Basic Education Project for Northern Sudan

Basic Education Project for Northern Sudan

Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF)

1. Introduction

1.1 Background

The educational system in Sudan operates within a framework of decentralization. Directorates of Education in localities are responsible for pre-school and basic education including school infrastructure, teacher recruitment and management. Education Councils are important institutions at the school level ensuring popular participation in school supervision, maintenance, housing for teachers, etc. State Governments are responsible for secondary education while higher education comes under the purview of the federal government. Sudan education system consists of three levels: two years of pre-school; eight years of compulsory basic education; followed by three years of general or technical secondary education.

The Sudan has achieved considerable improvements in human indicators in the last few years, yet at its income level, it is way below its comparators with less than 72 % Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) and 66% Net Enrollment Rate (NER) in basic education. These figures however do not tell the full story of the large disparities amongst and within states. The highest GERs in North Sudan reach up to 81.5% in the Northern State, and the lowest is in Kassala at 33.1%. The disadvantaged in terms of access to quality education include nomadic population, returnees, and IDPs. A recently concluded base line survey conducted by the Federal Ministry of Education with support from the UNICEF and finance from the European Commission highlights inequality, geographical and gender disparities as the key problems within the system.

Compared to other countries at the same income level, Sudan has a lowpublic spending on education at less than 1.5% of GDP and less than 3% of public expenditures. Over 90% of this public expenditure is for recurrent expenditures and less than 10% for development expenditure. Private expenditures however represent a major source of funding for the sector.

Organizational and management capacity to develop and monitor progress in the education sector in Sudan is weak demonstrated by the manual collection of basic educational statistics. Capacity and skill to manage and monitor the system at different levels of government is limited. Teacher management is specifically an issue with no clear strategy for teacher deployment within states and across localities.

To summarize, immediate challenges to developing education for the Government of National Unity (GoNU) include: (i) Inadequate schools and learning spaces, especially in war-affected areas; (ii) Non-optimal teacher deployment and low level of teacher qualification; (iii) Non existence of a systematic in-service training scheme; and (iv) Lack of a reliable system for monitoring educational outcomes.

1.2 Government Strategy

The GoNU is committed to developing its education sector and to providing universal access to quality education in both primary and secondary education. The Government also realizes that this cannot be achieved without a considerable increase in public resources allocated to the education sector. The Five year (2007-2011) Education Sector Strategic Plan based on the 2001 Education Act of the GoNU directs activities in the sector. The Plan expresses the country’s commitment to the EFA goals and outlines activities to meet the MDG targets by 2015. Goals include:

• Closing the gender gap and reducing regional imbalances;
• Ensuring universal primary education;
• Improving quality and relevance by revising the national curriculum;
• Improving efficiency; and
• Expanding the role of the private sector in education.

The MDTF-N will assist GoNU in making progress toward the MDG goals. .The MDTF will support four States (Red Sea, South Kordufan, North Kordufan, and Blue Nile) in improving enrollment and enhancing the quality of basic education. The four states were chosen because of their low enrollment rates, high gender gap and the willingness of the state governments to support education activities.By supporting activities in these four states, the purpose of this MDTF-N project is to reduce disparity in terms of key educational outcomes in northern Sudan. Past experience under the MDTF indicate that direct support to the state levels is likely to produce faster results and stimulate more work in the states. At the system level, the project will also support the on-going process to revisit the basic education curriculum and support an update to the curriculum framework of the faculties of education.

A number of UN agencies and NGOs support the GoNU with school feeding programs, reproductive health education, and building government capacity. The Federal and state Ministries of Education, in some cases with support from international NGOs, are also active in providing education services to vulnerable groups using alternative education and informal education programs.

1.3 Project Development Objective (PDO)

The PDO is toincrease access to improved basic education in four selected states in northern Sudan.

By the end of this project, information on the following PDO indicators will demonstrate the extent to which the PDO has been achieved:

• Students enrolled in primary education in selected schools. (number of boys and girls).
• Average number of days operational for schools supported.
• Percentage of teachers evaluated positively following in-service training in the four states.

This report has been prepared to develop and implement Environmental and Social Management Framework(ESMF) for the project. The report provides guidance in identifying environmental assessment issues and management needs for the various activities that are funded by the Basic Education Project under its different components.

2. Project components

Component (1): Enhancing Access to Basic Education(US$5.006 million) this componentwill support the rehabilitation, additions of classrooms, offices or teachers’ housing to existing schools, and the construction of new schools in selected localities in the four states. The component will focus on areas that will boost girls’ education by using criteria that favors areas where interventions will enhance girls’ access. The physical upgrading of these education facilities, as well as contributing to motivating teachers to stay in remote areas by constructing or upgrading some teacher housing facilities should have a positive impact on retention rates on the medium and long term.

Three localities in each state (except for North Kordufan where the component will work in only two localities) have been identified. The schools where the component will work have been finalized. It is important to note that interventions will not necessarily be in the form of a full school construction. In some cases, classrooms will be added, teachers housing, toilets…etc. A full list of the types of interventions in every school has been compiled.

Component (2): Contributing to enhancing the quality of basic education (US$ 7.49 million). Under this component, the project will have three main sub-components:

Component 2:1. Curriculum reform (US$0.325million). The first sub-component of component two will support two activities. Firstly, funds will be provided for the evaluation of the basic education curriculum. The objective of assessing the basic education curriculum is to develop an initial draft of a national curriculum framework for discussion by both north and south Sudan. The basic education curriculum was developed in 1996. The quality and relevance of this curriculum is unclear especially in the light of the CPA. This sub-component will support the evaluation of the existing curriculum by establishing subject specific committees and a steering committee to head this effort. The objective of this evaluation is to develop a first draft of the national curriculum framework to address the post conflict environment in Sudan.

Secondly, the component will provide support for a forum to discuss the relevance of the pre-service teacher training curriculum. According to the policy introduced in the early 1990’s, primary school teachers in Sudan are expected to have a Bachelor of Education (B.ed) degree. The curriculum used by the Faculties of Education to train teachers in the B.ed program is unsatisfactory. The MoGE has been indicating that there is a lack of professional teaching skills amongst graduates of the FoEs. Finance will be provided for a multiday workshop to bring together deans of FoEs, professors in education and academic subjects, basic education experts, and teacher training experts. This group will discuss the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum of the FoEs, its relationship with the basic education curriculum, and come up with a process to develop a new framework for this curriculum.

Component 2:2 In-service teacher training (US$3.097million). The second sub-component of the second component will provide in-service training in Arabic, English, mathematics, and core programs to about 12,300 primary school teachers in the four states. Training modules in the four subjects were developed by the “In-service Education Training Institute (ISETI)” of the MoGE. The modules are organized with about four hours of training per day. The purpose of the in-service training is to improve the knowledge and abilities of teachers to analyze the curriculum and to better instruct students in listening, reading, speaking and writing in the subject areas. Training is to be provided to teachers with only secondary education as their subject content knowledge is weak and university trained teachers without significant exposure to instructing young children. The length of the training varies from 15 to 21 days across the states. A pre and post training questionnaire will be administered to understand and measure the effectiveness of the training.

Component 2-3 Physical upgrading to a number of TTIs in the four states (US$4.067million) to increase the capacity of training and enhance the learning environment in these institutes. The TTIs to be supported by the project have been identified. Those are Al-Dalang TTI in South Kordufan (rehabilitations and additions), Ganoub Al-Roseirus TTI in Blue Nile (new), Al-Obied TTI in North Kordufan (additions and rehabilitation), and Port Sudan TTI in Res Sea State (new). These institutes are the main and only in-service teachers training in the states. They are usually staffed with a director and a teaching staff or around 6-8 trainers. The trainers’ force in each state includes more trainers who usually have other jobs in the education system (like instructors or head teachers). Those are normally mobilized whenever a training event is organized. These trainers are trained by the ISETI in Khartoum and are familiar with the training modules available, each in his/her subject matter.

Component 3: Monitoring, Evaluation and Project Management (US$2.35million). This component will support a mechanism to ensure that a baseline is collected in the areas of interventions, and project’s monitoring and outcome indicators are assessed. The component will also finance the project coordination teams at the central and states’ level as well as operational costs related project implementation.

Operational Costs. The component will also finance the implementation structures at the central and states’ levels. Those financed will all be out of the public service and recruited on competitive basis. Operational costs will also cover the management costs of the CDF and the Engineering Office in Red Sea States, operational travel expenses and the costs of workshops during the project. A compensation structure for project staff will be developed as part of the OPM for the project. The OPM will also include all procedures regarding travel costs, workshops…etc.

3. Project location

The project will be implemented in selected communities in the fours states of Red Sea, South Kordufan, North Kordufan, and Blue Nile.

4.Implementation Arrangement

Overall Coordination and Oversight. The project will establish an overall Project Steering Committee (PSC) at the Federal level. This PSC will be chaired by the MoGE’s Under Secretary. The PSC will have the overall oversight responsibility for the project and will help solving implementation issues as the project progresses. The committee will not have executive responsibilities but will ensure overall guidance and adherence to project objectives and activities. The committee will meet quarterly, and may have other meetings upon request from the chair or at least half of the members.

The implementation structure will include a Central Coordination Unit (CCU) in Khartoum that will be headed by the Federal Project Coordinator (FPC). The FPC will be the overall coordinator for project’s activities. The FPC will be the secretary of the PSC. Besides the FPC, the CCU will include a curriculum coordinator who will be responsible for component 2.1 and based in the NCCER, a M&E Officer, a Finance Officer, and a support staff.

A State Coordination Unit (SCU) will be established in each of the four states. The unit will include a state coordinator, a finance officer, and an M&E officer. In Red Sea SMoE will also hire a procurement officer. Terms of Reference for these staff will be included in the OPM.

Implementation of components 1 and 2.3 will work differently in Red Sea than the three other states. In Red Sea, the entire civil works part (including schools and TTIs construction) will be implemented by the State Engineering Office (EO). The EO will develop architectural drawings, manage procurement procedures (with participation from the SMoE), and supervise civil works. In the three other states, all civil works activities will be contracted to the Community Development Fund (CDF). CDF has Locality Implementation Units (LIUs) in all localities in the three States.

Implementation of component 2.1 will be done by the NCCER and will be coordinated by the NCCER’s focal point who will be a dedicated staff member for project’s activities.

Implementation of component 2.2 will primarily be done by the TTIs in the four states under the supervision of the SMoE’s head of training department. ISETI will be responsible for providing the training material and the M&E of the sub-component.

Operational Procedural Manual (OPM)

The OPM will be developed and approved by the PSC and the World Bank by project effectiveness. The manual is a document meant to guide project implementation. The OPM makes clear to staff of MoGE, SMoEs, CCU, SCU, and others the overall project reporting mechanism, the roles and responsibilities of the different parties involved in project implementation and the detailed procedural aspects of implementation

The OPM will be subject to semi annual reviews based on experience of project implementation. Reviews will follow a certain process that will be explained in the manual. Once such proposed reviews are integrated, they are highlighted and submitted to the PSC, and subsequently the World Bank for approval.

5. The Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF)

The purpose of the ESMF is to ensure that any activity is environmentally sustainable. The implementation of the project will ensure that:

-Environmental considerations are included as criteria for site selecting and developing activities to be supported by the project;

-Environmental assessment would become an integral part of the project cycle of any activity;

-Environmental guidelines are followed and used.

The project will ensure the following:

-ESMF guidelines are followed and used through out the project cycle;

-ESMF issues are introduced to stakeholders and beneficiaries through education and promotion of environmentally beneficial activities.

ThisESMF report is structured as follows:

• Chapter (1) – Introduction to Environmental Issues
• Chapter (2) – Overview of Environmental Impacts and Good Practice Mitigation Measures
• Chapter (3) – Policy, Legal and Administrative Environmental Framework for Sudan
• Chapter (4) – Environmental Assessment & Incorporation into the Project Cycle
• Chapter (5) – Environmental Assessment
• Chapter (6) – Environmental Management Plan
• Chapter (7) – Management Challenges

5.1 Environmental Assessment (EA)

The World Bank has several policies governing environmental safeguards, the most central of which is the Operational Policy (OP 4.01) on Environmental Assessment (EA) which defines the Bank’s environmental assessment requirements to ensure that funded projects are environmentally sound and sustainable. A screening process is undertaken for all funded projects to assess the magnitude and adversity of predicted environmental impacts and to determine the appropriate extent and type of EA. Depending on the type, location, sensitivity and scale of the project as well as the nature and magnitude of environmental impacts, all World Bank supported projects are classified into one of three categories:

• Category (A) Projects which are likely to cause significant and possibly irremediable environmental impacts.
• Category (B)Projects which are likely to cause lesser adverse impacts than those of Category A and the impacts are often remediable or mitigateable.
• Category (C) Projects which are likely to cause minimal or no adverse environmental impacts.

All activities funded by the Basic Education project are classified as Category B or Category C. Components 1&2.3 that involve civil works activities to build classrooms and Teacher Training Institutes are classified as category B. Sub-components 2.1&2.2 supporting curriculum development and in-service teacher training are classified as category C.

The following Sections of the Environmental and Social Framework provide guidance with respect to the implementation of the civil works components (i.e 1&2.3). These guidelines are based on the World Bank Operational Policies (OP 4.01), the World Bank Environmental Assessment Sourcebook (1991) and it’s Updates. The user of thisESMF should consult these references and should be also aware of the following World Bank’s environmental and social safeguard policies (Appendix C4):

-Environmental Assessment (OP4.01)

-Natural Habitats (OP 4.04)

-Water Resources Management (OP4.07)

-Pest Management (OP 4.09)

-Cultural Property (OP 4.11)

-Indigenous Peoples (OP 4.20)

-Involuntary Resettlement (OP 4.30)

-Forestry (OP 4.36)

5.2 Overview of Environmental Impacts and Good Practice Mitigation Measures

5.2.1 Positive Environmental Impacts

Most activities financed by the Basic Education Project will have positive impacts on the surrounding environment if they were well designed and properly implemented. For example, education facilities with the provision of adequate potable water supplies through boreholes or hand pumps, if linked to sanitation and health education, will improve health and socio – economic conditions of local communities.