruction. Besides, stereotypes and judgements based on perceptions at school may lead to
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discrimination, prejudice, and bullying as teachers are not always sufficiently equipped to promote multiculturalism and openness to diversity.
9. Early school leaving or disengagement from education often relates to socioeconomic inequalities, which affect many refugee children, children’s and their parents’ education expectations, the school environment, and relations with teachers and peers. Language and/or learning difficulties resulting from painful personal experiences can also be significant contributing factors. A supportive school environment and quality of teaching are therefore essential factors in improving learning outcomes for children, especially refugee children who are often more vulnerable to environmental stressors. Improving the quality of national catch-up programs and accelerated learning opportunities are also particularly needed for refugee children, who have often missed various years of school and may not benefit from a strong support at home.
10. Refugee education has been supported by UNHCR and its partners since 2012. Following the arrival of Malian refugees in the regions of Tillaberi and Tahoua, UNHCR and its partners, particularly UNICEF, supported refugee children’s access to education and their inclusion into the national system, in close collaboration with the Government of Niger. In Diffa, UNHCR has supported the inclusion of the primary-age refugee children arriving from Nigeria into the Nigerien curriculum while the secondary-age students have followed the Nigerian curriculum through an e-learning program in distance education centers, supervised by both Nigerian and Nigerien teachers (in Diffa, Kablewa, Maine Soroa, Sayam Forage, and Bosso). Owing to this program, students have obtained diplomas certified by the National Examination Council in Nigeria. In Maradi, UNHCR is currently working in close cooperation with the regional education authorities, through the regional technical education group, to ensure the inclusion of refugee children in national schools, which are strengthened to absorb the influx of refugee children alongside the host community children in the refugee-hosting areas. This is in line with UNCHR’s ‘whole of development’ approach which aims at integrating refugees in host communities from inception.
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ANNEX 6: Contribution to Niger’s Risk Mitigation Strategy
1. Niger is exposed to multiple conflict and fragility risks, which stem from a combination of deep- rooted structural causes and short-term drivers. The most immediate vulnerability is related to the growing regional insecurity and violent extremist groups, which threaten the country’s stability and risk, fueling intercommunal tensions. The following five key drivers of fragility have emerged from the 2017 Risks and Resilience Assessment: (i) increasing competition over natural resources (water, arable land, and forests) intensified by demographic pressure (increase by 70 percent by 2030) and climate-related stresses; (ii) marginalization of youth due to limited economic opportunities, difficulty in accessing land, and low education levels potentially fueling grievances and making them vulnerable to radicalization; (iii) governance challenges hampering services and contributing to dissatisfaction among users of public services; (iv) transparency challenge in the management of extractives and unequal redistribution of mining revenues exacerbating tensions, especially in the mining areas; and (v) growing regional insecurity and violent extremist groups that threaten Niger’s stability Figure 6.1. Niger: Impact of Violence
Source: Niger 2018 Local Government Census. Figure 6.2. Social Cohesion and Trust
Source: Niger 2018 Local Government Census and Afrobarometer.
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Government’s Commitment to Addressing FCV Risks in Niger
2. The Government of Niger has shown a strong commitment to addressing critical FCV risks and articulated its approach in a series of key strategic documents. Niger’s development strategy, the second PDES 2017–2021, operationalizes Niger’s Renaissance Program, launched by President Issoufou in 2011. The program recognizes that insecurity constitutes an obstacle to economic, social, and cultural development. The following issues are considered key to addressing the obstacle: (a) improving the strategic framework of security governance; (b) mitigating security threats; (c) reducing community conflicts; and (d) promoting development initiatives for peace and security.
3. Various development responses have been articulated specifically to face the short-term security risks. The Government launched the Strategy for Development and Security in Sahel-Saharan Areas 2012–2017 to address the root causes of instability in the region and implement local, national, and regional mechanisms to prevent grievances. The Government of Niger has also established national bodies dedicated to promoting peace and security, which act as key national counterparts for the World Bank and other partners. The High Authority for Peace Consolidation is an institution attached to the Presidency of the Republic of Niger in charge of analysis, prevention, and management of crises and conflicts. The National Center for Strategic and Security Studies was created, in 2016, and its role is to carry out prospective analysis and studies on strategic and security issues, as reflected in its strategic orientation plan (2017–2019).
Access to the RMR
4. Though Niger was not on the World Bank's harmonized list of fragile situations under IDA18 because it does not host a peacekeeping or political peace‐building mission, Niger is a country vulnerable to internal and external shocks. IDA18 has classified Niger as an ‘exceptional FCV risk mitigation regime’, along with Guinea, Nepal, and Tajikistan. Niger has therefore been granted access to the IDA18 RMR. The RMR window is a dedicated financing mechanism to incentivize investments for prevention and provide countries with additional financing of up to one-third of their indicative IDA18 allocation. The overall objective of the RMR in Niger is to support Niger’s efforts to reduce the structural drivers of fragility and conflict that were identified in the 2017 Risks and Resilience Assessment, while supporting quick wins in a context of instability driven by social discontent. The priority FCV risks mitigation areas and activities were: (i) reducing grievances through more equitable and transparent institutions and improved local governance and service delivery, by, among others, reinforcing a positive state presence; (ii) increasing opportunities for youth and women in fragile regions and supporting the peaceful management and sharing of agropastoral resources; and (iii) strengthening crisis prevention, preparedness, and response.
Specific Contribution of the LIRE Project to the RMR Strategy in Niger
5. The RMR allocation has guided the project’s design on the dimensions of geographic coverage and beneficiary targeting. Regarding geographic coverage, the project focuses a large share of its interventions in vulnerable and ‘at risk’ identified regions. The project design benefits from a specifically designed set of criteria to determine the intervention communes including a focus on the presence of out- of-school children, refugees and host communities, including those IDPs that are also host communities, while a stronger focus on the poverty rate helped identify priority investments. Furthermore, the RMR
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allocation allowed the identification of additional communes ‘at risk’ located along the Malian and Nigeria-Nigerien borders, in the Diffa, Tahoua, and Tillabéri regions. As for beneficiary targeting, the project has a specific focus on children, adolescents, and women in priority regions. To ensure inclusion and participation across different target groups, the project will support specific awareness raising, sensitization, and training activities. The project supports a series of interventions that will contribute directly to the RMR strategy which include the following:
6. Increasing a ‘positive state presence’ through capacity and accountability of regional and local education authorities in education service delivery. The project will support the introduction of performance-based management mechanisms at the level of regional education directorates, school inspectorates, and primary and secondary schools with a view to strengthen the presence and provide a functional and adequate education service to populations. The provision of school grants will help with more effective and timely transfer of resources to the school level and will foster citizen oversight.
7. Increasing opportunities for youth and women in fragile regions through improved literacy. The project will support improvement in the quality of teaching and will address the learning needs of all children, including at-risk students, girls, out-of-school children and adolescents, refugee populations, and host communities. This will be done through a series of direct interventions focusing on reading proficiency and adapted to the different student populations and settings, supported by awareness- raising activities with communities. The development of basic skills, such as literacy among the targeted beneficiaries, is expected to reduce socioeconomic marginalization, enhance economic opportunities, and increase participation in political life and decisions at the local and national levels.
8. Building resilience to absorb refugee flows and to guard against the disruption of public education services in the most fragile regions. The project will support recovery and postcrisis support in affected communities. Under the RSW allocation, the project will strengthen the Government’s education policies in refugee-affected areas and support the education needs of refugees and host communities in accessing basic quality education, including through deployment and retention measures in refugee- hosting areas, as well as training in contingency planning with regard to potential new influx of populations38 or closing of schools due to violence. The project will support REDs and municipalities to consider aspects of risk mitigation, crisis preparedness, and crisis response in their planning and connect it to the national management and response system.
9. Building capacities in monitoring key risks and trends in education service delivery. Because data collection in insecure and remoted environments is challenging, the project will adopt innovative solutions and integrate flexible M&E methods, such as iterative beneficiaries monitoring, third-party monitoring, and the use of ICT tools to collect real-time and localized data, including in hard-to-reach environments. The geo-mapping of schools/activities will help identify opportunities for coordination and collaboration with other World Bank projects, especially PARCA (P164563) which supports the construction and rehabilitation of damaged school infrastructure in the refugee-affected areas of Diffa, Tahoua, and Tillaberi, and other donor’s interventions. The project’s RF and M&E arrangements will ensure that data are disaggregated by geographical area, gender, and social groups, when relevant and feasible, which in turn will allow for the monitoring of the impact of project interventions on FCV issues.
38 This includes refugees and host communities, including those IDPs that are also host communities.
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ANNEX 7: References
Aker, J., & Ksoll, C. (2015). Call Me Educated: Evidence from a mobile monitoring experiment in Niger. Center for Global Development Working Paper 406. Beasley, E., & Huillery, E. (2017). Willing but unable? Short-term experimental evidence on parent empowerment and school quality. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. Castles, A., Rastles, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition From Novice to Experts . Psychological Science in the Public Interest 19(1), 5-51. Evans, D., & Yuan, F. (2019). What we learn about girls’ education from interventions that do not focus on girls. . World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 8944. Lee, J., & Medina, O. (2019). Results-Based Financing in Education: Learning from What Works. Washington DC: World Bank. Mansuri, G., & Rao, V. (2013). Localizing Development: Does Participation Work? Washington, DC: World Bank. Ministry of Primary Education, Republic of Niger. (2017). Rapport final d'évaluation des impacts de la réforme du curriculum sur les acquis des élèves du CI. Perlman, D., Adamu, F., & Wodon, Q. (2018). Why do adolescent girls drop out of school in Niger? A combined quantitative and qualitative analysis. Marché et Organisation 2018/2 (n32). Popova, A., Evans, D., & Arancibia, V. (2016). Training Teachers on the Job : What Works and How to Measure It. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 7834. World Bank. (2018a). Facing Forward, Schooling for Learning in Africa. Washington DC: World Bank. World Bank. (2018b). World Develpment Report 2018: Learning to Realize Education's Promise. Washington DD: World Bank.
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