Project assistance completion report : primary education development (391-0497)

The program was notably impeded by the severe Pressler cuts in regard to time (the original PACD was 6/99) and funding (sector grants were reduced from $240 million to $59 million and TA from $40 million to $18 million). Other constraints included delays in USAID"s release of grants (particularly deleterious for construction activities) and changes of Pakistani and TA personnel. Despite these drawbacks, the program achieved much of long-term significance. Institution-building accomplishments were substantial. Both provinces not only maintained but increased (NWFP to a substantial degree) their budget allocations for primary education, and both established fully staffed and operational Directorates for Primary Education, as well as educational management information systems, systems for monitoring and evaluating teacher performance, and Instructional Materials Development Cells. A Construction Advisory Unit (CAU) for primary education was established in NWFP, and a private firm was retained in Balochistan for this purpose. In addition, a total of 131 government officials received training abroad. Access to education also improved: primary school enrollment rose from 1.575 million to 1.6 million in NWFP and from 434,000 492,000 in Balochistan; construction capacity in Balochistan increased from 50 to nearly 600 schools a year (NWFP"s construction capacity should increase after the CAU becomes full operational); and the school siting process is now need-based. Equity has also improved. (1) Boys"-to-girls" enrollment ratio have shown a consistent levelling trend, from 3 and 4.9 to 2.2 and 2.9 in NWFP and Balochistan, respectively. (2) Class III completion rates for girls increased from 60% to 82% in NWFP and from 28% to 39% in Balochistan. (3) Girls" schools now receive very high priority in the establishment of new schools and the training and appointment of teachers. (4) Senior administrative positions in primary education are now open to and in many cases filled by women. (5) Because of the new needs-based construction criteria, rural areas are now receiving more schools. The quality of education has improved substantially with increases in the numbers of teachers, schools with sufficient teachers, and trained teachers, along with declines in drop-out rates. Private sector participation has been enhanced through establishment of foundations in both provinces to assist in setting up private educational institutions. The private sector"s role in managing construction has also increased. Finally, a very successful pilot activity has been followed by a full-scale effort to mobilize community participation in establishing and monitoring primary schools for girls. A number of lessons were learned. (1) Use of the program rather than project mode freed senior managers from day to day implementation issues, allowing them to focus on policy and institutional issues with long-term impact. It also enabled implementors to sidestep the serious institutional bottlenecks often encountered in large and complex project-type activities. (2) Direct interaction with the provinces greatly facilitated implementation. (3) To gauge the extent of a problem and the efficacy of proposed solutions, it is crucial that up-to-date, reliable information about the general population, the school-age population, and enrollments in various classes be readily available. (4) Coordination among donors is very important. (5) Both donors and host governments find it more convenient to focus on "hardware," e.g., buildings and equipment, rather than "software" issues such as participation and drop-rates, equity, etc. Software issues are more complicated and time-consuming, and politicians and donors are seldom disposed to wait for the results. (6) Given some guidance, limited TA, and a rational approach, communities can make a tremendous contribution to the development process. In Balochistan, village communities accepted the idea of parents" committees, and the so-called influentials (chiefs, elders, politicians, etc.) were thus relegated to secondary importance. (7) Implementation proved many pieces of conventional wisdom -- that parents do not want education or co-education for their children, or that males cannot teach females -- to be myths. (8) Sustainability is not achieved through continuous donor support for the same activities, but through a program that addresses the most fundamental issues and is supported by all policy and decisionmaking bodies. Sustainability of this program is virtually assured -- program initiatives are being continued in practically the same manner by the World Bank and other donors; institutions such as the Steering Committees and Primary Education Directorates continue to function; and, most importantly, program initiatives have wide support among the politicians and the bureaucracy.