Education Sector Development Program
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Performance Evaluation Report Project Number: 27371 Loan Numbers: 1507-MON(SF)/1508-MON (SF) June 2007 Mongolia: Education Sector Development Program Operations Evaluation Department CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 19 June 2007) Currency Unit – togrog (MNT) MNT1.00 = $0.00086 $1.00 = MNT1,163.25000 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank ADTA – advisory technical assistance ESDP – Education Sector Development Program IT – information technology MDG – Millennium Development Goal MECS – Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science OEM – operations evaluation mission PCR – project completion report PIU – project implementation unit PPTA – project preparatory technical assistance TA – technical assistance TEVT – technical education and vocational training GLOSSARY aimag – province bag – subdistrict ger – traditional Mongolian tent dwellings soum – district NOTE In this report, “$” refers to US dollars. KEYWORDS educational restructuring, educational sector strategy, mongolian educational development effectiveness, mongolian educational projects evaluations, mongolian educational sector developments, mongolian educational vocational training, rural-urban migration, transitional economy Director R. Keith Leonard, Operations Evaluation Division 1, Operations Evaluation Department (OED) Team leader Jocelyn Tubadeza, Senior Evaluation Officer, Office of the Director General, OED Team member Caren Joy Mongcopa, Senior Operations Evaluation Assistant, Operations Evaluation Division 1, OED Operations Evaluation Department, PE-701 CONTENTS Page BASIC DATA iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY v MAP viii I. INTRODUCTION 1 A. Evaluation Purpose and Process 1 B. Expected Results and Program Objectives 2 II. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION 2 A. Formulation 2 B. Rationale 4 C. Cost, Financing, and Executing Arrangements 5 D. Procurement, Construction, and Scheduling 6 E. Design Changes 6 F. Outputs 6 G. Consultants 13 H. Loan Covenants 14 I. Policy Framework 14 III. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT 14 A. Overall Assessment 14 B. Relevance 15 C. Effectiveness 16 D. Efficiency 19 E. Sustainability 20 IV. OTHER ASSESSMENTS 20 A. Impacts 20 B. Asian Development Bank Performance 21 C. Borrower Performance 22 D. Technical Assistance on Institutional Strengthening of the Education Sector (TA 2716-MON) 22 V. ISSUES, LESSONS, AND FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS 22 A. Issues 22 B. Lessons 26 C. Follow-Up Actions 27 In accordance with the guidelines formally adopted by the Operations Evaluation Department (OED) on avoiding conflict of interest in its independent evaluations, the Director General of OED did not review this report and delegated approval of this evaluation to the Director of Operations Evaluation Division 1. Penelope Schoeffel (social sectors specialist) and Danzan Narantuya (sociologist) were the consultants. To the knowledge of the management of OED, there were no conflicts of interest of the persons preparing, reviewing, or approving this report. APPENDIXES 1. Overview of Schools Visited by Operations Evaluation Mission 28 2. Comparison of Appraisal and Actual Program Costs 42 3. Implementation and Compliance with Program Measures 43 4. Results of a Survey of the Opinions of Teachers about the ESDP Staff Rationalization Program 53 5. Results of Focus Groups with High School Students in Selected Schools 60 6. Achievements of Investment Project Component 64 7. Staff Development under the Education Sector Development Program 68 8. Results of Focus Groups with Parents of High School Students in Selected Schools 71 9. Assessment of Overall Program Performance 73 10. Basic Education Indicators, 1996–2005 76 11. Rural and Urban Issues in Education Sector Planning 78 12. Universities, Institutions of Higher Education, and Colleges, by Location 86 BASIC DATA Education Sector Development Program (Loans 1507-MON[SF] and 1508-MON[SF]) in Mongolia Program Preparation/Institution Building Person- Amount Approval TA No. TA Name Type Months ($) Date 2228 Education Development PPTA 13 400,000 09 Dec 1994 Project 2719 Institutional Strengthening in ADTA 82 970,000 19 Dec 1996 the Education Sector As per ADB Key Program Data ($ million) Loan Documents Actual ADB Loan Amount/Utilization 6.5 6.21 ADB Loan Amount/Cancellation 0.0 Key Project Data ($ million) Total Project Cost 11.30 9.85 Foreign Currency Cost 7.10 6.82 Local Currency Cost 4.20 3.03 ADB Loan Amount/Utilization 9.00 8.181 ADB Loan Amount/Cancellation 0.06 Key Dates Expected Actual Fact-Finding 26 March–16 April 1996 Appraisal 7–26 June 1996 Loan Negotiations 21–22 November 1996 Board Approval 19 December 1996 Loan Signing 7 March 1997 Loan Effectiveness 5 June 1997 7 March 1997 First Disbursement Program Loan 10 April 1997 Project Loan 15 April 1997 Program Completion 31 March 2002 30 September 2002 Loan Closing Program Loan 30 September 2000 2 December 1999 Project Loan 30 September 2002 8 November 2002 Months (Effectiveness to Completion) 59 68 Borrower Mongolia Executing Agencies Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science Bank of Mongolia (only for Loan 1507-MON[SF]) 1 Actual disbursements in dollar terms were lower than the approved amount due to the decline of the SDR against the US dollar during the program period. iv Mission Data Type of Mission No. of Missions No. of Person-Days Fact-Finding 1 66 Appraisal 1 80 Project Administration Inception 1 8 Review 6 112 Midterm Review 1 20 Disbursement 1 2 Project Completion 1 20 Operations Evaluation 1 46 ADB = Asian Development Bank, ADTA = advisory technical assistance, PPTA = project preparatory technical assistance. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Education Sector Development Program (ESDP) comprised an integrated package of policy reforms, investments, and associated technical assistance (TA) to transform the education sector and meet the needs of a market-oriented economic system. Until 1989, Mongolia’s achievements in the field of education compared favorably with middle income countries; however, in 1991, with the withdrawal of Soviet assistance, Mongolia experienced an economic and financial crisis, which undermined the progress made in the education sector. Enrolments declined, dropout rates rose, and schools were deteriorating. The ESDP consisted of a policy-based loan of SDR4.46 million ($6.5 million), an investment loan of SDR6.181 million ($9 million), and associated TA of $0.95 million. It was approved on 19 December 1996, signed on 7 March 1997, and became effective on the same date. The ESDP was the first time the Asian Development Bank (ADB) used the sector development program modality. The ESDP was designed to upgrade the quality, performance, and sustainability of the education sector and improve educational management capacity. The policy program included measures to (i) rationalize education structures and staffing, (ii) promote cost-recovery schemes, (iii) support privatization and private sector provision of education, and (iv) reassess the Government's role in technical education and vocational training (TEVT). The investment project aimed to (i) strengthen educational management capabilities at the central, local, and institutional levels; (ii) improve quality and coordination in higher education; and (iii) increase the effectiveness and efficiency of secondary education. The associated TA was intended to strengthen the institutional capacity of the education sector to achieve the objectives of the ESDP. The program performance evaluation report (PPER) rates the ESDP “highly successful” because it established strong policy foundations for sector-wide education development in Mongolia, which were further addressed in two subsequent ADB education development projects in 2002 and 2006. In particular, the success of the ESDP is demonstrated by Mongolia’s selection for the “Education for All” Fast Track Initiative partnership, which comprises the first global compact on education that is assisting low-income countries to achieve free, universal basic education by 2015. Mongolia is now eligible to receive a grant from the Fast Track Initiative donors to cover a funding gap in the education budget from 2007 to 2009. This will enable implementation of the second education sector master plan recently approved by Parliament. The ESDP is rated “highly relevant” because it addressed the pressing need— supported by government policy and ADB’s country strategy—to transform education from a centrally planned model to a more flexible and efficient system that would meet the needs of a market economy. The PPER rates the ESDP “highly effective” as a result of the impressive 60% enrollment increase (countrywide) in schools rehabilitated with ESDP assistance. Overall, the ESDP contributed to restoring enrollments to near pre-transition levels. It reorganized schools and equipped them with computers and science teaching aids under improved management. The ESDP promoted policies that enabled private schools to be established, leading to greater educational diversity and choice. An effective national higher education accreditation authority was established and the ESDP provided a number of higher education assistance packages that supplied urgently needed curriculum development, textbooks, teacher training, and vi postgraduate management training. Much remains to be achieved in the higher education subsector, however; as a result of Government-provided incentives, the supply of places is greater than the demand, which is probably leading to a lowering of academic standards. The ESDP is rated “highly efficient”. Under the ESDP and related investments, a cost- efficient “complex model” has been