The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) Combined Project Information Documents / Integrated Safeguards Datasheet (PID/ISDS) Appraisal Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 04-Jun-2019 | Report No: PIDISDSA27279 Jun 03, 2019 Page 1 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) BASIC INFORMATION OPS_TABLE_BASIC_DATA A. Basic Project Data Country Project ID Project Name Parent Project ID (if any) Pakistan P170305 Balochistan Education P144454 Project Parent Project Name Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Global Partnership for Education - SOUTH ASIA 07-May-2019 12-Jun-2019 Balochistan Education Project Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Education Investment Project Islamic Republic of Secondary Education Financing Pakistan Department of Balochistan Proposed Development Objective(s) Parent To increase school enrollment and retention in project supported schools, with a special focus on girls's participation, and to develop mechanisms for information collection and use for improved management of education. Components Component I: Access and Equity Component II: Quality and Increased Accountability Component III: TA for improved capacity for management and monitoring PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY -NewFin1 Total Project Cost 10.49 Total Financing 10.49 of which IBRD/IDA 0.00 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 Non-World Bank Group Financing Trust Funds 10.49 Miscellaneous 1 10.49 Jun 03, 2019 Page 2 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) Environmental Assessment Category B-Partial Assessment Decision The review did authorize the team to appraise and negotiate Other Decision (as needed) B. Introduction and Context 1. Pakistan, the sixth most populous country in the world, is at a crossroads. The economy accelerated with GDP growth of 5.8 percent in FY18 but is projected to slow to 3.4 percent in FY19 as fiscal and external imbalances are addressed. Poverty declined from 64.3 percent in 2001 to 24.3 percent in 2015, but inequality persists. The country ranks low on the 2018 Human Capital Index, at 134 out of 157 countries. Gender disparities continue, and female labor force participation was only 20.1 percent in 2018. Natural disasters and unreliable water and power supply constrain progress. Growth is expected to recover as structural reforms take effect and macroeconomic conditions improve. Pakistan will need to protect gains made for the vulnerable during the projected deceleration in growth. Over the near to medium term, with increased and better targeted investment in physical and human capital and improved tax administration and business environment, Pakistan can achieve its poverty reduction and shared prosperity goals. 2. 3. This Additional Financing (AF) seeks approval to provide an additional grant of US$11.8 million to the Global Partnership for Education - Balochistan Education Project (GPE-BEP) (P144454). 4. 5. The Government of Balochistan and the Ministry of Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Division (EAD), have reached an agreement with the European Commission to add a grant of US$11.8 million to the Balochistan Education Project through an additional financing. The funds of the AF will (a) increase the scope of some activities to increase the development impact of the Project, (b) incorporate a limited number of new activities that complement existing activities in the Project, and (c) cover cost overruns experienced under Subcomponent 1.2. due to higher construction costs. The Government has also requested the restructuring of the Project to consider adjustments to the Result Framework agreed and approved by the GPE towards the end of 2017. 6. 7. These changes aim at scaling up some Project activities and cover financial gaps, through new funding, to ensure that more girls and young women have access to education in Balochistan. In particular, the EU grant will focus on scaling up access for girls under the Project by advocating for girls’ education, expanding the supply of educational opportunities in existing schools to higher levels, and working with communities for improved parental participation on school activities. 8. Pakistan ranked 134 out of 157 countries assessed for the index that measures the productivity of the average worker Jun 03, 2019 Page 3 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) in the future, as compared to the benchmark of effective investments in human capital, meaning full health (zero stunting and zero child mortality) and full education (full enrollment and no drop-outs until age 18, with learning levels at the ‘advanced level’ in international assessments), given the risks of poor health and education outcomes prevalent in the country. The education indicators within the Human Capital Index (HCI) show that of the 8.8 years that a child starting school at the age of 4 can expect to complete, only 4.8 years of learning are acquired, showing the low efficiency of the education system to bring children to school and, once there, promote learning. These figures contribute to the conclusion of the HCI for Pakistan, which states that a child is only 39 percent as productive as she potentially could be if she had access to adequate healthcare and had completed her education. Given that Balochistan consistently shows worse educational outcomes, the situation in the province is likely worse than for Pakistan overall. 9. The aim of the AF is to fine-tune current Project activities, learn from 3 years of implementation, and add activities that would complement and tackle the pressing obstacles that of girls face to attend schools. AF will expand the scope of the Project to include transportation services for female teachers and young female students, in addition to the financial gap. Distance to schools is one of the main reasons parents and teachers mention as an obstacle for young girls and women to regularly attend school. Hence, the provision of transportation services for both young female student and female teachers will complement and deepen the potential impact of Project activities to ensure access to education for girls. The project with its AF will contribute to reduce a sizeable enrollment gap between boys and girls in Balochistan.1 Given the Bank’s and other development partners commitment to Fragility, Conflict, and Violence-affected (FCV) contexts, further investment in Balochistan’s education sector would be critical to promoting continued support to a region facing substantial development challenges. For example, Balochistan has experienced several periods of internal conflict arising from a mixture of issues linked to politics, geography, religion and ethnicity, with a marked lack of basic services and economic opportunities. The security situation is exacerbated by environmental challenges and natural disasters (floods and earthquakes) that have added to the vulnerability of the province and negatively affected Balochistan’s human capital indicators. C. Proposed Development Objective(s) Original PDO To increase school enrollment and retention in project supported schools, with a special focus on girls's participation, and to develop mechanisms for information collection and use for improved management of education. Current PDO 1 Twenty-two and half million, or 44 percent of children between the age 5 and 16 years, are out of school (OOSC) in Pakistan, contributing to the low levels of human capital in the country. In fact, Pakistan is the second largest contributor to the 263 million children, adolescents and youth who are out of school worldwide, contributing 11.7 percent of that figure. Despite progress in the last decade in bringing more children to school, especially in primary education, the challenges in higher levels of the system are still daunting. Jun 03, 2019 Page 4 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) Key Results The PDO indicators are as following: I. Student retention in project schools (Percentage) II. Boys enrolled in grades 1-5 of project supported government schools (Number) III. Girls enrolled in grades 6-10 of project supported government schools (Number) IV. Regular reports generated and made public annually on selected indicators for schools (Number) V. Girls enrolled in grades 1-5 of project supported government schools (Number) D. Project Description To contribute to the PDO of the original Project, this Additional Financing will scale up activities and incorporate a few changes to the Project through its restructuring. The following new activities will be incorporated: I. Component 1, “Access and equity,� Subcomponent 1.1: This will continue to support improved access and equity by advocating education for girls by incorporating access to existing schools through transport services. The AF will finance, among others, the acquisition and/or rental of vehicles, insurance, tracking devices, the salaries of support staff and any other expense geared towards maintaining vehicles in good mechanical condition. These activities will enhance the capacity of the Secretary of Education to offer transport services to student who do not easy access to schools. The following activities will be scaled up: II. Component 1, “Access and equity,� Subcomponent 1.2: This will finance existing activities to support transition to higher level of education. To this end the AF will make classrooms functional at selected primary, middle and high schools. This includes, among others, the construction of new classrooms in existing schools, minor repairs and civil works, the procurement of furniture and other school equipment, teacher and student learning materials, including sports goods, and other goods to make classrooms functional. The school where classrooms are to be provided and/or made functional will be determined through an established criterion by the Project. III. Component 3 (“Technical assistance for improved capacity for management and monitoring�): In addition, and in order to Mobilize and engage communities in siting, and supporting Primary schools and the Selection of Female teachers through test based recruitment, the AF will fund activities to actively involve and create capacity of Parent-Teacher School Management Committees (PTSMCs) to identify viable school for expansion under Components 1 and 2. The PTSMCs will play an active role in ensuring teacher presence and availability and providing the necessary safe and secure environment for girls and female teachers. Additionally, the schools to be expanded and upgraded will also have additional teacher requirement. Teacher needs will be fulfilled through a test-based Jun 03, 2019 Page 5 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) teacher recruitment system. The teacher recruitment will focus mainly on ensuring availability of Mathematics, English and Science teachers. The AF will fund teacher salaries while the education system nominates them, capacity building for teachers, training activities, and other supporting activities. As in the original Project, the AF will fund activities of monitoring and compliance of legal agreements, such as procurement, safeguards, financial management. This will include, among others, third party validation and monitoring, internal audits, citizen engagement, awareness and advocacy activities, technical assistance activities for management and monitoring to improve school governance, operational costs, including salaries of staff at the Project Management Unit (PMU), and other activities that ensures the quality implementation of other activities of the project. This is also part of mobilizing and engaging communities. As part of the technical assistance activities, the Project will also fund a functional analysis of the programs to facilitate transport for students and teachers. The Project closing date will be extended for 10 months, until April 30, 2020, to allow for the implementation of activities under the AF. E. Implementation The proposed AF will use the existing implementation and institutional arrangements of parent Project. New and expanded activities will be implemented through existing mechanism as described in the relevant sections above. The transportation activity will be based on previous analysis of the geographical distribution of schools in Balochistan, the transportation activities already ongoing and managed by the Education Department. The PMU will continue to be responsible for project implementation and key elements of current implementation such as contracting of firm for independent verification or to provide technical assistance to school will be maintained. The Project Director to report to the Education Departments and carry out implementation and supervision of each project component, working closely with the Department to ensure that project activities are aligned with related Department’s activities. . F. Project location and Salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) The project will be implemented in the entire province of Balochistan, which is an arid, mostly mountainous province of Pakistan. The area exhibits a great variety of physical features, consisting of vast rocky deserts with extremes of climate and very low rainfall. The northern most areas of Balochistan are dominated by high relief and a rugged landscape. From here, towering mountain ranges arc southward. The Toba Kakar Range forms the boundary with Afghanistan, while the Sulaiman Range forms the boundary with the Indus valley. From the central region of the Province, the mountains sweep south and west, reaching almost to the sea. Elevations exceed 2,000 m in many areas, with peaks reaching to 3,500 m around Quetta. Primarily due to vastness of the province and predominantly rural setup, Balochistan has a low population density, compared to the rest of the country. Most parts of Balochistan face water scarcity, a problem which has been further exacerbated due to the frequent droughts. While this is the overall geographic context in the Jun 03, 2019 Page 6 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) province, the project investments will not be directly affecting the type of described landscapes as well the before mentioned problems. In fact, the ESIA will identify the mechanism to reduce, for example, the school’s exposure to severe climate events. G. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team Marcelo Hector Acerbi, Environmental Specialist Babar Naseem Khan, Social Specialist SAFEGUARD POLICIES THAT MIGHT APPLY SAFEGUARD _TBL Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 Yes Performance Standards for Private Sector No Activities OP/BP 4.03 Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No Forests OP/BP 4.36 No Pest Management OP 4.09 No Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 No Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 No Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 No Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No Projects on International Waterways No OP/BP 7.50 Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 No KEY SAFEGUARD POLICY ISSUES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT OPS_SAFEGUARD_SUMMARY_TBL A. Summary of Key Safeguard Issues 1. Describe any safeguard issues and impacts associated with the proposed project. Identify and describe any potential large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts: The proposed construction activities and rehabilitation of existing schools under the AF; as well as operation of these schools may potentially cause negative environmental and social impacts, such as soil erosion, competing demand for Jun 03, 2019 Page 7 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) water for various uses like drinking vs. construction, water and soil contamination, air quality deterioration, damage to vegetation, and safety and health hazards for students, teachers, workers and surrounding population. However, most of these impacts are similar as in original project and not likely to be irreversible, wide-spread, or unprecedented, and can be addressed with the help of appropriately designed and effectively implemented mitigation plan. Therefore Environment Category B has been maintained for AF, in accordance with the WB Operational Policy 4.01. No other environment and social safeguard policies will trigger. 2. Describe any potential indirect and/or long term impacts due to anticipated future activities in the project area: No potential indirect and/or long-term impacts are expected to take place. 3. Describe any project alternatives (if relevant) considered to help avoid or minimize adverse impacts. Because of the type of project an interventions, the analysis of alternatives to avoid adverse social and environmental impacts is not critical. However, the addendum to the parent project’s ESIA prepared for AF has considered many options (Chapter 7 – Analysis of Project Alternatives) as project alternatives. Of these: “No Project� option, as analyzed, would keep the status-quo situation, if not further worsened the current challenges related to quality and access to education; and low level of literacy rate (barely 50 per cent, with that for females being 35 per cent; about 6.8 million primary school age children are out of school; primary education completion rate is 70 per cent for male and 53 per cent for females). Hence the option was rejected. The other options considered and rejected on merits include: (i) site alternative (as construction activities are planned in existing schools but suggested some guidelines); (ii) design alternatives; (iii) technological alternatives; and (iv)management alternatives. 4. Describe measures taken by the borrower to address safeguard policy issues. Provide an assessment of borrower capacity to plan and implement the measures described. GoB through Secondary Education Department had conducted a project-specific Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and developed an ESMP for the parent education project. Because of the similarities in most of the project activities and scope of work proposed in AF an addendum has been prepared to the same by the project.. The addendum (including a revised ESIA/ESMP) adequately identified the potential negative environmental and social impacts that are likely to be caused by the project during its various phases, and propose mitigation measures to address these impacts. The addendum also identified the potential adverse social and environmental impacts due to new activity proposed in AF – provision of transport services under component 1 “Access and Equity�. The Addendum also proposes the institutional arrangements, while having reviewed and assessed the current setup, to manage the environmental aspects of the project, and has identified environmental monitoring requirements to ensure the effective implementation of the mitigation measures, describing the lessons learned, strengthening E&S monitoring mechanism including environmental training needs, and specifying the reporting and documentation requirements. The Project Management Unit already established for the original project, has designated a senior officer as Environmental and Social Focal Point (ESFP) and retained a dedicated Safeguard Officer, to ensure the effective implementation of safeguard instruments during the Project implementation, and to coordinate with the Bank and other stakeholders, such as with provincial EPAs, on matters relevant to environmental management and sharing periodic compliance reporting for their possible auditing. For AF, the existing E&S instructional setup shall continue to be used and would be further strengthened through capacity building of project staff, other related project personnel (such as the field officers), and through awareness raising and training of contractors and PTSMCs members for better management of environmental and social aspects of the Project, particularly the effective implementation of the ESIA and ESMP. Jun 03, 2019 Page 8 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) 5. Identify the key stakeholders and describe the mechanisms for consultation and disclosure on safeguard policies, with an emphasis on potentially affected people. Key project stakeholders include the beneficiary communities, PTSMCs, Education Department of GoB, EPA, local NGOs, construction contractors and supervision consultants. During course of preparation of ESIA addendum, consultations were carried out with key stakeholders while conducting both formal and informal consultation sessions. The objective of the consultation was, among others, to take stock of any additional suggestions/concerns that might have emerged during implementing the original project and required to be addressed in AF. Consultations took place in Quetta in March 29, 2019. The ESIA/ESMP has been disclosed and uploaded on the project website and its executive summary has been translated into Urdu. OPS_SAFEGUARD_DISCLOSURE_TBL B. Disclosure Requirements (N.B. The sections below appear only if corresponding safeguard policy is triggered) OPS_EA_DISCLOSURE_TABLE Environmental Assessment/Audit/Management Plan/Other For category A projects, date of Date of receipt by the Bank Date of submission for disclosure distributing the Executive Summary of the EA to the Executive Directors "In country" Disclosure OPS_COMPLIANCE_INDICATOR_TBL C. Compliance Monitoring Indicators at the Corporate Level (to be filled in when the ISDS is finalized by the project decision meeting) (N.B. The sections below appear only if corresponding safeguard policy is triggered) OPS_EA_COMP_TABLE OPS_ PDI_ COMP_TA BLE OPS_ALL_COMP_TABLE Jun 03, 2019 Page 9 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) CONTACT POINT World Bank Juan Baron Senior Economist Borrower/Client/Recipient Islamic Republic of Pakistan Implementing Agencies Secondary Education Department of Balochistan Fateh Khan Bhangar Secretary Education afbqta@gmail.com FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Juan Baron Approved By Safeguards Advisor: Maged Mahmoud Hamed 05-Jun-2019 Practice Manager/Manager: Cristian Aedo 05-Jun-2019 Jun 03, 2019 Page 10 of 11 The World Bank Balochistan Education Project (P170305) Country Director: Melinda Good 07-Jun-2019 Jun 03, 2019 Page 11 of 11