70405 PUBLIC EXPENDITURE TRACKING SURVEY (PETS) AFGHANISTAN – EDUCATION SECTOR Synthesis Report February 2011 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Acknowledgements This report was prepared by Parul Bakhshi (Consultant) and Francoise Jacob (project director). The field work was coordinated by Mr Abdul Saboor Qaderi and Eng. Humayun. The data was collected by Ms Kamila, Mr Ibrahim and Eng Maluk. We would like to thank Ministry of Finance Directors General Aqqa (Treasury) and Jalili (Budget) for facilitating access to their teams in Kabul, in the provinces and in the districts. At the Ministry of Education we would like to thank Mr Ziaulhaq Safi, Mr Ahmad Shamshad Hakim, Dr Abdul Wassay Arian, Mr Abdul Mobin Quraishi, Mr Asif Nang, Mr Navid Jilani and Mr Kambaiz Wali for allowing access to documents and providing useful insights. We extend our thanks to officials at line ministries in Kabul, Bamyan, Mazar-e-Sharif, Mehtarlam, Balkh, Yakawlang and Qargaye, and to representatives of NGOs for providing us with supporting letters, arranging meetings, introductions and providing valuable information required to complete this report. This work would not have been possible without the support of the principals and teachers of the schools included in the survey, who gave us their precious time and facilitated the data collection by providing access to documents and records. Finally we thank Yongmei Zhou (World Bank Delhi) and Richard Hogg (World Bank Kabul) for their support, comments and suggestions throughout the study. All outputs of the research (reports, original datasets and annexes) can be downloaded at: www.altaiconsulting.com/docs/media. Altai Consulting Page 2 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Table of Contents List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Executive summary ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Section I - Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 8 A. Background ................................................................................................................................................ 9 B. Objectives of the research..........................................................................................................................10 C. Methodology.............................................................................................................................................11 Section II - Profile of the Education Sector ............................................................................................................15 A. A note on Data Sources .............................................................................................................................16 B. National Budget ........................................................................................................................................17 C. Programmes of the Education Sector .........................................................................................................19 D. Profile of the Education Sector in the Selected Provinces and Districts ........................................................20 E. Overview of assets in the PETS ...................................................................................................................26 Section III - Salaries and wages..............................................................................................................................28 A. Financial Information ................................................................................................................................29 B. Overall profiles: issue of ghost teachers .....................................................................................................31 C. Extent/effectiveness/timeliness of payments .............................................................................................33 D. Tracking process: details and challenges ...................................................................................................36 E. Conclusions and Recommendations ...........................................................................................................39 Section IV - Operations and Maintenance .............................................................................................................41 A. Overview of Operations and Maintenance Budget .....................................................................................42 B. The O&M needs of schools.........................................................................................................................45 C. Needs of district and provincial education offices .......................................................................................48 D. Situation Analysis and Recommendations ..................................................................................................52 Section V - EQUIP School Construction ..................................................................................................................54 A. Overview ...................................................................................................................................................55 B. Bottlenecks that impede completion ..........................................................................................................63 C. Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................................66 Section VI - Textbook Distribution .........................................................................................................................68 A. Analysis of the distribution process ............................................................................................................69 B. At the school level .....................................................................................................................................71 C. Central-Provincial-District levels ................................................................................................................73 D. Bottlenecks and opportunities for leakage .................................................................................................74 E. Concluding remarks and recommendations ...............................................................................................76 Section VII - Recommendations.............................................................................................................................77 Section VIII - Annexes ............................................................................................................................................81 A. References ................................................................................................................................................82 B. List of interviewees ....................................................................................................................................84 C. School questionnaires ................................................................................................................................85 D. Teachers’ questionnaire.............................................................................................................................87 E. Schools operations and maintenance costs - case studies ...........................................................................88 Altai Consulting Page 3 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AFMIS Afghanistan Financial Management Information System ANDS Afghanistan National Development Strategy AREU Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit ARTF Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund CDC Community Development Councils DAB Da Afghanistan Bank DDA District Development Authority DDR Disarmament, Demobilization and Rehabilitation DED District Education Department EC European Commission EQUIP Education Quality Improvement Program EMIS Education Management Information System IDLG Independent Directorate of Local Governance INGO International NGO IOM International Organization for Migration ISAF International Security Assistance Force KII Key Informant Interview MoE Ministry of Education MoF Ministry of Finance NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO Non-Governmental Organization PED Provincial Education Department PRT Provincial Reconstruction Team SMC School Management Committees UNAMA UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan UNDP UN Development Program UNESCO UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization US United States USAID US Agency for International Development WB World Bank Altai Consulting Page 4 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report List of Tables TABLE 1. EXPENDITURES FOR SALARIES AND WAGES ON CODE 21 (MOE/ NATIONAL) ............................................................17 TABLE 2. BUDGET-ALLOTMENT-EXPENDITURES FOR OPERATIONS/MAINTENANCE AND ASSETS ON CODES 22 ...............................18 TABLE 3. BUDGET ACCORDING TO PROGRAMMES OF THE MOE FOR 1388 AND 1389 IN AFS ...................................................19 TABLE 4. FORECAST OF BUDGET ACCORDING TO PROGRAMS OF THE MOE FOR 1390 AND 1391 ...............................................19 TABLE 5. INFORMATION FROM VARIOUS SOURCES FOR PROVINCIAL LEVEL EXPENDITURE ON CODE 21IN AFS (SALARIES AND WAGES) ..29 TABLE 6. OVERALL NUMBER OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN PROVINCE/DISTRICT/PETS .........................................................31 TABLE 7. DISCREPANCIES IN NUMBER OF PERMANENT TEACHERS ........................................................................................31 TABLE 8. DOCUMENTS VERIFICATION IN SCHOOLS FOR SALARIES AND WAGES (N=65) ..............................................................37 TABLE 9. O&M ALLOTMENT FOR 1388 AND 1389 ON THE OPERATING BUDGET AND DEVELOPMENT BUDGET ...............................42 TABLE 10. BREAKUP O&M EXPENDITURES FOR 1389 IN THE THREE PROVINCES ..................................................................43 TABLE 11. NUMBER AND COST OF EQUIP SCHOOLS IN PROVINCES-DISTRICTS ....................................................................59 TABLE 12. NUMBER TEXTBOOKS FOR 1389 (PROVINCE – DISTRICT LEVEL INFORMATION) .......................................................73 TABLE 13. CENTRAL LEVEL INFORMATION REGARDING DISTRIBUTION FOR 1389 ..................................................................73 List of Figures FIGURE 1. BUDGET OF GIROA (IN MILLIONS OF AFS); ...................................................................................................17 FIGURE 2. MOE EXPENDITURE BREAKDOWN;..............................................................................................................18 FIGURE 3. MAP OF THE THREE PROVINCES OF PETS .....................................................................................................20 FIGURE 4. NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN EDUCATION CYCLES; NUMBER OF TEACHERS IN THREE PROVINCES ..................................21 FIGURE 5. DIFFERENCES IN GENDER (CSO, SYB 2009-10) ............................................................................................21 FIGURE 6. OVERVIEW OF PROVINCIAL LEVEL EDUCATION BUDGET FOR 1389 ......................................................................22 FIGURE 7. MAP OF SITUATION OF THREE DISTRICTS IN PETS ...........................................................................................22 FIGURE 8. MAPS OF YAWKAWLANG DISTRICT .............................................................................................................23 FIGURE 9. MAPS OF BALKH AND QARGAYEDISTRICTS ...................................................................................................24 FIGURE 10. NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN THE THREE DISTRICTS, NUMBER OF SHIFTS IN PROVINCES ...............................................24 FIGURE 11. OVERVIEW OF FUNDING OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN PETS ..................................................................................26 FIGURE 12. OVERVIEW OF AGE OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN PETS ........................................................................................27 FIGURE 13. BUDGET EXPENDITURE FOR CODE 21, MOE 1389 FOR 3 PROVINCES IN AFS (AFMIS DATA) .....................................29 FIGURE 14. TIMELINESS OF RECEPTION OF SALARIES BY TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS ................................................................33 FIGURE 15. FLOW CHART OF PROCESS FOR PAYMENT OF SALARIES AND WAGES (CODE 21) .......................................................36 FIGURE 16. DETAILS OF O&M EXPENDITURES UNDER CODES 22 AND 25 ACCORDING TO OB AND DB (‘000 AFS) ........................44 FIGURE 17. NEEDS IDENTIFIED IN SCHOOL QUESTIONNAIRE BY DISTRICT ...............................................................................45 FIGURE 18. OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE COSTS AVERAGE BREAKDOWN ..........................................................................45 FIGURE 19. OFFICIAL REQUESTS MADE BY SCHOOLS OVER THE PAST YEAR.............................................................................46 FIGURE 20. OTHER SOURCES OF FUNDING REQUESTED FOR O&M NEEDS ............................................................................47 FIGURE 21. FLOW CHART FOR REQUESTS FROM THE PED FOR O&M .................................................................................49 FIGURE 22. PROCESS FOR BUILDING A COMMUNITY CONTRACTED SCHOOL ...........................................................................56 FIGURE 23. NBC PROCESS UNDER EQUIP ....................................................................................................................57 FIGURE 24. COMMUNITY CONTRACTED SCHOOLS COMPLETION IN ALL PROVINCES .................................................................58 FIGURE 25. NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING SCHOOLS COMPLETION IN ALL PROVINCES ........................................................58 FIGURE 26. EQUIP SCHOOLS: NUMBER OF STUDENTS ACCORDING TO GENDER IN PROVINCES ..................................................59 FIGURE 27. COMPLETION RATES FOR CC SCHOOLS COMMISSIONED UNDER EQUIP................................................................60 FIGURE 28. TEXTBOOK DISTRIBUTION PROCESS .............................................................................................................69 FIGURE 29. PROPORTION OF TEXTBOOKS RECEIVED BY SCHOOLS ........................................................................................71 FIGURE 30. REASONS IDENTIFIED FOR NOT HAVING SUFFICIENT TEXTBOOKS FOR THE CURRENT YEAR ...........................................72 FIGURE 31. COPING MECHANISMS FOR ABSENCE OF TEXTBOOKS .......................................................................................72 Altai Consulting Page 5 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Executive summary The Public Expenditure Tracking Survey looked at four components essential to the strengthening and development of the education sector in Afghanistan: 1. The payment of staff salaries; 2. The availability and use of an operations and maintenance (O&M) budget to support administrative teams and schools; 3. The construction of new schools through the Education Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP); 4. The distribution of textbooks. Within the broader research on district accountability, three regions were selected for the review of progresses and obstacles: Balkh district in Balkh province (North); Yakawlang district in Bamyan province (Central Highlands); and Qargaye district in Laghman province (East). Progress in the processing and timely payment of staff salaries has been remarkable, through the setup and rollout of the Afghanistan Financial Management Information System (AFMIS) and the automated salary payment system. Even in remote parts of Yakawlang and areas in Balkh and Qargaye which are partly insecure, salaries are paid regularly and, in most cases, on a monthly basis. Across the spectrum of staff (teachers, headmasters, administrative and monitoring staff), this contributes to greater job satisfaction and commitment. Procedures are fairly simple and well-understood. Minor mistakes and delays happen for mostly two reasons: 1. Most schools prepare teachers’ lists manually, and they are not always compiled electronically at the district level. This leads to some calculation mistakes, which may delay the payment process from the provincial mostafiat. 2. Not all district centers have Kabul bank outlets, so the school cashier collects salaries from the provincial center. This may lead to various small delays, and teachers may have to pay a fee of Afs 5 for the cashier’s trip. The availability, accessibility, and use of O&M need to be developed and strengthened. Current expenditures on O&M relate mostly to the payment of support costs to district and provincial administrations – typically for transport for monitors, stationery, utilities, and small office repairs. There is no separate budget available for the maintenance of schools. Over the past few years (and before), school headmasters and district officers have been discouraged from applying for O&M funds, as their requests have been either unanswered or turned down, as regular procedures are deemed too complicated for the amounts requested. Tracking of O&M costs is difficult at this stage, as expenditures are not yet fully recorded at the district level, and schools’ requests are often carried out outside regular procedures. School headmasters often try to look for alternative sources of funds. Two additional factors contribute to poor use of O&M budgets: 1. There is a strong belief, from schools down to central ministries, that priority should go to the construction of new schools or additional classrooms, rather than to maintaining existing ones. 2. Maintenance is often perceived as “emergency repairs,� and capacities are limited, if they exist at all, within schools and at district level to actually plan maintenance and pre-empt problems. Altai Consulting Page 6 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report There is a need to review the use of O&M through several mechanisms: 1. Identify a separate budget for school maintenance, even if this is minimal; 2. Develop simple procedures for schools to use to access and manage this budget, possibly through school management committees (SMCs); 3. Inform schools and district offices about the existence of such a budget; and 4. Build knowledge and capacities of officials at all levels to support the disbursement rather than the retention of such funds. A combination of technical, procedural, and political issues and bottlenecks has delayed the construction of schools through EQUIP significantly. There is a concern that construction is not keeping up with the growing number of school-age students and growing needs for education services. Hurdles include poor timing of advance payments with the construction season; lack of technical and management capacities in SMCs at community level; disagreement between the committees and the Education Department on school size and construction budgets; limited construction capacities at community level; insufficient resources allocated to EQUIP technical and social teams; and underlying tensions between the various stakeholders in the program: SMCs, the Provincial Education Director, the provincial EQUIP team, and the mostafiat. A stronger oversight team and more flexible budgets and procedures may be required to boost the program execution rate. The distribution of textbooks has improved significantly over the past five years, but discrepancies remain in certain areas between numbers of books needed and numbers received. The distribution circuit needs to be strengthened at four levels: 1. Different planning mechanisms exist between the different levels (schools, district level, provincial level, central ministry), which lead to different planned number of books. 2. Actual distribution plans are not consistent with the sequencing of book delivery at provincial level. 3. There is no budget available for the final stretch of the distribution circuit, from the district education office to the schools. 4. Storage conditions are not optimal, which leads to a certain percentage of damaged books. Altai Consulting Page 7 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Section I - INTRODUCTION Altai Consulting Page 8 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report A. Background The Ministry of Finance of the GIRoA has taken the lead in the improving of aid efficiency through public channels. One of the objectives stated in the 2010 Kabul Conference was the need to strengthen the capacity of the GIRoA to better deliver and monitor services at the provincial and district levels through mechanisms that ensure efficiency and allow for accountability to the people. In order to achieve this, the World Bank is carrying out studies to better tailor technical assistance (TA) being provided in key areas and at crucial levels. Within this perspective, the Public Expenditure Tracking Study (PETS) in the Education Sector was commissioned to identify the types and scale of bottlenecks inherent to processes set-up for budget execution at decentralized levels of the line ministry. The execution ratio of the operating budget is often close to 100% in the education sector. The majority of this budget covers salaries and wages of teachers and educational staff that represent the highest number of civil servants in the country. The education line ministry has been a pilot ministry for a number of initiatives in terms of budget execution, but recent consultations with provincial departments have suggested that significant bottlenecks still persist. These bottlenecks not only impede program performance at the provincial level but also created impressions that reduce trust in key actors in the government system, especially the Provincial Governors and Mustoufiats. At the same time, the Governors and Mustoufiats attributed poor execution to low capacity of provincial line departments in complying with financial management rules and procedures. The aim of the PETS is to confirm the existence of these impediments and to identify ways and means of addressing these through capacity building interventions. More specifically, this PETS attempts to document the processes of spending within a few well-defined programs and streams of funding, quantify the duration of each step of the process, and identify simplification opportunities. This report presents the conclusions of the PETS and examines the procedural bottlenecks that impede service and resource delivery to the schools. It also scrutinizes the specificities of problems that lead to very low levels of school completion commissioned under EQUIP. The problematic deciphered in this report is complex and multidimensional; it is further challenged by the lack of coherent and accessible records at provincial, district and school levels. As a result, our synthesis also attempts to present the state of records and understanding of these at decentralized levels of the state and identifies areas where information is incoherent and incomprehensive. The report is organized as follows: Section II presents an overview of the financial landscape of education in the country as well as specific profiles of the three provinces and districts where the research was carried out. Section III looks at the issues related to the payment of salaries and wages to teachers. Section IV presents the factors that lead to inefficiencies in meeting the O&M needs of schools and provincial offices. Section V presents the state of completion of schools under EQUIP and analyses the reasons that lead to these in the three provinces. Section VI tracks the distribution of textbooks to provinces from the central level to the schools. Altai Consulting Page 9 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report B. Objectives of the research The overall objective of the PETS is to understand the dynamics of resource flows in the Education Sector, to articulate a number of recommendations to improve effectiveness of this resource flow and increase the impact of reforms in the education sector in Afghanistan. This first study will focus on key aspects of resource flow: the extent to which public resources reach service-delivery points (schools); the timeliness of that delivery; the type and scale of bottlenecks and anomalies in the system that may result in delay or leakage of inputs to services; the capacity and flexibility available amongst local officials at all levels to address these bottlenecks. Objective 1: Analyze the procedures for the payment of Wages and Salaries to teachers. - What are the precise steps between the Mustoufiat salary payment in AFMIS and final receipts of salaries by teachers? What is the duration of each step identified? - What are the procedures in place to ensure all teachers on salary list are actually appointed and working? - When and how have teachers received their salaries over the past 3 months If there have been delays, where and why have payments been blocked? Objective 2: Analyze the challenges faced in the processes related to Operations and Maintenance. - What are the O&M needs that schools have faced during the past year? - Have they been able to access adequate budget to meet these needs? - What informal procedure do schools utilize for financing of O&M needs? - At district and provincial levels, what are the procedures for monitoring performance in schools? - Can provincial levels access O&M budgets easily? Objective3: Analyze the completion status of schools under the EQUIP School Construction program. - What is the state of completion of schools under NCB and under CC? - What are the main reasons for non-completion of schools under EQUIP? What are the main problems faced in the districts of survey and what are the solutions proposed by the various stakeholders? Objective 4: Analyze issues related to Textbook procurement and distribution to schools. - Validation of the process for delivery of books to schools, identify the duration of delivery in the districts of the survey. - Did schools receive books for the current school year on time? - Identify discrepancies between records in DANIDA, central agencies, provincial departments, district departments and schools. Altai Consulting Page 10 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report C. Methodology The research carried out for this study looks at information at various levels of the delivery process: central level, provincial level, district level and school level (principal and teachers). Methodology will include complementary tools in order to verify and validate information: document reviews using verification grids, questionnaires for school level information and key informant interviews with relevant officials. The research team consisted of a project supervisor, one international consultant, one national consultant and three district data collectors hired from the districts they were to work in, guaranteeing preliminary knowledge of the terrain and freedom of movement. The fieldwork was carried out between 15th November 2010 and 15th February 2011. 1. Geographical Scope of Study The study was carried out in three districts that present different profiles in order to present a comprehensive picture of education resource flow. - District 1 (Balkh) is a relatively safe, densely populated region, with easy access to most parts, a developed economy, a number of national programs implemented since 2003 and the active presence of international donors and NGOs; - District 2 (Yakawlang) is a relative safe area, very remote from the main access infrastructure of central Afghanistan, an economy mostly limited to subsistence activities, and limited presence of international donors/NGOs or PRTs; - District 3 (Qargaye) District in Laghman Province presents all the same key characteristics as the initially selected Baraki Barak (DDP/ASOP presence, no DDA), 2. Sample 2.1. Central Level Face to face interviews will be carried out with various official and key informants from: - Ministry of Education; - Ministry of Finance; - EQUIP officials; - Other organizations working in the field of education. 2.2. Province and District Levels Various officials from different departments involved in the process of service delivery to schools were interviewed (MoE representative, Treasurer, Registration Department, Accounting Department, MoF Mustafiat, EQUIP team (if relevant), etc). Documents and records were requested from the various officials. Department of Education officials involved in the process of service delivery to schools were interviewed. Documents and records were requested from the various officials. 2.3. School Level A sample of 20 schools was selected randomly from the list of schools in the district. We over-sampled 2 schools to anticipate any problems on the field. In Yakawlang we presented the selected sample to the Altai Consulting Page 11 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report official to confirm if they were still accessible due to snow. In Balkh some schools selected were replaced due to security concerns. In each school 6 teachers were interviewed with the teachers’ questionnaire. 3. Tools 3.1. Document Reviews The aim of these reviews is to scrutinize the existing documents provided by various partners with regards to the service delivery of the four key components. These records and resources were also screened for problems/bottlenecks already identified and that will allow us to refine the research process. Verification forms were designed to address the first two aspects of research flow: the extent and timeliness of service delivery. These were completed by accessing and analyzing the official records at various levels. 3.2. Face to face interviews These interviews have addressed the last two aspects of the resource flow: i) the perception of the type and scale of bottlenecks and anomalies, and ii) the capacity and flexibility available to address these. Semi-structured interview grids will be constructed for various audiences: - Central level officials (MoF, MoE, Donors, key staff at EQUIP); - Province level officials and key informants; - District level officials and key informants. 3.3. Questionnaire for Teachers and Headmasters The aim of this tool was to verify information regarding the delivery of resources at school level (salaries, O&M and textbooks). This has also allowed us to benchmark the timeframe and verify the actual dates of reception of resources. The questionnaires designed for school comprised of five sections: overview of schools, salaries and wages, operations and maintenance and textbook reception. The teachers’ questionnaires focused on the payment of salaries. 4. Field survey challenges The PETS pilot research was conducted alongside the District Accountability Survey being carried out in the same districts. However, various factors influenced the fieldwork. The main key informants within the MoE and MoF were identified and contacted during the last week of November. However, meeting with MoE on the 27th November made it clear that without the official permission/request letters from the Minister, it would not be possible to speak with the officials within the ministry or access the records. As a result, while waiting for the letters, we focused on the fieldwork in the provinces, especially in Bamyan, as the winter was making it difficult to reach schools. The central level permission only came through in January due to holidays, and turnover of staff in MoE. The main problem that we faced on the field is the fact that all schools in Yakawlang and Balkh district were closed since before Eid for the former and since beginning of December for the latter. In these districts schools remain closed till March 2011. As a result our school survey has not followed the initial methodology. The data collector, who is from the district, has contacted the principals of the 23 schools that have been selected for our sample. He has met them to collect the information regarding the Altai Consulting Page 12 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report school. He has also inquired about the teachers and tried to find 6 teachers to fill out the teachers’ questionnaire. This also impacted our control of the issue of ghost teachers, as the data collector was unable to physically count the teachers present in schools. We have verified the total number of teachers by asking the teachers to give the number of co-teachers who work with them and we have screened the questionnaires for discrepancies with regards to a given school. After interviews and verification of forms filed at the district and the provincial levels, we retrieved information that was very patchy. The main issue is that a large number of forms and paperwork filed does not have dates on them. During the field data collection we have obtained copies of all forms relevant to the components of the survey. We have defined the timeframes and validate the flow charts by triangulating information given by various sources. The state of the records available at various levels are detailed and discussed in the relevant sections. 5. Quality control, data handling and analysis The PETS was carried at various stages of the process: central, province, district and school. A series of tools were designed for each of these levels in order to obtain information from various sources for triangulation. 5.1. School \level data Data collectors were trained by the international consultant on the school tools (questionnaires and types of documents and records to be accessed). Questionnaires were translated into Dari and Pashto and back translated orally for checking. The data collector for each district was trained by the international consultant. To ensure quality, interviewers were contacted on a daily basis by the national consultant in charge of the team. Data collectors had to complete one school per day (school questionnaire, 6 teachers’ questionnaires, collection of records and forms from the office). In each district, the school selection was oversampled by two schools in order to test the quality of the data coming at the very onset of the study. In Bamyan, the data entry was carried out almost simultaneously by a translator in order to monitor the data quality. In Laghman and Balkh, the national consultant carried out the data entry. This was a long process since most of the documents obtained at the school level were photographed and sent on CDs to the central office. The organization and analysis of these forms was carried out in order to retrieve relevant information for analysis. This phase took 3 weeks. The excel data base comprising of all the school data (65 schools and 375 teachers) was sent to the international consultant for export into SPSS file for data verification (check of inconsistencies) and cleaning. 5.2. District and province level data Detailed interviews grids were designed in order to gather opinion and perspectives from the various sources at different levels. At the PED, a tashkeel was obtained before carrying out interviews in order to identify the key informants. In Bamyan province and district, and in Balkh province, the international consultant was authorized to carry out the interviews with the various officials. She was assisted by the national consultant in charge of other provinces for translation. The National consultant was also trained in detail during this phase in order to be able to carry out the fieldwork in other districts. Security constraints did not allow the lead consultant to travel to Laghman or to Balkh district. Altai Consulting Page 13 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report A detailed list of documents was defined in order to identify and locate the records. At the beginning of the interviews, the officials were requested to provide the files. Very often we were asked to come back later to collect copies of the documents. We had to return at different times as documents were provided by different departments, in a very scattered manner. Sometimes the official having access to the required records was absent, we asked out data collector to return in order to collect the missing documents. Finally, at a later stage of the survey, we carried out a telephone follow-up to retrieve the missing information. 5.3. Central level data The key informants of the various departments of the MoE facilitated access to the required documents at the central level in Kabul. The Budget and Finance department provided the financial information at central and provincial levels for records regarding salaries and wages as well as operations and maintenance. The publications and quality control departments provided the distribution plans as well as the delivery records for the distribution of textbooks. The EQUIP team in Kabul also provided the up to date data with regards to school completion as well as provincial monthly reports. 5.4. Analysis Various types of analyses were performed on the data obtained through various tools and sources. a. The school questionnaires and the teachers questionnaires After data collection, the data from the questionnaires were translated and entered into an excel sheet by translators and checked by the project manager. The database was then imported into SPSS software and checked for inconsistencies and missing data. These were checked against the paper forms or by calling the data collector in charge for verification. The tables and figures were then generated through SPSS. b. Key Informant Interviews The interviews carried out by the local team were translated from Dari and Pashto. All the interviews were then analyzed for content through an analysis grid. Bottlenecks and opportunities for improvements were identified in the four components of the PETS. c. Documents and records The scrutinizing of the various forms and documents accessed at various levels was the most challenging part of the analysis. The different formats and state of documents required translation and identification of information relevant to the tracking process. For salaries/ wages, operations/maintenance and textbooks the documents were checked for amounts and dates. EQUIP files were scanned for information relevant to completion. Altai Consulting Page 14 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Section II - PROFILE OF THE EDUCATION SECTOR Altai Consulting Page 15 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report A. A note on Data Sources Getting access to the number has been a daunting task as various sources have their own ways of collecting, compiling and collating the information and aggregating the figures. As a result, for this report, we identified the sources that serve as official references. For financial data we obtained central and provincial level information from the treasury of the MoF as well as the Budget and accounting department of MoE. For district level, we requested information at all levels, however the data is very inconsistent and patchy. For overall population statistics we referred to the Central Statistics Office’s Statistical Yearbook for 2009-10; in the field of education we have used the data provided by EMIS at the MoE for central and provincial levels. For district level data, we requested the province and district offices, but have received contradictory and incomplete information. Altai Consulting Page 16 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report B. National Budget The overall financial landscape of Afghanistan has changed dramatically in the past few years and donors are keen to gain precise insights into the efficiency and sustainability of mechanisms that have been set up in order to gauge the ability of the GIRoA to manage the financing of the various ministries. The Ministry of Education is an essential element of this assessment as it has the highest budget and is the biggest public employer of the country. Moreover, it has also been selected as a pilot to implement program and provincial budgeting. The research focused mostly on the operating and development budgets. The operating budget (OB) includes code 21 (salaries and wages), code 22 (O&M) and 25 (acquisition of assets). The development budget (DB) does not include code 21, however salaries can be funded through this budget under code 223 and considered as contracted services (externalization of the implementation). Code 25 under the development budget will typically cover contracted infrastructural work. In the financial documents that were obtained from various sources the sub-codes of the development budget are not systematically detailed, unlike in the operating budget. The external budget was not reviewed under this study, although findings may reveal significant issues related to links between projects implemented under the external budget and impact on activities funded under the core budget (e.g. schools built through the external budget, which will later become the responsibility of the Ministry of Education for staffing and O&M). Over the past years, the OB has increased and the DB has decreased. Figure 1. Budget of GIRoA (in millions of Afs); Source AFMIS For the Ministry of Education, the overall budget is calculated by combining the operations and the development budgets. Salaries and wages represent the majority of the expenditure of MoE (over 90%). Table 1. Expenditures for Salaries and Wages on Code 21 (MoE/ National) ‘000 Afs 1387 1388 1389 MoE 11,307,296,401 14,319,278,265 15,153,144,152 National Budget 47,830,830,003 64,256,207,000 66,099,320,000 % MoE of Total 23% 22% 23% Altai Consulting Page 17 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report The steady annual increase of the operating budget is mostly due to the increasing number of civil servants employed by the MoE is also steadily increasing: from 222,633 in 1389 to a predicted 254,701 in 1391. A majority of these are formal employees (teachers and administrative staff) while less than 1% are contractual workers. Although the other codes represent a small proportion of the overall budget, the O&M budget of the Ministry of Education is close to 11% of the national budget for these codes. The actual allotment for 1389 is less than half of the initial budget, while the actual expenditure is close to 75% of the allotment for the MoE. Table 2. Budget-Allotment-Expenditures for Operations/Maintenance and Assets on codes 22 ‘000 Afs 1388 1389 Budget Allotment Expenditure Budget Allotment Expenditure MoE 11,591,810 6,054,383 5,327,508 14,913,351 6,536,354 4,907,402 National 140,717,008 75,392,143 61,823,543 130,085,420 62,974,396 41,060,941 Although the planned budget for O&M is much higher on the DB, actual allotment is only 37%, whereas the allotment on the OB for O&M is close to 100%. The two budgets differ considerably in terms of the type of projects or activities that they fund, as well as according to the mechanisms of making the allotments. While the OB allotment on O&M is made in four disbursements and deals with recurrent maintenance needs of the line ministries, the determination of the DB is based on previous budgets and expenditure reports. As a result, this may differ greatly from one year to the next. The projects funded on DB allotments are also larger procurements for assets. As a consequence it seems plausible to assume that the low level of allotment on DB also reflects a lack of capacity to absorb funds and implement contracted work. Figure 2. MoE expenditure breakdown; AFMIS data (for 1389 expenditure upto Pt 10) Estimates from the same sources informed us that the cost of education of one student in Afghanistan today stands at 57 USD per year, much lower than other countries in the region. Altai Consulting Page 18 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report C. Programmes of the Education Sector The budget of the education sector is expended through five programs for all components (operation, development and external). Table 3. Budget according to programmes of the MoE for 1388 and 1389 in Afs 1388 Budget 1389 Request OB DB Total OB DB Total Islamic and general 7,228,814,094 277,361,721 7,506,175,815 15,288,994,871 690,049,836 15,979,044,707 education Curriculum Development and 258,402,023 193,920,381 452,322,404 659,286,399 2,412,625,428 3,071,911,827 Teacher Education Technical and Vocational 260,168,993 163,529,087 423,698,080 571,775,382 688,133,404 1,259,908,787 Education & Trainings Literacy 136,737,777 32,226,767 168,964,544 279,071,182 171,984,590 451,055,772 Education 367,603,042 1,725,011,516 2,092,614,558 685,221,166 4,526,627,954 5,211,849,120 Management Total 8,251,725,929 2,392,049,471 10,643,775,400 17,484,349,000 8,489,421,213 25,973,770,213 Source: MoE The Islamic and general education program represents over 60% of the total, another 20% is taken up by the Curriculum development and teacher education, while Education management represents 12%. This PETS focuses mainly on the General Education component, which also included EQUIP funding. The budget forecasts for the coming years, provided by the MoE show that the OB is expected to increase considerably more (25%) than the DB (10%). Table 4. Forecast of Budget according to programs of the MoE for 1390 and 1391 1390 Forecast 1391 Forecast In Afs OB DB Total OB DB Total Islamic and general 20,497,472,803 760,779,944 21,258,252,747 20,620,169,132 798,801,690 21,418,970,822 education Curriculum Development and 1,223,178,940 2,659,919,535 3,883,098,475 1,263,685,613 2,792,855,196 4,056,540,809 teacher Education Technical and Vocational 815,966,436 758,667,078 1,574,633,514 836,504,555 796,583,229 1,633,087,783 Education & Trainings Literacy 324,762,503 189,613,011 514,375,513 325,857,560 199,089,362 524,946,922 Education 2,193,627,108 4,990,607,319 7,184,234,427 2,278,305,832 5,240,024,519 7,518,330,352 Management Total 25,055,007,790 9,359,586,887 34,414,594,677 25,324,522,692 9,827,353,996 35,151,876,688 Altai Consulting Page 19 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report D. Profile of the Education Sector in the Selected Provinces and Districts The three provinces and districts that were identified for this study present very different profiles in terms of target population, human and financial resources. 1. The Provinces In terms of overall population size, Balkh province is the largest with a total population of 1,194,000 Afghans. Bamyan and Laghman have a similar population, 404,700 for the former and 403,500 for the latter. In terms of children enrolled in schools, as expected, Balkh province has the highest number 383,463 in 441 schools; Bamyan has 108,870 students in 304 schools and Laghman 139,348 students in 230 schools. Primary education schools represent the most considerable proportion of government schools in the country. Figure 3. Map of the three provinces of PETS Analyzing the EMIS data with regards to the gender ratio shows large discrepancies at various phases of education. In all three provinces the gender difference at primary level is under 15%; at secondary level, this gap widens considerably for Bamyan, and dramatically for Laghman. One of the explanations that could be put forward to understand why this trend is not so pronounced in Balkh province could be the fact that the ratio of female teachers is almost 50%, as compared to Bamyan where it is below 25% and in Laghman where it is below 7% according to CSO data. Altai Consulting Page 20 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Figure 4. Number of students in education cycles; Number of teachers in three provinces Another characteristic that differentiates the three districts is the number and condition of schools in the districts. 70% of schools in Bamyan province have buildings, over 60% in Balkh and around 50% in Laghman. These numbers however should be interpreted with caution, as there is great variation on the field with regards to the age and condition of the school building. What can be said, is that half school going children in Laghman have no roofs over their heads and study in tents of under the open sky. In Balkh district, close to half the schools work with two or three shifts, whereas in Bamyan and Laghman these were much less. Figure 5. Differences in gender (CSO, SYB 2009-10) Finally, the PED of Balkh province has officially, 134 staff: 108 formal employees and 26 contracted workers; Bamyan PED had 100 staff on the tashkeel (80 employees and 20 wage workers) while Laghman PED has 99 staff (75 employees and 24 wage workers). However, on the field, all the positions planned and budgeted for on the tashkeel were not always filled, as there was not a constant need for these. Altai Consulting Page 21 Figure 6. Overview of Provincial level education Budget for 1389 Source: AFMIS The budget expenditures for the three provinces reflect the structure of the central ministry overall budget: code 21 represents 80% for Bamyan and 87% for Balkh and Laghman provinces. Balkh province budget expenditures are as expected, much higher in line with higher number of students and teachers. 2. The Districts Figure 7. Map of situation of three districts in PETS Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report The characteristics of the districts that were selected for this study also differ greatly in terms of area, climate and accessibility. The geographical typology and coverage of services vary considerably, as do security constraints. However, figures and data at the district levels, especially in terms of population, are outdated and difficult to estimate. Figure 8. Maps of Yawkawlang district 2.1. Population - Schools Yakawlang is the largest district of Bamyan and comprises of a population of 82,300 persons (40,500 women and 41,800 men). The district centre is located about two and half hours away from Bamyan City. Winter access is limited between December and March. The district is not connected to any regional or national power grid, and government offices rely on other means of generating power in order to keep the offices running. Access to many schools is by foot. Schools follow the winter calendar and are closed between mid- November and mid-March. Balkh district has an estimated population of 112,400 persons (55,100 women and 57,300 men). The district centre is only 45 minutes from Mazar by road, which is asphalted and in good condition. However, security concerns make the travel uncertain1. Like Bamyan, Balkh also follows the winter year and the schools close beginning of December. Qargaye is also an hour drive from the provincial centre and has an estimated population of 92,200 with 45,500 women and 47,200 men Security in the district has improved in the past year, but remains fragile, as the anti government elements are operating in neighboring districts. There are 59 schools in Yakawlang district, 40 in Balkh and 48 in Qargaye according to the district education line ministry. In view of the vastness of the district in Bamyan, the number of schools is higher as coverage needs to be more extensive in order to reach the entire population. On paper, the average school in Balkh has the highest number of students (854) compared to Qargaye (552) and Yakawlang (408). Itis important to keep in mind the fact that there are a higher number of schools in Balkh that operate two or even three shifts. 1 KII with district governor in sept 2010 Altai Consulting Page 23 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Figure 9. Maps of Balkh and QargayeDistricts Figure 10. Number of students in the three districts, Number of Shifts in Provinces Source CSO Source EMIS (1388 data) 2.2. District Education Department (DED) The capacity of the DED to cope with the demands of the new systems is essential towards effectiveness and accountability. Three elements contribute towards ensuring ability to process the various forms and respond to demands of the higher levels: human resources (number and level of training), the offices and the equipment available, as well as the relations with provincial offices. The three district offices present certain similarities and differences with regards to these aspects. The proximity of Balkh district to the province centre leads to a poorly funded district level education line ministry, which consists of a total of 15 staff of which 12 are monitors. Although there is a position of two administration employees, these are not filled. There is no cashier or financial staff and we were explained that a number of financial matters are dealt with directly with the province level. The DED has land but has no funds for erecting the building; as a result it is run from an annex building of one of the schools. The district office dealt mainly with salary reporting, whereas the payments were all made at Altai Consulting Page 24 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report the provincial level. In Laghman, Qargaye district is also about an hour away from the provincial centre. The district education line ministry has ten staff on the tashkeel as, six of which are monitors, one administrator, a cashier and a guard. The Yakawlang DED tashkeel consists of 11 positions, nine of which are filled: five monitors, one administrator, two guards alongside the Director. There is no city power, the DED has a generator, but this is used only when required due to fuel expenses. In both Balkh and Qargaye districts, security remains a major concern and the trip remains dangerous. As stated, Yakawlang DED is close to three hours from Bamyan city; the road is often blocked by snow during the winter season making the trip longer. All three DEDs lack means of transport as well as adequate equipment. They have vehicles but no funds for the fuel. Even when they have access to computers, the lack of electricity and trained staff make these obsolete. PED office in Bamyan Balkh DED office Altai Consulting Page 25 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report E. Overview of assets in the PETS Twenty schools were selected in each district. We over-sampled by two the schools in each district in order to allow for data checking. The overall sample of 65 schools covers all three districts. The profiles of the schools included in the study are detailed below. Figure 11. Overview of funding of school buildings in PETS Schools built by the GIRoA represent the highest proportion in Yakawlang, whereas for Qargaye the highest number of schools was built by NGOs. The community was involved in construction of schools in Balkh and Qargaye. The overview of the PETS sample shows that half the schools in Yakawlang and Qargaye, and 40% of those in Balkh had been built over ten years ago. Some of the schools had no buildings. However it would be erroneous to assume that all the schools that did have buildings had sufficient physical classrooms for all children. In a considerable number of schools, the enrolment had been increasing steadily over the past years. As a result, classrooms spill over into the courtyard and under trees in order to accommodate the growing number of students. There are also considerable disparities in the type of construction of buildings, which have implications in terms of maintenance requirements. Mud brick constructions, although the most cost-efficient to construct, need more frequent repairs and are more vulnerable to climatic elements. This is especially true in Yakawlang where schools are closed for the winter months and snow settled on the roofs often damaging these. The material for repair can be found locally but these structures deteriorate year after year. The concrete-cement constructions are more durable and relatively more recent. Altai Consulting Page 26 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Figure 12. Overview of age of school buildings in PETS Open-air classrooms in Qargaye Additional classroom in Balkh Altai Consulting Page 27 Section III - SALARIES AND WAGES Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report A. Financial Information Salaries and wages of the employees of MoE in general, and teachers in particular, represent a considerable amount of the expenditure of the total budget. Figure 10 shows that the expenditures on these codes has increased slightly in the past two years, as tashkeels are revised to employ more teachers for the growing number of students. Figure 13. Budget expenditure for code 21, MoE 1389 for 3 provinces in Afs (AFMIS data) Table 5. Information from various sources for provincial level expenditure on code 21in Afs (Salaries and Wages) Bamyan MoF (for provincial MoE (for provincial Province (for Province (for district Source: level) level) provincial level) level) 1388 286,539,000 286,601,905 272,276,157 NA 1389 294,556,239 246,002,408 302,664,057 32,899,972 Balkh 1388 874,100,000 874,435,566 806,022,379 46,621,604 1389 987,141,615 980,497,197 NA 33,061,963 Laghman 1388 312,334,000 3,12,387,979 NA NA 1389 382,460,441 318,528,603 318,686,315 NA MoF data from Treasury/AFMIS department (9 month report extrapolated to 12 months) Expenditure reports from MoF and MoE show minor differences which can be due to several causes: for 1389 data are extrapolated to 12 month and are not final. For 1388, there may be small changes done by the line ministry not registered by the Min of Finance, or vice versa. Some data may include carry over from the previous year, or one data is the official annual expenditure after auditing and the other is the non official one, etc. AFMIS was rolled out to the provinces only by the end of 2009. The ministry of education has been at the forefront of the various reforms, but the use of both the old and new systems lead to some errors and slowness in processes. For 1388, it is difficult to refer these discrepancies to any specific reason as the Altai Consulting Page 29 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report AFMIS system was not yet set up and functioning in all provinces. For 1389 the records obtained from various sources were for the on-going year. In Bamyan, the provincial level the data was obtained at the end of the project. At the district level, there were not always documents that provided an overview of the totals. In Balkh however, district level information was provided by the income department of the PED. Information at provincial and district levels concerned budget allotments and not expenditures. Altai Consulting Page 30 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report B. Overall profiles: issue of ghost teachers Ghost teachers can be recorded in two ways: teachers that are appointed but do not show up for work, and people on the teachers’ list which have never been teachers and do not come to teach. It was difficult to investigate the issue of ghost teachers as in Balkh and Yakawlang schools were closed for the winter season. As a consequence it was not possible for the data collector to count the number of teachers present in the school. We did however ask teachers in these two districts to indicate the total number of permanent teachers in their schools and this gave us some indication regarding the issue. In Laghman, schools were open so the data collector could count the number of teachers present. Table 6. Overall number of teachers and students in Province/District/PETS Bamyan Yawkawlang PETS Balkh Balkh PETS Laghman Qargaye PETS Number of teachers 2370 588 284 5176 657 359 3126 571 316 Number of students 109664 23695 12202 395231 34176 26805 140486 26513 13008 Number of girls 46518 10531 6463 165566 13453 10972 57311 10395 6399 Number of boys 63146 13164 5829 229665 20723 15793 83175 16118 7455 Source: EMIS, District level officials, For PETS the number of teachers are the total included in schools covered by PETS The high number of schools working multiple shifts makes it difficult to estimate the exact number of teachers as those employed on additional shifts do not come under the official tashkeel of the school and are paid as contacted workers employed for a period of one year. The number of students in Balkh province is higher than that in the other two provinces; the student/teacher ratio is also higher. However, it is interesting to note that the number of schools in this province that run on more than one shift: 53% run two shifts and 11% run three shifts according to EMIS data. Discussion with the district level officials suggested that this was also the case for schools in Balkh district. In the PETS sample 16 schools ran two shifts and six ran three shifts: no school declared running only one shift. This also made it difficult to provide numbers for student/teacher ratios. In Yakawlang half the schools worked one shift while the rest worked two shifts. In Qargaye, 13 schools ran a single shift, whereas eight ran two shifts. Discrepancies between the MoE statement and the field findings will need to be further investigated. We can put forward the hypothesis that there is a difference in the vocabulary and the translation of various HR terms: most teachers are paid under the code 21, and the contracted staff may be paid mostly under the development budget. There may be a misunderstanding and teachers on second shift may get paid twice on their regular contracts. Table 7. Discrepancies in number of permanent teachers Yawkawlang Balkh Qargaye Number of schools with discrepancies in teachers’ responses 6 14 3 Number of schools where discrepancies between principals and teachers’ responses 11 0 2 Source: PETS In some schools, the discrepancies were minimal, only one teacher out of 6 stating a number that was close to the one stated by the others or the principal. In Yakawlang, there were discrepancies between the response of principals and that given by majority of teachers. In Balkh however, a high number of schools showed discrepancies amongst teachers’ responses. In most cases, there might be confusion with regards to the teachers who are permanent and those who are contracted on a more temporary basis due to lack of positions created on the tashkeels. Formalizing tashkeels in order to include the Altai Consulting Page 31 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report number of shifts may help to monitor issues pertaining to the number of teachers in the future. The monitors of the district level education line ministry also confirmed that they were attentive to these problems and monitored the presence of teachers as well as students during their visits. The issue of ghost teachers will need to be further investigated in order to decipher the discrepancies noted. It is worth noting that in the districts investigated, school attendance is rather high and unhindered by security issues, as it may be southern and south eastern regions, so we are less likely to find ghost teachers. Altai Consulting Page 32 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report C. Extent/effectiveness/timeliness of payments The processes that have been set-up to improve payment of salaries and wages seem clear and are understood by the officials at all levels. However, the school survey as well as the KIIs pointed to some issues that seem to persist throughout the process. This section looks at the problems that were identified by stakeholders at all levels that explain why salaries and wages continue to be occasionally delayed. One of the issues that we investigated was the disbursement of physical money to the provinces. Data gathered pointed to the absence of physical funds as being the main issue with regards to delay of salary payment in the past. The officials at all levels testified to the improvements that have been made in this field, especially over the past half-year. 1. School level At the school level, the attendance sheets are completed before the 15th of the on-going month and taken to the District office. The teachers’ questionnaire enquired about the timeliness of salary payment over the past three months, whereas the questionnaire answered by the principals regarding the entire schools asked about payments over the past year. Figure 14. Timeliness of Reception of Salaries by teachers and principals The majority of teachers interviewed with the teacher’s questionnaire stated that they had received salaries on time over the past 3 month (over 80% in all three districts). A majority of principals stated that salaries had been received on time over the past year (over 70% for schools in Yakawlang and Balkh, over 80% in Qargaye). The vast majority of employees were satisfied with the progress that had been made in this domain. We also asked the principals to identify reasons that they believed explained delays that did persist. The main reason that was stated was the delay in sending of the funds to the provincial level. Inefficiency of Altai Consulting Page 33 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report the provincial offices was also stated as an explanation. The setting up of bank accounts for teachers was believed to be a solution for delays that did persist. 2. District Education Department processing 2.1. Process for salary payment The procedure for collecting the attendance sheets is fairly simple. The principals of the various schools bring the attendance sheets to the district office. The attendance sheets are completed by the 15 th of the on-going month. If there are any absentees, the days of absence are deducted from the salaries of the following month. In Bamyan and Balkh the Motamid/cashier is in charge of taking the attendance sheets and the salary reports to the provincial office. After processing by the Mustoufiat, he is also in charge of collecting the payments for the district and returning to the district office. Then all the principals of the schools come and collect the payments in order to distribute these to the teachers and other staff. In Balkh, the district office does not have a cashier so the schools send their cashiers individually to submit the reports and collect the payments of their salaries. 2.2. Timeline for the payment of salaries It remains a challenge to assess the exact time between the reception of attendance records by the DED and the reception of the documents by the PED since there are very often no dates on the documentations. Through the KIIs the processing times were defined for the three districts and are very similar: attendance sheets are collected from the schools between the 15th and 20th of the month. They are then sent to the PED. After the processing at the provincial level is done, the district cashier goes back to the province centre to collect all the salaries of the district; this is done between the end of the month and the first week of the following month. 2.3. Bottlenecks identified a. Insufficient travel budgets The main issue that was stated, especially in Yakawlang district where distances are considerable and the accessibility difficult, was the lack of a planned funding for the travel of the Motamid/cashier to take the documents and bring back the payments. Interviewee as the district level stated that a fee of 5 to 10 Afghanis was collected from the teachers and staff in order to pay for the travel of the Motamid. b. Technical issues All three district’s staff stated the fact that sometimes the reports and documents did not arrive on time and this delayed the entire process. At other levels they also stated that sometimes the AFMIS system was down for long periods of time and this led to all the processing of payments from all line ministries coming to a halt and creating substantial delays. Sometimes there are errors in the additions made in the salary reports, as the attendance sheets are manual. The correction of these also takes time. c. Human resources The fact that only one person was appointed to go and collect the cash also makes the process more fragile. In one stated case in Bamyan, the Motamid was killed in a car accident while bringing the Altai Consulting Page 34 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report documents to the provincial office. This delayed all payments since there was no defined mechanism to cope with issues and the appointment of a new person was further delayed by heavy procedures. 3. Provincial level 3.1. Process for salary payment validation within the PED The procedures in place at the provincial level education department are very similar in the three districts. The attendance sheets are collected by the administration department, which compiles the payments under primary or secondary schools. The attendance sheets are checked against the list of teachers as well as the salaries (defined according to the rank of the teacher) by the finance department. All these documents are verified by control and are then sent to the Mustoufiat for processing. 3.2. Process within the Mustoufiat The processing of salaries with the Mustoufiat follows certain steps that are detailed in the flow chart below. However, there are some minor differences between the 3 districts. We have outlined the procedure identified in the Bamyan province since this was the most detailed. 3.3. Timelines The processing time varies between two days and eight days for the PED and another two to seven days at the Mustoufiat to process and validate payments for salaries of the PED and the schools. There are a number of factors that were stated as impacting the time for processing. 3.4. Bottlenecks identified Processing takes longer when all the line ministries submit payment requests simultaneously. All provincial Mustoufiats stated that very often the central computer system is down and this brings processing to a halt. In Bamyan, where there is no city power, the generator takes time to start since it needs to be de-frosted and heated with gas heaters. Disbursement of physical funds from the banks was also an issue stated by officials in the three districts as none of the districts has branches of the DAB. All staff and teachers receive their salaries in hand through the school administration. This seems to have improved over the recent months. Inadequate or insufficient paperwork was also cited as reason for delay of payment. Sometimes there were discrepancies between the number of employees and the sums requested on the forms. In these cases paperwork was sent back to the previous stage for correction and verification. Lack of training of a sufficient number of staff in the PED caused errors and inadequacies in the filling of reports. Altai Consulting Page 35 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report D. Tracking process: details and challenges The tracking exercise in itself presented a major challenge as stated earlier on. The salaries and wages component was undoubtedly the most effectively tracked at all stages of the process. However, even though the documents were available, the information was not always completed nor collated, making triangulation of information difficult for analysis purposes. This section attempts to flag out some of the missing information that would make future tracking exercises easier to plan and carry out. 1. Overview of the process Figure 15. Flow chart of process for payment of salaries and wages (code 21) 2. At the school level The data collectors requested to see and obtain copies of attendance sheets and M41 for the past three months at the time of survey: records were this checked for the months of Akrab, Mizan and Senbola. Although a large majority of the schools had the documents requested, certain inadequacies in the process made the tracking process difficult. In schools in Yakawlang and Balkh, the school offices were closed. Even when the principal had access to the records (key to the office), the person in charge was often not available to provide all records. In Altai Consulting Page 36 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Qargaye, where a number of schools had no buildings, the paper forms were kept by the principal in his house; in these cases it was a challenge to get the physical forms if the residence was far from the school. The most persistent difficulty was the lack of dates on the salary reports. The attendance sheets and salary reports M41 are filed without date logs. They are sent to the DED along with a request letter that is often written by hand and only sometimes dated. However, when this letter is not filed with the forms, or gets lost, we had to rely on officials to indicate when the forms had been sent. Table 8. Documents verification in schools for salaries and wages (n=65) PETS school verification Yawkawlang Date Balkh Date Qargaye Date Available Dated Available Dated Available Dated Attendance sheets (past 3 months) YES NO YES NO Sometimes No M 41 (past 3 months) YES NO YES NO Sometimes No 3. At district and province levels Paperwork is filed without analysis or organization. All the documentation and records are piled in view of any checking that might be carried out by higher levels. But information is not collated or available in a format that provides an overview of the statistics with regards to total amounts that have been disbursed. Moreover the paperwork is often not adequately dated and thus difficult to follow. The attendance sheets and salary reports often contain the date of the month for which they have been drawn up, but no dates that provide logs of the process (date of reception from schools, date of sending to the PED). Sometimes, the district offices have lacked the adequate forms in the correct format; in these cases they have created the records on blank paper, only entering the information that they regard as being essential for salary payments. The access to forms was less challenging at the provincial level. All PED had the forms and the salary reports filed. However, as in the more decentralized levels, the collation of the information was not carried out. The attendance sheets and the salary reports were compiled under 2 headings - primary and secondary – before being sent to the Mustoufiat. Sums are checked against the allotments before being sent. However, at this level also, logs relating to the dates of processing of forms Altai Consulting Page 37 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report are not systematic: there are no dates on these documents to check the various stages of the process: specifically with regards to the transport of the physical funds by the cashier. Attendance report lacking date in Balkh Altai Consulting Page 38 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report E. Conclusions and Recommendations Processing and disbursement of salaries seem to be main achievements of the new financial system and is stated as such by all levels of the education ministry (summarized in figure 12). The AFMIS budget allocations as well as the payment systems have been identified in all the KIIs as a main reason for satisfaction in the on-going work. All the officials stated the improvements in payment of salaries and wages on time to the staff as a major achievement and gratifying aspect of their work. In some cases the responsibilities of the administration, finance and control departments seem to overlap; this seems to be due to the lack of sufficiently trained staff in each department. Usually, only one employee of the provincial education department has been trained to learn the new financial systems and the AFMIS codes and paperwork. This has somehow created a ‘hierarchy’ between the various employees of the PED and DED: those who have training or who understand the systems, and those, usually the older employees, who do not. A lack of coping mechanisms is another weakness in cases where the procedure does not go as smoothly as intended. In most of the districts, there was usually only one person trained and designated to carry out a given responsibility. The training of officials and staff to be aware of and be authorized to take over should be addressed in order to render the process more robust. Mechanisms set up are one-way procedures. The lower level has to be constantly and consistently accountable to the higher level in terms of paperwork for salary payments. However, there are no dynamics created for any accountability to lower levels. The lack of communication and feedback mechanisms to various levels also represent a real challenge for the process in the near future. Recommendations regarding salaries and wages Addressing procedural bottlenecks and building capacity i) At province and district levels, there is a continuous need for training of all the staff of the provincial and district offices in order to familiarize them with the new systems; this is essential in order to ensure that the paperwork is filled adequately. ii) At school level, the collation of information at all levels is also a factor that could speed up the process: i.e. the schools should be required to present simple collations for each month on standardized formats (number of teachers, number of days). This is currently not done systematically. Addressing external bottlenecks i) At school level our findings have suggested that the issue of ghost teachers will need to be further investigated, in order to determine its extent. However, the fact that the number of shifts is not taken into account makes it difficult to monitor the actual number of teachers in a school. This also leads to the employment of staff on a contract basis, an opportunity for declaring higher number of teachers. Procedures to determine the exact number of staff required by a school need to be strengthened. Altai Consulting Page 39 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report ii) In the provincial and district level offices, the number of staff who is actually appointed do not tally with the positions included in the tashkeels approved at the central level. Findings suggested that some positions remain vacant because the official and approved tashkeel has been designed on the overall needs of teachers and administrative staff. However, the number of schools is still inadequate to accommodate all children, hence all the teachers cannot be hired. As a result, provincial directors may chose not to hire the full number of monitoring staff. iii) There is an impetus to make the payment of the teachers directly onto the bank accounts as often as possible. In our sample this was not the case, mostly because of the remoteness of schools in certain regions, or the lack of banking facilities at the district center. Unless bank branches are opened within the district centre this will add additional cost for teachers to collect salaries. Altai Consulting Page 40 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Section IV - OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE Altai Consulting Page 41 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report A. Overview of Operations and Maintenance Budget The O&M budget represents a small proportion of the financial expenditure of the MoE. The lack of understanding and planning of maintenance of assets and pre-emption of requirements have been detailed in previous studies2. Analysis of the operations and maintenance component of the tracking of public resources was the most challenging aspect of the PETS. This was due to the fact that provincial and district level records of this component are incoherent and difficult to access; this is a direct reflection of the weak understanding of the various officials of the planning and anticipation aspect of this component. Moreover, the AFMIS reporting with district breakdown has only started in 1388, inconsistently across ministries and regions. Therefore the numbers should be taken as indicative of a process being put in place, rather than the actual reflection of what is being spent. Most district related expenditure might still be under the “provincial� pot. In the first section of this chapter, we will present the O&M budget of the MoE for the three provinces and discuss some of the issue linked to the planning process. Then we will present the findings from PETS pertaining to the O&M need and coping mechanisms that are prevalent in the schools. In the third section we discuss the implication of the procedures to access the limited allotments on these budget lines before presenting conclusion and recommendations for the future. 1. Structure of O&M Budget Operations and maintenance needs of the MoE are covered both under the operating and the development budgets. The operating budget covers mostly administrative O&M related to the running of the DED and PED offices, such as travel allowances, rent, stationary and small repairs. Regular or exceptional maintenance of schools is rarely included under either core budget components. Table 9. O&M allotment for 1388 and 1389 on the operating budget and development budget AFMIS Operating Budget Development Budget In ‘000 Afs Budget Allotment Expenditure Budget Allotment Expenditure 1388 1,354,259 1,354,259 1,324,872 10,237,552 4,700,125 1,002,685 1389 1,762,999 1,762,999 1,103,938 13,150,352 4,773,556 3,803,465 Looking more closely at the budget breakdown under OB and DB shows that the budget planned, the amount allotted and the amount expended are close to equal on the OB. While the budget allotment is only 36% of the planned amount for O&M on the DB, expenditure is under 80% of the allotment. These figures show that budgets amounts that go through the OB of the Government, are expended in a more efficient manner, whereas the amounts that are planned for the DB are not being expended, and thus, are not allotted in the following year’s budget. The provincial O&M expenditures show very different profiles. Bamyan has the highest total expenditure for O&M, while Laghman has the lowest. The sums expended on the development budget remain much higher than those expended on the OB. The O&M maintenance and operations needs on code 22 are mainly covered by the OB for Bamyan and Laghman, and to a lesser extent for Balkh. The acquisition of assets on code 25, as expected, is covered under the DB. 2 Research and Assessment Of Provincial Operations and Maintenance In Afghanistan, August 2010, Tad Beer Altai Consulting Page 42 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Table 10. Breakup O&M expenditures for 1389 in the three provinces AFMIS BAMYAM BALKH LAGHMAN In ‘000 Afs OB DB OB DB OB DB Code 22 47447 23310 17599 11047 13300 604 Total 40447 88866 17599 65505 13963 29943 The detailed breakdown of the O&M expenditures shows that, while the sums are detailed and analyzed under the OB, there is no information regarding the sub headings under the DB. Looking more closely at the breakdown on the sub-codes of the O&M budgets (figure 16) shows the complexity of planning expenditures under the various sub-headings. The highest expense for all provinces is under 22704, food-non-salary. However the next highest expense for Bamyan is travel- domestic (22012) and freight and handling (22305). In view of the vastness of the province as well as difficulty in access it is understandable that resources are required to move around. The other important expense is fuel-domestic (22504). As there is no city power, this code covers the running cost of generators that allow offices to operate on a regular basis. For Balkh, the second highest expense is electricity (22500), followed by rent of buildings (22800). In Laghman province, buildings (22416) and furniture (22706) represent the highest amounts expended. 2. Complexities of budget planning for O&M These differences in expenditure reflect different requirements in terms of O&M, which in turn depend on the characteristics of the province and of the PED: geography of the region, conditions of road, resources, condition of office buildings, etc. The different provinces also have access to various sources to meet theirneeds; sources that are easier and less procedural than the demands of the operating budget of the country. Moreover, under the vast heading of O&M, come very diverse requirements. PED and central ministries need to estimate the needs of the schools in the provinces as well as those of the line ministries. This required systems, tools and expertise in order to define and anticipate the elements that will ensure the maintenance of assets in good conditions and the effective operating of schools and education ministry offices. As we discussed in the first section of this report, the O&M budgets represent only a small proportion of the overall budget of the MoE: 91% of the budget deals with salaries. Out of the 9% remaining, 4.6% are spent on dormitories, leaving merely 4.4% for other O&M needs. The officials working for the education ministry, as well as those of schools in the districts are acutely aware of the paucity of funds on these budget lines that further discourages the various officials from engaging in the official procedures. Budgets are allotted according to various sub-codes at the central level. Flexibility in the budget codes depends upon the level of authority of the responsible people, for example if they want to amend some budget in code 22 from one sub-code to another sub-code, then it is enough only to get approval from MoE officials, but amending budget from major codes like from code 21 to 22 or 25 or vice verse, then approval of MoF is required. The process to get an O&M request approved is not clear and regular like the one set up for salaries and wages on code 21. Although under a certain amount (50,000 Afs) it can be approved by the PED, for any higher amount, it requires formal approval of the Governor, calls for the identification of 3 providers for the service and necessitates a decision making process. Altai Consulting Page 43 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report This component of tracking exercise was the most challenging, as the understanding of O&M is very limited, often referring to urgent repair work for assets and travelling requirements. In view of the colossal needs of the buildings, be it of the line ministry offices or the schools, it seems difficult to encourage planners to think about ‘maintenance’ of the quality. Even at the central level, the idea that ‘first we should build schools, and then we can think about maintaining them’ is widespread. Figure 16. Details of O&M expenditures under codes 22 and 25 according to OB and DB (‘000 Afs) Altai Consulting Page 44 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report B. The O&M needs of schools 1. Types of needs identified by schools In schools we enquired about the most urgent needs that had been identified by the principals of schools in the sample as well as the actions that were taken to meet these needs. A large majority of principals stated that their schools had urgent requirements that needed to be addressed (76% of schools in Qargaye, over 80% in Bamyan and Balkh. Figure 17. Needs identified in school questionnaire by district The main type of need that was identified by school officials in Yakawlang was repair of school buildings, followed by furniture and lack of entire classrooms. In Balkh, repairs of the building and furniture were the main requirements, whereas in Qargaye, where more than half the schools lacked buildings, it seemed obsolete to enquire about O&M needs. The case studies conducted in urban and rural areas of the province of Kabul gave an estimation of the yearly O&M costs for a standard school of eight classrooms attended by 1,000 – 1,500 students: the budget would be comprised between 3,000 and 4,000 USD and broken down as shown below3. Figure 18. Operating and maintenance costs average breakdown 3 Cf. Case studies in annex. Altai Consulting Page 45 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report 2. Types of requests made by schools The tracking exercise identified any official requests that had been generated at the school level, in order to follow up these requests at district and provincial levels. Sometimes, the ‘official request’ had been made verbally through discussion with the district level officials. However, when the requests had been made in writing, this was not done through formal forms. Requests were made by writing a letter, which was not systematically dated but that was registered in the school register under a reference number. 2.1. Official requests The schools in Balkh district had made a total of 14 requests over the past year; those in Yakawlang had made 12, while the ones on Qargaye declared having put in 7 requests officially. In Yakawlang, not one of the requests had received any type of response; in Balkh 8 had received no response while the rest had been informed that there was no budget; finally in Qargaye, 6 requests had not been responded to, while one was under consideration. However, it is important to bear in mind that in Yakawlang and Balkh districts, the schools were closed. In addition the official requests were poorly recorded within the school registered. A result, the information obtained on these questions is based on recall data, which, by definition is less reliable. Figure 19. Official requests made by schools over the past year When asked about the reasons for not making any official request in order to account for the O&M needs of the schools, a majority of principals stated that they were aware of the fact that there was no budget allocation for these requirements. A large proportion also stated that in the past, their requests had had been met to no avail; as a result they found it futile to go through the official channels. 2.2. Other means of meeting O&M needs of schools The majority of schools in Yakawlang and Qargaye did not appear to have alternative ways of funding O&M requirements. In Yakawlang, some schools had called upon parents or villagers; some others had approached the PRT of the region. In Qargaye, some schools had approached the school shuras. Finally in Balkh, more than 75% of the schools had tapped into other sources of funding, mainly the community (school shuras, parents or villagers). Altai Consulting Page 46 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Figure 20. Other sources of funding requested for O&M needs Finally, it was close to impossible to track the requests at the district level. The PETS team asked DED officials to locate the papers according to the request reference number but were unable to find these. At provincial level, officials confirmed that they had not processed any requests from schools in the past few months. Figure 20: flow chart for O&M requests from schools Altai Consulting Page 47 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report C. Needs of district and provincial education offices We carried out interviews with key informants to identify the process of making a request for O&M in order to identify the main bottlenecks. Our analysis confirms some of the conclusions of earlier analyses of the issues related to O&M. In view of the overall paucity of funds available on the O&M budget codes, all the officials stated that the resources where far from sufficient to maintain the acquired assets of the education line ministries as well as the schools. However, officials from different provinces stated various issues linked to these budget lines. 1. Lack of expertise The lack of planning skills and expertise of the officials of the line ministries make it a challenge to expend even low levels of budget allotments. In Bamyan, there was a lack of human resources to ensure expenditure according to the requirements of the procedures set-up under the new financial management systems (for instance, to obtain receipts that justify the expense). As a result, very often the paperwork is not completed, as money is often paid in advance to meet urgent needs. The officials have asked the police to help in order to obtain the documents demanded, but to no avail. In addition, as providers have no knowledge of finance, they do not consider it to be their responsibility to provide the paperwork. 2. Multiple approvals The multiple levels of approval required set additional hurdles in an already complicated process. Figure 20 shows the process as it is today. The PED has the authority to approve expenditures under a defined amount, which has been defined as 50,000 Afs at the central level; above this amount, the request needed to be validated by the Governor, as a formal rule. At times when the Governor travelled outside the province, the signatory powers were not systematically transferred to subordinates, thus blocking the process. In Balkh province, officials stated that they were required to ask for approval for even small sums for expenditure. There are informal power relationships between the line ministries and the governor at provincial levels which affect formal processes. Altai Consulting Page 48 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Figure 21. Flow chart for requests from the PED for O&M 3. Coping with unexpected needs The third issue that was evident during the interviews was the lack of petty cash funds that help cope with urgent needs that arise. During PETS team visit to the PED in Balkh, the water-tank of the education line ministry burst and the building was flooded. Officials told us that in cases such as this, they had no access to cash. The director contacted a provider to replace the tank; the provider agreed to be paid at a later stage, as he knew the director well. The Director said that the process could take weeks to validate the payment. 4. Lack of coordinated planning between various levels of MoE The officials at the MoE in Kabul informed us that there were consultation mechanisms that had been set up in order to incorporate the needs of the districts and the provinces into the budget proposals sent to parliament for discussion. However, at provincial level, officials admitted to provide inputs mostly on questions with regards to human resources and tashkeels that represent the major part of the budget. Inputs on O&M remain minimal due to lack of budget, expertise and procedures for identifying priorities. Altai Consulting Page 49 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Moreover, they stated that they did not systematically receive feedback on why budget proposals were cut at the central level, which did not improve their motivation for better planning. 5. Relations with other authorities The relationship between the three main offices at the provincial level is crucial and strongly impacts the efficiency of procedures: the PED, the Mustoufiat and the Governor’s office. These relationships are complex to decipher as an array of elements intertwined to shape them. The role of the Mustoufi is essential in all financial processes of all the ministries; as a result, the ‘perceived attitude’ of the Mustoufi and the officials is a determinant factor. In Bamyan, all officials stated that the new Mustoufi was a ‘good man’ even though his staff sometimes requested bribes in order to process the paperwork. During our interview with the Mustoufi of Bamyan, we were informed that his office provided short explanatory sessions in order to familiarize other ministries’ staff about the new systems. In Balkh however, the relationship with the Mustoufiat seemed tenser. The PED officials felt that there was a total lack of trust: from the central level as there is no feedback on efforts and no budget responsibility, and from the Mustoufiat who they had to report to for every small expenditure. The relationship with the Governor’s office also impacts the O&M of the PED, not so much in terms of procedures but due to the fact that the Governor’s fund provides resources. In Balkh, the PED was provided with vehicles as well as furniture from this office. Of course, these provisions are not made according to any formal procedures, but more in a sporadic manner. 6. Travel expenditure Travel is the highest O&M expenditure. It closely influences other components of education quality, be it salaries and wages or textbook distribution. In order to better understand the various aspects of this expenditure we examined it from various levels: schools, district and provinces. 6.1. School level In the PETS sample of schools, close to 75% of the Qargaye district schools had received at least one visit from DED officials over the past months, since the beginning of the on-going school year. In Yakawlang, this proportion was close to 90%, while in Balkh all the schools had been visited by a DED official. In the majority of cases, the visit was from a member of the monitoring team and the purpose was to assess the work of the teachers/staff or for examination issues. In Yakawlang, visits from provincial level officials had been made in close to 85% schools of the sample. In Qargaye, less than half the schools and in Balkh district less than 25% of schools had received the visit from the PED. A handful of schools in Qargaye were asked about their needs and requirements while the majority was visited for assessment by the monitoring team. In Yakawlang and Balkh, all visits from PED concerned assessment of teachers and staff or checking of documents. 6.2. District and province levels The majority of visits to schools are made by the Nazarat, or monitoring team, with the aim of supervising the work of the staff. Interviews with the monitors at higher levels showed that while the need to supervise the schools on a regular basis (at least once a month) was acknowledged by the officials, the travel budgets were inadequate and sometimes not logical as they did not take into account the specificities of the district. For instance in Yakawlang, the travel expenses were covered by the budget if the school was situated more than 25km from the district centre. In view of the difficulty of the terrain, this meant that in cases where schools were closer, there was no provision for transport. The per Altai Consulting Page 50 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report diem that had been defined was of 500 Afs (9USD)/day for food and accommodation. This was not considered sufficient even at the provincial level to cover costs. Altai Consulting Page 51 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report D. Situation Analysis and Recommendations 1. Situation analysis The analysis of the O&M needs to take into account several different levels: the needs from the schools, the requirements of the DED in terms of supervision of schools as well as those related to their own office and the requirements of the PED in terms of supervision of the districts as well as the needs of their own offices. The O&M budget is not a major part of the operating budget, but it is complex in terms of planning and monitoring. This is partly due to the fact that, although allocations are made on budget codes, the provincial level offices have discretion as to where this is actually spent. Moreover, as there is no coherent view of how much money is actually available for each level, there is an implicit trickledown policy where funds get used up at higher levels and do not reach the schools. The tracking process of schools request was almost futile due to a small number of requests that were make through poorly documented processes and that were not even taken into consideration at higher levels of the line ministry. However, principals and other staff are well aware of the needs and requirements of the schools and try to find ways and means of keeping the buildings, when they do exist, in working order. As a result, they have devised diverse coping strategies by tapping upon the resources that exist within the community. District and province level officials show signs of frustration. Indeed, they have to cope with a number of different types of needs and have to follow procedures that they often feel that they do not completely grasp. In addition, the fact that they have very limited budgetary decision-making authority combined with the fact that they have to be accountable for every expense to the Mustoufiat is viewed by the officials as a lack of trust in their abilities. The lack of adequate budget and the lack of systematic mechanisms for planning at all levels are the two biggest challenges that make O&M a tough issue to tackle. In terms of planning, school, provincial and district levels lack expertise. Although they have a fair idea of the needs that they face, they do not systematically view the needs with the aim of prioritizing these by taking into account the specificities of the provinces. Moreover, the common definition of a “need� seems to be “something that needs to be repaired or fixed urgently�: roofs that are leaking, windows that are broken, doors that are lacking. The idea of ‘maintenance’ or pre-empting of needs is not prevalent, even when there is an obvious risk of deterioration of assets that will prevent the MoE and donors from reaching the point where all schools are functioning in an acceptable condition. In addition, interviews with officials at the central level showed that the there was an implicit belief that in view of the large number of schools that need to be constructed, the O&M would be considered a priority only once all schools in the country had buildings. 2. All these aspects of O&M budget for education will in turn lead to the MoE and the central level officials understanding the real implication of a coherent and comprehensive O&M system that pre-empts the deterioration of assets. This responsibility is currently not being adequately considered at the school level: state budget are insufficient and NGOs do Altai Consulting Page 52 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report not provide O&M support to schools that they build once they are handed over to the MoE. There is a need for all actors to view O&M as a mean of not just sustaining physical structures, but also ensuring that we are moving towards mechanisms that are more cost-efficient in the long term.Recommendations regarding operations and maintenance The recommendations made below are to be explored through discussions with various levels of the MoF and MoE. Addressing overarching bottlenecks i) The fact that the funds on this component are not sufficient and mostly get used for the needs of the PED (travel, fuel etc.) tends to discourage school directors to even try and place O&M requests. Any substantial change in the O&M budget for schools and PED/DED should include an appropriate communication campaign to officials and school head masters, and instructions on how to access this budget. ii) Currently the allocation of O&M is not clearly earmarked to a specific level of the chain (PED, DED and schools). It is therefore difficult for schools but also for departments of education at the district level to formulate their requests, in the absence of information on the type of budget they are entitled to. If the budget for O&M is to be increased, distinct categories and clear instructions should be determined to help provincial and district officials facilitate requests from schools or their own requests. Procedural and human resources issues i) The main impediment lies in the lack of procedures for the planning of O&M needs, which in turn requires a certain culture of analysis and pre-emption of the requirements that the school/ office might face in the coming year. Currently, O&M funding is sought once the need becomes urgent (especially in terms of buildings). However, interviews with district level officials show that there is an idea of what the recurrent requirements are and these need to be examined through a more formal procedure in order to feedback into budget planning in a reliable manner. ii) The travel needs that are recurrent on a monthly basis, for instance those for the payment of salaries (travel of the cashier) may be clarified by being put on a separate budget code, thus simplifying a complex procedure. This will also decrease the discretionary decisions that are made at the provincial level with regards to travel. iii) Even though the PED has the authority to validate payments under the sum of 50,000 Afs, the process of validation would benefit form being formalized with regards to how the decision is taken. This in turn would strengthen the ability of the PED to take decisions regarding emergency needs efficiently. This would also increase the feeling of being trusted by the central level authorities. iv) At the same time, it is important to build the trust of the provincial / district levels in procedures and decisions make at the central level; this can only be achieved by strengthening feedback mechanisms with regards to budget decision, going beyond a mere consultative process for setting up annual plans. This element is essential towards ensuring a harmonization of the process, from the very onset to the final outcome. Altai Consulting Page 53 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Section V - EQUIP SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION Altai Consulting Page 54 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report A. Overview The section focuses on the completion (or non-completion) of schools under the successive phases of EQUIP school construction program. EQUIP I was started in 2005 and included a few provinces. This first phase of implementation was “minimal due to frequent change in MoE leadership and lack of qualifies staff�. The mid-term review of EQUIP I (started in 2005 till 2008 and that was implemented in 10 provinces) also showed that EQUIP was scaled up nationwide without detailed definition of assessment of capacity, budget and equity criteria. In the post completion phase of EQUIP II (started in January 2008 and planned to end in 2012 and extended to 26 provinces), further funding was provided under the H- 354 budget for 30M USD and an ARTF grant of 35M USD was added in order to complete the targets. This second phase laid specific emphasis on certain aspects of the implementation process� the need to strengthen and clarify the role of community participation and the need for differentiated and effective strategies that take into account specificities of provinces. Some crucial conclusions and recommendations have been made in the 2009 EQUIP review that call for: additional focus on girls; the increase in cost of schools under EQUIP 2; the urgent need for monitoring and evaluation improvements; development of tools that show a strong and causal relation between education programs and national level indicators. The re-defining of the parameters of school construction procedures under EQUIP reflect an on-going learning process. A number of different elements need to be factored into the processes of construction: decision of location, price of schools, type of construction, etc. This calls for various types of expertise and requires comprehensive overview of the specificities of each province. In this section we present the 2 types of school construction processes under EQUIP: Community Contracting (CC) and National Competitive Bidding (NCB). Then we discuss issues with regards to school completion in the 3 provinces. Finally, we decipher the various bottlenecks that have impeded completion over the past years. Bamyan and Laghman provinces were included in both phases of the EQUIP school construction projects, whereas Balkh was only included in EQUIP II. Data regarding progress of schools was obtained from the EQUIP office in Kabul and the EQUIP provincial teams, as well as from monthly reports sent to the central from the provincial offices. 1. Community Contracting (CC) versus National Competitive Bidding (NCB) 1.1. EQUIP teams The EQUIP team consists of five members in all the provinces: the head, two social mobilizers and two engineers. In the past, the team has been supported by additional engineers, funded through various sources. Each team has one vehicle to monitor the schools in the province. The EQUIP provincial teams have a crucial role to play in the implementing and monitoring of the CC schools, whereas the responsibility for the NCB schools lies with Engineers of the contracted companies mainly. 1.2. Community contracting: achievements and challenges On the surface, it seems like the difference between the two types of contracts that are used to build school is the element of the size of school and the related cost. CC schools cost less (on average 34,000 USD for contracts under EQUIP I and 64, 000 under EQUIP II). The officials confirmed that this first estimate of the cost of schools was made roughly due to lack of precise information from the provinces: 8000USD per classroom in EQUIP1 was clearly not the real cost of a classroom, especially in difficult to Altai Consulting Page 55 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report reach areas. The cost of the CCs cannot be more than 100,000 USD. It is widely believed that the CC schools are owned and managed by the community: ‘they build it for their own children�. Figure 22. Process for building a community contracted school CC schools require a tremendous effort in terms of community mobilization. The role of the EQUIP team social mobilizers is crucial in this. The decision to build a school is just the first step: the School Management Committees (SMC) then need to be set up and trained. The EQUIP engineers need to help the SMCs to identify the most efficient and cost-effective sources for purchasing of construction material as well as monitor and gauge the process of the construction in a timely manner. The type of construction is called IBEAM: this is a simple model that consists of foundation, metal beams and local materials for the walls. The processes for assessing the degree of progress of a school are also precisely defined: divided into four phases that relate to successive elements towards completion. Payment for the schools is also made in four installments, each one for the construction of a phase. The next installment is paid on completion of the previous phase attested to by the engineer. Altai Consulting Page 56 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report 1.3. National Competitive Bidding The price of schools that are constructed under NCB is more than 100,000 USD. The schools are bigger and accommodate more students. The type of construction is called RCC: Reinforced Concrete and Cement. The two main advantages of this type of construction is the fact that they can be built on a smaller area of land in highly populated areas; and they can be further expanded (in terms of building more floors) to accommodate increasing numbers of students. This seems to respond to one of the main challenges for the future, as schools do not offer sufficient number of classrooms in a number of cases (see previous sections). The process for commissioning schools under the NCB is, as the term indicates, national. Once the decision is made to construct the school, a call for tenders is put out on a national level, and the various contractors that bid for the contract deal with MoE central level offices. The selection of the most appropriate company is also made by the MoE, and the construction company is in charge of the entire construction process. The EQUIP engineers play a monitoring role in this process and report to the centre on issues on a monthly basis. The EQUIP office in Kabul confirmed that the tendency is to move towards NCB constructions, in order to accommodate the increase in enrolment and limited land availability; CC schools are more difficult to expand, especially in densely populated areas. Figure 23. NBC Process under Equip Altai Consulting Page 57 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Figure 24. Community Contracted schools completion in all provinces Figure 25. National Competitive Bidding Schools completion in all provinces Kabul City data has been removed from the graph to improve clarity The NCB schools present higher completion rates than CC schools, even though they are lower in number. The three provinces included in this study represent the average profiles of completion in the provinces. For CC schools, only Faryab province shows more than 50% completion of schools. Laghman provinces shows very low completion rates despite having been included in EQUIP from the very onset. Altai Consulting Page 58 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report 2. EQUIP Provincial profiles 2.1. Number of schools Bamyan and Laghman provinces were included in EQUIP I and II, whereas Balkh province was only included in EQUIP II. Bamyan is clearly the province that has the highest number of schools constructed or under construction: a total of 68 schools (6 under NCB). Balkh and Laghman have respectively 43 and 38 schools. Table 11. Number and cost of EQUIP schools in Provinces-Districts Province Number of Schools Total Cost (USD) District Number of Schools Total Cost (USD) Bamyan 62 CC/ 6 NCB 2,512,000 Yakawlang 13 CC/ 1 NCB 678,275 Balkh 33 CC/ 10 NCB 1,628,000 Balkh 1 CC 100,000 Laghman 29 CC/ 9 NCB 1,312,000 Qargaye 6 CC 240,000 The number of schools under CC process is much higher in Bamyan, where only 6 schools have been commissioned under NCB. The number of schools is also higher under CC in the other 2 provinces compared to the NCB schools: 33 compared to 10 for Balkh and 29 compared to 9 for Laghman. The average classroom price under CC is similar in all three provinces: 8659USD in Balkh, 8346 in Bamyan and 8631 in Laghman. Even though the price of classrooms under EQUIP II funding is higher than under EQUIP I, it still remains less than the 16000USD/classroom that had been defined by the MoE. 2.2. Gender disparities Figure 26. EQUIP Schools: number of students according to gender in Provinces The mid-term review of EQUIP called for specific attention paid to certain issues, especially that of including girls. Figure 24 presents an overview of the number and gender of students that have been provided schools under EQUIP. It is interesting to note that only in Balkh province is the number of girls consistently higher than that of boys, both under CC (10,874 girls to 6,204 boys) and under NCB (6,344 girls to 3,849 boys). In both Bamyan and Laghman, this is not the case. Although in Bamyan, CC schools include a equal number of boys and girls (9,363 girls and 9,496 boys), under NCB, only 113 girls are included compared to 2,787 boys: this suggests that NCB schools in the province are boys schools with Altai Consulting Page 59 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report some girls included in small classes. In Laghman, the proportion of boys is more than double that of girls: in CC schools7,670 boys for 3,148 girls and 6,221 boys for 2,760 girls. Although it is clear that these disparities need to be investigated and closely monitored over the coming year, when more schools will be commissioned, this may partly be explained by the decision to build in priority, schools that are already functioning without buildings. In Laghman, previous section analyses have already pointed to gender disparities, both in terms of teachers and of students. As EQUIP schools are built on those that are already registered with the MoE have tashkeels and are functioning, the gender profiles reflect the disparities that exist in a given region. It is clear that these inequalities cannot be addressed merely through construction of schools, if training of female teachers and community acceptance do not increase simultaneously. 3. Completion of schools Figure 22 shows the completion rates for CC schools under EQUIP. In Bamyan, the 27 schools that were commissioned under EQUIP I have all been completed. What is concerning is the fact that no school is declared close to completion under EQUIP II CC, only 5 of the schools are over half complete while the remaining 30 have not reached even this stage. No school has been completed and handed over under EQUIP II. Figure 27. Completion rates for CC schools commissioned under EQUIP In Bamyan, the interviews with the EQUIP team pointed to various reasons for explaining low levels of completion. The ones that were more consensual were the timelines of disbursement of installments that do not accommodate the construction period (during winter months all activity comes to a halt), and the inadequacy of the budget that did not account for the increase in prices. However, a number of other factors seemed to make the situation extremely complex in this province. In addition to the short construction period, the projects were delayed at the very onset due to dispute with the Mustoufiat who wanted to levy taxes for CC (NCB projects are taxed at 8-10%). This dispute took two - three months to resolve and this was just before the winter. When the money arrived, the physical funds were not enough to pay all the SMCs: 15 were paid, while another 17 had to wait another two months. The EQUIP team also stated that the winter season constraints combined with the requirement to show expenditure before the end of the financial year (mid-March) put them in a difficult position. They paid Altai Consulting Page 60 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report the second installment just before the winter 2009-10, knowing that no work would be done till March, however, they were required to file paperwork to show expenditure, otherwise, money was returned to the centre. As a result, the money was in the hand of the shuras for five months; often it was used for other expenditures. Furthermore, the interviews with the EQUIP team pointed to the fact that there was a lack of a systematic mechanism to assess the exact increase in prices of construction materials; without this, there was a tendency for all the protagonists to voice the fact that all materials had increased. Investigation suggested that not all material had increased and not as dramatically as voiced by the shuras: one ton of steel and the price of 1000 bricks has actually gone down. However, a local dynamic was created that made it difficult to oppose this view from the shuras, supported by the Provincial Education Director that led to believe that everything has increased. During the visit to a school in Yakawlang centre, the PETS team was shown an unfinished project under EQUIP; the presence of a shura member throughout the visit to orient and influence the discussion was evidence of the difficulty to present a nuanced point to view. Finally, there seemed to be an influence of the education Director in disputes. The role of the PED in solving the disputes with the shuras is crucial as he validates any requests for further funding. It was difficult for us to gauge the underlying political implications of this dispute, but it was clear that the role of the education director was considerable: letters attested to the fact that the PED stated that the funding was not enough for all the required components (toilets, office, store and water source). In Balkh, 13 schools have been completed and another 11 are close to completion (over 75%); all of these were commissioned under EQUIP II, as Balkh was not included in previous phases of the project. However, interviews with the provincial team showed that even though these schools were in the final phase, there is not enough funding to complete the buildings. The shuras/SMC that are in charge of these have expressed the fact that the budget allotted is not enough for all the components: toilets, source of water, office and store. EQUIP head has sent a proposal to the central level with the news costs for the completion of these remaining schools and is awaiting a response. Lack of communication with Kabul was stated as one of the main problems that are faced. For the schools that are pending, proposals were sent to Kabul, but there has been no response. If money is approved and allotted then the head of EQUIP estimated that there is three months work pending. Officials also stated that they have not had any main delays due to security concerns, even under NCB where the contractors are not always from the region. However, in case of rise in insecurity they did state that CC projects were the ones that could continue. In Laghman, the majority of schools under CC were started under EQUIP I (22) while only seven come under EQUIP II. Figures obtained from the central level offices show that only four schools have been completed under the first phase while nine are close to completion. However, interviews with the provincial officials confirmed that a total of 19 of the 22 schools had been completed under CC and where going to be handed over shortly. For these projects, the installments did not arrive on time initially and the price of construction increased during this delay. As a consequence the money was not sufficient to complete all components (toilets, purchase of furniture). However, the MoE required the completion of all components before hand over. Discussions are currently on going in order to hand over the responsibility for completion of the remaining components to the MoE. The construction of one school was delayed due to the flooding of a bridge that enables access to the school, making transportation of construction material impossible. The bridge was rebuilt in December 2010 and the construction has started. The schools under EQUIP II are new projects that have started recently. Altai Consulting Page 61 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report For NCB schools, the completion rates seem to be somewhat better. In Balkh province, of the ten schools under EQUIP II, six have been completed, two are close to completion and two are new projects that have started recently. In Bamyan, six schools have been commissioned: four of these that came under EQUIP I have been completed, one is a teacher training centre that is half complete and one is a new project. In Laghman, of the total of nine NCB projects, eight were commissioned under the first phase of EQUIP. Five have been finished and one are close to completion. The central level reports show that two schools that are in the centre are not close to completion: one is a girls’ school and the other a boys’ school. For the former, the ground was very sandy and porous and could not bear the load of the school structure. The contract has been terminated, but this cost 57,000 USD. The latter project was abandoned by the construction company that ‘disappeared’ after having taken 14,000 USD, according to officials. No decision has been taken to date on how to complete this school. Altai Consulting Page 62 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report B. Bottlenecks that impede completion The field investigation of this component of the PETS was difficult due to the complexity of the issues that combine differently and lead to a specific situation in each province. Through our fieldwork, we have differentiated three different types of factors that impede construction of schools. 1. Problems inherent to the financial procedures 1.1. Timeliness of disbursements of installments The most evident, known and common issue that was identified by interviewees in all three provinces was the issue of disbursements of installments (already stated in the Bamyan workshop of May 2010). This is the main problem that is inherent to the expenditure process. The money for the construction of schools is sent in four successive installments of 25%. However, this procedure can lead to delays in construction work when combined with other, province specific issues. 1.2. Requirements to show expenditure Closely linked to issue of disbursements is the requirement to show expenditure of allotments that has also contributed to delaying in the construction process. In Bamyan, the fact that installments arrive in November and have to be expended before the end of the fiscal year in March means that payments are being made for a period of time when construction work is not possible. This had led to potential misuses of funds. 1.3. Lack of physical funds Once funds are allocated and disbursements ordered, the money still takes time to arrive in hand for construction. This is mainly due to the fact that the total money does not arrive in the bank of Bamyan city. This seems to be a constant bottleneck for flow of resources and the banking and telecommunications links at provincial and then district levels should be developed as stated by the findings of the Bamyan workshop of May 2010. 1.4. Difference of Price in building schools A cross cutting argument that was found in all the districts was the significant increase in prices of construction materials. Informal discussion with some officials seemed to suggest that although there was increase sometimes this increase could be minimal, and there were some materials for which prices had actually decreased in some areas. However, in view of the lack of expertise to gauge these with precision, it is difficult to get a reliable idea of what has gone up and by how much. In Bamyan and Laghman, there are number of schools that are not completed under the previous phased of the EQUIP school construction program. Meanwhile, new schools have been commissioned at higher prices. This has led to a lack of motivation of the shuras and school management committees to complete the pending work for a lower cost, as the increased cost validates their claim that prices have gone up. As a result, work is often halted while awaiting consideration for additional funds to complete the work. Altai Consulting Page 63 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report 2. Exogenous factors that impact completion Arrays of additional factors interact differently in various provinces/districts with the problems faced within the expenditure process to lead to a complex situation on the ground. 2.1. Construction season and accessibility considerations This problem is apparent in Bamyan province where the combination of bad road accessibility, lack of funds for transportation and the long winter months that make any construction work impossible between November and March, has led to high rates of non-completion of schools. In Laghman officials stated that there was no differentiation between budget allotment between the schools that are accessible and those that are not by road. This considerably increases the costs of getting material, when there is no road. The social mobilizer in Laghman stated that before commissioning a school we should “first ensure that there is a road�. 2.2. Security constraints Security concerns also slow down the construction process as well as effective monitoring. This was stated as a problem in Laghman province and to a lesser extent in Balkh. CC schools are seen as less vulnerable to these constraints as the shuras are responsible for the construction work. 3. Coordination of various actors; clarification of responsibilities 3.1. Role of the shuras and the SMC Role and influence of the shuras and the SMC, stated in previous EQUIP meeting conducted in January 2011, is crucial for the completion of CC schools that currently represent the majority of schools commissioned under EQUIP. There seems to be a danger of a politicization of the process in terms of decisions to construct schools, determination of the number of classes as well as an acceptable cost of materials. The fact that EQUIP teams lack engineers to carry out in depth cost assessment could result in the voice of the SMCs becoming prevalent in some remote areas. Finally, the management and financial training received by the members of these communities is often insufficient to carry out projects with attention to accountability and efficiency. The main issue that was stated by the EQUIP team was the lack of management skills within the SMCs that lead to inadequate paperwork and follow up of the construction work. In view of the large number of schools that the EQUIP team need to follow, they rely on the ability of community members for the follow-up of progress. 3.2. Role of the EQUIP team The relations between the EQUIP provincial team and the various other provincial offices - PED, Mustoufiat, Governor’s office and well as with the central EQUIP office – should be considered with greater attention. Although procedures are clear and seemed understood, the fact that the EQUIP teams do not control any of the money flow and have little authority to withhold payment in view of the need to show expenditure hinders their role in the process. In Bamyan, the team felt that they were there to ‘provide approval’. They stated that although relations with central office were good, they would appreciate more involvement and visits to the sites as they felt that problems were better understood when someone made the effort to come. The relations with the Mustoufiat also can be tense and dispute over taxes and corruption of lower rank officials were stated by several individuals. Finally it is Altai Consulting Page 64 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report important to note that the EQUIP teams have the same compositions, whatever the number of schools that have been commissioned. In Bamyan province, the high number of school, the extensive area to cover and the lack of transport made the work of the engineers and social mobilizers even more challenging. Altai Consulting Page 65 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report C. Conclusions and recommendations 1. Conclusions The PETS findings indicate that the complexity of the situation on school construction within a given province is unique: problems inherent to the financial procedures, external factors that impact schools projects completion and the relations between the various actors involved in the construction process. These issues need to be addressed simultaneously and, whenever possible, in a pre-emptive manner. In the coming year, an additional 15 schools will be commissioned in each province. This seems insufficient in view of the number of schools that still remain to be built, although it is an increase to current plans. The national education strategic plan (NESP) for the next five years estimates that 13,000 classrooms need to be built each year, reaching a total of 65,000 classrooms to accommodate growing numbers of children. In the 1389 fiscal year, about 3,200 classrooms have been built under EQUIP. Numbers of classrooms built under other programs in the external budget are unreliable, or even, unknown. The expected tendency in the future is to favor the NCB process over the CC, particularly in urban and semi urban areas, as the needs increase for larger schools that can be expanded on limited land. In rural areas, the role of the School Management Committees will need to be rethought as these have become an important partner. In some cases, the shuras have refused the construction of schools decided by the MoE, because they were not in agreement with certain aspects of the decision (for instance the number of classrooms was considered insufficient). Central level officials stated that these SMCs have a major role to play in terms of monitoring as well as maintenance of schools built: they could be actively involved in the disbursement of the quality enhancement grant that follows up school construction under EQUIP. This implies however a stronger support to boost the management and technical capacities of the SMCs. The EQUIP monitors are supposed to play an important role in this support process, but may not have the resources to do so (two social mobilizers to cover the whole province of Bamyan for example). The size of the EQUIP team may need to be defined more in line with the number of schools that need to be monitored. But there is also a requirement to define their role according to the PED as well as the SMCS by strengthening real accountability and feedback procedures. The mechanisms that have been set-up for the selection, location and construction of schools as well as the financial requirements for obtaining funds seem clear at the provincial level however, the channels for ensuring accountability, feedback from all levels and communication seem to be weak within a defined top-down procedure. Reports that are sent from the provincial offices follow very different formats and do not seem to be systematically analyzed and collated to understand the problems. Altai Consulting Page 66 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report 2. Recommendations regarding EQUIP school construction Procedures for increasing transparency This aspect is crucial in order to ensure that the schools that are currently under construction are completed according to standards, and that new schools commissioned are based on estimates that are clear and legitimate. The Bill of Quality has been designed to this purpose and allows a concrete assessment of the price of schools based on expertise. It also allows taking into account differences between prices in various provinces and general results in a more effective use of funds available for school construction. The Bill of Quality is a document that was given to us by EQUIP Kabul office and it is referred to in the EQUIP school construction section. It will be used in the next phase of EQUIP. Improving financial procedures for disbursement in view of specificities of provinces It is important to re-stress that the specificities of disbursement of funds need to take into account the construction season in terms of planning and organization. In provinces facing harsh climate constraints, the initial disbursement should be larger than the planned 25% for CCs, and adapted to technical difficulties met in the field. Moreover, the Bill of Quality will allow engineers to document and detail the exact price of all materials that will be needed for construction. The same process could be used to estimate the cost of transport and labor in order to get a precise idea of the nuances in cost in various provinces. Define space for community participation The role of various actors, especially the village shuras, also needs to be specified (as it was discussed in EQUIP meeting 10th January 2011). The lack of completion of CCs in certain provinces has shown the limits in the capacity of the communities to manage projects and be held accountable in a tangible manner. As the next phase of EQUIP focuses on National Competitive Bidding, the shuras and community leaders will have a greater role to play in the maintenance and quality enhancement of schools; they should also increase their role in holding the different stakeholders of the education sector accountable. Altai Consulting Page 67 Section VI - TEXTBOOK DISTRIBUTION Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report A. Analysis of the distribution process Three main steps can de differentiated in the provision of sufficient number of textbooks to the schools: request, allocation and delivery. Before identifying the bottlenecks that exist at the various stages, it is important to understand the process details in theory (figure 20). Figure 28. Textbook distribution process 1. Requesting the textbooks The number of textbooks that will be requested for the school year are defined in each school. At the end of the year, the school bookkeeper collects the books that are still in working condition from the students, counts them and stores then in the bookstore. Each school fills the F13 request form and sends it to the DED. The DED compiles the requests from all the schools and send them to the PED. The PED in turn, collated the requests from all districts of the province to send a FS9 request form to the central MoE. Altai Consulting Page 69 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report 2. Allotment of textbooks The MoE curriculum department determines the number of books needed for the next year based on data from the EMIS. Each textbook delivered has an estimated life span of three years currently. The quality of the books that have been printed for 1390 are visible better that those of previous years in terms of the quality of paper. The estimated number of books is always incremented by 20%-30% to account for unexpected requirements (additional request, deterioration due to various factors). MoE publications department then considers the requests from the PEDs in order to draw-up the distribution plan. 3. Distribution of textbooks The distribution plan details the number of books that will be sent to each province. The MoE delivers the books from the storage to the PED stores. The logistics department of the PED receives, and is expected to count and store the books. The PED then delivers the books to the DED, who in turn is responsible for the final delivery to the schools. In this section, we analyze the request-allocation-delivery process. Through the PETS school level questionnaire answered by principals, we examine if schools are receiving sufficient amounts of textbooks. Documents accessed at provincial and central level record the number of textbooks delivered. Interviews with key informants at all levels allowed us to identify bottlenecks in the process and opportunities for leakage. Altai Consulting Page 70 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report B. At the school level The schools in the three district of the PETS all present different challenges in terms of accessibility and human resources. As a result, their profiles in terms of textbook distribution are also different. 1. Sufficiency of Textbooks Figure 29. Proportion of textbooks received by schools Only a small proportion of schools in Yakawlang declare having received between 90% and the total amount of the books that they had requested. The proportion of schools that have received over 75% of the textbooks required varies between 30% for Balkh and 20% for Laghman and Yakawlang. In Qargaye, a quarter of the schools had received less than 25% of the required books. One school out of ten in Yakawlang has received less than 25% of the books. When principals of the schools were asked about the reasons that cause inadequate distribution of books, a majority of interviewees identified mistakes in distribution as the main reason in Balkh (close to 75%). This reason was also stated by a quarter of principals in Qargaye. In this district, a quarter of the interviewees also thought that lack of books at the central level explained the lack of books in schools, suggesting that not enough books had been printed. In Yakawlang however, the main reasons identified was the lack of books at the provincial or the district level, suggesting that it is a issue related to the allocation process. Altai Consulting Page 71 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Figure 30. Reasons identified for not having sufficient textbooks for the current year 2. Coping mechanisms In order to compensate for the lack of sufficient textbooks, schools have various mechanisms. In Balkh, the strategy that was stated by all schools was the fact that students bought the books from the market. This was also stated by over 80% of principals in Yakawlang and by 10% in Qargaye. These books were not always in line with the curriculum. When they are, they are poor quality copies of the MoE books. In Qargaye students most often used old books from the previous years and curriculums, while 22% also stated that the teachers just dictated notes for the students to take down. In some schools, students shared books. Discussions with the DEDs in Laghman also showed that in certain cases there was exchange of books with other schools or other DEDs when there is a surplus of a given subject or given class. Figure 31. Coping mechanisms for absence of textbooks Altai Consulting Page 72 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report C. Central-Provincial-District levels It was essential to investigate the records at the various levels of the education line ministry in order to see if the number of books delivered to various offices tallied and identify steps where leakages could occur. We requested the forms at all levels of the education ministry. At the central level in Kabul, the distribution department provided us with the distribution plan as well as the M7 receipts attesting the delivery to the PEDs. At the provincial level, the requests and receipts for 1389 were also provided. At district level however, the request forms collected from the schools were not systematically collated as they had been received at different times. As a consequence, it was also difficult to ensure if all the forms were present. For Yakawlang however, we relied on approximate figures provided by the DED staff. Table 12. Number textbooks for 1389 (province – district level information) Province TB Requested TB Received District TB Requested TB Received Bamyan 382,633 318,861 Yakawlang 23,000 10,000 Balkh 2,069,407 1,989,670 Balkh No Information 132,005 Laghman 1,018,217 981,053 Qargaye 75,407 27,858 The number of textbooks requested and that of the textbooks received at the provincial level seem to tally with very small differences. At district level however, the number of textbooks requested is systematically much higher than the number received. This is confirmed by the data from the PETS: in Yakawlang and Qargaye the number of books received is close to 45% of the total requested, in Balkh the proportion of textbooks received is slightly higher (55%). Furthermore, interviews with officials indicate that there is a re-adjustment of needs in the requests that are made at the provincial levels. The distribution plans at the provincial level are not clear as books are received in more than one delivery from the centre and are sent out accordingly. There is no clear view of the number of books that are allotted to the districts. Table 13. Central level information regarding distribution for 1389 Province FS13 Request M7 receipt Date delivery Bamyan 635,400 612,605 15/7/1389 Balkh 1,964,476 1,981,053 16/9/1389 Laghman 997,460 1,018,340 6/7/1389 Data collected at the MoE in Kabul allowed us to precisely define the number of books that are in the distribution plan as well as the dates on which the textbooks were delivered. The numbers of textbooks delivered are slightly higher than that of the requests put in by the provinces of Balkh and Laghman. For Bamyan, this figure is slightly lower than the request. This was explained by the central level officials who compare the data from the EMIS to the provincial request, in order to devise the distribution plan. The delivery dates for the textbooks were also two one and a half month later for the province of Balkh than for the other two. However, the number of textbooks received by Bamyan province is much higher than the amount that was declared at the provincial level. In view of the state of records in the PED, we think the receipts at the provincial level were filed on various forms and not all comprehensive as delivery is broken down over the year into various installments. As a result, the receipts that we were given access to, showed segmented delivery and there was no way of knowing if all the receipts had been filed coherently. Altai Consulting Page 73 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report D. Bottlenecks and opportunities for leakage An array of factors contributes to making the process permeable and vulnerable to leakages at various stages. At every step, the lack of precision and collation of information makes it difficult to attribute the differences in figures to one precise reason. 1. In the request process The process that starts at the schools is already difficult to carry out with precision. This is a complex process, as textbooks need to be counted according to subjects and classes. In theory the bookkeeper of the school collects all the books at the end of the school year. In reality, in the absence of school buildings or adequate storage, this is impossible to do in many schools. The students keep the books with them, and do not always bring them back at the start of the next year. As a result, the life span of a book, which is supposed to be of three years, is often shorter than planned. Very often schools make requests for the total number of books for the year. At the district level, the requests from schools come at different times, as shown by the PETS school/principal questionnaire. The DED send the requests in many installments and holds no coherent record of the total number that is requested over the year. 2. In the allocation process Central level estimations are devised according to two sources. The EMIS data regarding students, although it is improving year by year, is still considered approximate. Moreover, the requests received from the PED are always considered with caution, as officials are aware that the school requests do not always account for the actual needs devised according to a thorough survey of what is needed in view of what had been retrieved at the end of the year. As a result, the distribution plan is defined without a precise methodology: “if estimations of EMIS and that of PED are very different, we just take a figure in the middle� according to one official. As a result there is no means currently to get a precise idea of the number of books that are actually needed at the school level. 3. In the distribution process This is arguably the phase of the process where actual leakages can occur due to different reasons. 3.1. Counting of books In order to account for the actual number that is sent and the number that is delivered, the ability to count the books at each step of delivery is a pre-requisite. This requires times and human resources, especially at the provincial level that receives the highest number of books. There is little evidence to confirm that this is done in a systematic and verifiable manner as the dates on the receipts are often the same day for physical delivery and receipt. The logistics department is expected to count the books for storage; very often the boxes are counted for ballpark figure. 3.2. Storage of books The storage of books is a crucial element of the process in order to avoid deterioration and leakages. The books often arrive in unprotected packaging that make them more vulnerable to climatic elements, especially rain. The books stored in the DED in Qargaye during the PETS field visits presented a worrying Altai Consulting Page 74 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report picture. The storage room was in a container that was not protected against the rain. The books were in no condition to be used after heavy rains in the region. Storage of Books in QargayeDED (December 2010) 3.3. Delivery The central education ministry pays the transport from the MoE to the PED. The delivery from the PED to the DED is under the responsibility of the PED: all the directors of provincial line ministries attested to the fact that the budget allotted for delivery of books to the DEDs was not sufficient: one Afghani for every seven kilos. This meant that they were forced to look for alternatives means of transport; often relying on the trips made by officials for other reason to take books. This also leads to a very disorganized and fragmented delivery, which in turn is not adequately documented. It thus becomes difficult to control the delivery and estimate the number of books that have actually been delivered. In the final delivery phase - from the DED to the schools – there is no budget allotment. In addition, in some areas such as Yakawlang, where schools are not always reachable on foot, books have to often be carried on donkeys. At this stage, the distribution is made on a case to case basis: sometimes the principals collect money to pay for some form of transport, at other times shura members take some textbooks with them on trips that they make to the district centre. The monitoring of the delivery process becomes untraceable both in terms of dates and numbers of books, as receipts for delivery are fragmented according to number and subjects. Altai Consulting Page 75 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report E. Concluding remarks and recommendations Various areas of opportunity were identified to improve the request, allocation, storage and distribution processes at various levels in order to make them impermeable to leakages. Request-Allocation process Allocations of the number of books that will be sent to each province is a complex issue since it needs to be based on estimates of the number of students as well as on a precise estimate of the number of books that have been damaged or lost at the school levels. i) At the central level, EMIS data provides estimates of the number of students in each province. As the quality of data is likely to continue improving over the next few years, this information channel will become a reliable benchmark to estimate the total number of books required in each province. ii) At the provincial and district levels, this same exercise is carried out. However, the estimates obtained from schools are still too approximate, as these do not systematically take into account the books that are usable from previous years. PEDs need to devise more precise distribution plans, if possible detailed to the school level that identify large discrepancies between various estimates and that hold schools accountable for collecting and storing books. iii) In general, the distribution plans need to be accessible and shared with all levels of the distribution chain. Parents may have an important role to play in holding officials accountable for delivering the planned number of books. Storage and Distribution process i) The conditions in which books are stored were identified as a concern in a number of occasions during the PETS study. The problem is even more crucial in areas where schools are in bad conditions and remain closed for long winter months and through harsh weather conditions (frequent leakages and damages on books were reported). ii) The counting of the books received is another area of concern. This constitutes the primary link where leakages were reported: both at the central to provincial level and at the district level. Here again, involving the parents in the process might constitute a means for enhancing monitoring and improving accountability to the beneficiaries. iii) Finally, the existing books exchange initiatives need to be formalized and encouraged in order to avoid waste and ensure that all books are put to use. Altai Consulting Page 76 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Section VII - RECOMMENDATIONS Altai Consulting Page 77 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Context: The present study was carried out to present a diagnosis of the dynamics of public expenditure in the education sector in Afghanistan. This PETS takes place at a time when donors are looking for specific means and ways of strengthening the capacities of the MoF, and of key line ministries, in order to spend the budget more effectively and more efficiently. The scope of this pilot study focused on four components that have very different dynamics. As a result, in order to present a coherent analysis, it was important not only to understand what the financial systems and practices were at the time of the study, but also to ensure that analysis took into account the various aspects of the situation in order to devise ways and means to move ahead. In the case of Afghanistan, the results of the fieldwork show that the issues and impediments to transparency are not merely procedural. In this section we first present the crosscutting issues that form the common denominator of all the components under study. Then we highlight a set of opportunities related to each component that will need to be replaced in the context of the wider political strategy to improve expenditure and planning. Some of the recommendations presented are already being discussed or developed by actors in the Education sector, while others need to be further reviewed and developed in workshops with key players. 1. Crosscutting issues identified The PETS for the education sector in Afghanistan identified three types of issues that are similar to those identified in other contexts and that seriously impeded any accountability. 1.1. Complexity of the systems vs. limited skills In view of the fact that the systems are still in the initial stages of implementation (such as the roll-out of AFMIS to provinces), the risk of processes becoming too complex will need to be curtailed. i) The procedures that are being set-up to follow the money, according to various codes and sub- codes, are well understood at the central levels of the MoE and within the MoF. As we move to the more decentralized levels of the GIRoA, at provincial and district levels, there seems to be a lack of comprehensive view of the procedures by staff members. ii) The mechanisms that are being set-up reflect a very centralized, top-down view of accountability in terms of reporting and keeping records. iii) Even though some efforts have been made to familiarize officials at various levels with the procedures that show expenditure, they still are not consulted systematically in order to be implicated within the planning process. Although they do have the information that is required in order to do this, the capacity for planning is still weak, and the willingness to go through this complex exercise seems to be missing. Altai Consulting Page 78 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report iv) Finally, the lack of training and of the overall education level of a number of officials, especially at the school level, makes it a challenge to function within the new paper/computer based systems. As a result, decentralized levels of the education system feel disconnected from the central level line ministries and the MoF. Comprehensive documents that detail the procedures in place could be circulated to all district and school officials, as well as be made accessible to parents and other community members. 1.2. The lack of integration of data flows and formats This aspect is closely related to the fact that Afghanistan has inherited a structure that is geared towards reporting and keeping records in order to justify spending. Technical assistance and training pertaining to gather and handle information, is crucial to improve ability to feedback into the planning processes. The large number of monitors that are employed by the education line ministry could be the main target of such trainings, which will enable them to ensure that data gathered is not merely used for compiling numbers but also sustains aspects of policies. Within this perspective: i) Efforts need to be made in order to compile information in a more readable format; ii) Procedures that can collate, consolidate data need to be set up on a semester or half-yearly basis in order to make information more usable at provincial and district levels; iii) At the central level, efforts are already being made to link various types of data, with EMIS serving as the main database for consolidating the information; iv) At a later stage, this will facilitate analysis, which is close to impossible in view of the current state of the records. 1.3. The poor knowledge and access to information of the beneficiaries Experience in other contexts has shown that improving effective public expenditure cannot be dissociated from the capacity of the target populationto access and understand the mechanisms of expenditure. This aspect is perhaps the element that is not receiving the attention that it deserves. A number of studies and analyses have shown that PETS findings have contributed towards improving efficiency of public expenditure when political will is combined with an active engagement of civil society. This aspect is directly linked to the conclusions of previous meetings conducted in Afghanistan 4 that there is a need for moving from a vision of success based on expenditure, towards a view that takes into account actual outcomes and impacts from the point of view of the local populations. Going one step further, there is a need to reflect on how to increase accountability, not merely towards the donors but towards the afghan civil society, as well as a need to better explain what services are being delivered, and manage expectations of the beneficiaries. 4 Norm-based provincial budget allocations for Education in Afghanistan: Technical Guidance for agreeing a norm-based approach for 1390, th Jamie BOEX and Hamish NIXON, April 14 2010. Altai Consulting Page 79 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report 2. Concluding remarks Among the different areas of opportunity that were identified in this study, some could be the object of rapid adjustments, while other will require longer terms investment, capacity building and some systemic changes. The recommendations that have been made in the final chapter of the report are avenues of reflection that will need to be discussed with various actors in order to be addressed in a manner that is realistic and beneficial. The new systems for public expenditure are still being set-up and understood at various levels. However, it’s interesting to note that although each sub-sector has its specific issues to address that have been presented in this report, some bottlenecks are common to all sub-sectors, and could be addressed “at a time�. A first challenge of setting-up mechanisms and technical assistance for coherent, realistic and simple planning has appeared as a crucial issue at all levels of the state. This will be facilitated in the coming years as stakeholders have more precise data regarding the numbers and needs of the field. Second, there is a need to change the way data and information is collected and used. The concept of accessibility to data and the sharing of information are not yet as widespread as it should be. This is closely linked to the fact that records collected are used to calculate numbers and present reports and are not yet viewed as a precious tool for analyses that can feedback into policy. The third challenge is to alter the existing practices regarding accountability. In the current context, this is viewed as showing expenditure to the donors and to the central government. Even though a number of initiatives attempt to study the indicators of impact, the mechanisms set-up to gauge the level of satisfaction of the target populations, and more importantly, the mechanisms for encouraging their feedback into the revisions of policies, is insufficient. Finally, although there is a consensus towards promoting community participation, there is also a need for critically appraising what this community participation should be and ensuring that the mechanisms for ensuring that power dynamics at decentralized levels of the state do not hinder the goal of ensuring services for the population. Altai Consulting Page 80 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Section VIII - ANNEXES Altai Consulting Page 81 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report A. References  Following the money do Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys matter? Geir Sundet, U4 ISSUE 2008:8, Anti Corruption Resources Centre  Implementation Completions and Results Report (IDA-H1190 TF-54730)on a grant in the amount of SDR 24.00 million (US$ 35 million equivalent) ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF AFGHANISTAN for an Education Quality Improvement Project, September 22, 2009  INTERGOVERNMENTAL FISCAL RELATIONS AND SUBNATIONAL EXPENDITURES IN AFGHANISTAN, AUGUST 2008, Document of the World Bank  Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys in Education, Ritva Reinikka and Nathanael Smith, IIEP-UNESCO, 2004.  Afghanistan, Managing Public Finances for Development, Main Report (Volume I), December 22, 2005, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Sector Unit South Asia Region  Afghanistan Public Sector Accounting and Auditing A Comparison to International Standards, October 2007, Financial Management Unit South Asia Region  Semi-Annual Performance Review Report on Strategic Plan 21 March 2010 to 22 September 2010, Submitted to Ministry of Finance by Office of the Deputy Minister for Administration Reform Implementation & Management Unit  Public Financial Management Roadmap, Ministry of Finance, Government of Afghanistan, 14th July 2010  National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment 2007/8 ,Final Report, MRRD, Afghanistan.  SPEAKING FROM THE EVIDENCE, Governance, Justice and Development, Policy notes for the 2010 KABUL CONFERENCE, AREU, 2010.  Research and Assessment Of Provincial Operations and Maintenance In Afghanistan, Tad Beer, August 2010.  Education Expenditure Tracking Survey: Report on Key Findings For The World Bank, 2005, Altai Consulting  Education Sector Analysis: Afghanistan, Final Version, Kabul Jawsa 1389, April 2010, Adam Smith International.  Initial Assessment of the Afghanistan National Education Strategic Plan (NESP II) (1389-1393) (2010- 2014), Final Version, June 2010, Adam Smith International  Statistical Yearbook 2009-10, Central Statistics Office, Kabul, Afghanistan. Altai Consulting Page 82 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Altai Consulting Page 83 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report B. List of interviewees 1. At Provincial level: 5. At Central level 1.1. Provincial Education Department 5.1. MoE  Director  Finance officer  Budget and finance department  Head of planning  EMIS  Head of logistics  Publications department  Monitoring department  Distribution department  Curriculum and quality control 1.2. Mustoufiat 5.2. MoF  Mustoufi  Member of AFMIS Treasury (requested for provision of AFMIS reports)  Payment/Control officer 5.3. EQUIP team 2. At District Level Regional Coordination team in Kabul.  Head of DED  Administrator 5.4. NGOS  Monitor  Swedish committee of Afghanistan SCA 3. EQUIP provincial teams:  Aga Khan Foundation  CARE  Head of EQUIP  International Rescue Committee IRC  Engineer  Social Mobilizer 4. In each School  Principal  20 teachers Altai Consulting Page 84 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report C. School questionnaires Altai Consulting Page 85 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Altai Consulting Page 86 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report D. Teachers’ questionnaire Altai Consulting Page 87 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report E. SCHOOLS OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE COSTS - CASE STUDIES 1. OVERVIEW 1.1. OBJECTIVES This component of the PETS study aims at estimating the average operating and maintenance costs for schools in Afghanistan. The costs considered here for maintenance are: i- Utilities ii- Equipment iii- Teaching Materials iv- Infrastructure v- Other amenities such as health equipment. 1.2. Methodology Three schools of different sizes and standards were studied to gain a sense of the different issues at stake. - Pashaije, the first school, is a public eight classrooms primary school frequented by around 1,200 boys in Paghman district. - Khoja Lakam is a public twenty-one classrooms high school frequented by around 1,650 boys and 730 girls in Paghman district. The school is supported by an NGO, which helped repair the school extensively. - Ustad Mohammad Ibrahim Khwakhogi is a public 10 classrooms high school frequented by around 1,700 students in Kabul district. Two framing interviews were conducted: - The first one, informally with the program director of the NGO Afghanistan Libre, Myriam Laaroussi. - The second one, by the end of the survey with experts from the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan and summarized infra. During these interviews, we tried to estimate the unit costs as much as possible in order to give a toolbox potentially adapted to different kinds of school. 1.3. Results The estimations for each school are based on the interviews with the principals. The amounts presented as examples below are hence based on their assumed expertise 5: 5 For details, see case studies Altai Consulting Page 88 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Table 1. Maintenance costs for Pashaije boys primary school, eight rooms, approximately 1,200 students Table 2. Maintenance costs for Ustad Mohammad Ibrahim Khwakhogi boys and girls high school, ten classrooms, 1,670 students Table 3. Estimated maintenance costs for a standard SCA eight classrooms school, 1,000 students Altai Consulting Page 89 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report The additional constructions and reparations of the building were let aside as they were considered as part of the school’s assets’ valorization. The furniture costs are only including reparation and replacement costs. The yearly average operating and maintenance costs for a school attended by 1,000 – 1,500 students would be comprised between 3,000 and 4,000 USD and broken down as follow6: Figure 32. Operating and maintenance costs average breakdown 6 The diagram is based on the average amounts calculated for each post of the three budgets presented in this section. Altai Consulting Page 90 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report 2. KII – SWEDISH COMMITTEE FOR AFGHANISTAN 18 April 2011 Eng. Ghulam Nabi Dehzad – Head of Rural Development Program Phone: +93 (0) 700 406 733 Mail: nabi.dehzad@sca.org.af Eng. Fazilomer Zahid – SCA Engineering Manager Phone: + 93 (0) 799 338 868 Mail: fazilomer.zahid@sca.org.af Shafiullah Sharifi – Dep. Head of Education Program Mail: shafiullah.sharifi@sca.org.af 2.1. Reparation and infrastructure The interviewees first underlined the high variability of maintenance costs. The distance to market, the availability of the materials, the type of school are important factors to take into consideration while assessing the maintenance cost of a school. For instance, if the school is located between 50 and Table 4. Construction costs for a school 100 km away from the market where the materials are located in a 50 km radius from market bought or the labors recruited, the transportation will (USD) increase the overall costs by 20%. If the school is located beyond 100 km from the market, the costs will be raised by at least 50%. The type of school considered gives cause to different requirements in maintenance costs. For example, standard MoEd school located in remote areas and including eight classrooms will cost 120,000 USD to build while the construction of a high quality school of comparable location and size will cost 180,000 USD. Consequently, a school built with mud plaster, sand bricks and wooden beams will cost less to repair but will need to be repaired more often than a school built with RCC Concrete, isolating roofs with iron sheets, complete electricity and water management system. Considering the schools supported by the SCA, which include Community Based Schools and Model Schools, it is accounted that approximately 6,000 USD are spent for ordinary reparations per school every three years. This implies an approximate yearly reparations cost of 2,000 USD per school. However, the interviewees highlighted that in 2010, only 400 USD per school were disbursed in average to pay for reparations. They explained that these costs vary from one year to another. Besides, larger reparations such as supporting walls or roofs refection can increase the reparations costs for one school up to 50,000 USD in one year under exceptional circumstances. The unit costs for additional construction and large reparations components are summarized in tables one and two. Altai Consulting Page 91 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Table 5. TReparation and refection costs 2.2. Utilities for a school located in a 50 km radius from market (Afs) Regarding utilities, the SCA engineers underlined that in the absence of electricity most of the schools had to do without it or rely on a generator when they had one. In the vast majority of cases, electricity is parsimoniously used for administration purposes and, when relevant for IT equipments, laboratory or water pumping. The usage of a 3kW generator for a full day would require 10 L fuel, which would cost around 1,000 Afs / day. However, most of the schools using a generator only use it a few hours a month and for a monthly cost of 4,500 Afs on the average. Public electricity would represent a cheap and efficient alternative for most of these schools. Furthermore, the engineers confirmed that water resources are free and that there is no clear estimate of the telecommunication fees needed per school as teachers and directors usually pay for their own cell phone. 2.3. Teaching materials and equipments SCA takes in charge the distribution of books to the schools it supports. The books are collected from the MoEd at the central level and then transported to one of the six SCA’s regional offices and finally to each school. The stationery is bought at the central level as well and are transported in the same way. From Kabul to one school, a truck loaded with stationery and / or books for approximately 500 students costs 40,000 Afs on the average. However, depending on the distance, the rental of the truck can cost between 20,000 and 60,000 Afs. While the books are given for free by the MoEd, the stationery are bought in large quantities in order to supply the schools. In 2010, 5 MAfs were disbursed to provide notebooks, pens, pencils, geometrical instruments and sharpeners to approximately 80,000 students. The cost of stationery per student can thus be estimated at around 80 - 90 Afs. The classrooms equipment is mainly composed of desks and chairs in the vast majority of cases. An assembling of a desk and a bank for two students costs 2,500 Afs to buy (without transportation costs). The average reparation would cost around 250 Afs. For a class of 40 students this type of equipment would cost around 50,000 Afs for the initial investment and, theoretically, around 10,000 and 5,000 Afs per year in small reparation. However this amount can vary tremendously from one school to another depending on the exact type of material used and the time it was used. While the SCA often designs black boards within one of the walls of the classrooms by managing a frame in mortar and painting it in black (which should provide an extended life time to the board), traditional black boards usually cost between 500 and 1,200 Afs depending o their size and quality. The schools built by SCA generally include an extensive 2,000 m2 playground fully equipped for soccer, basketball and volleyball. Such installation costs around 180,000 Afs (3,500 USD) and would cost around 10,000 Afs per year for maintenance. Altai Consulting Page 92 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report 2.4. Final remarks By the end of the interview, the three members of the SCA underlined the fact that schools depending on the MoEd usually receive very little budget for maintenance and reparations, if any. Most of the time, parents and community members take these costs in charge according to their means and to school’s priorities. The expenses are most frequently decided in the framework of a Community Education Council. Besides, interviewees stated that the parents were eager to participate and financially support the school even if an NGO such as theirs was ensuring the maintenance costs. They finally expressed the view that a precise assessment of maintenance cost would require research at the district level in order to make sure to take into account all the factors that influence the reparation needs and costs of the school. 3. CASE STUDIES 3.1. Pashaije Boys and girls high school 3.2. Ustad Mohammad Ibrahim Khwakhogi boys and girls high school 3.3. Khoja Lokam public high school Altai Consulting Page 93 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Date of the interview 11.04.2011 Schools Name Pashaije Boys Primary School Numbers of students Approximately 1,200 Number of teachers 16 Number of classrooms Eight rooms, on one floor (Seven classrooms used in three shifts : one for boys in the morning, one for girls in the afternoon) Location Paghman District Interviewee’s Name and Function Mr. Safiyullah - Principal The school appeared as poorly maintained and semt representative of average public schools in semi rural area. Altai Consulting Page 94 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Total Needed Decription Current Organization Cost/unit (Afs) (Afs) Utilities 300 / month for minimum use The electricity is paid by but estimated at Electricity teachers and used for 1,000 / month charging cell phones’ bateries for optimal usage No use except for Fuel - Petrol transportation. In this case the fuel is paid by teachers 20,000 Afs to buy around Winter Heating (wood, 1,500 kg of wood for two 20,000 / year bukhalis…) rooms during the three months of winter Water consumption The water pumped is free 0 The teachers pay for their Telecommunication communication costs and use 8,000 / year cell phone. Comments: The power from electricity or generator would be used for pumping the drinking water and using computers. The generators are now used two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon Equipment One printer and two computers are available but IT equipment (Printers, they are not used because computers, etc. if there are no cartridges Highly variable 1,000 / month relevant) available and because it would increase the elctricity bill 180 – 250 to repair The students are responsible Between 40 - 50 one desk (including Classrooms furniture for the damaged furniture units to repair chairs cf.picture) and (desks, chairs, etc.) and must repair the chairs / and 5 to 10 to 2,000 – 2,500 for desks that they break replace / year replacement Recreational / Sport Volleyball but not enough 400 / ball and 1,500 2,000 / year equipment place for the net Teaching Material The stationary is paid by Stationery 20,000 / year teachers Printing and photocopy of Publication teaching materials are made 10,000 / year in bazaar Infrastructure 100,000 Afs would be needed Energy generating for initial investment and equipment, light bulbs, 10,000 / year 10,000 per year for electricity system, etc. maintenance Altai Consulting Page 95 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report The reparation costs depend on the damage but vary Well and canalizations 30,000 / year between 1,000 and 2,000 / reparation (for the well) Other Amenities Uniforms were asked by the Clothing (Staff, students MoEd but no budget was N/A if relevant) allowed for that purpose A box with first aid material is Medical and laboratory available and more seriously 10,000 / year for equipment (including injured students are sent to the renewal of medications supply) the health center next to the the first aid kit school Means of transportation N/A owned by school Comments: Some teachers stop coming after a few weeks because they prefer to work in the area of Kabul mostly due to high transportation expenses Additional Comments: The priorities would be the creation of a surrounding wall and the reparation of roofs and wiring. Approximate total maintenance cost estimated per year: 150,000Afs – 3,000 USD Total needed Total needed Description / Year (Afs) / Year (USD) Electricity 20,000 400 Fuel - Petrol Utilities Winter Heating 20,000 400 Water Telecommunications 8,000 160 Total 48,000 960 IT 1,000 20 Equipment Furniture 32,175 644 Sport Equipment 2,000 40 Total 35,175 704 Books Teaching Material Stationery 20,000 400 Publication 10,000 200 Total 30,000 600 Electricity System 10,000 200 Infrastructure Well and canalizations 30,000 600 Total 40,000 800 Clothing Other Medical equipment 10,000 200 Transport Total 10,000 200 TOTAL 163,175 3,264 Altai Consulting Page 96 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Date of the interview 12/01/2011 Schools Name Ustad Mohammad Ibrahim Khwakhogi boys and girls high school, the boy and girls study in separate classes Numbers of students 1670 students Number of rooms 10 classrooms, and 34 classes in 2 shifts, and 2 offices Number of teachers 21 permanent teachers and 12 contracted teachers Location Block 7, Ahmad shah baba Mina, Kabul District Interviewee’s Name and Function Khorshid school director This public high school appeared poorly maintained because of the lack of budget made available by MoEd for maintaenance expenses. The building is not sufficient for the number of students. Lots of them are studying on staircase, under the sun or in tents provided by an UNICEF. Altai Consulting Page 97 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Total Decription Current Organization Cost/unit (Afs) Needed (Afs) Utilities No electricity but might be 20,000 / Electricity connected to the grid in June year 2011 4,000 / Fuel - Petrol No generator available year Winter Heating (wood, 20,000 Afs but no budget in 40,000 / bukhalis…) 2010 year Water consumption The water pumped is free 0 30,000 / Telecommunication Three persons use cell phones year Equipment IT equipment (Printers, computers, etc. if N/A relevant) Reparation costs - 1000 Classrooms furniture 50,000 / 350 desks and chairs Afs - Replacement costs - (desks, chairs, etc.) year 2800 Afs Recreational / Sport 5,000 / No equipment available equipment year Teaching Material There is no budget currently 15,000 / Stationery allocated to stationery year The school does not print Publication 0 / year teaching materials Infrastructure No budget is currently Energy generating allocated to the reparation of 20,000 / equipment, light bulbs, wires or electrical systems and year electricity system, etc. the schools only occasionally needs to repair light bulbs, etc. The reparation costs depend on the damage 9,000 / Well and canalizations but vary between 1,000 year and 2,000 / reparation (for the well) Other Amenities There is no facility within the Medical and laboratory school to take care of injured 10,000 / equipment (including children – 150,000 Afs would year medications supply) be needed for the creation of such a lab. Altai Consulting Page 98 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Additional Comments: Lack of water tank, transportation and especially classrooms, are the main problems for this school. The priorities would be the creation of a surrounding wall and the reparation of - School Buildings - Electricity systems - Doors, Windows, Chairs, Desks, etc. Approximate total maintenance cost per year: 200,000Afs – 4,000 USD Total needed Total needed Description / Year (Afs) / Year (USD) Electricity 20,000 400 Fuel - Petrol 0 0 Utilities Winter Heating 40,000 800 Water 0 0 Telecommunication 30,000 600 Total 90,000 1,800 IT 0 0 Equipment Furniture 50,000 1,000 Sport Equipment 5,000 100 Total 55,000 1,100 Books 0 0 Teaching Material Stationery 15,000 300 Publication 0 0 Total 15,000 300 Electricity System 20,000 400 Infrastructure Well and canalizations 9,000 180 Total 29,000 580 Clothing 0 0 Other Medical equipment 10,000 200 Transport 0 0 Total 10,000 200 TOTAL 199,000 3,780 Altai Consulting Page 99 Date of the interview 11.04.2011 Schools Name Khoja Lakam public high school Numbers of students 1,646 boys – 730 girls – total: 2,376 students Number of teachers 48 Number of classrooms 22 rooms, on two floors (21 classrooms used in two shifts : one for boys in the morning, one for girls in the afternoon). One external building with bathrooms and another one with aditional rooms. Location Paghman District Interviewee’s Name and Function Rohir Mahman - Principal This school benefits from the support of an the NGO Afghanistan Libre which may explain significantly better maintenance and larger structure than in average public schools. Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Decription Current Organization Cost/unit (Afs) Total Needed (Afs) Utilities 4,000 / month if public There is no electricity Electricity electricity becomes available in the area available Two generators are Fuel - Petrol 50,000 / year available Presently, the schools Winter Heating (wood, receive 1,200 Afs to 10 Afs / kg of wood 20,000 / year bukhalis…) buy wood for three rooms (120 kg wood) The water pumped is Water consumption 0 free Five people have cell 2,000 / month for the phones and pay for the Telecommunication principal and 500 – 1,000 / communication month for the teachers themselves Comments: The power from electricity or generator would be used for pumping the drinking water and using computers. The generators are now used two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon Equipment Six computers available IT equipment (Printers, but they are not used computers, etc. if variable N/A since there is no relevant) electricity available 400 – 500 to repair 100 units to repair and 15 one desk (including Classrooms furniture units to replace per year: chairs, cf.picture) and (desks, chairs, etc.) 100,000 / year 2,500 – 3,000 for replacement Volleyball, basketball 400 / ball and 1,500 Recreational / Sport equipments but not for net or basketball 5,000 / year equipment enough place field reparation Teaching Material No budget and Stationery insufficient in-kind help 40,000 /year of the MoEd Printing and photocopy Publication of teaching’s materials 10,000 / year are made in bazaar Infrastructure Energy generating 20,000 Afs for initial equipment, light bulbs, investment and per 20,000 / year electricity system, etc. year for maintenance 20,000 for reparation of the pumps, etc. and Well and canalizations 36,000 for the reparation of bathrooms (12 units) / Altai Consulting Page 101 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report year Other Amenities For initial investment: Uniforms do not exist Clothing (Staff, students 1,500 /uniform for so far due to a lack of N/A if relevant) children and 5,000 budget /uniform for teachers 30,000 for investing in No medical or first aid proper material and Medical and laboratory material, injured 10,000 for maintenance / equipment (including students are sent to year between 5,000 and medications supply) hospitals 8,000 / month for one school nurse Means of transportation N/A N/A owned by school Comments: Some teachers stop coming after a few weeks because they prefer to work in the area of Kabul mostly due to high transportation expenses Additional Comments: The priorities would be the reparation of - Chairs and desks, - Water wells and bathrooms, - Doors and windows, - Sport grounds. One laboratory for chemistry, physics, biology would be needed (estimated cost between 1MAfs and 2MAfs) Approximate total maintenance cost per year: 350,000 Afs – 7,000 USD Total needed Total needed Description / Year (Afs) / Year (USD) Electricity 50,000 1,000 Fuel - Petrol Utilities Winter Heating 20,000 400 Water 0 0 Telecommunications 30,000 600 Total 100,000 2,000 IT Equipment Furniture 100,000 2,000 Sport Equipment 5,000 100 Total 105,000 2,100 Books Teaching Material Stationery 40,000 800 Publication 10,000 200 Total 50,000 1,000 Electricity System 20,000 400 Infrastructure Well and canalizations 56,000 1,120 Total 76,000 1,520 Other Clothing Altai Consulting Page 102 Public Expenditure Tracking Study – Education Synthesis Report Medical equipment 10,000 200 Transport Total 10,000 200 TOTAL 341,000 6,820 Altai Consulting Page 103