Public Disclosure Authorized REPUBLIC OF GHANA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (SEIP) Public Disclosure Authorized RESETTLEMENT ACTION PLAN FOR 6 AFFECTED SITES OF 23 NEW SCHOOL PROJECTS Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized FINAL REPORT FEBRUARY 2015 23 NEW SCHOOLS RESETTLEMENT ACTION PLAN RAP Basic Data Information No Subject Data 1 Intervention sites Adugyama (AhafoAno South District), Asuoso (Offinso North District), MaameKrobo (KwahuAfram Plains South), AdakluTsrefe/Abuadi (Adaklu District), Sang (Mion District) and Zulugu (Binduri District) 2 Project Description Building of new schools 3 Need for RAP Economic and physical displacement of Project – affected Persons 4 Nature of Civil Works Construction of school structures 5 Benefit of Intervention Improved and equitable access to secondary education 6 Number of PAPs 41 persons 7 Type of Losses Loss of shelter: 1 PAP Loss of Farmland: 41 PAPs Loss of Crops:3 PAPs Loss of Economic Trees:8 PAPs 8 Impact Mitigation Replacement of farmlands, cash compensation for affected crops, resettlement assistance provided for preparing new lands for next cropping season 9 Census Cut-off Date December 13, 2014 10 RAP Implementation Cost GHC 80,500 (Estimated) 11 Grievance Procedures 3-tier, Local, District and National Levels GSEIP/ A-RAP Page ii 23 NEW SCHOOLS RESETTLEMENT ACTION PLAN LIST OF ACRONYMS RAP Resettlement Action Plan CSHSP Community Senior High School Project DA District Assembly DEO District Education Officer DEOC District Education Oversight Committee EMIS Education Management Information Systems EPA Environmental Protection Agency ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework FPMU Funds and Procurement Management Unit GoG Government of Ghana GRM Grievance Redress Mechanism IPF Investment Project Funding LVD Land Valuation Division MA Municipal or Metropolitan Authority M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MoE Ministry of Education MLGRDE Ministry for Local Government Rural Development and Environment M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MMDA Metropolitan, Municipal District Assembly NCO National Coordination Office NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations OP Operational Procedure PAPs Project Affected Persons PIT Project Implementation Team PMT Project Management Team RPF Resettlement Policy Framework SEIP Secondary Education Improvement Project SHS Senior High School GSEIP/ A-RAP Page iii 23 NEW SCHOOLS RESETTLEMENT ACTION PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Education, proposes to construct 200 new Senior High Schools under a Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP). The proposed SEIP with funding from the World Bank would support the implementation of the government’s Community Day Senior High School Project (CSHSP) through two components: (i) Support to Increase Access with Equity and Quality in Senior High Schools; and (ii) Management, Research and Monitoring and Evaluation. The SEIP is expected to finance results which demonstrate increased access in targeted districts, increased enrollment of poorest students and improved learning outcomes for selected low performing senior high schools. The Government of Ghana plans to achieve these results through the construction of new senior secondary schools in underserved areas, rehabilitation and expansion of existing low performing schools and support for Senior High School (SHS) attainment for disadvantaged students. In addition, activities are planned to improve the quality of selected low performing schools with a focus on mathematics and science education. The Government is to construct 23 new senior high schools in mostly underserved areas, expand and upgrade 125 existing low performing SHSs, and provide three-year scholarship support for at least 10,400 needy and qualified SHS students especially girls, and provide school performance partnerships in selected 125 schools to improve quality and connectivity to the internet. In order to achieve and report on the results attained under the project, the SEIP will provide funding and technical assistance to the implementing agencies and the third party validation agencies. The development of a research program to better understand constraints and challenges in secondary education while formulating a national secondary strategy would also be included under the project. The introduction of a web platform for school reporting and real time monitoring would increase social accountability and information sharing on the performance of the sector. Activities under this project are: (i) the construction of new senior secondary schools in 14 districts which currently have no senior secondary schools; (ii) new construction in 9 selected districts based on district criteria for population demand, poverty indicators, etc; and (iii) upgrading, expansion and rehabilitation of existing selected low GSEIP/ A-RAP Page iv 23 NEW SCHOOLS RESETTLEMENT ACTION PLAN performing schools. The new construction sub-projects will require the acquisition of parcels of land of approximately 10 acres (4.16 ha) at the respective locations. Schools that run agricultural programs will require additional land for demonstration or practical lessons. In all cases, the beneficiary communities have donated the required land parcels for the school sites, through their traditional heads (chiefs or Tindaana). These lands have, thus become vested lands, having moved from being customary-owned status to vested land status. Vested lands are lands owned by a Stool but managed by the state on behalf of the land-owning Stool. Under such ownership, the legal rights to sell, lease, manage, and collect rent is taken away from the customary landowners by the application of specific laws to that land and vested in the state. The landowners retain the equitable interest in the land (i.e., the right to enjoy the benefits from the land). This category of land is managed in the same way as state lands. Unlike state lands, however, the boundaries are not cadastral surveyed and they are usually larger in size, covering wide areas. Vested lands are often the lands used for social infrastructure, such as the secondary schools to be supported under the project. Following a site screening exercise to ensure their suitability for the project, 6 of the 23 land parcels were found to be occupied by a number of farmers or users, who have to be displaced to make way for the project. The land will be compulsorily acquired and the affected farmers relocated to alternative land sites with equal soil quality and approximately equidistant from their normal places of abode. Perennial economic crops need to be enumerated, valued and paid for before the site could be cleared for construction to begin. This triggers the application of World Bank operational policy OP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement. The activities require to be carried out within a regulated framework; hence a resettlement plan has been prepared to guide the relocation process. Forty one farmers have been affected by the land acquisition process, below the minimum 200 people that will require for a full-blown Resettlement Action Plan (RAP)to be prepared, in line with the requirements of OP 4.12, so an Abbreviated Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) has been prepared. The objectives of the RAP are to: 1. Identify and assess the human impacts of the proposed construction, GSEIP/ A-RAP Page v 23 NEW SCHOOLS RESETTLEMENT ACTION PLAN 2. Identify, enumerate and value affected properties or assets on these encumbered land parcels, 3. Identify and profile the owners of such affected properties, 4. Maximize the involvement of project affected persons (PAPs) at all stages, 5. Design and propose appropriate mitigation measures and activities that will minimize or offset the identified impacts, 6. Design appropriate mechanisms to offset their inconvenience as a result of the acquisition of the affected lands, if the need for resettlement cannot be minimized or avoided 7. Assign responsibilities for the implementation of the RAP, timelines and projected cost of implementing the mitigation measures. The major tools and approach used for preparing the RAPare literature review, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)and consultations with PAPs. The various locations were visited, and consultation meetings held with various stakeholder groups, namely local government authorities, traditional leaders as donors of the lands, project-affected people and members of the beneficiary communities. All concerns and comments expressed were documented and taken on board in arriving at agreements regarding compensation figures and land replacements. Due to the wide geographical spread of the sub-projects, in 23 selected districts across the 10 administrative regions, the 5-year implementation period and the cross-sectoral involvement and scope of the project, an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) have been developed to provide environmental and social safeguards guidance for the SEIP. Both framework documents, having been approved and disclosed by both the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Bank, will provide guidance to project implementation operatives, districts, institutions, contractors, and other stakeholders including beneficiaries of the senior secondary school rehabilitation and construction under the project. Thus, this RAP draws from the ESMF and RPF, and has been prepared according to the approved outline and form in these documents. GSEIP/ A-RAP Page