Education for Employment Sector Development Program (RRP LAO 50399) Initial Environmental Examination (Draft) July 2019 Lao PDR: Education for Employment Sector Development Program Prepared by the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s Ministry of Education and Sports for the Asian Development Bank. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 4 June 2019) Currency unit – Kip (KN) KN1.00 = $0.00011 $1.00 = KN8,666.40 ABBREVIATIONS ADB - Asian Development Bank ADPC - Asian Disaster Preparedness Center DES - District education and sports office DESB - District education sector bureaus DGE - Department of General Education DONRE - District environment and natural resources office ECDM - Education Construction and Design Management of MOES EHS - Environment, Health and Safety EIA - Environmental Impact Assessment EMP - Environmental Management Plan GRM - Grievance Redress Mechanism IEE - Initial Environmental Examination IUCN - International Union on Conservation of Nature LSE - lower secondary education MOES - Ministry of Education and Sports MOH - Ministry of Health MONRE - Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment MPWT - Ministry of Public Works and Transport NDMO - National Disaster Management Office NES - National environment specialist (consultant) NIP - national implementation plan NTFP - non-timber forest products OCHA - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs PBL - policy-based loan PCP - ADB Public Communications Policy (2011) PCR - project completion report PES - Provincial education and sports office PMU - Project Management Unit POPs - persistent organic pollutants PPE - post-primary education PUCDA - Provincial unit for construction and development assistance REA - rapid environmental assessment SDP - sector development program SPS - ADB Safeguard Policy Statement (2009) TVET - technical and vocational education and training UNDP - United Nations Development Program UNFCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change USE - upper secondary education UXO - unexploded ordnance VEDC - Village Education Development Committee VOC - volatile organic compound WASH - water, sanitation and hygiene WHO - World Health Organization WREA - Water Resources and Environment Administration WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ha - hectare m - meter km - kilometer dBA - decibels km - kilometer hr - hour mm - millimeter oC - Degree Centigrade NOTE In this report, "$" refers to US dollars. This initial environmental examination is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section on ADB’s website. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.s TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 A. Project Concept and Rationale 1 B. Methodology for Environmental Assessment 1 II. POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 2 A. ADB’s Environment Safeguards Policies 2 B. Legal and Institutional Framework on Environmental Management in Lao PDR 5 C. Environmental Standards 9 D. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) 9 E. International Conventions 9 F. MOES Policies on School Construction 10 III. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 11 A. Design Features of Schools 14 IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 22 A. Existing Condition at School Sites 24 B. Topography and Natural Hazards 26 C. Climate 28 D. Air Quality 29 E. Noise 29 F. Biological Resources 30 G. UXO Contamination 30 H. Water Supply, Sanitation and Health 32 I. Historical and Cultural Resources 33 J. Presence of Asbestos and Other Hazardous Materials 33 V. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 34 A. Anticipated Benefits from the Project 34 B. Pre-Construction Impacts and Mitigation 34 C. Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures During Construction 35 D. Environmental Impacts and Mitigation During School Operation 37 VI. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE, CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION 37 A. Stakeholders 38 B. Results of Stakeholders Consultations 38 C. Follow-up Information Disclosure and Stakeholder Consultations 40 VII. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM 40 VIII. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 42 A. Objectives 42 B. Mitigation Plan 42 C. Reporting 42 IX. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 44 APPENDIXES 1. Environmental Management Plan 45 2. Findings on Existing 60 Schools 57 3. Documentation of Stakeholder Consultations 70 4. Template of Environment Safeguard Monitoring Report 99 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Environmental Safeguard Policy Principles of Asian Development Bank Safeguard Policy Statement (2009) 3 Table 2: Noise standards in Lao PDR and WHO Guideline Values 9 Table 3: Identified school sites for civil works based on school network mapping 13 Table 4: Location of School Sites 22 Table 5: Stakeholder Consultations 37 Table 6: Summary of issues raised during stakeholder consultations 38 Table 7: EMP Reporting Plan 52 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Location of schools 2 Figure 2: Floor plan of a classroom block 16 Figure 3: Elevation plan of classroom block 17 Figure 4: Floor plan of dormitory 18 Figure 5: Elevation plan of dormitory 19 Figure 6: Plan of typical sex-segregated toilet 20 Figure 7: Seismicity and other hazards in Lao PDR 28 Figure 8: Mean annual precipitation and temperature across Lao PDR 29 Figure 9: Location of Phan Xam Secondary School in relation ot Nam Xam NBCA 30 Figure 10: UXO-contaminated sites in Lao PDR 31 PHOTOGRAPHS Photo 1: A classroom block in Tung Heung Lower Secondary School in Sekong Province 21 Photo 2: A typical dormitory 21 Photo 3: Classroom blocks made of bamboo and wood 25 Photo 4: Huts inside school compound 26 Photo 5: Water supply and toilets in existing schools 33 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction The proposed Education for Employment Sector Development Program (SDP) aims to strengthen human capital in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and support inclusive growth and economic diversification. As an SPD, it will include two complementary components: (i) a policy-based loan (PBL); and (ii) an investment project. The PBL will help better prepare Lao PDR youth for employment by helping the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) to advance foundational reforms to align post-primary education—secondary education, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and higher education—with workforce skill needs. The project component will build MOES capacity to deliver these reforms, enhance the quality and relevance of secondary education in preparing youth for employment, and increase completion rates. The proposed program builds on the Secondary Education (SDP) and related support for TVET and higher education by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It directly supports ADB Strategy 2030 through the operational priority of improving education and training, and is closely aligned with the country partnership strategy, 2017–2020. Project Rationale Weak human resources continue to constrain Lao PDR’s efforts towards poverty reduction, inclusive growth, and economic diversification. There is extremely low enrolment and completion rates at lower secondary (Grades 6 to 9) and upper secondary (Grades 10 to 12) levels. There is also a high proportion of drop outs in secondary schools and these youth resort to taking up low- skill, temporary jobs in the informal sector. The problem stems from a combination of factors such as shortage of good quality secondary schools, lack of access (particularly for youth living in rural and remote areas), poor quality of school facilities and dormitories, teachers lacking the required educational background, pedagogy skills and motivation, outdated teaching and delivery methods, absence of rigorous classroom-based assessment, and demand-side constraints including financial and opportunity costs which makes it difficult for poor families to support children until grade 12.1 The MOES’ Vision for 2030 and the Lao PDR’s Eighth National Socio-economic Development Plan 2016-2020 prioritizes education as a prerequisite for poverty reduction and inclusive growth. The SDP is designed to support the Government’s priorities and will focus on enhancing and equitizing the flow of skills into the labor force to support inclusive growth and increased opportunities for youth. This SDP will support three core outputs: (i) Output 1: Alignment of post-primary education (PPE2) with labor market demand strengthened. (ii) Output 2: Quality and relevance of secondary education to emerging skills demands strengthened. (iii) Output 3: Equitable secondary education access and completion increased. Output 3 of the project will (i) help address supply-side constraints in 12 of 47 districts (covering 8 provinces) by constructing additional classroom blocks, sex-segregated dormitories, and 1 Draft Report and Recommendation of the President of the proposed Education for Employment SDP. 2 Unless otherwise noted, PPE herein refers to formal general secondary education, TVET, higher education (including teacher education), and NFE at post-primary levels. ii sanitation facilities (including toilets) at 60 existing primary and secondary school sites;3 and (ii) reduce demand-side constraints to access and completion by providing stipends to youth based on a combination of need and merit. Additional classrooms will be built