ANNEXE 1. IDENTIFICATION Title/Number THE EDUCATION TRANSITION FUND 2 ND PHASE (ETF- 2) ZIMBABWE CRIS no. FED/2011/023-274 Total cost EUR 54,400,000 EU Contribution: EUR 5,000,000 Aid method / Method of implementation Joint co-financing 1 : DFID (UK), GBP 23,000,000 - Germany, EUR 7,500,000 - Finland, EUR 4,000,000 - OSISA, USD 3,000,000 - Sweden Project approach Joint management with UNICEF - direct centralised management DAC-code 11220 Sector Education 2. RATIONALE 2.1. Sector context From a strong base in 2000, the past decade has seen a dramatic reversal in the state of the Zimbabwean education system, culminating in mass school closures, violence, teacher migration and re-introduction of 'user fees' that are unaffordable for an estimated 700,000 children now living in extreme poverty, many orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS. In the absence of significant central government financing, a complex system of fees, levies and incentives has evolved that has significantly disadvantaged the poorest, an estimated 50% of students no longer continue their school beyond the primary level. As opposed to most African countries, Zimbabwe's MDG 2 status 2 is in decline: Primary Net Enrolment Rate - 2002: 99%, 2009: 91%, Completion- 2000: 74%, 2006 68%. 3 Around 1 in 3 of qualified teachers left the work force; unqualified temporary teachers are being used to fill the gap. Teacher pay, attendance and motivation are low, resulting in weak performance. Schools are resource starved; recurrent budgets disappeared and textbooks are in short supply. There is an increased incidence of violence / sexual harassment reported by female students, especially orphans and vulnerable children, and a growing gender imbalance for secondary school pass rates. Since 2005 there has been a large drop in examination pass rates: the chart to the right illustrates this rapid decline in 1 Total cost is an indicative estimate, not of actual pledges received, all donor contributions are provisional 2 All children complete primary education of acceptable quality 3 Zimbabwe MDG country status report, UNDP 2010 EN 1
primary (Grade 7) achievement and system quality. The long term impact of the neglect of the education system cannot be under-estimated and will impede Zimbabwe's ability to revive and develop. Adult literacy rates are still estimated at over 90%, but this may plummet to 70% by 2020 4 if completion rate and quality do not rise or 2 nd chance education programmes be offered to youth who have left the school system. To harness the recovery from the 2008/9 crisis when most schools were closed throughout the country, sustained strategic support is required to avoid both a total collapse of the system and to halt the long term decline of the past decade. Zimbabwe critically needs assistance to provide education inputs to achieve a minimum quality service level, ensure a safe learning environment (shelter, clean water and sanitation), enable free access for the poor and vulnerable to primary education and support the restructuring of collapsed government systems to enable future longer term development, if macro-economic recovery is sustained. 2.2. Lessons Learnt The Education Transition Fund (ETF) started in Sept. 2009 as a joint emergency response to this crisis with a 12-donor pooled funding budget of USD 52 Million. It has provided stationery and a set of four core textbooks to all 2.6 million primary pupils, trained school committees and built capacity. The ETF's first phase has created a significantly positive driver of change and reform opportunity in the education sector. The ability of partners to effectively implement large scale programmes with high impact in the sector has built a level of assurance with other funding partners and confidence in the Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture to continue the revitalization of the sector. The ETF annual review in September 2010 concluded that the programme had helped to provide a stimulus for quality education in Zimbabwean primary schools. The ETF aligns joint donor funding support with low administration costs and economies of scale when tendering for textbooks. The review noted that cost effective textbook procurement has delivered far in excess of initial expectations and is a major success. 5 Textbook unit costs of under US$1 per book were achieved and major cost savings are being utilized in 2011 to purchase secondary school textbooks for an estimated additional 0.75 million students 6. The EU ROM mission recommended: 'Emergency focus has to shift to recovery focus: demand driven and embedded in a strategic/activity plan for the Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture". Important lessons emerging from the ETF phase 1 experience include: Government leadership and capacity is critical to implement a large scale programme; National scale results are possible even in complex, politically charged environments; Transitional mechanisms can support the development of an inclusive partnership; Challenging the status quo of local publishers achieved massive cost savings and benefits; A pooled fund helped to increase alignment with Government priorities, promoting ownership, coordination and reducing fragmentation; Investing in school governance structures to improve transparency and accountability is a priority; 4 Informal World Bank estimated projection (2011) 5 Annual Review Education Transition Fund, November 2010. 6 Specific volumes are still being determined for tenders to be launched in mid 2011 EN 2
These experiences have informed the design process for the 2 nd phase for the ETF, it will align with the emerging government education strategic plan and encourage government budget allocation to the sector in a pro-poor manner. It will provide substantial resources to improve both quality and access to education on a national scale, continue community level training of education stakeholders and restart teacher training activities. Both phases of the ETF are conceived as a consecutive programme of transition, the first phase to escape from emergency while the second is intended to prepare for successful recovery. 2.3. Complementary Actions The Education Transition Fund 2 nd phase (ETF-2) is complementary to other existing programmes in Zimbabwe financed and/or co-financed by the European Commission, European Union Member States, United Nation Agencies, United States Government and other stakeholders. These include interventions such as the Essential Medicines Support Programme (EMSP), pipeline health sector support (Health Service Fund Support Programme and Health Transition Fund), the Programme of Support-2 for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (POS-2 for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, the Global Fund initiatives, the Protracted Relief Programme (PRP), World Food Programme (WFP) food aid programmes, UNICEF Water Sanitation programmes and relevant NGOs' interventions. These large scale humanitarian and social sector responses listed above have prevented a total collapse of structures and ensured the delivery of basic services at a minimal level throughout the country. As the country recovers from this shock, the strategy for the social sectors continues to be the achievement of further stabilisation in service delivery, moving from a transition to a development stage, with a view to making sustainable the provision of basic services for the whole population. Its implementation modalities and mechanisms avoid possible overlaps and maximise its impact. The ETF is the only major donor funded initiative in the education sector and the approval of funding for the 2 nd phase will enable a continuity of activities and support as funds from the 1 st phase are exhausted by the end of 2011. ETF-2 with its focus on poor and disadvantaged schools will be fully complementary to the PoS 2 programme that is targeting the absolutely poor labour-constrained households with a new nationwide social cash transfer programme, child protection services. PoS 2 will also provide support in 2011 to BEAM: the safety net provision of school fees for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, prior to ETF-2 school grants support from 2012 Both programmes will advocate for the reduction of compulsory fees for basic education services and deploy strategies to make more recurrent resources available at the school level to increase attendance and reduce dropout of the poor. The Government of Zimbabwe's 2011 overall education budget allocation is USD 631million, up 53% since 2010, but is dominated by payroll commitments 7 and substantial salary rises promised in 2011 are yet to materialise. Recurrent and capital expenditure from central government sources on schools, especially rural and primary schools is very low, although the "Basic Education Assistance Module" (BEAM) programme will receive USD 23 million in 2011 (USD13 million from the Government, USD 10 million from donors) for Orphans and Vulnerable Children fee payments, given in effect as recurrent school grants. 7 A payroll audit has identified major potential savings, but political obstacles hinder reform EN 3
Based upon ongoing policy discussions around BEAM 8 and the education medium term budget plan, the ETF will lobby for increased and sustained recurrent GoZ co-finance to poorer schools, in tandem with this action's support in the initial design, financing and required capacity building of a major school grants programme There will be linkages to the health and water-sanitation sector programmes, especially in the area of "deworming" (a major cause of low school attendance and reduced learning at primary school), HIV-AIDS, health and nutrition education and school sanitation (through community managed school grants). 2.4. Donor Coordination The EU Delegation in Zimbabwe currently acts as the lead local donor in education and fulfils the role of co-ordinating agency for the Education for All-Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) 9. Overall education sector coordination and management oversight will continue through the meetings of the Education Donor Group and the Education Co-ordination Group (ECG), the latter is chaired by the Minister of Education and provides a bi-monthly forum for government, civil society and development partner s dialogue on education issues. The ETF Steering Committee will be responsible for oversight of the ETF, jointly assessing performance against the key LogFrame indictors as reported by joint annual review missions. Regular members of the Steering Committee are funding partners contributing to the fund, the Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture, UNESCO and UNICEF, the latter will also serve as the Secretariat. In addition other key stakeholders to attend steering committee meetings will include the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education (MHTE: teacher training policy and Colleges of Education), the Public Service Commission (HR management and remuneration), Ministry of Labour and Social Services (BEAM finance and social protection policy) and ZIMSEC (examinations and student assessments) as well as the Civil Protection Unit (school construction and WASH), Ministry of Water Development, Ministry of Gender and Women s Empowerment. Other education stakeholders may also be asked to participate for specific sessions for consultation purposes. The ETF will remain as the main vehicle for mobilising donor resources for the education sector in Zimbabwe, which is in line with the Paris Declaration of Principles on Aid Effectiveness by consolidating donor support and aligning support on a programme that is based upon the government's nascent education sector plan. Regular meetings between UNICEF and the ETF donors 10, chaired by the EU Delegation as lead donor in the education sector, will be held to discuss and address ECG and ETF Steering Committee recommendations, and determine administrative, contractual and financial matters. Government co-finance is already significant for BEAM (USD 13 million released in 2010) and will be increasingly expected to co-finance activities, in particular school grants from 2013. 8 Currently no donor resources for BEAM beyond 2011 are available; ETF-2 will assist to offset this. BEAM performance and reform options are subject of a major on-going review 9 The Washington DC based EFA-FTI may co-finance the ETF-2, dependent on funding and the preparation of an acceptable education sector plan - an activity supported by the ETF. 10 The EU contribution will cover approximately 10% of the action. Currently twelve donors fund the ETF and at least six have expressed an interest in funding this action, with more donors likely to commit later. EN 4
3. DESCRIPTION The Education Transition Fund is a pooled 11 donor fund mechanism, established during the recovery period following the 2008 crisis it has become established as a robust brand and has contributed to alignment with Government priorities, promoting ownership, building confidence, delivering tangible benefits nationwide and reducing aid fragmentation. Despite the fragile nature of the recovering education sector, new opportunities now exist, providing a ripe environment for the rapid consolidation and improvement of the education system. As the education sector transitions into a phase of long term recovery, the overall goal of the second phase of the ETF will be to support the continued revitalization of the education sector by assisting the Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture to realize its objectives of achieving universal and equitable access to quality basic education for all Zimbabwean children. ETF-2 is outlined in three key thematic areas which are aligned with the Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture's Strategic Investment Plan (2011). These areas are outlined in the matrix below: Thematic Areas 1. School and System Governance (linked to Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture Strategic Objective 2 & 4) Key Activities Sector Wide Programming School Improvement School Monitoring, Supervision and Support 2. Teaching and Learning (linked to Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture Strategic Objective 1 & 3) 3. Second Chance Education (linked to Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture Strategic Objective 5) Teaching Quality Curriculum Review Provision of Teaching and Learning Materials Assessment Sub-sector Policy Analysis Young People s Return to Mainstream Education Skills Development for Out-of-School Youth 3.1. Objectives Though improved school and system governance enhanced curriculum delivery and strengthened teacher performance, together with the provision of alternative education programmes for out-of-school youth, ETF II will assist Zimbabwe in reaching: MDG 2: by 2015, all children complete a full course of primary schooling MDG 3: by 2015 gender disparity in primary and secondary education will be eliminated. Furthermore, ETF-2 will assist Zimbabwe to achieve its commitments to the global Education for All agenda with specific focus being given to five of the six EFA goals related to: early childhood development; equitable access; youth education; elimination of gender disparities; and quality of teaching and learning 12. A specific objective is that by 2015 the ETF-2 will be a major contributor to the reduction of school fees and levies, allowing at least one million Orphans and Vulnerable Children to gain access to a quality education. Pro-rata, the EU financial contribution is estimated to 11 The extent of fund earmarking and pooling, varies amongst the contributing donors. 12 Adult literacy will not be a focus, although some 2 nd chance and skills education for youth is included. EN 5
account for around 10% of this target and the other overall results of the ETF-2 that are described below. 3.2. Expected results and main activities The impact of ETF-2 s interventions, measured from a 2011 base line, will be: Over 25% increase in students completing primary (G7) and secondary school 13 by 2015; Learning outcomes at primary and 'O level, improved by at least 10 % points by 2015, A significant reduction in gender gaps, in terms of enrolment and achievement, ensuring a gender parity index of over 95% primary and secondary levels by 2015, with a focus on children from lower wealth quintiles. The main activities that will contribute to these key indicators include The finalisation of a national sector strategy and planning framework for education; The development of a national school grants initiative, delivering critical investment (including WASH) at school level, to greatly reduce financial barriers to education; Training of at least 100,000 teachers in modern pedagogical and subject based skills, with a focus on upgrading the qualifications of at least 10,000 unqualified teachers; Training of at least 300 key Ministry personnel at the central, provincial and district level, as well as at least 8,000 school heads to strengthen their system management capacities related to planning, implementation, supervision and monitoring, linked to priorities outlined in the emerging 5 Year Strategic Plan; Development of a fully revised curriculum framework, with corresponding tested syllabi for all ECD, primary and secondary grades; Development of a second chance education programme, providing alternative learning opportunities and skills for at least 200,000 young people, with the aim of returning at least 100,000 school students to mainstream education. 3.3. Risks and Assumptions The risks associated with this programme can be summarised as follows: Risks and Assumptions 1. Political and economic situation does not worsen to civil conflict or collapse of social and economic sectors. 2. UNICEF is able to effectively work with all partners, including Government, as well as having full access to implement and monitor its programmes. UNICEF is able to maintain programme focus on intended strategic outcomes for women and children. Planned Risk Response UN agencies and donors are working closely with government Ministries responsible for social service sectors to ensure good relations and delivery. Support in the provision of services through crises over the past years was possible and should continue to be so. UNICEF engages with key ministries to advocate for separation of politics from provision of social services and conducts regular field monitoring of programme activities to report operating risks and programme activities. Furthermore, UNICEF is cluster lead for Education, WASH, and Nutrition as well as fully engaged with other sectors. It maintains 13 Measured on actual number of students enrolled in the final year. Baselines, targets and activity volumes to be reviewed and adjusted in the logical framework (draft see Appendix 2) EN 6
3. UNICEF s internal procurement and contracting systems are able to effectively expedite and manage large scale programmes. 4. Collaboration between implementing organisations will be problem free and devoid of politics. 5. Government has capacity to facilitate policy reform quickly, is willing to engage international technical assistance and can contribute adequate domestic financial resources. 6. All pillars of the ETF programme are indivisible/interdependent and need to be supported in order to achieve the overall objectives close links with government structures and the donor community. Education donors and UNICEF agree on the realistic in-country technical and operational capacity required to effectively implement and monitor the programme s progress. This mechanism has been tested through the first phase of the ETF and was noted in September 2010 during an annual review of the ETF. MOUs between implementing partners should emphasise the need to work together and commit to a transparent process free of politicisation. Interventions are designed to support national strategic plans, coordinated by Government and implemented through government systems whenever possible. The ETF pooled-fund mechanism will allow government appropriate flexibility in implementation across different components of the Education strategy. Policy and strategic planning support and technical assistance will assist in strengthening government capacity. The ETF provides realistic funding projections and a pooled mechanism with reduced transaction costs to encourage all three interdependent pillars to be pursued. 3.4. Crosscutting Issues: Children and teachers are not homogenous groups and specific issues will be mainstreamed in support provided by the ETF-2: Gender and HIV/AIDS: Promoting gender equality and women and girls empowerment through a national scale programme that alleviates barriers (including fees) to education; Learning materials are gender-sensitive, recognizing diversity and promoting respect; Curricula is developed to be gender-sensitive, addressing specific needs and experiences of girls and boys, covering reproductive health and HIV/AIDS content; Gender equality and sensitivity teaching strategies included teacher training courses; Teacher appraisal system that will take into account different needs for male and female teachers; Integration of appropriate, sensitive HIV / AIDS knowledge in the national curriculum (school, non formal and teacher training courses). Child Protection and Disability: Mechanisms for monitoring and reporting instances of abuse and exploitation are in place and teaching staff are trained to refer or directly provide appropriate care services and gender-sensitive counselling. Legislative reform to ensure national policies are in line with the Child Rights Convention and a teachers Code Of Conduct is adopted; EN 7
School improvements and revised curriculum guidance will ensure a more conducive and appropriate learning environment for children with disabilities; Legislative reforms to ensure national policies consider the special needs of children with disabilities. 3.5. Stakeholders The principal beneficiary stakeholders of the action will be the estimated 3.3 million students in the Zimbabwean school system and the 100,000 teachers who serve them. It is anticipated that around 1 million orphans and vulnerable children will benefit from reduced financial barriers, enabling access to a basic education of improved quality. In addition there will be secondary beneficiaries, including education sector workers and student's community and family members. There has been limited formal engagement to date with civil society (non state actors) around the inter-linked ETF-2 and strategic planning process due to political sensitivities, however the main education civil society alliance ECOZI are in dialogue with the EU delegation and will be supported 14 to both (i) participate in consultations on the draft sector plan / ETF-2 support and (ii) capacity building to strengthen civil society advocacy, monitoring and dialogue. The main stakeholder of the action is the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture (MoESAC) that has the mandate to manage the school system, in collaboration with other relevant Government Ministries as follow: The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education will engage around reforms to the teacher training system, both pre- and in-service courses offered via the Colleges of Education The Ministry of Labour and Social Services is expected to play an active part in the evolution of Basic Education Assistance Module's (BEAM) and safety net provision of education services to the vulnerable. The Public Service Commission is expected to engage around the adaption of the teacher workforce, seeking to improve conditions, motivation and performance. The Ministry of Finance will play a key role in dialogue around the education sector budget and ensuring the ETF-2 programme has appropriate, sustainable activities. Senior Ministry of Finance staff is already engaging in the development of an education finance data model, part of the Education Strategic Plan formulation process, to ensure the medium term budget proposal is feasible and can be adjusted to align with the annual budgeting cycle. This engagement is key to building dialogue and support for government co-finance for key activities - school grants, teacher training, that need to be sustained for long-term recovery. 14 This support will not be channelled via the ETF-2, other options are being explored. EN 8
4. IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 4.1. Method of implementation As with the First Phase 15, the project "Education Transition Fund 2 nd Phase (ETF-2)" will be managed via joint management through the signature of a Contribution Agreement in accordance with Article 29 of the Regulation (EC) No 215/2008 on the financial regulation applicable to the 10 th European Development Fund between the European Commission and UNICEF. The international organisation complies with the criteria provided for in the applicable Financial Regulation. UNICEF is covered by the Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement. A Financing Agreement will be signed between the European Commission and the Government of Zimbabwe. The change of management mode constitutes a substantial change except where the Commission "re-centralises" or reduces the level of tasks previously delegated to the beneficiary country, international organisation or delegatee body under, respectively, decentralised, joint or indirect centralised management. The monitoring and evaluation part (EUR 100,000) will be implemented through direct centralised management. This intervention is the natural continuation of the multi-donor funded ETF (Phase 1) to which the EU has contributed EUR 7 500 000 and which is managed by UNICEF. The programme is implemented in line with Article 96 of the Revised Cotonou Agreement in direct support of the population of Zimbabwe. Since the programme will support the Zimbabwean Education Sector Strategic Plan under development, close liaison with the relevant Ministries will be maintained. The Education Co-ordination Group (ECG), chaired by the Minister of Education will provide a forum for government, civil society and development partner s dialogue on education issues. The ETF Steering Committee will be responsible for direct oversight of the ETF and recommendations with management and financial implications be referred to UNICEF and donor partners for consideration and action. 4.2. Procurement and grant award procedures All contracts implementing the action are awarded and implemented in accordance with the procedures and standard documents laid down and published by UNICEF. 4.3. Budget and calendar The preliminary, indicative cost of Education Transition Fund 2 nd Phase is approximately EUR 54 400 000. EUR 5 000 000 shall be financed from the 10 th European Development Fund (EDF) budget "ad hoc allocation" for Zimbabwe for 2011. Therefore, EU funds will not be earmarked within the total of the project budget. The foreseen operational duration is 72 months as from signature of the Financing Agreement. 15 The 1 st Phase action: FED/2010/231-563 was entitled: 'Transitional Support to Education in Zimbabwe', the overall programme is now well known locally as the Education Transition Fund EN 9
Indicative Budget of the EU contribution: Category EU contribution in EUR Contribution Agreement with UNICEF 4,900,000 16 Monitoring & Evaluation 100,000 TOTAL 5,000,000 17 Donor co-finance: Probable ETF-2 funding commitments include the UK (GBP 23 000 000), Germany (EUR 7 500 000), Finland (EUR 4 000 000), OSISA (USD 3 000 000), while Sweden is likely to continue funding at similar rates to the first phase. This indicates that over 65% of the indicative total budget is already in place. Government co-finance: There is no direct Government co-financing foreseen for this programme. 4.4. Performance Monitoring As a multi donor initiative, monitoring oversight will continue through the meetings of the ETF Steering Committee, with the EU as lead local education donor taking a pivotal role in engagement with UNICEF and Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture on ETF progress and monitoring oversight. UNICEF s routine field monitoring system to a large representative sample of schools that was established in 2010 for both ETF and BEAM monitoring will be expanded and refined in the 2 nd Phase and be integrated to complement the Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture's Education Management Information System (EMIS) and Education Emergency Cluster Network 18. Ongoing routine programme monitoring will work to further develop institutional capacity within various levels of the Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture. The ETF-2 will strengthen the Education Management Information System (EMIS). Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture recognises that more accurate information from regular data collection activities linked to the EMIS is essential to plan and monitor setcor performance. In conjunction with support from UNESCO and a grant from the EFA-FTI, a redesigned EMIS survey will be conducted during 2011 and date used to populate the ETF-2 key performance indicators. A national student learning outcome and evaluation study is currently underway, supported by the first phase of ETF. The study will provide a better understanding of the impact of the delivery of textbooks on student learning outcomes, especially in early grades. Further support will be provided to Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZimSEC) to build its 16 This budget includes UNICEF managed funds for monitoring, evaluation and visibility. 17 Total indicative budget approximately USD 80million, EU contribution USD 7.397million (Infor Euro Rate 05/2011 of 1,4794) 18 UNICEF co-ordinate NGO activities and manage separate funds for disaster preparedness and monitoring which are used to conduct regular visits and identify acute problems in the field EN 10
capacity to review the examination system and introduce a regular national early grade learning assessment of numeracy and literacy. 4.5. Evaluation and Audit Annual, mid-term and final evaluations are foreseen. Broad, joint stakeholder mission teams will be assembled to review the ETF in collaboration with senior Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture staff and external independent evaluators directly appointed by the main ETF donor agencies. Financial audits will be carried out according to the International Organisation guidelines. Key operational research opportunities and agendas will be identified by the Ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture and ETF II partners, they are likely to centre on national early grade and end of primary learning assessments (see 4.4) and investigate the impact of interventions such as textbook provision and teacher training activities on completion and learning outcomes, especially for poor and disadvantaged learners. UNICEF will also contribute its own resources to dedicated operational research in the area of basic education and gender equality including studies implemented with its in house centre, the Collaborating Centre for Operational Research (CCORE). 4.6 Communication and visibility: Education Transition Fund in the 1 st Phase has already had a highly beneficial impact from communication and visibility activities, including a major textbook launch in Sept. 2010 attended by the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe 19 and key local partners. These activities will be enhanced for the 2 nd Phase, implemented using this contribution agreement. They are likely to include more Internet based material and a high quality documentary video focusing on the impact of the textbook distribution. This component will be revised during the inception phase utilising a USD 350,000 budget, in accordance to both the International Organisation and EU guidelines. 19 See delegation websitewww. eeas.eu.europa/delegations/zimbabwe for more details. EN 11