1 Developing a National Strategy for School Construction Elective Session 2nd Africa Region Education Capacity Development Workshop “Country Leadership and Implementation for Results in the EFA FTI Partnership” Tunis, December 5, 2007 Serge Theunynck Sr. Implementation Specialist, The World Bank

2 How to develop National Strategy for School Construction ? Stock-taking exercise (in liaison with CSR): Stock-taking exercise (in liaison with CSR): Needs Assessment (in liaison with CSR) Needs Assessment (in liaison with CSR) School Construction Strategy School Construction Strategy

3 National Strategy for School Construction Stock-Taking Exercise Main elements (in liaison with Country Status Report): Main elements (in liaison with Country Status Report):  Schools  Classroom and other facilities (water, sanitation, etc.)  Planning methods  Resource mobilization for investment  Decentralization process  Transport / communication issues  Status of development of the construction sector  Review of past and on-going projects (education and non-education), comparative analysis (cost-efficiency), identification of convergences  Maintenance

4 National Strategy for School Construction Stock-Taking Exercise (cont’d) Main Difficulties: Main Difficulties:  Lack of accurate data on all facilities, particularly on sanitation and water  Lack of accurate data on costs  Little knowledge on non-educational sector policies : water, sanitation, decentralization, transport, construction Solutions: Solutions:  Involving school construction partners (not only projects under MoE, but also other actors (SF, NGOs, LGs);  Technical audits across projects (not only MoE’s ones)  Involving other sectors (water, sanit., construction, SME and handcraft, transport, decentralization LGs)  Building MoE’s capacity to dialogue with them

5 National Strategy for School Construction Needs Assessment Main decisions: Main decisions:  Ratio pupils per classroom  Priorities  Incomplete schools (quality)  Unserved areas (access)  Crowded classrooms  Expansion of primary vs. lower secondary

6 National Strategy for School Construction Construction Strategy Main decisions: Main decisions:  Planning Strategy  Construction Norms and Standards  Implementation Arrangements

7 National Strategy for School Construction Planning Planning Norms: Main decisions Planning Norms: Main decisions  Maximum distance between school and homes  Small schools for remote areas 1 classroom-school for villages of 200 inhabitants 2 classrooms-school for villages of 400 inhabitants  Minimum package of facilities (water and sanitation) in all schools Planning Approach: main decisions Planning Approach: main decisions  Demand-Driven vs. Supply Driven  Eligibility criteria

8 National Strategy for School Construction Norms and Standards Main decisions Main decisions  Area : large enough to practice quality education  Architecture: the simplest to maintain cost low  Technology: the simplest to allow construction by small local contractors  Durability: minimum 30 years, i.e. foundation, concrete ring beams (lower and upper), concrete columns, solid Method: learn from all past and current experiences in the country. Not reinvent the wheel. Method: learn from all past and current experiences in the country. Not reinvent the wheel.

9 National Strategy for School Construction Norms and Standards (cont’d) Difficulties in lowering costs: Difficulties in lowering costs:  architectural standards/norms: often too high  Knowledge on construction, water/sanitation technologies  Knowledge on real costs (asymmetrical information) Solutions Solutions  Involve users (communities, LGs)  Involve other builders (NGOs, SFs, other ministries (Rural Development, Water, Sanit. Etc. )  Technical audits and beneficiary satisfaction assessment  Develop MoE’s capacity to analyze costs (rather than capacity to procure)

10 National Strategy for School Construction Implementation Arrangements Roles of the Four Actors Actors Actors  Ministry of Education  Agencies  Local Governments  Communities  Private Sector Methodology Methodology  Lessons learned  Subsidiarity Principle  Donor harmonization Responsibilities  Needs evaluation  Subproject proposal  Subproject approval  Financing  Procurement of Works  Site supervision  Monitoring and Evaluation

11 National Strategy for School Construction Implementation Arrangements Roles of Actors (Cont’d) Difficulties faced by MoE Difficulties faced by MoE  Taking policy decisions to shift from business as usual to new more cost-efficient strategy  Reluctance of MoE staff to delegate procurement and shift from “doing” towards planning and monitoring  Time involved : about 1 year with adjustments afterwards Solutions Solutions  Leadership and support to MoE’s agents of change  Enhance MoE’s school construction team with right skill mix (more capacity on cost analysis)  Participatory approach with non MoE partners  Donor support