Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 Joint Evaluation of External Support to Basic Education in Developing Countries

Transcription

1 Local Solutions to Global Challenges: Towards Effective Partnership in Basic Education ZAMBIA Country Study Report Zambia September 2003

2 Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2003 Non-commercial reproduction of all or part of this publication may be made providing the source is acknowledged. Requests for commercial reproduction should be addressed to the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB), Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, P.O. Box 20061, 2500 EB, The Hague, The Netherlands. Printing: Design: Cover photograph: Opmeer De Bink TDS vof Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada John Berry ISBN: Order Code: Web Sites: OSDR0511/E Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Policy and Operations Evaluation Department: The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Evaluation Inventory: (The site is managed by the Canadian International Development Agency on behalf of the DAC Network on Development Evaluation of the OECD)

3 ZAMBIA Country Study Report Zambia September 2003

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5 Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2003 Non-commercial reproduction of all or part of this publication may be made providing the source is acknowledged. Requests for commercial reproduction should be addressed to the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB), Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, P.O. Box 20061, 2500 EB, The Hague, The Netherlands. Printing: Design: Cover photograph: Opmeer De Bink TDS vof Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada John Berry ISBN: Order Code: Web Sites: OSDR0511/E Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Policy and Operations Evaluation Department: The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Evaluation Inventory: (The site is managed by the Canadian International Development Agency on behalf of the DAC Network on Development Evaluation of the OECD)

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7 Evaluation Undertaken by Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada Goss Gilroy Inc. Canada Education for Change Ltd. United Kingdom Report Prepared by John Wood (Education for Change Ltd.) John Berry (J. W. Berry & Associates, Inc.) Geofrey Tambulukani (School of Education, University of Zambia) Anne L. Sikwibele (School of Education, University of Zambia) Joe Kanyika (Independent consultant) Evaluation Team Vindu Balani Titus Balemesa John Berry N gra-zan Coulibaly Kadiatou Ann Dao Sow Sheila Dohoo Faure José Subirats Ferreres Ted Freeman Annette Isaac Joe Kanyika Margery Leach Richard Maclure Lilian Goytia Marín Enrique Ipiña Melgar Kupuliano Odaet Ernesto Schiefelbein Anne L. Sikwibele Stephen St. Michael Geofrey Tambulukani John Wood Document Review Uganda Study Document Review, Lead Evaluator Uganda Study, Zambia Study Burkina Faso Study Burkina Faso Study Final Report, Document Review, Lead Evaluator Burkina Faso Study Bolivia Study Final Report, Document Review, Lead Evaluator Bolivia Study Document Review Zambia Study Document Review Document Review, Burkina Faso Study Bolivia Study Bolivia Study Uganda Study Bolivia Study Zambia Study Document Review Zambia Study Lead Evaluator Zambia Study, Uganda Study

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9 The evaluation was commissioned by a group of thirteen donors and development organizations, who along with representatives from four partner countries, constituted an Evaluation Steering Committee. Evaluation Steering Committee Members Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland European Commission Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ministry of Basic Education and Literacy, Burkina Faso Ministry of Foreign Affairs Danida, Denmark Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway Ministry of Education and Sports, Uganda Ministry of Education, Zambia Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chair) Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) UNESCO UNICEF Vice Ministry for Initial, Primary and Secondary Education, Bolivia World Bank

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11 PREFACE Education for all entails a vision and a set of objectives adopted by the world s governments and international organizations in Thailand in 1990 and reaffirmed a decade later in Senegal. That shared goal requires new levels and forms of global cooperation, including significant and sustained external support. Alas, progress has been slower than anticipated. What has happened? What have been the extent, forms, and consequences of external support to basic education in developing countries? Reflecting the partnership at the core of the commitment to education for all, thirteen international and national funding and technical assistance organizations launched an evaluation of external support to basic education. Four partner countries, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Uganda and Zambia participated in the evaluation, making it a truly joint effort. The oversight and governance of the evaluation was itself participatory, involving a steering committee which was constituted by the thirteen agencies and the four partner countries and which included representatives of both evaluation units and education departments. Evaluating aid to education is particularly challenging. External support has both technical and political dimensions, each shaping and supporting, and sometimes obstructing, the other. Education is a marvellously complex, and often only partly visible process, and perhaps the most contested of public policy arenas. The evaluation s major strategy for addressing these challenges was reflected in its objective, which was to examine the process of external support to basic education provided by international and national funding and technical assistance agencies. The evaluation was thus mainly concerned with external support (aid) and basic education, with primary emphasis on the links between the two. Partnership and process have been central to the evaluation, both in its content and its conduct. Its focus had three major components. First, what has been the nature and evolution of external support to basic education? Second, what have been the effectiveness and efficiency of externally supported basic education activities? And third, to assess the evolution of the aid relationship more generally, has there been progress in restructuring foreign aid as partnerships for basic education development? This evaluation has thus had a very broad reach. To assess external support to basic education globally, the evaluators reviewed a very large set of documents, including smaller and larger scale evaluations, project reports, sector studies, and other analyses of aid and basic education. To ground their findings empirically, the evaluators completed four illustrative detailed case studies, with the cooperation and participation of national education officials, in Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and Zambia. The evaluators were themselves a distinguished international group, led by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and including Goss Gilroy Inc. and Education for Change Ltd. The evaluation team consisted of experts from the North and from the South. The evaluation reports draw on the evaluators work over nearly eighteen months, including the document review, four country case studies, and the final report. Detailed separate reports on that work are available in both print and electronic format. This report reflects the findings of the case study in Zambia. Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 i

12 What have we learned? External support has contributed to expanding access to basic education. Funding agencies and partner countries have developed new patterns of cooperation and collaboration. External support is now increasingly routed directly to the education ministry or to the national budget. At the same time, project support continues to have a useful role. The focus on formal primary education has often reduced attention and funding to adult literacy and other out-of-school education programmes. Increased standardization and coordination of approach among funding agencies has been accompanied by inattention to national and local needs and circumstances. The voices of teachers and others in the broader education community remain difficult to hear. The findings are of course much richer and more detailed than these brief observations! Their presentation is readable and provocative. Evaluations provide a mirror, helping us to see more clearly the choices we have made and the paths we have decided to follow. Their findings prompt us to reconsider those choices and explore other paths. That is the challenge we are facing today. Rob D. van den Berg Chair, Evaluation Steering Committee ii September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

13 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Our thanks go to the many people in Zambia who offered help, friendship, honesty and good humour. They contributed so much to this work. Their names are too numerous to mention here, and are listed elsewhere, but in every office, college, school, and village that we visited the welcome and openness was the same. Special thanks are due to those persons around Livingstone and Mongu who helped us to understand some of the realities for children, parents and educators in the more remote parts of the country. Throughout the process, the team received invaluable support from the Ministry of Education and the BESSIP team, but we would especially thank Barbara Chilangwa, Lawrence Musonda and Arnold Chengo three busy people who gave us their time without stint. We also thank the Ministry for providing their vehicle, and their driver, Mr. Hendricks, whose safe driving and reliability was appreciated by all. The evaluation was also provided organizational and logistical support by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Lusaka, and would like to thank Bert Huguenin and Given Daka for that support. Jennifer Chilewa, Executive Director for People s Action Forum (PAF), rose to a challenge and was able to convene a most useful meeting with representatives of a wide range of Civil Society Organizations at short notice, for which we are grateful. The evaluation team feels privileged to have been able to witness the processes that are moving Zambia towards a new form of partnership for basic education, and it is our sincere hope that the report will be a constructive contribution to the ongoing story of Zambia s efforts to provide quality basic education for its people. John Wood John Berry Geofrey Tambulukani Anne L. Sikwibele Joe Kanyika Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 iii

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15 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE...i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... iii LIST OF BOXES... vii LIST OF FIGURES... vii LIST OF TABLES... viii LIST OF ACRONYMS...ix GLOSSARY OF TERMS... xiii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... xvii PART ONE: BACKGROUND Introduction Background to the Zambia Case Study Purpose of the Zambia Case Study Structure of the Report Methodology Detailed Methodology Overview Context of the Study Documents Statistical Data Field Visits Interviews and Focus Groups Country Reference Group Consultation Meeting Integration and Analysis of the Data and Information Chronology of the Case Study Strengths and Challenges Strengths Challenges... 8 PART TWO: FINDINGS Nature and Evolution of External Support to Basic Education Nature and Evolution of External Support: Intentions, Policies and Strategies Shifting Development Policy Shifts Towards SWAp Shifting Attention Towards Primary Schooling Priorities for Basic Education in Zambia Nature and Evolution of External Support: Practices Funding Levels Funding Modalities and Accountability Conditionality Coordination Nature and Evolution of External Support: Results Harmonization Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 v

16 3.3.2 Operational Results Impact on Future Policy Working with Stakeholders Basic Education Receiving External Support Basic Education Receiving External Support: Intents, Policies and Strategies The Context of Policy Formation Organization and Decentralization Working with the NGOs and CBOs NGOs Role in Education Policy Basic Education Receiving External Support: Practices BESSIP A Vehicle to Integrate External Support Management and Organization Headquarters Decentralized Management and Organization Access Equity Quality: Teacher Education Quality: Curriculum and Materials Adult Literacy Early Childhood Education HIV/AIDS Information Support Children s Rights Basic Education Receiving External Support: Results and Consequences Management Access Quality Partnership Partnership: Intents, Policies and Strategies Partnership Between GRZ and External Agencies Partnerships of Agencies Partnerships with Other Stakeholders Partnership: Practices Partnership Between GRZ and Agencies Partnerships Between Agencies Partnership with NGOs Regional Partnerships Partnership: Results and Consequences Conclusions Nature and Evolution of External Support Basic Education Receiving External Support Partnership Implications for Policy and Programmes Policy at Global and National Levels Policy Implications for External Partners Policy Implications for the Government of Zambia Programmes at Global and National Levels Programme Implications for External Partners Programme Implications for the Government of Zambia vi September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

17 ANNEXES...71 Annex 1: Profile of External Support to Basic Education in Zambia Background School System External Partnership Annex 2: Profile of Basic Education Overview Indicators Financing Education Summary Annex 3: Methodology Key Informants Field and Site Visits Consultation Meeting Documents Annex 4: Comments from the Country Reference Group Annex 5: Bibliography LIST OF BOXES Box 1: Education for All Goals Box 2: First Language Literacy: A Success Story LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: MOE Spending on Education (US$ at Constant 2001 Pricing) Figure 2: MOE Spending on Education as a Percentage of GDP, 1998 to Figure 3: Enrolment Ratios, 1996 to Figure 4: Total Enrolment (Grades 1 to 7) Figure 5: Number of Teachers...49 Figure 6: Literacy Class Near Lusaka Figure 7: The President Says Figure 8: Stakeholder Map Figure 9: Rural-urban Differences in Pre-schooling Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 vii

18 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The Analytical Framework... 6 Table 2: Chronology of the Zambia Country Case Study Evaluation... 7 Table 3: Actual disbursements and 2002 estimates (US$millions) Table 4: The Four Cases for Funding BESSIP Table 5: Public Expenditures on Education, Five-Year Intervals, from 1970 to Table 6: Enrolments in a Livingstone School Table 7: What Works? Table 8: School Phases Table 9: Ten Years Talking to the World Bank Table 10: BESSIP Budget for 2001 (US$) Table 11: Budget for 2002 (US$)...75 Table 12: The External Agencies in Basic Education Table 13: Gross and Net Intake Ratios (1994 to 1998) Table 14: Gross and Net Intake Ratios (1996 to 2000) Table 15: Primary School Enrolments 1990 to Table 16: Enrolment by Age and Gender Table 17: Gender Parity by Province and Location Table 18: Gross and Net Enrolment Ratios (1996 to 2002) Table 19: Progression Rates (2001 data) Table 20: Drop-out Rates (2001) Table 21: Repetition Rate by Gender and Grade (2001) Table 22: Single-Grade Retention Rate by Gender, Grades 1 to 9 (estimate based on single-year data) Table 23: Number of Teachers, Lower and Middle Basic, by Gender Table 24: Pupils and Teachers Table 25: Pupil to Textbook Ratios...86 Table 26: Reading Achievement of Grade 6 in the SACMEQ Study Table 27: Grade 5 National Assessment Mean Scores (percentages) Table 28: Enrolments in the National Literacy Campaign 1992 to Table 29: Ministry of Education Expenditure (Kwacha billions) Table 30: World Bank Framework Table 31: Some Trends in the Main Indicators viii September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

19 LIST OF ACRONYMS Acronyms Specific to Zambia AIEMS ANC AWP BESSIP CDC CFD CRG CS CSO DEB DEO ERIP ESIP ESSP FAWEZA GIR GRZ INSPRO IRI JCTR JSC MCDSS MLG MMD MOE MOF MOFED MPU MSTVT NAS NIR ODA PAF PAGE PEO PEWTUZ PIRC PRP PSRP PTA SACMEQ SHN SPRINT TED TESSIP Action to Improve English, Mathematics and Science African National Congress Annual Work Plan Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme Curriculum Development Centre Curriculum Framework Document Country Reference Group Community Schools Central Statistical Office District Education Board District Education Officer Education Reform Implementation Project Education Sector Investment Programme Education Sector Support Project Forum for African Women Educationalists of Zambia Gross Intake Ratio Government of Republic of Zambia Inclusive Schooling Programme Interactive Radio Instruction Jesuit Centre for Theological Research Joint Steering Committee Ministry of Community Development and Social Services Ministry of Local Government Movement for Multiparty Democracy Ministry of Education Ministry of Finance Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Micro-Projects Unit Ministry of Science, Technology and Vocational Training National Assessment System Net Intake Ratio Official Development Assistance People s Action Forum Programme for the Advancement of Girls Education Provincial Education Officer Primary Education Workers and Teachers Union of Zambia Privatization and Industrial Recovery Credit Primary Reading Programme Public Sector Restructuring Programme Parent-teacher Association Southern African Consortium of Monitoring Educational Quality School-based Health and Nutrition School Programme of In-Service for the Term Teacher Education and Deployment Technical Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 ix

20 TRC TTC UNIP UNZA WEPEP YMCA ZAMSIF ZANEC ZATEC ZCSS ZECAB Teachers Ressource Centre Teacher Training College United National Independence Party University of Zambia Western Province Education Project Young Men s Christian association Zambia Social Investment Fund Zambia National Education Coalition Zambia Teacher Education Course Zambia Community Schools Secretariat Zambia Education Capacity Building Project External Agency Acronyms ACP ADEA AUCC BMZ CIDA DFID EU Finida GTZ IDA IMF JICA OECD OECD/DAC OPEC OPSUP SC Sida SPA UN UNAIDS UNDP UNESCO UNICEF US USAID African, Caribbean and Pacific States Association for the Development of Education in Africa Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany) Canadian International Development Association Department for International Development (United Kingdom) European Union Finnish International Development Assistance Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH International Development Association (under World Bank) International Monetary Fund Japanese International Cooperation Agency Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD s Development Assistance Committee Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC Support Programme Save the Children Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Strategic Partnership with Africa United Nations United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS United Nations Development Programme United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization United Nations Children s Fund United States (of America) United States Agency for International Development General Acronyms CBO CDF CRC ECE EFA EMG Community-Based Organization Comprehensive Development Framework Convention on the Rights of the Child Early Childhood Education Education for All Evaluation Management Group x September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

21 EMIS ESC FTI HIPC HIV/AIDS MDG MOU NGO PEE PRSP SWAp TA Education Management Information System Evaluation Steering Committee Education for All Fast Track Initiative Highly Indebted Poor Countries Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Millennium Development Goal Memorandum of Understanding Non-Governmental Organization Public Expenditure on Education Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Sector-Wide Approach Technical Advisor/ Technical Assistance Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 xi

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23 GLOSSARY OF TERMS Basic education While there is no universally accepted definition of what is included in basic education, the Jomtien Conference identified basic education as being the foundation for lifelong learning and human development and recognized that the diversity, complexity, and changing nature of basic learning needs of children, youth and adults necessitates broadening and constantly redefining the scope of basic education (Declaration 5). In Zambia basic education is specifically defined to cover the cycle from Grade 1 through to Grade 9. It is divided into lower (Grades 1 to 4), middle (5 to 7) and upper (8 and 9). Basic education programme A programme is a grouping of activities that support one or more basic education objectives, but which are broader in scope than a project (for example, covering all regions of a country, addressing several components of basic education, using multiple strategies). A programme is usually funded and/or implemented by more than one external agency. Basic education project A project is a grouping of activities that support one or more basic education objectives, but which are limited in time and in scope (for example, targeted to one geographic area, addressing only one or two components of basic education, using only one strategy). A project is typically funded and/or implemented by one external agency. Basic learning needs Generally, the terms basic education and basic learning needs are used interchangeably. Basic learning needs generally include early child care and development opportunities, relevant, quality primary schooling or equivalent out-of-school education for children, and literacy, basic knowledge and life skills training for youth and adults (Bentall, C., Peart, E., Carr-Hill, R., and Cox, A., 2001, p. 15). Budget support (direct budget support) This is external financial support that is provided to the recipient country s national government, usually through the Ministry of Finance. Budget support can be divided into three categories of increasing constraint: General budget support: flows from external sources into the general revenue of the government. Constraints are sometimes in the form of Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF) or Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) conditionalities; Sector support: is external funding that is targeted for use in a specific sector or subsector; and Earmarked sector support: is further constrained, or targeted, to particular activities within a sector or sub-sector. Within the constraints of sector or earmarked sector support, the line ministry may have the flexibility to move resources around within the sector or sub-sector. Earmarking Limitations placed on what the funds must be spent on, hence limiting fungibility. Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 xiii

24 Education for All Based on the six goals of Education for All defined in the Dakar Framework for Action, externally supported efforts to attain Education for All could be expected to encompass activities in the areas of: Comprehensive early childhood care and education; Free and compulsory primary education of good quality; Addressing the learning needs of all young people and adults through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skill programs; Adult literacy, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults; Elimination of gender disparities in primary and secondary education, and achieving gender equality in education; and Improving all aspects of the quality of education so that measurable outcomes are achieved by all. Education for All Fast Track Initiative (FTI) At the World Education Forum in Dakar, the World Bank and other external agencies promised that no country with a viable and sustainable plan for achieving Education for All would be unable to implement it for lack of resources. The EFA Fast Track Initiative was established to help partner countries meet the Millennium Development Goal of providing every girl and boy with quality primary school education by The commitment of the external agencies was reaffirmed at the United Nations Financing for Development Conference in Monterrey, Mexico in March 2002 and the international community pledged additional funds to support partner countries in achieving their education plans and other development priorities. In spite of these commitments, external agencies have been slow in actually committing funds to the FTI. To qualify for financing under the FTI, countries must give priority to primary education and embrace policies that improve the quality and efficiency of their primary education systems. The two specific criteria are that the country has a full PRSP in place and that the country has, and is effectively implementing, a education sector-wide plan agreed to by the external agencies. The list of 23 countries eligible for the FTI includes 18 countries that meet these criteria. It also includes five that, although they do not meet the criteria, are large population countries with many children out of school. Initial support to these countries will focus on closing the policy and capacity gaps, thus enabling them to finally meet the normal eligibility requirements. Macroeconomic budget support This is support that is provided to the recipient country s national government, through the Ministry of Finance, and is not earmarked for any particular sector. Project or programme support This is support that is provided by one or more external agencies for a specific set of activities that are defined in the project or programme design, in which there is limited flexibility to move resources between activities. Sector The operational definition of a sector varies from context to context. In some countries, basic education is considered to be a sector. In others, it is a sub-sector of the education sector. xiv September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

25 Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Generally a SWAp indicates an approach to planning, financial support and management that: Is sector-wide in scope; Is based on a clear sector strategy and framework; Is based on long-term plans; Includes host country ownership and strong partnership with external agencies; Is developed and implemented with the involvement of, and partnership with, all local stakeholders; Includes the involvement of all main external agencies; Is based on common implementation arrangements and effective donor coordination; Relies on local capacity; and Includes provision for results-based monitoring. Universal Primary Education (UPE) The Millennium Development Goal defines Universal Primary Education as being a state in which children everywhere, boys and girls alike, are able to complete a full course of primary schooling Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 xv

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27 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report presents the results of the case study of external support to basic education in Zambia for the period of 1990 to It is one of four case studies carried out for the Joint Evaluation of External Support to Basic Education that was commissioned in February 2002 by a consortium of 13 external support agencies, with the participation of four developing countries. The evaluation is concerned with: The nature and the evolution of external support; Basic education in receipt of external support; and Partnerships for developing basic education. Under each of these areas the evaluation considers: Intents, policies and strategies; Practices; and Results. The work for this case study was carried out between April 2002 and December 2002 by a team of two international consultants and three Zambian consultants. The international consultants made visits to Zambia in April, June, October and December Between those visits the Zambian consultants held additional meetings and gathered opinions and information. They also analyzed documents that have been synthesized in this report. The team is grateful for the advice and guidance of the Country Reference Group (CRG), of education experts from the Government, external support agencies, local academics, researchers and representatives of civil society organizations in Zambia. The CRG provided important help to the evaluation for identifying issues and sources of information. The team went to Southern and Western Provinces of Zambia to visit education offices, teacher training institutions and schools and to meet stakeholders, including parents and children. The evaluation coincided with an important step in the cooperation between external agencies and the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ). December 2002 was the end of Phase 1 of the Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme (BESSIP) that has been the framework for development cooperation since The evaluation team was able to observe the planning for the next phase, from 2003 to 2007, in a process that set new targets for education in Zambia and the establishment of new modalities of cooperation between the GRZ and its external partners. The evaluation team presented preliminary findings to a consultation meeting of representatives of the GRZ, the education profession, external agencies and civil society organizations on December 17, This consultation meeting was held as part of a major planning and review exercise. Comments received from participants have been incorporated into this report. Background From the mid-1970s Zambia suffered dramatic social and economic effects of the fall in copper prices and by the beginning of the 1990s witnessed a serious decline in the education system, Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 xvii

28 manifested by shortages and poor state of facilities with stagnant indicators of enrolment and performance. Poverty, particularly in the rural areas, increased. Zambian officials attended the Jomtien conference in 1990 and signed the Declaration of Education for All (EFA). Following a change of government in 1992, education was prioritized and, after consultation, the Ministry of Education (MOE) published, in 1996, a policy document titled Educating Our Future: National Policy of Education. This set a priority for basic education (defined as Grades 1 to 9, inclusive, of primary school) to increase access and quality. Most of the primary schooling in Zambia is provided in government schools, but recent years have seen the growth of the CS, which offer a more flexible education. Around 21.5% (UNAIDS website, 2002) of the population is estimated to have HIV/AIDS, with much higher numbers of professionals, including teachers, infected. The impact of HIV/AIDS on the education system is difficult to quantify and includes the loss of teachers to the illness, and large numbers of children who are orphaned or caring for sick relatives. Zambia has also suffered from the protracted southern African drought and consequent food shortages in 2000 to 2003, worsening the plight of poor people. External Support to Basic Education During the early 1990s Zambia received support to education from the bilateral agencies for a variety of projects. Agencies often managed this support on a provincial basis and provided a portfolio of synergetic inputs to education in their province. Other agencies identified manageable project targets, such as development of individual institutions, or sub-sectors, such as teacher education. The beneficiaries were from all parts of the system, with substantial support going to secondary schooling, higher education and adult education. The 1996 policy document identified basic education as the top priority. This accorded with the emerging policy of external agencies, post-jomtien, in which basic education was identified as part of the long-term approach to poverty alleviation and children s rights. In the mid-1990s, there was also pressure on the external agencies to develop better modalities for implementing support and harmonization of the different agencies activities. Their aim was to ensure that interdependencies were recognized and addressed, and to ensure that governments took management responsibilities for implementing development. These intentions are characterized as a Sector-wide Approach (SWAp) and set an agenda for a different partnership with government, away from discrete projects managed by external funding agencies. This accorded with government s policies in the mid-1990s. The discussions leading to the education policy paper had identified incoherent, uncoordinated interventions in the education system that had made the government less able to manage development activities, or to be properly informed of what was happening. Thus in 1996, the GRZ, the World Bank and the majority of external agencies shared the intention both to focus on primary education and to adopt ways of working that built on a sectorwide scope and integration into the GRZ line management and financial structures. xviii September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

29 The move from shared intentions to a working programme proved complex, and it took three years before the resulting programme, BESSIP, started. Obstacles included the fact that responsibility for the education sector is split among four ministries, and that the agencies had different constraints to adopting new management and funding modalities. Some also had reservations about the GRZ s capacity to manage and account for a programme in ways that would satisfy the agencies internal procedures. All these factors were cited in the decision to simplify the planned Education Sector Investment Programme (ESIP) to two sub-sector programmes, BESSIP and the Technical Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme (TESIP). BESSIP emerged as an umbrella programme under which all the cooperating partners would work towards the agreed priorities and targets, with joint monitoring. Cooperating partners in BESSIP were encouraged by the GRZ, the World Bank and a group of agencies, to fund BESSIP as part of a pool, separate from the MOE recurrent budget, but managed by the MOE according to the activities of the BESSIP plan, rather than earmarked for selected line items. Those external agencies that were not able to commit to pool funding were accommodated under the BESSIP programme umbrella by alternative funding modalities and accounting systems. At the start, only four external agencies were willing to commit to pool funding, and some as only a small part of their support framework. However, over the last three years, increasing confidence in MOE procedures and the realization that pool funding is beneficial have persuaded other agencies to increase their support to the pool and make commitments to future pool funding. The MOE s National Plan 2003 to 2007, which was produced at the end of 2002 after intensive consultation with partners and stakeholders, is another step on the road to a SWAp, in that it covers the whole education sector and encourages pooled funding or budget support. Even where there is commitment to SWAps, external agencies have recognized the value of maintaining a reserve of off-budget and technical assistance (TA) funds to allow a flexible and rapid response to newly identified needs. External agencies have been supporting the inclusion of civil society organizations in basic education policy and practice. Some strategic support has been provided to representative Nongovernmental Agencies (NGOs) to bring a civil society voice to BESSIP reviews, other policy meetings, and international fora. The CS sub-sector has received similar support to develop a representative secretariat, and to reach important agreements with the MOE on cooperation and support. Externally Supported Basic Education In the early 1990s, the line Ministries were not able to plan, or monitor, external initiatives for basic education beyond specifying a shopping list for the funding. The MOE sought to take a proper planning and management overview in the formation of BESSIP. BESSIP s components covered its range of development concerns, including: infrastructure, teachers, curriculum and materials; and cross-cutting issues including: equity; nutrition and health, as well as HIV/AIDS. Annual work-planning and semi-annual reviews were undertaken jointly by the MOE, cooperating partners and other stakeholders. The integration of BESSIP into the MOE structure was partial in that there was a separate BESSIP Coordinator and management structure. However the personnel, many of whom were on secondment, were situated in the MOE building and enjoyed good access and communications with senior-level officials and other Ministry staff. Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 xix

30 Phase 1 of BESSIP coincided with a reform of the Zambian civil service to rationalize positions in central government and to decentralize management responsibilities. These are difficult changes and have taken longer than expected to implement. The MOE was undergoing restructuring during this evaluation, in Civil service reform and decentralization initiatives were encouraged by the external agencies: the former as a path to increasing management efficiency and effectiveness; the latter for its perceived benefits of local responsiveness, flexibility and accountability. Educational responsibility is decentralized mainly to district level, with a reduction in the responsibilities of the provinces, which are larger administrative units. The decentralization process is ongoing, and the capacity of district-level personnel and organization has been a cause for concern, particularly regarding procurement and accountability on the use of funds. A particular problem for the districts is the mobilization of personnel to monitor progress and undertake school evaluations and inspections. One response to this has been to utilize external agency funding, made available on a flexible basis and outside the BESSIP pool system, to fund capacity-building initiatives, such as training sessions and organizational development studies for districts. However, the evaluation suggests that ongoing decentralization has been a complicating context for the MOE to build levels of management, accountability and ownership implied in the BESSIP design. Procurement has also proved a test of capacity, at both MOE headquarters and decentralized levels, and there have been frustrating delays in procuring civil works and textbooks, for example. The problems included a lack of trained personnel to work with the different national and international procurement procedures, and they are being addressed. In 2002 the Ministry of Education announced that it would abolish the fees that schools charged for recurrent costs, and other parental costs of schooling. Instead, the MOE provides each school with a regular block grant to purchase consumable items. The grants, known as BESSIP grants, are administered by the districts and, although the system is too new to evaluate, it seems to offer hope for increasing enrolments and retention of poor students as there is evidence that direct costs are the most important disincentive for poor parents. System-wide information support to planning and management has been poor and the validity of data from the early 1990s is suspect. Efforts in BESSIP have improved the collection of raw data from schools and consolidation by the MOE. However, validation is weak and there are methodological difficulties in making long-term comparisons of key indicators. The data for the first half of the 1990s suggests a slow decline in enrolment and other indicators, usually explained as a result of the long period of economic decline. The evaluation suggests that Zambia is making progress to halt that decline. Enrolments are beginning to increase slowly, and in urban areas the ratio of girls to boys in schools is nearing parity. For most of the key indicators in Zambia the differences between rural and urban areas are the most significant challenge to equity of access and achievement. However Zambia is identified (UNESCO, 2002a) as one of the countries at risk of not reaching the EFA goals. Student achievement indicators have been introduced and assessments have been carried out from The recorded changes to date are not significant, although internationally standardized results suggest that overall levels of achievement in Zambia remain low. xx September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

31 Field evidence is that schools are benefiting from a more coherent approach to the supply of materials and the organization of professional development activities for teachers. There has been visible investment in improving the infrastructure of primary schools and supplying furniture. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has impacted on the lives of children at home and school in ways that are impossible to quantify. Professional personnel, including teachers, have a higher rate of HIV infection than the average. The attrition rate of primary teachers in government employment, through job dissatisfaction and emigration, as well as the effects of HIV/AIDS, has strained the teacher training system and slowed progress towards the reduction of pupil-teacher ratios. Although an innovative programme to increase the capacity of the teacher training system has been implemented under BESSIP, teacher supply, particularly to rural schools, remains problematic. There is low morale and motivation in the teaching profession over conditions of service and professional responsibility. The focus of external agencies and the MOE on primary schooling has been perceived as shifting their attention, and support from other EFA goals, most notably for ECE and adult literacy initiatives. The provision of pre-school education now falls mainly in the private sector, and external support for training of trainers and development of materials for pre-school education, which was available in the early 1990s, has effectively dried up. Similarly external support for adult literacy has decreased: the evaluation finds both the relevant ministry and Zambian NGOs concerned at the lack of support to this area but recognizes that it is being addressed in the new planning. Partnership The working relationship among external agencies, and with the GRZ, has changed significantly and is a work-in-progress. All have gained confidence and trust that allows them to talk more frankly and to tackle problems jointly. The working relationship at the semi-annual reviews was suggested as an indicator, and the evaluation team was able to confirm a significant change in the confidence of MOE officials towards representatives of the funding agencies. There is a clear commitment to take more steps in the direction of a SWAp partnership model. However, at the same time, the cooperating partners still hold the purse strings, and there is a feeling expressed with the same frankness that the partnership can only be built on a recognition of the different partner roles. The organization of partnership amongst the agencies has been complicated because of the different modalities and approaches used under the BESSIP umbrella. The agencies committed to pool funding are characterized as having a special relationship with the MOE, and others have expressed feelings of marginalization. On the other hand, the committed pool funders criticize agencies that still provide support in a project modality. But these are now dialogues underneath one umbrella, so that they are based on common directions and analysis of needs. The period has seen NGO and civil society organizations better represented in the policy discussions. The joint reviews, and the Strategic Planning process, comprised representatives of umbrella NGOs, including those representing the community school sub-sector. Country Study Report Zambia September 2003 xxi

32 Conclusions Zambia demonstrates how EFA goals are being implemented mainly as primary schooling, and the evaluation reminds us that primary schooling is slow to respond to initiatives and slow to deliver its hoped-for benefits in personal empowerment and poverty-reduction. Proponents of adult education in Zambia make a strong case that it can make a more effective and efficient contribution to these aims. The Strategic Planning process has paved the way for new forms of partnership between the GRZ and the external agencies. These will seek to establish common modalities and further harmonize approaches to reduce the management burden and complexity. The evaluation identifies factors that have contributed to the successful developmental cooperation, and highlights the importance of stakeholder and beneficiary involvement at all stages and levels of planning, implementation and evaluation. Implications Zambia faces an enormous and long-term challenge but new ways of working are slowly turning round a system that was in crisis just a few years ago. Zambia is reliant on support from outside and needs confidence that this will be a medium to long-term support relationship, longer than the typical five-year cycle of agency planning. The evaluation identifies the importance of building the culture and the information support for better monitoring of schools and evaluation of key activities such as teacher-training and capacity-building inputs. The role of CS, and their new relationship with the MOE is recognized by the evaluation. However there is a concern if CS can retain that support while still seeking to innovate and reach out to the poorest children. In other countries government support has been a heavy hand on the freedom of CS, and this would be regrettable. The evaluation also suggests that some agencies, notably the United Nations agencies, have a mission and management structure that is mismatched with the aims of a proto-swap, such as BESSIP. xxii September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

33 PART ONE: BACKGROUND 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background to the Zambia Case Study This report presents the results of the case study of external support to basic education in Zambia covering the period of 1990 to It is one of four case studies carried out for the Joint Evaluation of External Support to Basic Education commissioned in February 2002 by a consortium of 13 organizations 1. Four developing countries participated in the evaluation (Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Uganda and Zambia) and joined the 13 supporting agencies to form an Evaluation Steering Committee (ESC) that provides overall governance to the evaluation process and is the ultimate decision-making body for the evaluation. A consortium of private firms with experience in evaluation and in basic education carried out the evaluation. The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) is the lead organization in the consortium. The consortium includes Goss Gilroy Inc. of Canada and Education for Change of the United Kingdom. In Zambia a team of consultants (two international consultants, one long-term Zambia-based consultant and two short-term Zambia-based consultants) were responsible for carrying out the study and for the development of this report. John Wood of Education for Change was the team leader from May Dr. John Berry was the international specialist in education. Geofrey Tambulukani, education specialist, was the lead Zambia-based consultant. He was supported by Dr. Anne L. Sikwibele, an education specialist with experience of the NGO sector, and Joe Kanyika, an information specialist. The study was also assisted by Dr. Robie Siamwiza, a Zambian specialist in HIV/AIDS. The Zambia case study was carried out from April 2002 to December It involved four missions to Zambia by international consultants for joint work with the Zambia-based consultants in April, June, October and December The Zambia-based consultants carried out data collection and analysis between the missions. Details on the methodology of the case study are provided in Section 2.0. The four country case studies examined a common set of evaluation issues and questions as presented in the Framework Terms of Reference for the evaluation. They relied on common methods for carrying out the evaluation and the reports use a common framework. 1 The Joint Evaluation of External Support to Basic Education is sponsored by: the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Ministry of Foreign Affairs Danida, Denmark; European Commission (EC); Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany; Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland; Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank. 2 Professor James Hough was Team Leader for the first inception visit, but was unable to continue. Country Study Report Zambia September

34 The Joint Evaluation of External Support to Basic Education will produce six outputs: Document Review Report drawing on the international documentation to analyze intentions, practices and results of external support to basic education; Country Case Study Reports for Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Uganda and Zambia; and Synthesis Report drawing on the findings and analysis of the other work to develop conclusions and implications. 1.2 Purpose of the Zambia Case Study The Zambia Country Case Study Report is expected to: Explore and illustrate the key findings and lessons learned from the Document Review; Provide further evaluation evidence, which either reinforces or calls into question the lessons learned at the global level through the document review process; and Serve as a stand-alone evaluation of external support to basic education in Zambia over a critically important time in the evolution of both external support and national efforts to address needs in basic education. Finally, the Case Study should identify lessons learned for policy and programming in external support to basic education at the global, as well as the national level. 1.3 Structure of the Report The report is structured as follows: Part I: Background Section 1.0 presents this introduction and overview. Section 2.0 provides an overview of the methodologies used during the Zambia case study and discusses both the strengths of the methodologies and the challenges. Part II: Findings Sections 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 present the analytical basis and findings of the Zambia Country Case Study. These three sections of the report are structured in keeping with the three key areas of enquiry of the evaluation: External Support to Basic Education; Externally Supported Basic Education; and Partnership. Further, each of these areas is analyzed at three different levels: Intents, Policies and Strategies; Practices; and Results. Section 6.0 draws together the conclusions based on the findings Section 7.0 summarizes implications for policies and programmes at the national and global levels. Finally, the report includes annexes profiling external support and basic education in Zambia, details on the methodologies used, and data sources consulted during the evaluation. 2 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

35 2.0 Methodology 2.1 Detailed Methodology Overview The case study research was undertaken between June and December 2002, by a team of two international and three Zambian consultants. This report is based on information gathered from a variety of sources, comprising: Documents, including reports and working papers; Site visits; Structured and informal individual interviews; Group meetings, focus groups and discussions; Meetings of the Country Reference Group (CRG) (see below); and A consultation meeting of stakeholders to review preliminary findings. The respondents, meetings and field visits are described in more detail in Annex Context of the Study The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) and its cooperating partners 3 were engaged in two processes that provided opportunities to evaluate a critical moment in the evolution of external support and the partnerships for basic education. The main vehicle for cooperation and investment since 1998 has been the Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme (BESSIP). Phase 1 of BESSIP ended in December 2002 and the partners were involved in planning for the next five years of support, with scope expanded to cover the whole education programme. A Strategic Plan was developed by the Ministry of Education (MOE), in consultation with cooperating partners, and was subject to external appraisal in July 2002 and additional revisions leading to planning and implementation documents in December The evaluation team joined strategic planning meetings and was able to observe these processes. The study also coincided with the BESSIP Mid-Term Evaluation, which was intended to inform the Strategic Plan on the basis of extensive field research. This evaluation team was able to share the interim results of the BESSIP Mid-Term Evaluation, and had useful discussions with Robin Consultants, the lead contractor This evaluation team s field research also coincided with preparations for scaling up to national implementation of a pilot literacy initiative in Zambia. This provided opportunities to analyze the processes by which a traditionally managed and funded project demonstrated its effectiveness and prepared to be sustained within the mainstream of the GRZ education programme Documents Approximately 50 documents were gathered during the study. An initial set was derived from the documents used with the Document Review component of the Joint Evaluation and other information about the policy development and country programming was obtained from the 3 Cooperating partners is the preferred term for external agencies that are supporting development in Zambia. Country Study Report Zambia September

36 headquarters of the external agencies active in Zambia. The bulk of the documents, however, were gathered in Zambia: from the MOE, other government departments, external support agencies, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community-based Organizations (CBOs). Documents were of various kinds: Government planning and policy documents, including those that were prepared for the strategic planning exercise; Education Sector Review Reports and annexes; Evaluation reports from the GRZ and from external agencies; Specific studies commissioned by the GRZ and/or external agencies; Consultants reports; Country plans or strategies of individual agencies; and NGO reports and working documents Statistical Data The team received data on the education system, with the assistance of the MOE. There is (increasingly) good data on funds flow and key indicators during the period of BESSIP, but extending this back to the period before 1996 is very difficult. Where possible, the team consolidated data from other sources, including the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the external agencies Field Visits The evaluation team undertook two visits, each involving pairs of team members. One visit was to Mongu, in Western Province, a rural area that has been badly affected by drought, and lags behind the rest of the country on some of the enrolment indicators. Western Province has been a beneficiary of external assistance from the Netherlands. The other field visit was to the urban and peri-urban areas of Livingstone, plus one visit to a more rural school in Southern Province. The field visits included interviews with officials in the Provincial and District Education Offices, the District Boards, Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs), Teachers Resource Centres and schools. Within schools the team was able to conduct interviews with head teachers, teachers, parents and some pupils. The places and persons met during the field visits are shown in Annex Interviews and Focus Groups The interview programme incorporated key stakeholders in Zambia, from the public sector, civil society, and from the external agencies. A list of the persons met is at Annex 3.1. The interview programme contributed to an understanding of the policies and strategies of the external funding agencies, their actions, concerns and constraints. Interviews with GRZ officials focused on policy dialogue, practices, results, the changing nature of the partnership with external agencies, and the changing partnership with Civil Society and NGO stakeholders. Individual meetings were also held with senior personnel, including retired officials, academics and politicians, able to describe the changing practices, priorities and approaches over the period covered by the evaluation, and to bring different perspectives to the analysis. 4 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

37 The evaluation included four meetings that were conducted as focus groups: BESSIP Component Managers: The component managers are the group most involved with day-to-day management of BESSIP in the MOE. This focus group identified issues of the working partnership with external agencies, and of the way agencies policies influence implementation practices. Academics: This group consisted of university academics, including lecturers and researchers, mainly from the University of Zambia (UNZA). The focus was on the changing models for teacher-education and the changing role of academics in policy-making. Teacher Trainers: The evaluation team was able to arrange a focus group of 12 lecturers from the TTCs. The discussion focused on the practices of external support in TTCs, the forms of partnership and consultation that they had experienced, the consequences of external support to the teacher-education system and system-wide concerns. NGOs and CBOs: The evaluation team was able to arrange a focus group of representatives of NGOs and CBOs, including Community Schools (CS) associations, umbrella and representative NGOs and teachers unions. The discussion included partnership with government and the changing relationship between national NGOs and external agencies, including with international NGOs Country Reference Group The CRG was intended to provide the evaluation with an in-country point of reference, to supply information sources and validate methods. The Zambian CRG was established by the MOE in September Membership included: Permanent Secretary, MOE; Chief Inspector of Schools; Coordinator, BESSIP; Office Manager, BESSIP; Teacher Education Coordinator; Equity and Gender Coordinator; Capacity Building Coordinator; HIV/AIDS Coordinator; BESSIP Financial Manager; one Provincial Education Officer; two Teachers Union Representatives; two Cooperating Partners; one NGO representative (Peoples Action Forum); Local Government Ministry Representative; Community Development Ministry Representative; two individuals with an education background (George Sililo and former Permanent Secretary, Dr. Kasanda); and Director, UNZA Institute of Economic and Social Research. The CRG met on October 17, 2002 to review the Terms of Reference for the case study. The CRG made important suggestions on context, priorities, focus and potential respondents. A further meeting of the CRG (October 31, 2002) at the end of the main country research visit, helped the team to identify gaps in coverage and additional sources of information. All members of the CRG were invited to participate in the consultation meeting on preliminary findings and most were in attendance. An additional meeting of the CRG in February 2003 reviewed the draft Case Study Report. Comments from that meeting not otherwise incorporated in the report are noted in Annex 4. Country Study Report Zambia September

38 2.1.8 Consultation Meeting The consultation session for the evaluation was in the morning of December 16, 2002 as part of a workshop of approximately 130 people, representing the GRZ, external agencies and practitioners. A list of those attending is in Annex 3.3. The evaluation team presented preliminary findings, after which self-selected groups of about 15 persons considered one of the areas of enquiry of the evaluation and prepared written responses that have been incorporated in this report Integration and Analysis of the Data and Information This report contains the team s analysis of the information and data that was gathered. This has been structured by the original questions of the Framework Terms of Reference, but also filtered through the experiences and reflections of the team and key informants during the time they have spent working together. Overall, the organization follows the original 3 x 3 matrix presented in the evaluation inception report and the country Terms of Reference. This is shown in Table 1. Table 1: The Analytical Framework Intents, Policies and Strategies Practices Results Conclusions Nature and Evolution of External Support Basic Education Receiving External Support Section 3.1 Section 3.2 Section 3.3 Section 6.1 Section 4.1 Section 4.2 Section 4.3 Section 6.2 Partnerships Section 5.1 Section 5.2 Section 5.3 Section 6.3 During data gathering and analysis, it was increasingly clear that, as we move to the right in this matrix, the previous columns provide the context and possible influences. So, for example, the practices in basic education to be discussed in Section 4.2 are strongly influenced by the intents, policies and strategies of both the GRZ and their cooperating partners, as well as by the modalities of partnership through which these are linked. The framework has exposed difficult questions of attribution and causality, particularly of how to attribute the results of external assistance as they work through to the field. The Zambia Country Case Study has also exposed some ambiguities of categorization of the enquiry areas: Evolution of External Support and Partnership. Increasing partnership between external agencies and the government, and with NGOs/CBOs, is a policy aim for improving governance and planning. Zambia has experienced significant changes in these partnership relationships and is actively engaged in formalizing and operationalizing new forms of partnership. Thus the changing partnerships in Zambia are a result of intents, policy and practices, and not simply the medium in which they work. 6 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

39 Chronology of the Case Study Table 2 summarizes the key dates and events in the Zambia Case Study. Table 2: Chronology of the Zambia Country Case Study Evaluation Date Event April 1-8, 2002 May 7-8, 2002 June 18-25, 2002 July 2-3, 2002 July - September, 2002 July, 2002 September 12-13, 2002 October 17, 200 October 19 - November 3, 2002 October 27-30, 2002 November 1, 2002 November 4 - December 6, 2002 December 7-17, 2002 December 16, 2002 December February 2003 February 21, 2003 March 20, 2003 March 15-16, 2003 June 12-13, 2003 Inception mission to Zambia by original Team Leader Evaluation Management Group (EMG) meeting in Ottawa (review of draft Country Case Study Terms of Reference) Follow-up to inception by new Team Leader EMG meeting in Ottawa to review revised Terms of Reference Data collection by national consultants Participation of national consultants in Strategic Planning national and international appraisal sessions Steering Committee Meeting (to discuss Terms of Reference) Meeting of Zambia Country Reference Group (CRG) Second field mission by international consultants Site visits to two Provinces Review meeting with CRG Meetings and data gathering by Zambian consultants Third field mission by international consultants Consultative workshop with stake holders Final data gathering and drafting of report. EMG meeting to discuss draft report ESC preview of draft report EMG review of final report ESC approval of final report 2.2 Strengths and Challenges Strengths The case study has benefited from a number of supportive factors. A wide variety of stakeholders in Zambia was eager to be involved in the process. Government officials, cooperating partners, NGO representatives, church and community leaders, academics, teachers, parents and students were keen to discuss these issues and shared their views with great frankness, patience and good humour. Country Study Report Zambia September

40 The study has benefited from being undertaken alongside the GRZ strategic planning processes, in which the GRZ and its partners were completing the next sub-sector-development plan. The planning processes were predicated on GRZ aims that the modalities of support for the next period were to move closer to their target of sector-wide planning and budget-support financing. The stakeholders were therefore actively engaged with the issues at the heart of this evaluation, from the policy level to the implementation details. The evaluation team was able to observe the dialogue, and the tensions, at key meetings of stakeholders: interviews and focus group discussions were able to tap into recent and relevant talks and critical incidents. There was often a discourse during the evaluation. MOE officials were eager for another perception of their partnerships and expressed the need to better understand the policy and operational realities of their cooperating partners. Other stakeholders, particularly NGO representatives, sought to explore the options to develop their role in a changing context. Our study did not always find consensus. For example, while the dialogue between government and NGOs is strengthening, there are still different agendas at play. Another divergence is between the capital, Lusaka, and the local-level officials. This report reflects the findings and the conclusions of the evaluators, for which the team takes full responsibility: the process was planned and implemented to allow consultation with a wide range of stakeholders and informants, but the evaluation is not mandated to reflect only consensus views. Finally, the fact that four case studies, albeit in different countries, were proceeding in parallel, offered opportunities for cross-fertilization, shared approaches, and informal comparisons of preliminary findings. In the case of the Uganda and Zambia studies this was particularly true, since the same external consultants were involved in both, and the country-based consultants used the meetings in September 2002 to exchange ideas and views. The comparisons, as well as the contrasts, between these two countries, shed light on the individual situations of each one Challenges The context of the strategic planning processes also challenged the evaluation as it increased the workload of many stakeholders and limited the time that key personnel were available. Many respondents referred to Zambian workshop fatigue and it was clear that, for many, the commitments and pressures of work are excessive. One result was that the inception visit was able to gather only partial information from the MOE, and a follow-up visit was needed to complete the inception process. The case study eventually involved five Zambia-based consultants because two of the personnel involved were offered long-term, full time employment by external agencies during the course of the evaluation. The competition between agencies for qualified Zambia-based consultants is an evaluation finding. The challenge for the evaluation has been to ensure continuity and consolidation of the observations of all the team members. A positive outcome has been the ability of the evaluation to draw on specialist expertise covering HIV/AIDS, the NGO sector and the systemic indicators. An important challenge for the evaluation is incomplete, and unreliable data. There are serious challenges for Zambia in the collection and validation of statistics on the main educational indicators. For instance, discrepancies exist in the measurement of population. At the time of the evaluation, no final report had yet been issued by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) on the results of the census that was carried out in October At different times, the CSO has 8 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

41 released two different preliminary counts, which differ by about 10% overall, and by about 11% concerning the number of school-age children. This uncertainty affects the ratios in the education statistics, and, because other population figures are interpolated, the uncertainties undermine the reliability of ratio data over the last five or six years. There is little systemic data available before 1996 and we were told that all the raw data was tidied up, when someone new moved into that office. Much of the data since 1996 is based on self-reporting by schools, direct to the Ministry. It is widely accepted that the quality control of data-gathering is very weak. This evaluation, other studies and reports quote statistics with two or three figure precision, but much of the quantitative data is not reliable to that level. The written record for the period from 1990 to 1996 is also a challenge. This is true in the MOE, but even more so in the offices of the external agencies, where the situation is made more acute by the turnover of staff in the agencies. (In Zambia there seems to be high turnover of local professional staff who are the people that maintain continuity and corporate memory in some other situations.) Very often the evaluation team was told, in effect, that I can only tell you about the situation since I arrived, usually within the past two or three years. Only one of the external agencies had made an internal review or evaluation of its work covering the period, and the most available retrospective documents were the history of our support sections of programming documents. In the MOE and its offices, the problem is different. There are people who provide a corporate memory, and there is a great deal of documentation, but no systematic way that it could be accessed. The evaluation team was sometimes told that a report existed, but that no one could find a copy. Plans to develop a Documentation Centre may address this weakness and increased computerization within the MOE is already helping to ensure accessibility of recent documents. Country Study Report Zambia September

42 10 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

43 PART TWO: FINDINGS 3.0 Nature and Evolution of External Support to Basic Education 3.1 Nature and Evolution of External Support: Intentions, Policies and Strategies This section examines the following questions: What is the broad framework of ideas, understanding and institutions within which external assistance is provided to basic education in Zambia? How has that framework or its major components, changed over the past decade? What have been the negotiations, particularly between agencies, leading to changing modes of support, and converging practices? How did agencies policy contexts influence their approach to supporting BESSIP and concerns for its scope? Why did strategies change for the next phase of BESSIP and in what ways? Shifting Development Policy The framework within which external assistance to basic education in Zambia has been implemented is characterized by shifts along constructs of development policy. Policy has raised poverty-alleviation as the overall goal of support so that economic development, infrastructure development and education became conceived as intermediate purposes-steps towards poverty alleviation. The World Bank led other agencies in making poverty alleviation the overarching development goal since the early 1990s. In most cases, the contribution of education to poverty alleviation is taken as a given, with particular importance attached to the education of girls and the contribution this makes to their life-opportunities, empowerment over their own health and reproductive life, and subsequent impact on the health and education of their children. The arguments focus attention on basic education as the means to reach out to the poorest, and, by definition, the way that people can develop the relevant basic skills to improve their life chances. The poverty imperative has resulted in the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, to provide debt-relief for countries that demonstrate, in their Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 4 (PRSP), how the recurrent gains will be used to address poverty reduction. In December 2000 the World Bank Group s International Development Association (IDA) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to support a comprehensive debt reduction package for Zambia under the enhanced HIPC Initiative. Total debt service relief from all of Zambia s creditors is worth more than US$3.8 billion. This is equivalent to about US$2.5 billion in net present value terms, or approximately 63% of the present value of debt outstanding at the end of 1999 after the full use of traditional debt relief mechanisms. Zambia s PRSP has Human Resource Development priorities that include: to increase access to basic education and improve supply of educational equipment and materials. 4 Country Study Report Zambia September

44 Poverty alleviation intentions have driven a shift towards education that is free at the point of access, in contrast to the policies of cost-recovery and parental contribution, in cash or kind, that dominated the previous 10 years. This change is still playing out in Zambia following Ministerial decrees in 2001 and 2002 (Ministry of Education 2002d) that have removed the cost burden of primary school education from Grades 1 to 7. The World Summit for Children (New York, 1990) led to a Plan of Action for Children and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Concern for Human Rights has permeated the policies of external agencies, to different degrees, since that date. The CRC suggests a different imperative for external support to education as a human right. Zambia, along with all its national development partners (except the United States), is one of the 191 signatories of the CRC. UNICEF is responsible for monitoring the World Summit for Children goals against a comprehensive set of indicators that include educational indicators. In Zambia the CRC informs action for orphans and vulnerable children, including special support for their access to education, and initiatives to monitor and address children s employment. However, it has not been central to education development so that, for example, the external agencies have had limited impact in the policy dialogue for the elimination of corporal punishment, which is widely reported in schools, although UNICEF advocacy has had some results in MOE guidelines to control the use of corporal punishment. Priorities and strategies of external agencies have increasingly sought to improve governance in developing partner countries, as a route to legitimacy and effectiveness. Governance initiatives include building the capacity of governing structures, institutionalising the participation of civil society in decision-making, and in many contexts, decentralized planning and decision-making as a route to local responsiveness and accountability. These concerns have influenced the policies of external agencies active in Zambia. The period has seen all external agencies seeking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work, by increasing the complementarity, coherence and coordination of their support in partner countries. The terminology has shifted from donor-coordination to harmonization but it remains the stated intention of the agencies working in Zambia Shifts Towards SWAp In the early 1990s the external agencies managed their work as traditional projects, characterized by geographical (typically Provincial in Zambia), or sub-sectoral (e.g., in-service teacher education or curriculum subjects) limitations on scope. Projects were managed separately from the GRZ line structures, with funding procedures that gave ultimate financial responsibility to the external agency. To varying extents, professional and managerial inputs to the work were provided by consultants (international or local), perhaps working alongside MOE staff as counterparts. Nearly all the external agencies working in Zambia 5 have policy commitments to move their support towards a Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) characterized by coherence, government ownership and implementation and budget-support. The round of planning that led to BESSIP started with the intention, catalysed by the World Bank, of preparing a support framework for the whole education sector and encouraging pooled funding. The proposed Education Sector 5 The exceptions have been USAID and JICA, both of which have internal constraints on budget-support for a SWAp. In Zambia, Danida, one of the large national agencies, has proceeded most cautiously along this road. 12 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

45 Investment Plan (ESIP) was assessed by the GRZ and by other external agencies as making too many managerial demands on the Government, including coordination across the four Ministries involved in providing education. There were also expressed concerns about the MOE s capacity to manage the programme. Several agencies were constrained by headquarters policy not to support ESIP if it included the universities 6. BESSIP was conceived as a simplification, limiting its scope to Lower and Middle Basic Schooling (i.e., Grades 1 to 7) and providing an umbrella for coherence and coordination of a common programme of activities, shared targets and joint review mechanisms. BESSIP has allowed external agencies to choose from a limited set of financing and operational modalities by defining in detail four Cases (see Section 3.2) that range from traditional project funding and management (Case 4) up to SWAp-like support to the programme budget (Case 1). This allowed agencies to work in ways that they felt comfortable and to assess the operational realities of SWAps in Zambia. Some have provided financial support into a fungible programme pool, others have retained more control mechanisms such as earmarking funds for specific purposes, and working through separate accounts. These options have allowed agencies to move gradually, with increasing confidence, to the more pool-oriented approach. The evaluation found that previously cautious agencies, such as Danida and Finland, have used this experience to move further towards pooling of funds to support a SWAp. (Danida 2000, 2002a and 2002b). One representative quipped: BESSIP allowed us to put our toe in and test the water in the pool. In Zambia, a small number of agencies were originally the most willing to commit to the pool and a rapid move to a SWAp: DFID, Ireland, Netherlands and Norway. They joined the pool funding and have worked together, along with the GRZ, to encourage other agencies along the road towards adopting the same common practices. Some respondents described this like-minded group as pursuing this objective with an almost evangelical fervour, to which they counter that the operational and management gains will be realized only when all agencies harmonize their approach and procedures. The World Bank was close to this enthusiastic position but retained a layer of financial control, and separate banking. Other agencies have been more cautious. For example Danida, which has a large commitment under the BESSIP umbrella, is committed by headquarters policy to SWAps and both its midterm report of May 2002 (Danida 2002b) and its Annual Sector Review (Danida 2002a) recommend shifting to the BESSIP pool. However, it equally stresses accountability and the ability to report against results. At the beginning of BESSIP, Danida felt that they were not ready, and that the Zambian structures were not ready, for them to adopt pooled funding. However, they were eager to bring their ongoing teacher-education and curriculum-development project under the programme umbrella. It seems likely that they will make their next commitments in 2004 as a full pooler. Many respondents, in agencies and the GRZ, identified how they have used their experience of BESSIP to analyze and refine their thinking about SWAps. All agreed that they had moved along a path towards the potential gains of increased coherence, government ownerships and simplified procedures. Nonetheless, several agencies, including the most committed poolers, identified circumstances in which they have used off-budget funding for specific activities, and reasons they might seek to retain some agency specialization, or focus. For example, Ireland Aid (Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland), which is one of the strongest proponents of SWAps 6 Others, influenced by experiences of mismanaged or ineffective support to the universities were reluctant to commit any further support to a programme from which they would benefit. Country Study Report Zambia September

46 indicated how its legacy of project-type involvement in Northern Province provided it with sources of qualitative feedback on the system, and gave it a special advantage in implementing local capacity-building under the Accelerated Programme for Decentralization, which they are currently supporting with Technical assistance (TA) in Northern Province. (Ireland Aid, 2001 and 1997). The Netherlands is also providing decentralized capacity-building TA support in their historically linked Western Province. A representative of Ireland Aid noted: Our first thinking was that we would just work ourselves out of Northern Province, but we know now that these Districts need the capacity-building and we do have important in-the-field advantages there to help with that. They also note that experiences of field realities help to inform their policy discussions in Lusaka: There is a question now about the processes that agencies use to keep themselves properly informed. DFID and USAID both identified instances in which project management of an initiative can help to achieve agreed ends efficiently. DFID also noted that the Primary Reading Programme (PRP), a large and important project that pre-dates BESSIP but was taken under the BESSIP umbrella, has benefited from being inside the planning and monitoring regime of BESSIP. Consequently, personnel at all levels have built good working contacts with the MOE and professionals, and integrated PRP with other aspects of BESSIP, such as the curriculum revision. This has prepared the way for successful scaling up of PRP activities and its inclusion in the GRZ programme. Both examples reflect increasing pragmatism and confidence about the relationship between projects, TA and other modalities of support alongside the pool and SWAp Shifting Attention Towards Primary Schooling Prior to 1990 much of the external assistance in Zambia was addressed to the secondary and postsecondary sub-sectors and to adult/community education. After the Jomtien conference in 1990, agency policy and Zambia support planning moved, in concert with the GRZ s stated priorities, to primary schooling. The focus on primary schooling seems to have been sharpened by the Education for All (EFA) processes since Jomtien, including the Dakar agreements and, most recently, the prioritization of primary schooling over the other EFA goals in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the EFA Fast Track Initiative (FTI). Over the period, external agencies working in Zambia have acknowledged the national role of the CS sector that seeks to provide educational opportunities to the most marginalized, poorest children. The emphasis on primary schooling by the external agencies in Zambia has been at the expense of their support to the other basic education priorities in the EFA goals, most notably those concerning early childhood education (ECE), and life-long learning and adult literacy. Even UNICEF, whose mandate and operational guidance prioritizes ECE, took policy decisions in Zambia in the mid-1990s to divert attention and resources from ECE towards primary schooling, with focus on girls access and performance in primary schools. However, UNICEF noted that much of their work addressing pre-school children is categorized under Health and Nutrition, and responds to the needs of young orphans and vulnerable children. As such they seek to establish the necessary pre-conditions for young learners to benefit from education, which is perhaps the most urgent input to ECE in Zambia. 14 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

47 3.1.4 Priorities for Basic Education in Zambia The underpinning context for Zambia has been the economic impact of falling copper prices, which, by the start of the 1990s had reduced Zambia from relative wealth to one of the poorest countries in Southern Africa. The 1980s had seen the impact on the infrastructures and operation of primary schooling, and stagnant or falling educational indicators. Particular policy priorities and strategies have emerged for the agencies supporting basic education in Zambia. In most cases these accord with those of the MOE but there is evidence in the records of discussions to suggest that there are areas in which the external partners have used their position to raise priorities. For example, the external agencies have been important in maintaining a priority for mainstreaming approaches to HIV/AIDS and, in the planning processes, the external agencies have contributed to the development of financial scenarios and teacher availability models. Decentralization and public service reform has been a GRZ concern, with discussions starting after the election of the new Government in 1992, and proceeding, albeit slowly, to the ongoing Public Sector Restructuring Programme (PSRP) covering the whole administration. However, cooperating partners have seen the PSRP as an important step for improving governance and the GRZ s structural readiness to benefit from capacity-building initiatives. Some agencies have specified that progress with PSRP be a condition for parts of their support; for example, the EU s Zambia Education Capacity Building project (ZECAB) design was predicated on the PSRP providing an education administrative structure able to benefit from the proposed capacitybuilding activities 7. As the PSRP has proceeded to decentralize functions and establish structures, the external agencies have organized support in response to concerns about the limited administrative and operational capacity at the District level, raised by joint reviews in 2001 and The cooperating partners, and the GRZ, have prioritized information support for planning and monitoring the BESSIP programme and system. Joint monitoring, against agreed indicators, is an important part of the review process and the timeliness and reliability of core information, both quantitative and qualitative, is thus a priority. At the same time the EFA processes also require that the data for the core EFA indicators be available in a timely and reliable manner. The relative weakness of systemic information support for monitoring and planning has been recognized since 1996, when UNICEF and Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) undertook a needs analysis and plan for improving information support. Zambia has witnessed rapid growth in the CS sub-sector, which seeks to serve out-of-school and poor children by offering a more flexible, relevant and, in most cases, free, schooling. CS have grown dramatically in the last five years, and the organizations involved have developed a voice in the debate about educational provision. The cooperating partners have identified the importance of the CS sub-sector to complement Government schools by reaching out to the poorest children. (Mwansal, 1998). They have worked to bring the CS school system into a more positive partnership with the MOE and to empower the CS organizations, by, for example, funding the establishment of the Zambia Community Schools Secretariat (ZCSS) as a body able to negotiate with the MOE on issues of registration and Government support. External agencies, notably UNESCO, have facilitated the attendance of representatives of the CS sub-sector at international policy fora (Cashen et al., 2001). 7 The delays in PSRP undermined ZECAB s original plan. Much of the funding was diverted to a bursary programme. Country Study Report Zambia September

48 Policy commitments to work with NGOs/CBOs, have also persuaded some agencies (including, committed poolers such as the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom) to fund strategic initiatives in support of the NGO sector. Examples include funds to support NGO representatives to attend international conferences, including Dakar and the Regional Education Ministers conferences. These have been important initiatives in Zambia towards moving NGO and CBO representation at the policy table from tokenism to a more meaningful one. We also note that a number of agencies, including all the Scandinavian agencies, the Netherlands, DFID and Ireland Aid, route substantial funds through home-based NGOs, including Oxfam, Save the Children (SC) and a range of faith-based organizations. Typically these funds are monitored at the agency headquarters without country-level disaggregation. The evaluation found evidence of activities supported in this way by SC (Norway) and to the CS supported by the Catholic Church. Zambia is severely affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and did not orchestrate a national response as promptly as some other countries. The HIV/AIDS component of BESSIP was not part of the original 1998 design, but was added after discussion at the November 2000 Semi- Annual Review. HIV/AIDS is a factor at all levels of education: teachers are coping with the realities of working in classrooms where up to 23% of the children have lost one or both parents, or are living in AIDS-affected families. The teaching profession has been particularly badly affected and HIV/AIDS has exacerbated the difficulty of providing a full complement of trained teachers for basic education. Actions to address the issues more openly, to improve education about HIV/AIDS and to adjust the system to respond to the realities of HIV/AIDS in Zambia are a stated priority for the cooperating partners, but some argue that the scale and scope of concern and action does not match the severity of the crisis (Kelly, 2001). However, other respondents note the progress made in changing the MOE from a relatively unresponsive agent to the current position in which it is seeking to act pro-actively in information dissemination and the provision of condoms, for example. 3.2 Nature and Evolution of External Support: Practices This section examines the questions: How have the practices of support to basic education changed over time? How have the financial processes and the use of Cases helped agencies find their comfortable modality, and what has this meant for coherence and coordination? Is a set of common practices for review, release, procurement, etc. emerging under BESSIP? Funding Levels Table 3 shows the actual disbursements of the major cooperating partners on Basic Education, (to the extent that this can be disaggregated from MOF data), over the period of 1998 to Trends are somewhat hidden by the noise in this data. (For example, different agencies renewed their commitments at different points during the period and there have been delays to planned disbursements as evidenced by the rise from 1998 to 1999.) The data confirms the reports from the MOE and the cooperating agencies that BESSIP has maintained funding commitments and rates of disbursement. 16 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

49 Tentative commitments through to 2004 suggest that cooperating partners are willing to increase overall levels of funding to the sub-sector and most of the agencies confirmed their current intention to maintain or increase their support, particularly in light of the Strategic Plan. Table 3: Actual disbursements and 2002 estimates (US$millions) (estimate) World Bank/IDA USAID United Kingdom Norway Netherlands Japan Ireland Finland European Union Danida Canada African Development Bank UNICEF Total Source: Ministry of Finance, UNICEF, JICA Note that: some zero or low values (e.g., in 2000), are due to late reporting, so the disbursements are shown in the following year Funding Modalities and Accountability Until 1996, the only funding and management modality being used in education in Zambia was project support, with projects typically designed by the supporting agency and finalized with the MOF. As discussed in Section 3.1, there was a gradual policy shift in agencies towards sectorwide planning and budget support financing, which crystallized in 1996 at the point when the World Bank was preparing a sector investment programme loan. The World Bank s relationship with the GRZ in the early part of the 1990s had been recovering from a history that is described in Annex 1. During the programme design and formation of BESSIP, the different external agencies willing to commit to common programme definition and monitoring procedures were not equally prepared to commit to pooled funding. The issues for these agencies was the capacity of the MOE (centrally and at decentralized levels) to undertake tasks that were critical either to the implementation efficiency or to the accountability procedures required by the agency. To encourage the hesitant poolers and non-poolers to work under BESSIP s programme Country Study Report Zambia September

50 umbrella, the design included a hierarchy of funding modalities, referred to in Zambia as the four Cases. Table 4 shows the attributes of the cases, and the agencies using these modalities. This is slightly complicated by the fact that most agencies have (or have had during the period under consideration) legacy activities, funded as projects under Case 3 or 4. Some agencies, e.g., Finland, which has a large Case 3 project, started, in 2002, to also contribute to the Case 1 pool as they move into their next programming cycle. Table 4: The Four Cases for Funding BESSIP Cases Comments Who Case 1 ( Pool ) Funds controlled by MoE Available for all BESSIP components Funds from various partners mingled in a common bank account Case 2 Funds controlled by MOE Available to all agreed BESSIP components Funds from various partners not mingled in a common bank account so bank records can be used to assist accounting Case 3 Funds controlled by MoE Available for a restricted number of BESSIP components, defined by the individual agreements Funds from various partners not mingled in a common bank account BESSIP components do not include recurrent budget items. Possible to earmark Subject to conditions on targets and counterpart funding Require a separate bank account for their audit trails Audit trail possible through a bank account Project-like earmarking of funds to specified activities DFID Ireland Netherlands Norway World Bank African Development Bank loans Danida (joint bank account case 3½ ) Finland African Development Bank (civil works) Case 4 Funds not controlled by a MOE Traditional project fund management Available for one or a small number of and flow components in a project framework Source: World Bank, 1999, with additional comments USAID, JICA, UNICEF, Save the Children (Norway) The World Bank joint appraisal (1999), which is one of the defining documents for BESSIP, recognized Case 1 as the ideal financing modality reflecting the view of that organization and the GRZ. However, attention was specifically drawn to the fact that financial management capacity needed to be strengthened to convince some of the other external agencies. The design provided for consultant support for implementation and capacity-building in financial management. The GRZ is strongly in favour of moving its partners up this hierarchy and senior officials informed the evaluation team that they hope no further Case 3 or Case 4 agreements will be made. 18 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

51 While many agencies reported their increasing confidence in the capacity of the GRZ to meet their auditing and disbursement concerns, constraints persist. An example is Danida, which provides significant support to teacher-education and curriculum development. At present their project is managed through a specific bank account that requires joint signatures from Danida and the Teacher Education and Deployment (TED). The money does not flow through the MOF. They describe it as a case 3½ model. The mid-term review of Danish support (Danida, 2002) recommended moving to the pool, and expressed sufficient confidence in the accountability and review procedures to satisfy the concerns that Danida had expressed at the beginning of BESSIP. However, Danida cannot provide funds to general education support (which the GRZ now seeks to build into the plan) because of policy specifying that only basic education may be supported. Therefore pool funding from Danida for the plan would need to be earmarked for basic education, with all the accounting overheads that implies. Locally, Danida has made a decision to only retain funds for already committed expenditure, some consultancies, and funds for the programme office within the project account. Although they believe investments are best hedged by being fully integrated in the programme of the Ministry, personnel spoke of their need to retain some project money in order to achieve timely results. Their concern is that moving into the pool might stall progress, not because of accounting and accountability procedures, but due to bureaucratic mechanisms for release of funds from the pool (as has, indeed, been witnessed under BESSIP) (Danida, 1999a, 1999b). Auditing of BESSIP funds is done by the Auditor General, to an annual deadline that allows the auditor s reports to feed into the joint review. None of the respondents reported any problems with the auditing and, overall, the accounting and auditing procedures under BESSIP have satisfied the external agencies. There have been financial improprieties in Zambia in the past, and, of course, rumours and suspicions, but they have been properly and quickly addressed. The finance staff of BESSIP reported that they have good and direct lines of communication to the high levels of authority in the MOE and are able to identify and solve issues as they arise. Respondents expressed their opinion that the GRZ is serious in its attempts to tackle improper uses of public funds. It is worth noting that the financial management of BESSIP, which has been separate from the MOE s line financial function, has two accounting experts supplied under TA arrangements (one each by the TA pool and Finland) and that this has provided a level of technical competence and independence 8. The most common complaint concerning the capacity of the MOE has been about procurement and, in response some agencies needing to expedite procurement of materials or buildings, have undertaken their own procurement. Capacity-building inputs have also been supplied, under TA arrangements, to build procurement systems and personnel. As far as the evaluation team could determine, the procurement problems were concerned with inaction and the complication of articulating World Bank procedures with national procedures, leading to frustrating delays and some inappropriate procurements, rather than with the diversion of funds 9. A Financial and Technical Committee comprising representatives of the MOE and the agencies, oversees financial issues, and scrutinizes reports and accounts. The biggest problem reported by 8 The persons are being paid at significantly higher rates than civil service salaries, which respondents considered important for attracting and retaining sufficiently skilled and responsible staff. 9 There have been cases of misuse of funds earlier in the 1990s, including one that persuaded Swedish Sida to withdraw from the education sector. Country Study Report Zambia September

52 agencies, and by the GRZ, has been the slow retirement 10 of invoices from decentralized agencies, such as District Offices and the knock-on effect on subsequent release of funds. Fund releases for BESSIP are subject to conditions or targets, such as teacher recruitment targets, enrolment and gender equity targets. They are also conditional on 31% of GRZ counterpart funding by MOE. It is the latter condition that has caused most frustration, as compliance lies in the hands of the MOF, not the MOE. Release of adequate counterpart funding was delayed in 2002, when the MOF argued that there was an emergency demand for relief of the impact of the drought. UNICEF is a special case in discussion of financial modalities. UNICEF has an international mission and advocacy role and in Zambia it has been at the heart of actions to mobilize the MOE, the agencies and local communities for the success of girls in schools. UNICEF is not in the business of giving money to governments, but attracting support for activities that further its mission. In Zambia, UNICEF has managed its support for girls education as a pure Case 4. They are awaiting instructions from headquarters on how to proceed as the Strategic Plan seeks more pooling of funds, SWAp management modalities and harmonized procedures. Much of UNICEF s operational funding for education in Zambia comes from bilateral agencies including Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Norway), DFID, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands), CIDA and New Zealand 11, all of whom support the Programme for the Advancement of Girls Education (PAGE) financially, and have unique reporting requirements Conditionality The term conditionality developed in the context of loan or grant projects as the contractual means to ensure supporting funds and actions, particularly where there was a reason to doubt the capability or ongoing political will of the national agencies, or a concern that the required actions were outside the scope of the project under consideration. It is an intended consequence of sector-wide planning that there is less need to make conditions to reflect critical interdependencies within the programme: they will have been identified and addressed as part of the plan and have therefore become a shared concern. The processes leading to BESSIP altered the way that expectations for GRZ action were discussed and, eventually, expressed in the agreements. Because there was an open statement of the goals, plans and expected outcomes, the potential difficulties and critical dependencies became a shared concern to be addressed within the programme. The BESSIP agreement, as expressed in the World Bank documentation, included two types of conditions: Start-up requirements, such as the appointment of the component managers and the payment of Government funds into an identified account; and Financial and management procedures, including for JSC meetings, reviews and the appointment of disbursement and financial specialists. The World Bank loan agreement is subject, of course, to general conditions on procurement procedures and financial reporting and all procurement under BESSIP use these procedures. 10 That is returning and reconciling invoices. 11 CIDA and New Zealand support PAGE as a regional programme: their funding is not specifically for Zambia. 20 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

53 The main trigger for the release of funds was disbursement of the previous funds, although the World Bank structured its lending so that the second phase of the support (from 2002) would be triggered by 10 system indicators, including: Increasing proportions of teachers in rural schools; Capacity of building section strengthened and 2000 extra classrooms; At least 20% of GRZ budget devoted to education; National assessment of learning carried out; District Education Boards established and functioning in 60% of Districts; and Framework for analyzing quantitative data in place. These are important but realistic targets and consistent with the aims of the GRZ and BESSIP: they have been met. It is in the performance targets, set annually at the joint review, that the external agencies set their expectations for the GRZ s performance, and may seek to keep up the pressure. These targets focus on improvements in the key quantitative indicators and have not always been met, but the failure to meet targets has mainly been a trigger for joint analysis of the problems and joint attempts to address them, rather than a reason for the external agencies to withhold support. They have become targets as a management tool rather than a conditionality in the traditional sense Coordination Until 1996 there were limited practical attempts to coordinate support, other than by the agencies carving up education in Zambia, geographically or by area of work. The team found little evidence of agencies coming together to share results, learn lessons or ensure coherence of inputs. The policy imperatives towards a programme, from 1996, were spearheaded by the World Bank but exposed the difficulties of coordinating the agencies and the importance that personalities play when institutions seek to work together. Zambia has revealing stories of the strong personalities involved in the design stages, around 1996: The perception was very strong that the World Bank saw itself in control of the programme, with other agencies simply providing grant funding, and this stimulated some heated discussions. Abby Riddell 12 (Riddell, 2001) notes that there was an imprint of an older Bank sector investment programme on BESSIP and in practice the Bank is underwriting the capital development programme... in the normal divide between the Bank and bilateral, but the twoyear procurement plan required by the Bank as a condition of effectiveness has lessened the flexibility that might be applied to the roll-out of such a complex educational development plan in which the management capacities of the Ministry of Education are being challenged (November 2001, p. 19, our emphasis). She suggests that these traditional or normal approaches still show the World Bank seeking to retain control of the scope and procedures of the programme rather than reflecting the different priorities that other agencies attached to encouraging GRZ management, control and capacity-building. It is partially an instance of the tension between getting things done and supporting the Government to run its own system, even if it takes longer that persists in any approach to working together. It also reflects the World Bank s concerns for macroeconomics and the national financial processes. 12 Abby Riddell woked for DFID in Zambia during much of the formative period of BESSIP. Country Study Report Zambia September

54 Since BESSIP started, there has been an evolving structure for liaison and discussion between key agencies and the GRZ. The structures for coordination of the cooperating partners was initially informal but has developed into an effective group. The perception, though, is of an inner group of agencies, essentially the pooling agencies, with a close working relationships with the Ministry, most notably through the small working group, known as the 4 + 4, consisting of four representatives of agencies and four representatives on the MOE. This was formed to plan the operational detail of BESSIP reviews, which are themselves the most important events for review, planning and policy dialogue between the MOE and its cooperating partners. The group responsible for the agenda, timing and organization of the reviews, therefore, does have real influence and will struggle to please all the people all the time in its work. As part of the revision of structures in 2002, the group has been expanded to 6 + 6, and there is pressure on the BESSIP management structures to incorporate more partners, particularly as more agencies joining the pool funding club. It is an open question whether the agencies need a forum to meet separately and prepare common positions (as has been the case in other countries), or whether they now feel free to work towards a more common approach, in joint meetings with the GRZ. Although there were no formal agreements between the external agencies on operational practices during BESSIP, the need has been identified and a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed by the cooperating partners and the GRZ was under preparation at the end of 2002, and focusing discussion on important issues such as the procurement processes for consultants, and the procedures for assuring partners on compliance. The MOU was signed in February 2003: and though it is not a legally binding agreement it sets a new level of commitment to harmonized operational practices. 3.3 Nature and Evolution of External Support: Results This section seeks to examine the following questions: What are the fora for, and realities of, agency harmonization? What have been the results and consequences of the changing external support to basic education in Zambia? How much are changing policies for future support based on the experiences, to date, under BESSIP? In the recent policy dialogues how have the agencies encouraged the involvement of other Ministries and CBOs? Harmonization The result of the ways that agencies worked in the early 1990s are reported by the GRZ representatives as a lack of control, coordination and coherence of activities. Activities in education were unnecessarily partitioned with little or no meaningful interchange between them. There is anecdotal evidence of the inefficiency and waste of overlapping activities, for example the MOF representatives noted, We know of schools that benefited from four different projects by donors and NGOs in those days. This situation has improved considerably. Information is available in a consolidated way, most obviously around the joint semi-annual reviews, which include representatives from all the 22 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

55 partners and access to programme-wide financial information and performance data. The result is a culture that assumes transparency of information across agencies, rather than secrecy. The cooperating partners have moved a long way towards a coherent and coordinated approach as a result of information-sharing and involvement in the intensive processes of BESSIP review, work on the Steering Committees and Technical Committee and the Strategic Planning. Interagency discussions now occur at the Informal Donor Meetings. All the agencies reported to the evaluation team that they see harmonization and information-sharing as a core part of their task now, in contrast to previous approaches, which prioritized getting on with their own things. BESSIP had provided a test-bed for increasing harmonization, and some difficult cases that suggested the need for a stronger framework for harmonization of procedures, beyond the umbrella of shared intentions. At the end of 2002, the agencies were working to formalize a common working relationship with the MOE, by producing a legally binding Letter of Agreement covering the procedures for all aspects of their future working relationship with the government. Processes in the strategic planning have seen the GRZ and partners seeking to extend the scope and nature of their commitments to include secondary and higher education and those aspects of Basic Education that are currently outside the MOE s purview. (The MOE is working to establish working relationships with the other Ministries in an attempt to design and manage a programme with full education sector scope.) Future support will be integrated into the line function of the Ministry: there will no longer be a BESSIP to bundle the externally supported activities, everything will be simply considered as the GRZ s education programme. This achieves one important part of the SWAp thinking. These recent moves are not without problems and have tested the steps towards harmonization. UNICEF s unique mission and management organization makes it difficult for it to commit to the common working practices, or to providing support to the whole education sector. The experience of BESSIP has helped to inform higher level harmonization initiatives in Zambia. It was announced at the beginning of 2003 (Netherlands Embassy, 2003) that a Framework for Harmonization in Practice has been developed by the GRZ and seven like-minded donor partners, namely Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Its ultimate aim is to enhance aid effectiveness in achieving poverty reduction and the MDGs by increasing donor coordination and harmonization with GRZ procedures. It follows on from the Monterrey Consensus, the Rome declaration on harmonization, and the work of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development s Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) and the Strategic Partnership with Africa (SPA). It also builds on positive experiences of harmonization at the sector level in Zambia, particularly in health and education (Framework for Harmonization in Practice, Press Release, February 2003, our emphasis) (Netherlands Embassy, 2003) Operational Results A result of changing policy and strategies, there have been shifting work demands for agencies on in-country staff, both the expatriate and the locally engaged, and indeed on the consultant support that they need. For those agencies that have moved furthest towards the SWAp modality the core tasks now revolve around system-wide analysis, policy formation, planning and, to some extent, the negotiations and politics of donor harmonization. These are not the traditional skills of the education cadre, and agencies are having to recruit and train staff accordingly. Country Study Report Zambia September

56 For such agencies, the approach to consultant inputs is also changing. Expert consultancies in support of BESSIP are procured and managed by the MOE, using agreed procedures that encourage regional and national firms to bid. The agencies themselves recruit consultants to help their processing, for example to assist with the professional assessments to be made during the reviews. They will also recruit and manage specialist Technical Advisors, typically to provide services in response to unpredicted needs: so, for example, DFID funded a short TA costing specialist to work with the MOE putting together more detailed costing projections that became necessary in 2002; and a group of agencies has provided TA consultants to offer additional capacity building for District staff as this need emerged in 2001/2002. This is an important example of the agencies willingness to respond flexibly to needs, by mobilizing off-budget funds, and consultants. Some agencies worked with the MOE during the more intense parts of the planning round by providing internal staff to work alongside MOE colleagues, to work on time-critical analysis and document production. The evaluation team felt that significant barriers had been breached as MOE staff reported how the World Bank task manager spent days working side by side with the BESSIP team, with his sleeves rolled up. Of the agencies that have untied their aid from local consultants, most have explicit policies to employ more national and regional consultants and the MOE has a preference for employing Zambian consultants. There is a wealth of expertise available in Zambia, including many educational experts associated with UNZA. The organization of consulting groups with the capacity to add value to the work of individuals, through management and quality-assurance procedures, is at an early stage, as the commercial sector starts to respond to the new consulting opportunities. A symbolic result of changing policies and practices is the trend away from flying the national flag and for many of the agencies it is now policy not to put logos and project names on vehicles, posters and booklets, on the basis that such items belong to the MOE, rather than to the agency, and that it is important that the population see these tangible items as belonging to the government and the Zambian people, rather than the external agency. All the main cooperating partners in Zambia indicated that their contribution is likely to be sustained or increased over the next planning period and many recognized that they are now explicitly committing to a long-term relationship with the GRZ in support of (basic) education. The evaluation team necessarily spoke to many senior and middle-level professionals, managers and academics, and noted how many of these key actors in Zambia had benefited in their younger days from externally supported overseas study. The cost-effectiveness of long-term study overseas has always been open to question, compounded by concerns that the beneficiaries do not return, or move to another sector. More critically such investment tends to benefit the better-off families, not the poorest. However the Zambian context that includes the weakness of the university sector and the impact of HIV/AIDS on the professional classes, raises the spectre of a growing gap in the national capacity to manage the educational system. The GRZ is less likely to fund such opportunities than bilateral partners were able to do in the past, when they had additional rationales of cultural and commercial investment. Can national and regional opportunities be developed to compensate? 24 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

57 3.3.3 Impact on Future Policy All the agencies expressed the opinion that their experience with BESSIP has increased their policy commitment to continue working towards within a sector-wide programme. They have engaged with the next round of planning and making commitment to fund the plan for This process, which is ongoing, has been more widely inclusive of stakeholder voices, and will seek to extend support to the GRZ s whole education programme, including those that are the responsibility of ministries other than the MOE Working with Stakeholders One result of the trends in external funding has been a shift of funds and of attention to the Ministry and loss of opportunities for innovation. The evaluation team confirms the message both from the agencies and traditional recipients of assistance, that funds to support direct activities have all but disappeared. NGO/CBO organizations suggested that traditional projects favoured grass-roots innovation, local empowerment and involvement of local NGOs, while the programme has encouraged a centralized, one-size-fits all, approach with loss of innovation and risks of mismatch with local needs. However, the established NGO/CBOs organizations are seen by the external agencies as one of the ways in which the voice of the community can be bought to play in policy and planning discussions. The involvement of NGO/CBO representatives in the policy and planning processes has been encouraged both by the agencies and, with slightly more hesitation, by the MOE. Several agencies, including UNICEF, UNESCO and the Netherlands, alongside international NGOs such as Oxfam and Action Aid have worked to develop advocacy skills and the representative structures to help the voice be heard. The result seems to be a growing confidence and competence with the advocacy role, and formal involvement in the policy processes by a number of high profile NGOs in Zambia. At the same time, the field-level activities, which might be expected to inform that advocacy voice, is struggling for a share of reduced support. As mentioned above, the Strategic Plan is an attempt to ensure that the move to sector scope covers those parts of the system that are the responsibility of other ministries, that is the technical and vocational provision, ECE and life-long learning. Representatives of the concerned ministries have participated in the key meetings, but issues of inter-ministerial decision making, capacity and financial management remain. However, it is a clear result of the agglomeration of support agencies around the MOE and BESSIP that opportunities for development in Adult Education, education for out of school youth, under the Ministry of Social Welfare have reduced nearly to zero. Country Study Report Zambia September

58 26 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

59 4.0 Basic Education Receiving External Support 4.1 Basic Education Receiving External Support: Intents, Policies and Strategies In this section we look at the questions: Within the policy framework for basic education in Zambia, to what extent and in what ways has external support been integrated? How has external support addressed the position in Zambia of CS/NGO sector? How has Government policy to this sector developed, and under what external influences? What are the strategies to manage external support alongside public service restructuring and decentralization? The Context of Policy Formation From the last years of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1961 to 1963) to the present day Zambia, it has been in the government s policy pronouncements to provide universal primary education to all eligible children through expansion in provision of primary education, i.e. create more places in the primary education sector. It has also been policy to improve the quality by curriculum reform and teacher training. Below is an outline of policy position from preindependence to the year The MOE s Educational Policy at independence was based on three main principles (Ministry of Education, 1964, quoted in Kelly, 1999): In an independent country that subscribes to a democratic way of life, national interest requires that there should be equality of educational opportunity for all and without regard to racial, tribal or religious affiliations; In a young country, the system of education must foster a sense of nationhood and promote national unity; and In a developing country seriously deficient of manpower, an urgent objective of educational policy must be to serve the needs of national development without, in the process, frustrating the full development of individual abilities and satisfactions. A Cabinet Office report of 1966 (see, for example, Kelly, 1999) outlined policy for Primary Education as follows: To expand enrolments so that, by 1970, every child will be able to have at least seven years of education; From 1966, 75% of all children completing the four-year primary course in rural areas, and 100% in urban areas will be given opportunity to complete the full primary course of seven years; and The primary syllabus needs imaginative developments if these primary school leavers are to have the basic skills and attitudes needed for development. In 1977 an Education Reforms document was to be implemented on the basis of the recommendations made by a special team. The Educational Reforms Implementation Project was established in 1984 and submitted its report in 1986 titled: The Provision of Education for All. This report recommended that, in light of demographic and economic constraint, priority be given to providing seven years of good quality education to all children (with limited expansion at Country Study Report Zambia September

60 Grade 8 and higher levels). It also recommended the introduction of user charges (parents levies) especially for boarding and tertiary levels. Box 1: Education for All Goals The EFA Goals (updated as the Dakar Framework for Action): 1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children; 2. Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality; 3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes; 4. Achieving a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults; 5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls full and equal access to basic education of good quality; 6. Improving all aspects of the quality of education so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills. 4 As the government was beginning to implement the 1977 Educational Reforms, in 1990 Zambia was invited to the Jomtien World Conference on Education. Preparations for this important conference brought out the many constraints that made the implementation of the 1977 Educational Reforms difficult and the resulting low levels of standards reached in education. Zambia attended the 1990 World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien and committed to the EFA goals (see box), which were reconfirmed in Zambia at the March 1991 National EFA Conference. There was limited time for action on these commitments before the election and change of Government in However, the new Government put education in general, and primary schooling in particular, onto their policy agenda. Declining enrolment and performance of primary schooling was identified as a priority early in the 1990s. Government policy for education was published as Educating Our Future, in The policy specifies the aim for a system to enable pupils to achieve a standard of functional education which would enable them to live productively in society, and to possess occupational competence in a skill or a group of skills (MOE, 1996). Educating Our Future also prioritizes building partnerships in education provision and financing of education. In this policy, primary education was identified as the sub-sector most urgently in need following the period of decline in the country s economic circumstances, which had resulted in deterioration of facilities, stagnant enrolments and performance. The policy identified the need for classrooms and other infrastructure, for new teachers, in-service professional development, and for supplies of teaching and learning materials to schools. These polices sought to address trends in education that explain falling standards in education from 1980s to 1990s. For example, in 1978, the government announced the policy of Growth from Own Resources and this led to a break with the IMF and World Bank because the severe economic hardships being experienced by the country were partly blamed on their policies. The broken relationship removed the opportunity for World Bank and new donor support to the implementation of the 1984 Education Reform Implementation Project (ERIP) recommendations. 28 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

61 By the 1990s, with a backdrop of further economic declines, Zambia entered the 1990s with severe problems: Rising numbers of pupils and teachers; Less government money available for education; Education getting a smaller proportion of the reducing budget each year; Of the reducing total, primary education was also getting smaller; Salaries were absorbing almost all the funds allocated to education; and Access, quality, credibility and financing aspects of education had all suffered greatly. Kelly (1999) gives the following profile of public expenditure on education (PEE) in Zambia, from 1970 to 1994 in averages for five-year periods, in Table 5. The impact of the economic turndown is dramatic. Table 5: Public Expenditures on Education, Five-Year Intervals, from 1970 to 1994 Public Expenditure on Education (PEE) in Millions of Constant 1977 Kwachas 1970 to to to to to PEE as a Percentage of GDP PEE as a Percentage of Total Public Budget Expenditure on Primary Education as a Percentage of PEE Expenditure on Learning Materials as a Percentage of Recurrent Education Expenditure Source: Kelly (1999) In keeping with the 1996 policy, and recognition of the severe shortcomings and systemic weaknesses of primary schooling, the GRZ prioritized primary schooling and increased girls access and performance in schools above the other EFA goals. Within the 1996 policy, Basic Education was defined as meaning the first nine years of schooling, comprised of: Lower Basic: Grades 1 to 4; Middle Basic: Grades 5 to 7; and Upper Basic: Grades 8 to ECE falls under the Ministry of Local Government (MLG) and is not included within this Zambian definition of Basic Education. The GRZ was, and still is, dependent on external support, particularly for infrastructure development 14 and has striven, since the mid-1990s, to manage that support in a more coherent way so as to improve the efficiency of its use and its own information base and management control over the sub-sector. Much external support to education in the early 1990s was managed in ways that by-passed the Ministry or limited control and information flows as agencies worked 13 There remains an external examination at Grade 7, and a mix of school types in which many Grades 1 to 7 schools persist and there is significant movement of pupils to different schools at the beginning of Grade About 80% of capital expenditures and close to 25% of the overall budget (World Bank, 2001) Country Study Report Zambia September

62 with Provincial governments, or individual institutions, for example, so that the funds, and any technical assistance personnel were sited there. A senior official summed up the GRZ concerns at that time: The Government was not able to coordinate the variety of projects in the early 1990s, there was overlap, waste and conflicting demands on resources. To all intents and purposes agencies and their contracted TA ran these projects, not us. The MOE expressed these concerns in the 1996 policy and they resonated with those of agencies seeking to work more coherently with increasing Zambian management authority. This was the context for the negotiations that started in 1996 and resulted in BESSIP in Phase 1 of BESSIP ran from 1998 to December 2002 as an umbrella programme for coordinated support to the primary school sub-sector. Primary schooling is an explicit sector for development in the (Interim) PRSP of July 2000, which the GRZ prepared as part of the HIPC process. Within this infrastructure, access remains a priority as a pre-requisite for increasing enrolment, and quality and equity improvements remain explicit policy concerns. Other national policy statements provide a context for educational development including the important Cabinet-level National Gender Policy of March 2000, which mainstreams equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women. 15 Adult education is a recognized need in GRZ policy, and is also included in the PRSP, both to improve adult literacy and to support other programmes for individual and community development, including local skills-development training and health programmes. In the early 1990s, the adult education work under the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) attracted support from a number of agencies, including GTZ and DFID. External support decreased after 1996, as some of these agencies focused on primary schooling, or on the formal technical and vocational system. Agencies have stressed that, while it was possible to undertake discrete projects in these areas, the concerned ministries have not been able to respond to their intentions to work in a different form of partnership, in which much greater management responsibility is exercised by the Ministry. These agencies also made the point that the history of project support had done little to develop the capacity of the concerned ministries, and the evaluation confirms that analysis. In a series of ministerial pronouncements culminating in March 2002, the Minister of Education has declared basic education free of the main costs to parents (for books, stationery and examinations), made school uniform non-compulsory, and the MOE has directed funds to the Districts to support the recurrent costs of schooling. Schools were instructed not to levy fees. In 2002, the MOE and the cooperating partners engaged on a policy and planning exercise for Phase 2 of BESSIP. The planning was predicated on: closer working partnership between the GRZ and the external agencies; extended scope to cover all of the education sector, and integration of externally supported activities into the core programme of the MOE. Both adult education and ECE are addressed in the MOE s new strategic plan for 2002 to gives a lively report from the day this policy was adopted. 30 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

63 4.1.2 Organization and Decentralization The MOE has responsibility for all primary schooling, secondary schools, TTCs and universities. The Ministry of Science, Technology and Vocational Training (MSTVT) has responsibility for the technical and vocational sub-sectors with policies to develop apprenticeship and vocational training opportunities. The MCDSS has responsibilities for community-based adult education, including literacy, life skills and other community development priorities. MCDSS also leads on poverty-reduction strategies and monitoring. The MLG is responsible for registration and inspection of pre-school provision. In 1998, the GRZ designed and commenced a PSRP intended to rationalize posts and recruitment procedures across all the Ministries. The PSRP had a phased introduction, ministry by ministry, and has suffered some implementation delays. The, MOE was restructured in late Restructuring has produced more transparent appointments and a simplified structure in the MOE. The PSRP was a GRZ initiative but one which also resonated with concerns of external agencies as to the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector. Decentralization is an important part of the PSRP, driven by the GRZ policy to develop Districtlevel administration and political responsiveness. The decentralization strategy has rested on the creation of new Boards at District and at institutional levels (including for TTCs and schools). Boards are appointed by the Ministry and the intention is that the Boards will take increasing management responsibilities that currently rest with the central Ministry and its line officials. Provincial administrations, which were important centres of political and administrative responsibility, have much less importance after these changes. There are no Provincial Boards for example, although there are provincial roles in monitoring and auditing. At the time of this evaluation, decentralization of the MOE function was partial, many posts were unfilled and District and College Boards were publicly expressing their uncertainties about their new roles and responsibilities. This is recognized by the cooperating partner agencies, including DFID and Ireland Aid, which are providing support to training, organizational studies and production of guidelines Working with the NGOs and CBOs Primary schooling is provided in government schools and in CS. There are also smaller numbers of primary-level private schools and grant-aided schools. 97% of primary-level schools are government schools (1998 estimate) but the number of CS is reported to be rising rapidly. CS follow the model, common in much of Africa, of schools started and supported by the local community, providing for students who are unable to attend government schools. Many of the Zambian CS are linked to a church or faith-based centre, which catalyses and facilitates that support. The sub-sector has generated some innovative approaches to relevance and access, including flexible timetabling and relevant curriculum (Zambia Community Schools Secretariat, 2002). The CS system, which started as a way to provide cheap and flexible schooling for the poorest, has grown. There were only 38 such schools in the early 1990s and there were 1,335 registered CS in December The GRZ has taken an increasingly inclusive view of the Community Country Study Report Zambia September

64 School system over the period, encouraged by policy dialogue with external agencies that has stressed their contribution to increasing access and relevance. External agencies, particularly UNICEF, the Netherlands and CARE international, were instrumental in the formation and operational funding of the ZCSS, as a representative body. The MOE signed an MOU with the ZCSS in 2000 that provides support to registered CS in the form of teachers, textbooks and grants towards recurrent expenditures. Some CS have benefited from support as Micro-projects under the eponymous component of the MOF s Zambia Social Investment Fund (ZAMSIF) 16. The MOE appointed a community school focal point person in the nine provinces and appointed the Chief Inspector of Schools as the National Focal Point Person for CS within the Ministry Policy and action has therefore started to cover the CS sub-sector, and to recognize its role in providing equitable access. There are, however, voices in the CS network that express concern about the hand of the MOE: The risk in transforming these centers to public schools is that some aspects that attract out-of-school learners, such as flexible calendars, alternative curricula, childcentered and interactive teaching, may be lost (Wrightson 2001). A similar caution is sounded by a parent at Mchini Community School in Zambia s Eastern Province: Government schools have already failed us. We prefer community schools... We would not want the government to take over our school because they would demolish everything the community has set up. If the government follows the community rules, they could get involved, but only if they do not charge fees and introduce uniforms. The community school needs to stay because it accepts all children (Cashen et al., 2001, p. 17, quoted in USAID, 2002). Other voices, including DFID, raise another concern about the way the CS are being addressed by the MOE, namely that they will remain as a parallel, inferior provision, and thus systematize differential provision of education for poor children NGOs Role in Education Policy The evaluation team had discussions with representatives of NGOs, other Civil Society Organizations and faith groups, those involved in the CS network. These organizations reveal some frustration on their role in policy-making. While they are often invited to the table, they repeatedly expressed the feeling that their involvement in discussions with government occurred too late in the process for their views to be incorporated in plans. They suggested that they were asked to consider decisions that already been taken for which only their buy-in or rubberstamp was required. Several suggested that the invitation was at the instigation of the external agencies, or in response to their needs for wider participation and consultations on policy. NGOs indicated that they are increasingly in competition with each other and that advocacy in the policy arena attracts more support than their traditional field activities. Several agencies expressed a feeling that support from external agencies is much less accessible because more money and attention is routed to the government. The combined effects of programme support to BESSIP and decentralization seem to have increased these feelings of marginalization. There are now concrete efforts on the part of the GRZ to involve local NGOs more actively in policy dialogue. The GRZ recognizes their role and importance, perhaps to a greater degree than by the NGOs themselves. For example, they are invited to send representatives to the Strategic 16 ZAMSIF encourages partnerships and activities for poverty reduction. ( 32 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

65 Planning processes, though the NGOs argue that the invitations are often late and that they are disadvantaged compared to others involved, as the papers and background information arrive often too late for them to prepare for these meetings. However, the emergence of a number of stronger organizations, with a representative and advocacy role, such as People s Action Forum (PAF), the ZCSS and the Forum of African Women Educationalists of Zambia (FAWEZA) suggest a changing set of relationships within the NGO community, rather than neglect. Some NGOs have poor strategic planning and lack meaningful communication with the MOE and this may contribute to their feelings of under involvement, but perhaps these NGOs need to reconsider their aims, strategies and representative structures so that they can bring value to the policy discussion. The NGOs have taken steps, with some financial and strategic support from external agencies, to develop their capacity to join the policy dialogue. Zambian education NGOs have formed the Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) as an umbrella organization able to represent the NGOs and coordinate their approach to the policy table. Of course the NGO sector does not have a single voice and those involved may need to accept a greater degree of internal coordination, public accountability and compromise as a consequence of greater involvement with the GRZ. This would be a questionable trade-off of their independence for some. 4.2 Basic Education Receiving External Support: Practices This section considers to what extent and in what ways external support has been integrated at the operational level of basic education, including: What has been the changing effect of external support on practice at Provincial and District level? How have practices evolved in the procurement of goods and services such as buildings, textbooks and consultants services? What have been the main issues in implementation and coordination arising from BESSIP s partial embedding in the MOE? BESSIP A Vehicle to Integrate External Support The GRZ s concerns to exercise proper control and management overview converged with the policies of the external agencies from the mid-1990s. The GRZ sought to develop new agreements based on a sector-wide scope, joint monitoring and steps towards budget support (maybe with sub-sectoral earmarking) as the preferred funding modality. The World Bank, which was preparing a loan at that time, along with some of the important bilateral partner agencies, worked with the GRZ and progressed an ESIP in 1996/1997 The external agencies expressed general concerns about the capacity of government to manage the accounting, auditing and reporting demands of a joint programme, using MOE line personnel as much as possible: the GRZ recognized these as legitimate concerns. There were also management complexities for MOE as it has incomplete responsibility over the education sector as one of four ministries involved. Technical and vocational education, for example, falls outside its purview but was a development priority. Country Study Report Zambia September

66 The compromise was to proceed with two programmes: BESSIP within the MOE and a Technical Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme (TESSIP) that was progressed through the MSTVT, with external support from GTZ and others. The total programme cost was US$340 million for the period of 1999 to 2002, of which the GRZ share was US$167 million to cover personal emoluments, recurrent costs and a small contribution to the materials and infrastructure. An IDA loan for US$40 million left US$133 million to be covered by other external funding sources. BESSIP cost estimates do not include teachers salaries (World Bank, 1999). Figure 1 shows the GRZ s spending on education over the BESSIP period, and the increase of committed external financial support. The low external funding for 1998 reflects BESSIP s startup and the failure of the MOE or MOF to capture some external spending. Figure 1: MOE Spending on Education (US$ at Constant 2001 Pricing) MOE EXPENDITURE (AT CONSTANT PRICES) US$ millions MOE - External aid MOE - Domestic 0 Actual Actual Actual Actual Estimate Source: Ministry of Education The 2001 UNDP Development Report indicated that, for each year from 1995 to 1997, education received on average of just 7.1% of the total Government budget but, of course, the GRZ budget was dominated by the costs of debt servicing. Of the disposable budget, i.e., after paying for debt servicing, the allocation to education was 13.2% in 1996, rising to 15.4% in 2000 and again to 19.5% in 2001 (the latter figure including for the first time the extra funds received for debt relief under the HIPC). The PRSP includes a commitment to increase this to 20%. UNESCO (2002a), using World Bank data, cites education spending as 12.3% of Government spending. The difference arises from different definition of Basic Education. This compares unfavourably to other countries, based on the same data, such as: Uganda (30.1%); Kenya (26.2%) and Malawi (19.8%). The percentage of the education budget allocated to basic education has increased steadily, from 44.8% in 1996 to 58.9% in 2000 according to the MOE s Strategic Planning Situation Report. (UNESCO (2002a) gives this as 43.2%, which is comparable with neighbouring countries.) Government spending on education is less than 3% of GDP. Figure 2 shows the change over the BESSIP period according to MOE data UNESCO (2002a) quotes the percentage of GDP spent on 34 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

67 education as 2.3%, with 1% going to primary education. This compares to other sub-saharan African countries: Uganda (3.2% and 1.7% respectively); Kenya (6.3% and 2.8%); Mozambique (2.0% and 1.0%). Figure 2: MOE Spending on Education as a Percentage of GDP, 1998 to 2002 MOE EXPENDITURE AS PERCENTAGE OF GDP Percentage MOE - Domestic MOE - External aid 0.0 Actual Actual Actual Actual Estimate Source: Ministry of Education To rationalize the funding modalities and accounting procedures, the MOE has defined and implemented the four Cases (see above 3.2.), and required each cooperating partner to choose how far up the ladder it would go. By 2002, the end of the first phase of BESSIP, the activities were financed as follows: GRZ capital contribution for desks, books, materials, recurrent contribution and personnel emoluments; Bilateral funds deposited into the pool for the financing of already approved activities identified from the Annual Work Plan (Case 1: DFID, Norway, Netherlands, Finland, and Ireland); Bilateral funds earmarked for the financing of already approved activities and new priority activities identified from the Annual Work Plan (Case 2: Japan Community Volunteers, World Bank Education Sector Support Programme); Loans and Credits under the Control of the Ministry (Case 3: African Development Bank); and On-going projects financed by bilateral, multilateral and NGOs (Case 4: Japan, DFID, Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, Finland, Denmark and the US, EU, UNICEF, UNESCO, SC Norway) Management and Organization Headquarters As mentioned earlier, prior to BESSIP the organization of external support was outside the line MOE structures. Projects were identified and designed by different agencies in consultation with the MOE, but, according to both sides, there was little strategic input by the MOE. Financing agreements were made with the MOF and implementation managed, typically, in project offices, often with an international consultant taking a lead management role. The administrative and logistical location of projects in Provinces further attenuated communication with MOE Country Study Report Zambia September

68 headquarters. BESSIP can be seen as the GRZ s attempt to empower the MOE with a coherent and complete overview of the sub-sector, and its management organization reflects that aim. BESSIP consists of eight components: infrastructure; teacher development deployment and compensation; education materials; equity and gender; health and nutrition; school curriculum; capacity building and decentralization; and HIV/AIDS education. There is also a component line covering programme management. Each has a Component Manager and together they form the Management Implementation Team for BESSIP. These senior BESSIP personnel were located within the MOE buildings either at headquarters or its professional centres, and, although they were working outside the MOE line structures for planning, management and finance, the staff were drawn on secondment or parallel postings from experienced MOE staff. BESSIP thus tackled the risk of poor communication and coordination with line personnel in the Ministry. It also benefited from strong support from the highest levels in the MOE and good working relationships of senior personnel, within the MOE and within BESSIP structure. During Phase 1 staff have been promoted from within BESSIP to senior Ministry positions, including from BESSIP Coordinator to Permanent Secretary. In its next phase of implementation, under the sector plan, BESSIP (if the name is to continue) will be integrated into the MOE s core programme and structures. The MOE s financial management capacity attracted the most concern from external agencies during the formation of BESSIP. To address this, the financial procedures for BESSIP were organized separately from the MOE s line financial function, and supported by TA consultants. However, physical proximity, and a strategic commitment in BESSIP to follow MOE practices and procedures for procurement and payments has helped to avoid the differences and jealousies that was previously a characteristic of the relationship between line agencies staff and project staff. So, for example, BESSIP uses MOE standard rates for attendance and travel allowances and avoid the inconsistency and inflation of allowances that can occur if projects compete for the attendance of teachers. However, the evaluation found some Case 4 projects (i.e., those that are externally managed) under the BESSIP umbrella that still offer inflated daily allowances to teachers to ensure their attendance at workshops and courses. Respondents noted that this distorts expectations and the willingness of staff to attend professional meetings. BESSIP accounts are audited annually by the Auditor General. The partnership between the GRZ and the cooperating partners is operationalized in the BESSIP mechanisms for management, accounting and review. These are discussed further in Section Decentralized Management and Organization The GRZ and its external partners considered decentralization to be particularly important for improving the local management of educational provision. The model of Decentralization empowers the Districts as budgetary centres and administrative centres, and introduces institutional management of schools. The process, which is ongoing, has sought to strengthen the District administrations and provide policy, planning and monitoring functions through appointed Boards. While this a familiar term in the educational management structures of other countries Britain and the United States it is unfamiliar in Zambia. 36 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

69 However, decentralization has proceeded quickly and with serious teething problems as new bodies and posts seek to ascertain the real scope of their authority. District Office administrations are having to build their capacity for their new roles, and Boards are seeking to clarify the details of their responsibilities over areas as complex and critical as Human Resource management procedures. The Boards, when asked about their roles, responsibilities and reporting lines revealed that they were extremely unclear, and felt ill-prepared to exercise the powers that have been devolved to them. Lecturers in TTCs expressed real concerns about the TTC Boards authority to hire and fire, and promote staff. District-level officials confirm that decentralization has exposed weaknesses in their capacity, highlighting a range of areas such as planning, procurement and management of goods and services, and monitoring schools. School monitoring is threatened by lack of transport or operational funds, and has become more important as schools start to receive grants and take responsibility for the utilization of funds. District finances have inherited an enormous backlog of repatriation payments owed to retired teachers, or the families of deceased teachers. Districts also now have to pay subsistence allowances and settling-in allowances for new or transferred teachers. This contributes to an ongoing revenue shortfall. Districts are provided with limited operational funds for their work. The evaluation team saw Districts that were unable to pay their electricity bills, and in which the accumulated debts (of about 400,000,000 Kwacha) are about 30 times the monthly grant from central Government. Districts do not have any fund-raising capacity for example through local taxation so that decentralization seems to lack the financial base to match the aims. It is widely accepted that the District administrations lack the capacity they need for the functions for which they are responsible, and which are central to the arguments for decentralization. There is insufficient transport and operational funding to make inspection visits to schools, for example, and the Districts have very little experience of procurement. These weaknesses have been recognized and external agencies have developed technical assistance packages to provide organizational analysis and training in accounting, procurement, planning and administration for District- and Provincial-level officers. However, these agencies have noted that the real delegation of authority downward through the system seems limited. Appointments are made by the MOE and approved by the MLG and can be very slow. Guidelines and mandates are not adequately distributed, so that people lower in the system do not know what is happening or what the rules of the game are. Local education boards need funding to function and this has not been provided as the provincial levels are resisting the devolution of more powers to Districts. Decentralization has reduced the Provincial role in education, so that all that remains is a monitoring and evaluation function and some levels of procurement. For school finances, only the disbursement information goes to the provincial office. Despite these teething troubles, the Districts are slowly developing practices and structures for decentralized procurement, accountability and reporting. Building works under BESSIP (and some of the legacy and NGO infrastructure projects) use District personnel for procurement and supervision of new works and staff recognize that supervision is not adequate and are looking at how they can improve Access A shortage of classrooms in established schools, and of accessible schools in rural areas, is taken as the most important barrier to increasing equitable access (the consequent overcrowding, and Country Study Report Zambia September

70 double-shift organization raise quality concerns as well). Historically investments in infrastructure have been undertaken by many agencies, with the local communities leading the initiative in the early 1990s, and tapping into support, in funds or in kind, from local and international NGOs, faith-based groups, components of provincial projects of external agencies, and community micro-projects initiatives. Planning and selection of schools was ad hoc and the evaluation team was told of schools that had benefited from repeated investments by different agencies, and that infrastructure developments were often undertaken in the most accessible areas to ensure quick and visible impact. BESSIP sought to improve the planning and equitable impact of infrastructure development including a national school mapping exercise, building on externally supported pilot school mapping undertaken by the GTZ. Rural needs were reflected in the provision of teacher housing and the possibility of classrooms designed for multigrade teaching though this remains unusual. Community support for infrastructure development was seen in the design not simply as a way to mobilize resources but also as a measure of local need and demand. The vehicle chosen for mobilizing community activity was the MOF s Micro-projects Unit (MPU). Recognizing the concerns of external agencies as to the capacity to monitor and supervise locally procured building works, the BESSIP agreements include the strengthening of MOE s architecture and supervisory staff, and the provision of technical assistance for management and supervision of Civil Works. The capacity at District and school level to supervise civil works remains a weakness and it is clear that some new school buildings are below standard. An interesting approach to access is the distance learning by providing centres, staff and broadcast radio lessons, in the Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) project, supported by USAID since This was conceived originally by an American consulting company, drawing on experiences in other countries, and championed in Zambia by the broadcasting authorities, not the MOE. However, it has proved a practical way to offer basic education in the most remote communities Equity Equity of access and treatment was addressed in the design of a BESSIP component for Equity and Gender and establishment of a focal person in the Ministry. BESSIP took under its coordinating umbrella ongoing work of UNICEF s PAGE with the intention of expanding this programme to scale as the MOE s main action for improving gender equity. Enrolment data supports an argument that identifies poverty and rural-urban differences as the roots of inequitable access and performance (Mumba et al., 1998). The GRZ has also piloted a bursary scheme for the poorest children with external support from agencies including the EU, which is implemented through the MCDSS The impact of the scheme has yet to be seen and will need to be reviewed in the context of the free education polices now in place. Zambia has ad hoc provision for children with special educational needs. In the early 1990s, external agencies, specialist NGOs and faith-based organization supported centres and training programmes for children with particular needs. In keeping with international trends, the GRZ has committed to inclusive education and its Inclusive Schooling Programme (INSPRO) has been implemented under the BESSIP umbrella. 38 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

71 4.2.6 Quality: Teacher Education Teacher education has been a focus of external support, as a route to quality improvement, to support new curriculum materials and practices and to maintain the supply of teachers needed. The organization of professional development still reflects earlier divisions into projects that separated pre-service and in-service teacher education. Although these two functions are now combined under TED component of BESSIP, the Component Manager of TED still acknowledges that there are professional rivalries and separated professional networks between the two groups of people involved in those separate projects some four years previously. So, for example, the pre-service TTCs remain relatively uninvolved in providing in-service professional development. The period since 1990 has seen changes in the pre-service training system, with joint attempts to develop a system able to provide for system expansion and reducing pupil-teacher ratios and to counter attrition due to AIDS and losses of trained teachers to other countries and/or the private sector. The number of teachers in Lower and Middle Basic government schools fell from about 40,000 in 1996 to approximately 33,000 in 2001 (Annex 2, Table 23), with resulting deterioration of the pupil-teacher ratios, especially in rural areas. The decline has been in the number of male teachers, with the result that the number of male to female teachers equalized. The shortfall is estimated as 2,000 teachers at current enrolment levels which has focused attention on the preparation of teachers (i.e., pre-service training). It should be noted that this is a shortfall of trained teachers and that the MOE has actively pursued a policy to minimize the employment of untrained teachers to government schools. The traditional structure of pre-service preparation for teachers was a two-year course in TTC leading to a teaching certificate. About 98% of the teachers in post possess that certificate or a similar qualification. The MOE was working on a structure of pre-service education in the mid- 1990s at a time when Danida, one of the external agencies that has a history of support for Teacher Training, was providing support to the TTCs. A pre-service training model was developed, consisting of one year of academic study followed by one year of school-based practicum during which those students live and work outside the college, leaving space for the next year s students to start. This has effectively doubled the capacity of the system (because its output is defined by the availability of student accommodation at TTCs). The resulting Zambia Teacher Education Course (ZATEC) has been institutionalized with significant support under BESSIP from Danida for refurbishing the TTCs, for staff development for TTC tutors and for mentoring teachers in schools that host second-year students. The practicum year of the ZATEC course has, as a matter of policy, been used to deploy the students to rural schools, which many students find extremely difficult. The opportunities for follow-up during the second year are limited, by lack of staff time and transportation. Second-year students on placement felt that they received too little professional support. Delays of up to a year in appointing newly qualified teachers give the opportunity and a reason for them to seek alternative employment, with many seeking to move to neighbouring countries or to the private sector in Zambia. College respondents estimate that up to 20% of their trainees do not continue into the teaching profession in government schools in Zambia. The evaluation team is not aware of any tracer studies on young teachers to verify this. Country Study Report Zambia September

72 ZATEC is a radical change to the traditional approach to teacher preparation and qualification based on the sound principle of mixing theory and practical experiences. However, it is widely criticized by education professionals, including TTC staff, for trading the potential benefits of that mix for the supply of cheap (and acquiescent) staff to rural schools. The evaluation team was struck by the fact that TTC principals and tutors did not feel that they had a channel to voice such concerns or their proposals to address them and concluded that they do not own ZATEC in the way that might be expected of the main professional actors. In other countries, in-service professional development is frequently undertaken in ad hoc ways driven by the short-term needs of traditional projects and interventions to disseminate information or orientate teachers to a curriculum innovation. It is an area in which lack of coordination between projects was identified as causing an imbalance of professional development opportunities and sometimes, an excessive demand for teachers to attend workshops and training sessions. Zambia has benefited from externally supported actions to develop structures for planning and delivering in-service professional development for teachers. DFID s Action to Improve English, Mathematics and Science (AIEMS) started in 1993 with the explicit output of an effective decentralized system for in-service teacher development that is sustainable, well managed and equitable (DFID, 1997a, 1997b). The 2000 output-to-purpose review (DFID, 2000) notes that in the area of basic education the project has, from its early days, focused more on the general teaching skills and the development of a system of in-service provision rather than specific aspects of teaching English, Mathematics and Science. AIEMS was an established project when it came under the BESSIP umbrella and its achievements taken into the system. These include the institution of a network of zonal schools as centres for in-service support and an accessible link between schools and the Teachers Resource Centres. AIEMS also helped the MOE to institutionalize in-service under the School Programme of In-service for the Term (SPRINT). This has now become the framework for planning and delivering in-service training, and for making the important shift that has institutionalized ongoing professional support and development in school development planning. The evaluation team observed groups of teachers engaged in valid in-school professional development activities during the field visits. Provincial Resource Centres were established in 1996 and, since 1999, these are being funded by the government. The staff at the Provincial Resource Centres that the evaluation team visited indicated that the equipment was falling into disrepair, particularly computers and photocopiers. The main use of these centres is as a site for in-service workshops or short courses. They are also meant to assist individual teachers with resources, teaching and learning materials. There was little collaboration or cooperation with the TTC s and the biggest utilization was by private teachers. District Resource Centres were established under separate funding. BESSIP remains committed to the use of Resource Centres and expanding the zonal level networks under current plans. The PAGE, and the PRP are typical of current projects under BESSIP that have undertaken specific in-service work to support new practices. These programmes provide workshops, inschool sessions, and follow-up activities. In schools, the team found typically that the head teacher and three or four teachers (out of about 12 to 20) had attended a professional development session over the previous two years. Some professional development programmes are predicated 40 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

73 on the ability of teachers to disseminate their training in their own school. The success of this is compromised because the workshops and training opportunities are seen as sources of status and income from the travel and daily allowances. In Zambia, as in many other countries, teachers and other public servants have developed a rent-seeking approach to professional activities. As noted above, BESSIP has worked to standardize allowances, but some agencies have raised teachers expectations by increasing the allowances above GRZ norms, so as to improve attendance at their courses. Head teachers received specific in-service support over the evaluation period, particularly to work with their local communities to encourage participation and girls enrolments. However, school management has not been trained and empowered to make the most effective and efficient use of resources, including staff and classrooms. It is not clear that teaching staff are optimally utilized in the organization of shift systems, and, even though head teachers have an operational budget to support free education, they have received little or no training or guidance to use it properly Quality: Curriculum and Materials The curriculum for Basic Education was stable during the early 1990s but considered in need of rationalization following the 1996 Educating our Future policy. The BESSIP design includes a plan to renew the curriculum framework on the basis of widespread participation and consultation, and a more scientific process for linking syllabus and materials to the curriculum framework. Curriculum redesign has focused on core skills of numeracy and literacy and ways to allow some flexibility for teachers to adapt the curriculum to local contexts and needs. External support has been provided to facilitate the consultations, which contrast to earlier models of centralized curriculum development by the experts. Similarly, the first copy of the framework document was printed in sufficient copies to distribute to all teachers. The processes are proceeding towards the production of syllabuses and the generation of suitable textbooks. The provision of textbooks has been problematic and subject to almost constant review. The same consultant that the EU fielded in 1990 to advise on textbook generation, procurement and distribution was back in Zambia in 2002, advising on the same issues for textbooks to support the new curriculum. External support in the period has financed the development of schoolbooks, for specific projects or topics, and periodic purchases of batches of books. BESSIP sought both to improve the supply of books for rural schools and, in the medium term, to develop decentralized systems for procurement. However, progress has been slow in both these aims, and discussions with stakeholders, including publishers, suggest that fundamental challenges remain and are compounded because external support has not fostered the conditions for a local publishing and distribution industry to develop. Textbook procurement in traditional projects was usually a oneoff activity, funded as development expenditure, and this model persists. Such big-bang purchases generate intense competition and expose the procurement bodies to unwelcome pressures. They play to strengths of large international publishers at the expense of the local industry. Since the announcement of free education, which means that charging Parent-teacher Association (PTA) fees has been outlawed, schools have been receiving block grants, known as BESSIP grants for consumable teaching and learning materials and stationery. The grant started as a constant amount for each school, but has been adjusted into two bands related to school enrolment, but not calculated on a simple capitation basis. There are guidelines on how the grant Country Study Report Zambia September

74 can and cannot be spent, although one head teacher spoke of special resolutions by the PTA to use the grant to, for example, increase the security measures needed in his urban school. It is too early to see how the use of these block grants empowers schools to address their needs but there is some evidence, reported by head teachers, of the concept of free schooling being enthusiastically adopted by parents to the extent that it has displaced more parental contributions (in cash or kind) than it can ever replace Adult Literacy In the early 1990s there were adult literacy programmes alongside other adult education initiatives with significant support (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway; GTZ; DFID; UNESCO). There is very little externally supported Adult Education happening now. The Adult Education Association (an umbrella NGO representing Adult Education practitioners and providing training and support) suggested that external agencies had shifted their priorities but that those of their members who are Adult Literacy specialists are now working increasingly alongside other types of agencies to integrate literacy training into work on Community Development or AIDS awareness for example (e.g. People s Action Forum, 2002) Early Childhood Education The shift of external support away from ECE is similar. In the early 1990s, UNICEF, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Norway) and Oxfam were providing inputs to help those involved in pre-school provision. So, for example there were scholarships for ECE specialists to attend courses at UNZA and other countries. This support has mostly dried up, and pre-school education is now mainly the preserve of the private sector, essentially as a provider of child minding for working parents. Regulation and control of pre-school provision, which is the responsibility of the MLG, is described as cursory. The evaluation found that discussions of ECE exposed important differences in the visions of different actors. Respondents from the Pre-School Association, which has helped to provide pupil and teacher material in the past, described formal scenarios, redolent of a teacher-centred academic school, using a rather similar curriculum. This seems at odds with the vision of a structured play and an agenda of personal and social empowerment for young people, described by other respondents. Many respondents expressed a view that the priority for pre-school children in Zambia is for health and mental development in Health, Nutrition and Poverty initiatives. The MOE s Strategic Plan for 2003 to 2007 (MOE, 2002j) indicates that it intends to take a more pro-active approach to ECE, working with the MLG and relevant NGOs and community organizations HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS is a major threat to future development. Estimates are that 40% of teachers are affected 17 and the impact on children from affected families is immeasurable 18. In some of the schools visited, approximately 30% of students were orphans. 17 We use the term affected to include those who are themselves infected or who have to care for infected relatives. 18 These estimates are very difficult to verify, the self-reporting is extremely unreliable. Some respondents were critical of this figure, others said it was a good estimate. The national infection rate is about 20% (UNAIDS, 2002) and it is acknowledged that teachers have a higher rate of infection. 42 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

75 Zambia was slower than some other seriously affected countries in responding to the threat of HIV/AIDS. A Government request in 1994 for HIV/AIDS to be included in a World Bank Health project loan was, reportedly, turned down on the basis that it would fit better in the next country programming round 19. The stigma and sensitivities of dealing with HIV/AIDS remain very strong in Zambia, so for example, public advertising and promotion of condoms is restrained compared to other countries. Teachers suggested that they are extremely embarrassed to deal with HIV/AIDS with young children. Despite the availability of posters and materials there were none seen in the schools visited. The BESSIP Mid-Term Evaluation (Robins Consultants, 2002) notes that the strategy has a missing link inasmuch as parents and community leaders remain misinformed, although they are the main source of information for young people. And, of course, some parents simply do not want teachers to discuss sexuality with their children. Parents have their concerns about the incidence of sexual abuse that is reported in schools and the report suggests that some parents accuse teachers of infecting the very children that they are entrusted to educate. This evaluation is not in a position to estimate the extent to which such attitudes are held or are justified, although Human Rights Watch (2002, p. 49) also identifies sexual abuse of girls, in schools and elsewhere, as a factor contributing to their higher rates of infection. HIV/AIDS also discriminates against girls, who may be withdrawn from school to look after sick relatives. One aspect of the crisis that is somewhat masked is the system s ability to cope with teachers who are ill. Officials are convinced that there is under-reporting of illness, which would be expected, but report anecdotally on the problems for establishments in which teachers have to be frequently absent, or are so unwell as to be unable to work satisfactorily. BESSIP has an HIV/AIDS component, although it was introduced 18 months after the original design, and the MOE has undertaken a number of consciousness-raising exercises, including printing posters and leaflets for schools, distributing T-shirt, and training (MOE 2002e). MOE has now negotiated condom distribution with Ministry of Health to all District and Provincial education offices, the Ministry headquarters and to all Teachers Resource Centres and Colleges of Education. However, HIV/AIDS does not seem to have been adequately prioritized and acted upon as a cross-cutting issue in recent years. For example, the curriculum for ZATEC, which was developed in 1998, does not address HIV/AIDS either as a topic of concern for the young trainee teachers themselves or as something with which they will be expected to help their pupils to understand and cope. The TTCs that the evaluation team visited in late 2002 did not provide access to condoms for their students, although the MOE has made provision to do so. Indeed the MOE is developing its role in raising awareness, disseminating information about AIDS. The MOE has also established partnerships with the Ministry of Health and with NGOs to extend its scope and capacity to address HIV/AIDS. The Curriculum Framework Document (CFD) (Curriculum Development Centre, 2002) does recognize HIV/AIDS as a cross-cutting curriculum concern, but the syllabus documents and textbooks based on this CFD are still in the course of production and have yet to reach the students. However, Human Rights Watch (2002, p. 48) is critical of the lack of coverage in the existing curriculum, for Basic and Secondary Education. 19 The World Bank acknowledges that its decisions contributed to a delayed response to AIDS in Zambia (World Bank, 2002) Country Study Report Zambia September

76 The priority and budget for HIV/AIDS has increased in the Strategic Plan, and it includes strategies for addressing the needs of schools coping with the illness and death of teachers Information Support Collecting information about the system has been problematic in Zambia. In the early 1990s the Ministry lacked the capacity or systems to consolidate national data reliably and externally assisted initiatives provided only piecemeal solutions. Under BESSIP, with its expectations that system-wide data would inform the annual reviews and trigger the release of external funds, the quality of data became a central concern of the MOE and the external agencies. The development of an Education Management Information System (EMIS) was identified as one of the components that might be undertaken by USAID with traditional project management and funding modalities. The start of the project was delayed, for administrative reasons, although USAID provided some TA consultants to undertake groundwork. The project involved the installation of a commercial database and reporting application, Ed- Assist. There has been a new design of a form for schools to complete and the project has provided staffing and organization for the data-preparation and coding from that form to the database. The result is that the standard reports on indicators are now available in time and in an easy-to-read form for the annual reviews: the data for the 2000 and 2001 is in the Ed-Assist format, and literally available at the touch of a button. However, Ed-Assist is less well suited to providing raw data for further analysis, a factor, along with issues of sustainability, support and commercial pricing, and attracts some criticism from information and statistics experts in Zambia. The system is reliant on self-reporting by schools and, in the first phase of implementation, there is no validation of reporting, for example by District officials. The real concern, expressed by local officials and reflected in the BESSIP Mid-Term Evaluation (Robins Consultants, 2002) is that school record-keeping is haphazard: Inventory records were not in place, financial record-keeping was inadequate.and while the information on performance at Grade 7 and 9 were available it was not aggregated in ways that allow schools to monitor performance. The weakness of school record-keeping is acknowledged by officials and undermines the reliability of information available for District planning and supervision, as well as for systemic evaluation. Access to documentary information is as difficult in Zambia as it is in many other countries. The Ministry is improving access to electronic copies through increasing computerization but the evaluation team struggled to get hard or soft copies of key, current documents. The situation may be improved by the plans to equip, stock and manage a Documentation Centre for the MOE and its partners. It will be enormously helpful if this can provide an organized library or archive of documents, including in electronic form, but it will require the cooperation of the external agencies and expert staff resources to organize such a collection of materials. 44 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

77 Children s Rights The GRZ and external agencies have expressed their concerns for the rights agenda. Zambia is a signatory of the CRC and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and both are cited in the new Basic School Curriculum Framework as pillars of policy. Discussions with officials in GRZ, UNICEF and SC (Norway) indicate the importance that is attached to child-protection, and support to orphans and vulnerable children, particularly those affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. For most actors the issue was synonymous with protecting children in these groups from exploitation in unsuitable work, and facilitating them to attend school (SC Norway, 2002). The evaluation team found no evidence of attempts to involve primary school children in the decision-making that affects them, during the strategic planning process for example. Studies and reports sometimes seek children s views but rarely afford the time, privacy and opportunities to develop a meaningful exchange, and this evaluation team was only able to conduct superficial interviews with children. The exception has, not surprisingly, been UNICEF, which has developed children s rights clubs and included children s voices in important studies. Representatives of SC, Norway discussed their attempts to sensitise parents, teachers, and head teachers on children s rights so as to involve children in some of the decision-making that affects them. They highlighted the tension between children s rights and some of the dominant cultural attitudes. Corporal punishment is still legal and practised in Zambia and children spoke to the evaluation team of frequent verbal abuse and intimidation. The evaluation found that very few of the classrooms observed were child-friendly, with the exception of those that had benefited from external support that emphasized this aspect of classroom organization and relationships. Sexual abuse of children by teachers is reported in newspapers and confirmed anecdotally. 4.3 Basic Education Receiving External Support: Results and Consequences This section considers the results and consequences of external support to basic education, with specific questions including: What have been the changes in the demands made on decentralized bodies, including Districts and their capacity to undertake new tasks? How effective have been the initiatives for HIV/AIDS in the curriculum, teacher education and awareness raising? Is the approach to the professional development and deployment of teachers likely to ensure sustainability of teacher-supply? Are the changes benefiting the poorest? Management The partnership of external partners and MOE during BESSIP has resulted directly in the development of capacities and structures within Zambia that are better placed to plan, manage Country Study Report Zambia September

78 and monitor the education system. The Strategic Planning process that has been the backdrop to the evaluation work is an example, as one respondent noted: Before this, the MOE did not plan; it produced shopping lists. We now have a plan, cost scenarios, and implementation strategy. In terms of management, the process demonstrates very significant institutional strengthening within the MOE, and the other stakeholders. The evaluation team recognizes the following as indicators of the new capacity of the MOE: Strategic Planning, in both the processes and the outputs when compared with earlier approaches to system management; Using systemic data, and recognizing the issues of its reliability; Financial planning and programme costing undertaken within the MOE, albeit with some expertise supplied by agencies to match external requirements; District officials bringing local information and priorities to the planning processes; and Formal mechanisms for wider consultation on the plans, with NGOs, other CBOs and the community. At the practical level it also shows the MOE able to organize the planning processes, by preparing the documents, meetings, travel, procurement of consulting services and so on. These are important tasks and ones that test administrative capacity. And while this management and administrative burden has fallen disproportionately on too few people, the MOE is developing a culture in which it seeks to do these things properly, efficiently and internally Access Annex 2 Table 14 shows that from 1990 to 1998, Zambia experienced flat primary school enrolment in government primary schools, while the school age population was growing. Annex 2, Table 15 shows how the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) seems to have fallen from about 85% in 1996 to 81% in Figure 3 illustrates the stagnant and slightly falling enrolment ratios. Figure 3: Enrolment Ratios, 1996 to 2001 Percentage Year GER NER Source: Ministry of Education. 46 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

79 Figure 4: Total Enrolment (Grades 1 to 7) TOTAL ENROLMENT (GRADES 1 to 7) Male Female Total Male Female Total Source: Ministry of Education, with estimates from Zambia Community Schools Secretariat The enrolment changes since 1996 are shown in Figure 4. These data include estimates of pupils in CS (which rose from about 6,500 in 1996 to 150,000 in 2001). The growth of enrolment in government primary schools (from about 1,550,000 to 1,630,000) over the period is about 5%. Enrolment and intake ratios are problematic because of uncertainties about population estimates and the need to recalculate ratios using an agreed assumption about the 2000 census results and a formula for interpolating and extrapolating from that population. GIR and Net Intake Ratio (NIR) data (Annex 2, Tables 13 and 14) show similar stagnation while highlighting the wide age-range of students when they enter schooling. It is anticipated that the free-schooling announcement, and grants to support the marginal recurrent costs, will encourage enrolment of the poorest children. Registers at the schools that the evaluation visited indicate that this effect may be significant, although the early part of the new school year immediately following the announcement is likely to give an optimistic picture of enrolments. The changes in a peri-urban school in Livingstone are shown in Table 6. A similar pattern was reported in other schools visited by the evaluation team. While it is too early to reach conclusions, it is a reasonable hypothesis that there are increasing numbers of children of poorer families who were previously not in school, and that the recent changes are reaching out to poorer children. Country Study Report Zambia September

80 Table 6: Enrolments in a Livingstone School Change Grade % Grade % Grade % Grade % Grade % Grade % Grade % Over the BESSIP period, the number of classrooms has increased by about 2,000 (in a national stock of about 25,000). Moreover the systems for mapping, planning, tendering and supervising infrastructure developments needed to improve access have been decentralized and strengthened. The MOE s recognition of the Community School sub-sector, and the milestone MOU to provide support to such schools has stimulated growth in the number of CS and their outreach to marginalized children. It increases the system s ability to serve the most hard-to-reach children with flexible and relevant provision Quality While the system-wide enrolment data has yet to show significant changes from the development activities over the last half of the evaluation period, there is field evidence that the inputs to support quality have begun to make a difference in schools, at least at the level of minimum facilities for learning such as furniture, books and other learning materials. The BESSIP Mid- Term Evaluation Report (based on field research in 15 districts of five provinces, including interviews with teachers and children) notes improvements to school infrastructure, the provision of new desks and, after a very slow start, the distribution of textbooks, posters and other teaching and learning materials. This evaluation team s observations and discussions with field-level officials confirm that cautiously positive view. However, the supply of teachers has been difficult, particularly for rural schools, which are unpopular postings. Figure 5 shows the declining number of teachers over the period of 1996 to The teacher data do not show the deployment of second-year students in the newly introduced pre-service ZATEC in which the whole of the second year is a practicum in schools with a full teaching load. ZATEC recruits about 4,000 students a year, making a significant contribution to the workforce. In Western Province, for example, officials currently estimate that they need 4,077 teachers to meet the existing needs of primary schools. Only 2,742 are available, leaving a shortfall of over 1,300 teachers. Teacher-to-pupil ratio data do not reflect the reality that is common in Zambia, of organizing the school day into two, and sometimes three, shifts. About 93% of the schools surveyed by the BESSIP Mid-Term Evaluation were organized by shifts. The shift system produces a shortened school day for students, and a number of organizational problems for schools. 48 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

81 Figure 5: Number of Teachers Male Female Total Source: Ministry of Education The biggest obstacles to improving the resource base in schools have been the procurement processes and the weak distribution and stock management systems. Procurement of textbooks, which has often simply meant the procurement of local printing of materials authored within the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC), involves some of the largest bids, and exposes the Government procurement system to some pressures from some of the potential bidders. There is a history of suspicious practices in the procurement of textbooks in the past, which has perhaps encouraged officials to be too cautious. It is accepted that procurement was a particular weakness of BESSIP at its beginning and that this delayed textbook procurement significantly. In the first three years of BESSIP, less than 10% of the target for book distribution to schools was reached. However, school observation confirms that textbook supply has improved, and continues to improve, and that typically students now have access to books at a ratio that is moving towards the target of three pupils sharing one book. The difficulties of validating book supply data is reflected in the fact that the BESSIP Mid-Term Evaluation quotes much worse ratios, from 3:1 up to the one book per class, and one book per school level in some other subjects. It is too early to assess the impact of the block grants for free schooling that have been distributed to cover recurrent costs, which were previously met from the parental contribution called PTA fee. One question is how the availability of funds at the school level stimulates a market and distribution system for school supplies. Urban and peri-urban schools have access to stationery shops that supply exercise books, pencils and consumable stationery, and there are systems for commercial distribution of materials such as exercise books and small stationery in Zambia. Officials and teachers believed that they would also be able to supply them textbooks if that market developed. Even some rural schools spoke of competing stationery shops offering to visit to take orders and subsequently deliver to schools. The evidence is of a nascent market in school stationery supplies that could offer some of the efficiencies and flexibility to respond to school needs. Country Study Report Zambia September

82 Field observation suggests that, despite the priority that the MOE and agencies attach to infrastructure, many classes are still in temporary structures, or in buildings in urgent need of renovation and repair. Infrastructure development has attracted significant support from BESSIP (with earmarked funding from Finland and JICA), from earlier projects, and from NGOs (including SC (Norway) and World Vision) but it is in most cases restricted to a one-off capital investment for new buildings and major renovations. However, routine maintenance is often neglected, which reflects not only the obvious shortage of recurrent funds but also a culture of reliance on the government for anything to do with buildings. Similarly, nearly all the schools that the evaluation team visited suffered a shortage of furniture and lacked the resources to repair broken furniture: supplies of new furniture had been too slow. Furniture is meant to be purchased by Districts, with financing provided by the MOE. Figure 6: Literacy Class Near Lusaka Districts do receive school renovation maintenance grants but there is no evidence of a planned approach to maintenance of facilities or provision of furniture. The approach, reflecting what used to happen with externally funded projects perhaps, is to choose a small number of schools to receive a full package of refurbishment and renovation. Schools needing smaller repairs and preventative maintenance, however, as necessary as it might be, must wait their turn. The evaluation team was able to observe the influence of several externally supported initiatives and their impact on Zambian teaching practice. The PRP grew from a former project Breakthrough to Literacy which began in the mid-1990s, supported by DFID and Ireland Aid. PRP, now funded entirely by DFID, but with a complete shift in management to the MOE, is developing approaches to reading and writing in children s familiar language 20. (Zambia has five major language groups and many dialects.) Previous practice was to approach reading and writing in school using English, but PRP has provided materials, training and 20 The PRP team talk of the language of the children s play which provides a simpler, and arguably more relevant, guide than first language or even home language. 50 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

83 support to allow first steps to literacy to be in the child s local language. As well as encouraging reading and writing in the children s language, PRP has helped teachers to develop child-centred approaches by setting standards for classroom organization, resources and interactions (Higgins 2001, DFID 1997, 2000). The evaluation team saw examples of PRP classrooms that were havens of educational engagement and it was striking how many head teachers and teachers expressed hopes to be able to spread some of those methods to other classes. This is an occasion in which the evaluation team was convinced of a demand-side pull for methodological change that included more childfriendly learning. PRP s achievements in improving literacy were evaluated towards the end of 2002 (DFID, 2002a) to show increases in reading, both in the local language and, for older children, in English. As a result, the MOE has agreed to take PRP to national scale as an integrated part of its future programme. This is a very significant result of activities that can be traced back to 1993 and which, with significant external support, is beginning to change the experience and the performance of children. It also provides a well documented example of the role of external support in taking a curriculum reform from needs analysis, and educational thinking, through to project implementation and, now, national impact (see Box 2). Country Study Report Zambia September

84 Box 2: First Language Literacy: A Success Story Identifying the Problem 1993 DFID sponsored research in reading levels of both Zambia and Malawi by Eddie Williams of Reading University, United Kingdom, who reported that Zambian pupils of Grade 3 to 5 were reading three grade levels below their level in Zambian languages and two grade levels below in English. Malawian children were reading at a grade level better than the Zambian children. The significant fact in the Malawian case was that they introduced initial literacy in both the children s mother tongue and English while in Zambia it was English from grade one, both as a language of initial literacy and medium of instruction With DFID support, the government piloted a Book Box project, which flooded primary schools with supplementary readers to help reading problems. The evaluation in 1995, showed no improvement The SACMEQ survey at Grade 6 level established that children in Zambia had very poor reading ability levels: 25% were reading at minimum levels and only 3% were reading at desirable levels The MOE Examinations Council of Zambia conducted a National Assessment of literacy and numeracy at Grade 5. It established that: 23% of the pupils were reading at minimum levels, and 3% at desirable levels The DFID supported PRP conducted a baseline study at the start of its intervention at Grades 1 to 6 and established that children were reading three grades below their grade level in Zambian languages, and two grades below in English MOE Interventions Change of language policy in 1996 (Educating Our Future), to allow children to develop initial reading in their mother tongue or first language and then transfer the skills gained to develop basic literacy in English in Grade two after which the two languages continue up to Grade 7. Development of reading courses and course materials, to implement the new language policy under the PRP. Ireland Aid supported the first pilot of the new first language course. Evaluations reported very excited success stories. After one year of schooling in the first language, reading levels improved to 64% at the end of the pilot. PRP conducted a follow-up study in 2002 after the programme had scaled to all districts. When the results were compared to those of 1999 baseline, great leaps were achieved in literacy levels as shown below. Pilot Assessment Results Grade 1: (Test in Zambian, scored on an expected range from 0 to 24): 1999 the average score was an increase of 780% Grade 2: (Tests in English language, scored on an expected range from 0 to 24): an increase of 575% Grades 3 to 5: Increases in reading levels range from: 165% to 484% 52 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

85 5.0 Partnership 5.1 Partnership: Intents, Policies and Strategies This section considers to what extent and in what ways the evolving concept and practice of partnership influenced the intents, policies and strategies of external support to basic education Partnership Between GRZ and External Agencies GRZ and external agencies share the intention to build a long-term partnership to support the GRZ to exercise its policy and implementation responsibility. They share the policy focus of EFA goals, and the Zambian contextual issues of poverty, nutrition and health, including HIV/AIDS. To realize these policy aims the GRZ has made statements, from the 1996 education policy through the PRSP and HIPC processing papers, that express that development path. Many of these intentions and strategies have been agreed at major international conferences and are reiterated at regional events. However senior respondents in the MOE made it clear that the GRZ does not feel like an equal partner at international conferences. They lack the capacity for preparation and participation in those fora. A senior Ministry official told the evaluation team: Of course we sign up to attend the international meetings. But we are unable to prepare and to contribute to the agenda, and we know that most of it is agreed before we arrive! This internationalisation of goals and agreements, epitomized by Jomtien, Dakar and the MDGs, was represented by another senior official as a form of globalization in which Zambian interests are assumed or perhaps subsumed in the international consensus. The same respondent spoke in a similar way, as did some of the external partners, about the processes for the EFA Fast-Track Initiative, which was the latest international action of concern at the time of the evaluation. The MOE was unclear as to what this was going to mean to them, and were concerned to know whether the Strategic Plan for 2003 to 2007, in which they and their partners have invested so much energy, was going to be acceptable for EFA FTI processing. The evaluation team was aware of the extent of concern about another administrative burden likely to be imposed by the international community. The GRZ and the agencies have worked, since 1996, with a model of partnership that derives from the intention to increase Government s responsibility for planning and implementation. The clichés around this intention are well known: it is about national ownership or putting the government in the driver s seat. In Zambia there is a clear feeling that, through BESSIP and in the development of the Strategic Plan, the empowerment, equality and confidence implicit in those phrases is being realized. The willingness of GRZ respondents to analyze areas, such as those mentioned above, in which the partnership remains strained, is taken as indicative, not only of the specific concern, but also of a partnership relationship that is open to reflection and able to voice such concerns about imbalances Partnerships of Agencies The policy commitments of nearly all the external agencies has been to work in partnership to the extent possible. The preparations of BESSIP in 1996 and 1997 exposed some of the tensions of bringing that partnership to fruition. There was resentment expressed by the bilateral agencies at the way the World Bank sought to lead the process. Several respondents, speaking nearly five Country Study Report Zambia September

86 years later, described a critical incident when World Bank representatives sought a pre-meeting with the GRZ prior to an important donor meeting. This incensed representatives of the other agencies, and they were pleased that the MOE took a strong line by refusing so as to maintain openness. The leadership role adopted by the MOE in the Strategic Planning has also been identified as providing a context for much better dialogue and partnership between the national development agencies and the World Bank. The agencies have different policy positions and limitations on the compromises that they can make to support a coordinated partnership. USAID has constraints on programme support modalities, and more recently, a need to fit its work into a policy framework of explicit economic development. JICA cannot undertake pooled support, has priority policy areas and is committed to technical support in project mode, often using Japanese volunteers. These positions are well understood, and, in Zambia, have been taken into account in keeping both USAID and JICA under the programme s umbrella of operations. They fund and manage their work as Case 4 projects but they join the review and management processes. UNICEF s global policy does not allow pool funding. More subtle in Zambia is the way that the strength of different agencies policy commitments to the SWAp philosophy influences their working relationships. From inside the circle of poolers the evaluation sensed criticism and frustration of agencies that hang on to traditional project-like practices such as undertaking their own procurement of materials or consultancy services. At the heart of the tension between agencies seems to be a dilemma that one respondent described thus: Either we do everything we can to get on with the job to finish our project on time or we define the real job as helping the Government to do it, even if takes a bit longer and we risk missing the targets. This is a real dilemma that was particularly exposed as the MOE struggled in 2000 with procurement. Delays to textbooks and other materials frustrated agencies, some of whom considered procuring key materials using off budget new funding. At the same time, the MOE and other agencies examined the procurement system, including personnel, and how it could be strengthened Partnerships with Other Stakeholders GRZ and agencies want other stakeholder groups to be involved and empowered in the policy discussions. It is seen as a strategy by which politically distinct voices can contribute to policy discussions and ground them in their knowledge of field realities. The external agencies seek a voice that can, if necessary, expose and balance out the official view. The policy tension between the GRZ and educational NGOs and CBOs can become very bitter. This is a partnership that, almost by definition, explores the limits of agreement. External agencies have, in some other countries, compounded these tensions, by favouring NGOs as implementing agencies for projects, where the agencies feel more confidence in the NGO than in the Government s policies and implementation capacity. All external agencies concerned have policies to involve stakeholders and beneficiaries in planning decisions, and in any evaluation exercise. 54 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

87 Strategic planning and review have also taken up the need to consult with partners outside Lusaka by undertaking a major consultation exercise around a representative selection of Districts. These provided a forum for consultation with teachers, parents, and school-children. These are positive steps, though it is recognized that consultation in policy and planning is only a first step to partnership for implementation and delivery. For many agencies it is policy to increase national capacity in the private sector, to provide products and services, and to make more use of that capacity. Such policies match the GRZ s interests to develop and exploit national capacity. The MOE and its partners have helped to stimulate the private sector for consulting services. Commercial printers and publishers are responding to the calls, even those that use international bidding procedures. 5.2 Partnership: Practices This section considers the extent and ways in which the evolving concept and practice of partnership influenced the practices of external support to basic education. Specific questions include: How have partnerships evolved and with what fora, critical conditions and obstacles encountered en route? What are the specifics of partnerships in place for monitoring, auditing and procurement? Partnership Between GRZ and Agencies In Zambia the points of contact between the GRZ and the agencies have changed. In the early 1990s, with traditional project formation and management, the relationship was built on an agency-by-agency basis and punctuated, typically, by agencies annual country or sector review meetings, followed by project-specific agreements and reviews. This has changed dramatically since 1996 in that there are now regular fora that cover the whole programme and involve all the concerned agencies. The semi-annual reviews are the milestones of BESSIP, and in preparing for them, undertaking them and following up their recommendations, the MOE and agencies work collaboratively on policy, implementation and evaluation. The semi-annual reviews are complemented by other formal structures by which the cooperating partners and the MOE steer and manage BESSIP. There have been, and still are, challenges in Zambia about how to keep joint work manageable and representative. BESSIP was designed to allow different agencies to choose their preferred funding modality, and of course not all the agencies are supplying the same level of support, so for the MOE the agencies are far from equal, and the pool funders are seen as having particular interests and rights of partnership. It is perhaps important to recognize the significance that individual relationships play in the dayto-day realities of partnership. Respondents asked to analyze how the changing forms of partnership manifested itself spoke not only of the structures and meetings, but of the personal contacts with individuals that are perceived to be more frank, respectful or honest than in the past. The evaluation recognizes the value of good personal relationships but suggests that they may be a result of the changing dynamics of the partnership, as well as a contribution to it. BESSIP was designed to offer an umbrella under which different partners could shelter. The differences, as they manifest themselves in modalities of operation have been a burden to the Country Study Report Zambia September

88 GRZ and increased the administration overhead. They still have to operate different financial reporting systems and procedures for procurement of goods and services for the non-pooling agencies. The procurement of consulting services is a particular test of the partnership because consulting services always seem expensive to the local personnel, and consultants need to be well managed to yield visible benefits. There is a perception that some agencies push for international consultant inputs that are not necessary, demonstrating a lack of faith in local capacity, or another internal agenda. Perhaps the hardest test of this partnership is in the management of the targets, which are the conditionalities linked to funds release. BESSIP has failed to meet some of the targets originally set, for enrolment growth for example, and the MOE argues strongly that these targets were always unrealistic. Funds have been withheld because the GRZ failed to reach its counterpart funding requirement, and towards the end of December 2002 the MOE was in the Catch 22 position of waiting for the MOF to release HIPC funds (which are national funds, even though externally mobilized) so that the MOE would reach its required funding levels in the financial year. The joint monitoring and evaluation procedures, which include auditing and accounting rounds, have been important in Zambia in building the partnership and offering the forum for differences to be aired, addressed and understood. Many of the respondents pointed out how the atmosphere in the review meetings had changed over the last four years, from one in which agency personnel dominated the discourse and, according to one source, intimidated the GRZ representatives, to the open, friendly and frank relationship that the evaluation observed during the appraisal for the Strategic Plan and the BESSIP Review meeting. Another signifier of changing partnership relationships, mentioned by MOE officials and by agency representatives, has been the recent commitment by agency staff to work alongside the MOE on documents needed with urgency. Local staff, not just consultants, rallied alongside Ministry officials for several days, and late into the nights, to finalize the critical pieces of work needed to progress. It demonstrates a strongly shared commitment. Another significant development has been the establishment of a joint structure for coherent planning and management of basic education research, traditionally an area in which the external agencies explored their own agendas, with their own funds, and contributed to an incoherent body of research. The planning body, which includes representatives from the research communities was established in 2000 and has developed a coherent programme of agreed research. However, there remain important instances of stakeholders feeling disempowered in implementation decisions taken by agencies or their consultants/subcontractors. Respondents in the TTCs expressed concern over decisions ranging from the provision of inappropriate and unsupported computer equipment, to the routing of roads and siting of road lighting in construction works. The TTC staff felt that the representations that they made were ignored, although the agency noted that all TTC s possess committees that oversee rehabilitation work and participate in site meetings. The issue here is perhaps the nature of participation and the attention that an agency and it contractors, is willing to give to the local voices. However, the overriding finding of this evaluation team is based on the observation of the strategic planning processes and the way that has explicitly worked to accelerate steps towards the partnership between the GRZ and the cooperating agencies. It has established principles and operational details for support of an agreed development plan. The agencies and the MOE have developed a detailed MOU on common procedures that will be legally binding. 56 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

89 5.2.2 Partnerships Between Agencies The cooperating partners commitments to work together brought them under the BESSIP umbrella, and has kept them working together, on the reviews, steering committee and planning processes since then. They know each other better than they used to. The forum for inter-agency coordination, while described as informal is minuted but decisions taken there have not been considered as binding and this forum is not seen as one in which the external agencies prepare a common approach to the MOE or gang up, as it has been described. Several expressed suspicion that the working group consisting of representatives of the MOE and the pooling agencies (the ) had too much power, although its role has been limited to planning the semi-annual reviews. A consequence has been that the agency representation on the BESSIP Joint Steering Committee (JSC) is large there are about 12 agencies involved and that inter-agency differences that could be resolved elsewhere emerge, sometimes unhelpfully, in this forum. On working committees such over-representation is wasteful and inefficient. The issue is recognized and the need to address it seen as part of the way forward. As part of this future planning this group has been expanded to 6 + 6, and its agency membership is now to be elected with the intention that it will not be limited to the pool-funders. The evaluation team was informed of rumours of electoral alliances and rigging following the first election, which certainly suggests that it is being taken seriously! Certain agencies have unique positions, which are reflected in the way they are engaged in the partnership. UNESCO does not have representation in Zambia and has not been engaged in the policy and implementation partnerships under BESSIP and the planning cycle. UNICEF, although responsible for a major project under BESSIP, is unable to commit to the partnership, particularly as the operational agreements have developed. Other agencies expressed some frustration that UNICEF also lacked the management authority needed to engage in the partnership discussions and make commitments. (This echoed other concerns about UNICEF s management of the PAGE project, described as bureaucratic and inflexible. ) A local representative of another international agency expressed similar frustration at their organizational limitations in dealing with other agencies, typically the national ones, which have devolved responsibilities to their national offices. Such agencies are able, it was pointed out, to make rapid decisions on policy or financial commitments international agencies, such as the World Bank, often need to clear such decisions through their headquarters Partnership with NGOs The GRZ partnerships with local NGOs are increasing and have been facilitated by external funding agencies that have supported those NGOs to develop their advocacy skills and representative positions. For example, the PAF attended the Johannesburg meeting in preparation for the World Education Forum in Dakar and, with help from UNESCO, were part of the Zambian representation at Dakar. Oxfam also helped with pre-dakar consultations with NGOs and CBOs in Zambia. PAF has been Country Study Report Zambia September

90 a mover behind the establishment of ZANEC 21, which is to provide a representation spanning the constituencies of different NGOs, CS and faith groups. The Netherlands have provided core financial assistance to the ZCSS and facilitated the important MOU it signed with the GRZ on registration and support for CS. Some in the NGO sector recognize its increasing role at the policy table, and the implications for them to develop the representativeness, and accountability of their organizations. Others, typically the smaller ones, are struggling to make a transition from client status seeking relatively small sums from agencies for small projects to partners in their area of expertise. PAF expressed regret that the structures for partnership around EFA are not yet established for Zambia: there is not a functioning national EFA Committee. PAF see examples in other countries of the EFA Committees as a forum for the NGO sector to influence important decisions. They stressed their interest in a forum to resist moves to undo the synergy of the EFA goals as an approach to poverty reduction, and argue to get adult education back on the agenda: The world community prioritizes universal primary education and girls it s just the stuff with the easy statistics. How will this address poverty? It is educating mothers that makes the difference? In Zambia, a national EFA forum would at least get us around a table for the right goal. This is a controversial position, with limited supporting data on the relative effectiveness and efficiency of investment in the two areas. One agency responded by reminding the evaluation that inefficiencies of the concerned Ministries had to be taken into account in considering how to address these needs. The GRZ does not have regulatory controls over International NGOs operating in Zambia, nor access to financial statements of activity. The MOE expressed concerns about incoherent utilization of technical assistance, materials inputs and volunteers, for example, mobilized by international NGOs. The Zambian NGOs expressed another concern in their relationship with international NGOs, even though for many this has been a source of support, in funds, expertise and organizational support. Several NGO respondents expressed feeling unequal in these relationships, an inequality characterized by exploitation of their local knowledge, field infrastructures and expertise. One director of a local NGO commented: They just use us to get the photos for their fund-raising posters. However the impact of NGO advocacy and the recognition of their voice is clearly spreading. The Ministers of Education of African Member Sates (2002) Dar Es Salaam Statement of Commitment, learning to build the New Africa, makes a strong commitment to ensuring that NGOs/CBOs should have a voice in national and international policy discourse Regional Partnerships Zambia has participated in a number of regional partnerships concerned with education, including the Regional Ministers of Education Meetings; the Commonwealth of Learning s Teacher 21 Includes Adult Education Association of Zambia, FAWEZA, PAF, YMCA, PEWTUZ and ZCSS 58 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

91 Training programme; Southern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ). The experience has been mixed as continuity of funding has undermined planned activities. 5.3 Partnership: Results and Consequences This section considers to what extent and in what ways the evolving concept and practices of partnership have influenced the results and consequences of external support to basic education. It is worth remembering that nascent partnerships were conceived against a backdrop of international politics and colonial history, by ordinary people capable of professional arrogance and cultural ignorance and buffeted by Zambia s string of economic, health and natural disasters. Still, it is difficult to look at Zambia without feeling that the partnerships for change, and for developing Basic Education have improved over the last few years, with changes characterized by: Better understanding of each others aims and constraints; Increasingly common aims; Increased openness and willingness to discuss difficult issues; Willingness to share information; Willingness and ability to respond to each others concerns and requirements; and Harmonizing operational and administrative procedures. The perceptions of Zambian ownership do not appear to be undermined by the involvement of agency personnel or TA consultants. External personnel are still seen as important to strengthen the MOE s capability to exercise its functions, but they work in an integrated way that, in most cases, the MOE finds supportive rather than threatening. Evidence of ownership is in the increasing management capacity, and in the MOE s willingness to negotiate difficult policy positions and implementation decisions. However, partnerships in the other basic education sub-sectors has weakened under BESSIP. This comment from the MCDSS, which was reliant on external funders for capital, training and materials for adult education in the early 1990s: When BESSIP came along we really lost out. We are not involved at all and we should have got some! The evaluation team was pointedly reminded by colleagues in the MOE, and the MOF that because of the economic situation and the realities of Zambia s dependence on external support, at the bottom line, the GRZ is reliant on external funds and that partnership is an attempt to make the best of a client relationship. The GRZ, at all levels, reminded the evaluation that this can never be an equal partnership, because one side has the money, and the other side needs it. Moreover, they need it not for the few years of a project cycle, but for 10, 15 or maybe 20 years, depending on uncertain economic projections. In Zambia the partners may be increasingly open in recognizing that the commitment to basic education has to be long term, but none are yet willing to commit to what that will mean. The Strategic Planning process has seen the MOE seeking to strengthen and formalize the partnership with the supporting agencies, through a common guideline on operational procedures Country Study Report Zambia September

92 and a legally binding letter of intent to follow them. This is also seen as an important step in coordinating inter-agency procedures. Similarly the partnership with NGOs/CBOs is improving GRZ is responding to the perceived importance of these stakeholders, which the external agencies have helped to prioritize. That they have an interest and a voice is accepted, but there is no real consensus about their role, rights and responsibilities. Umbrella and representative organizations are becoming effective, other longstanding NGOs, including those concerned with Adult Literacy and with Pre-School Education, seem to have lost their way and failed to adapt to the new relationships. The group of NGO representatives expressed the dilemma, which is a characteristic of NGOs everywhere, of knowing how close a partnership with Government they seek, before they compromise their independent voice. It is a strategic and political decision facing many NGOs, particularly those involved in advocacy. Other NGOs have reported the changing role in the partnership with Zambia. World Vision, an international NGO that was providing infrastructure, materials and teacher education said that since BESSIP has been launched they see less call for their support and are in the process of turning to other priorities, particularly HIV/AIDS. 60 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

93 6.0 Conclusions 6.1 Nature and Evolution of External Support There is substantial coherence in the approach of the external agencies working in Zambia, both to the education priorities and to ways of working with the Government, Zambian civil society and each other. The last five years have provided a workshop in which the agencies have tested, modified and negotiated the devilish details of that coherence. The BESSIP umbrella has sheltered different types of agencies successfully, allowing the cautious and those constrained by policy to work within the coordinating structure. National agencies have seen headquarters policy converging as a result of international agreements and priorities. However, these commitments to this commonality may have blurred some important distinctions that were emerging during the strategic planning. Multilateral agencies have different missions and, typically, different management structures so, for example, UNICEF will not seek to blend its financial support into the GRZ plan, in the way that (most of) the bilateral partners seek to do. It is not only that UNICEF does not bring funds, it is also that UNICEF has a mission of advocacy and focus on children that it cannot subsume under national plans. UNESCO, with its lead international role for monitoring EFA, has been relatively inactive in Zambia, which comes under the UNESCO regional office in Harare (Zimbabwe). The MOE s EFA Task Force has provided the data required for periodic EFA monitoring. Over the period under consideration, the cooperating partners have moved steadily and inexorably towards supporting the GRZ with a SWAp, with budget pooling and, ultimately budget support. BESSIP has provided a halfway house and test-bed for their partnership with the GRZ and has, overall, provided evidence of GRZ capacity to manage, to account for the financial support, and to work openly with partners in identifying and addressing common concerns, such as the capacity of decentralized management. Generally, the agencies are satisfied that the semi-annual review process provides them with an acceptable level of monitoring and accountability. For some, however, there is a feeling that they are losing touch with grassroots results, and that there may be problems in their inability to link specific results with their national contributions. Differences arise in the management of TA, involving international consultants, be it within the programme plan or to provide specialist emergency capacity support. Zambia still has nine fulltime international advisers (including those involved with projects) working within the MOE. The perceptions of their positions vary some are seen as internal MOE workers, with close working relationships with the officials and a genuine perception that their loyalty is to the MOE rather than their agency. Agencies are not consistent on whether they expect consultants to act as representatives of the agency in policy discussions, the position where split loyalties would be most exposed. While the strengthened processes of dialogue, coordination, and programme support are intended to put the GRZ in the driver s seat, many Zambians suggested that there is still perceived control by agencies, and that some interventions reflect funding agency priorities and approaches. This was expressed strongly about the international landmark conferences leading to joint decisions and declarations that have punctuated the EFA process. The local participants expressed Country Study Report Zambia September

94 how difficult it is for them to prepare and to steer decisions that they felt were organized in advance by the representatives of the richer nations and major agencies. Support has mainly been focused on primary schooling. The other Basic Education priorities, including ECE, alternative basic education, and functional adult literacy, have suffered. Their main support comes through NGOs and bilateral projects but with a significant reduction as agency focus has moved to primary schooling and the GRZ programme. Support by international NGOs is poorly measured, if at all, by the existing mechanisms, of the MOE and the MOF. It remains poorly coordinated and only weakly documented. International NGOs in Zambia are required to register, but not to make their accounts public. International NGOs receive significant support by national development agencies, but the lines of communication and management do not provide accountability at country level for work that is funded in this way. It is not clear whether the administrative burden for external agencies has been decreased by the shift towards programme support under BESSIP. The expectation remains but agency staff saw that there had been a need for additional support, flexibility and management overheads incurred, particularly in the preparation of review reports and financial projections. It is recognized that the nature of the work has changed and involves agency staff more in strategic and systemic policy than in the technical detail of education. 6.2 Basic Education Receiving External Support There is consensus that, overall, things are improving now with visible betterment to facilities, furniture, and the supply of textbooks and other materials. The steps to make education free to the consumer are likely to have the hoped-for effect of encouraging more and poorer children to attend. Teacher supply, especially to the rural areas remains problematic; it is not yet clear that the attempts to use ZATEC to patch up the shortfall in rural areas is going to work in the long term, and a more serious look at the conditions of service and employment practice of teachers may be necessary. It should include a review of the use of teacher s housing as an incentive, delays in appointing new teachers and the management of teachers in schools. Projects, in the past, established a strong identity for development activities, under the external agencies or the project s name. Some still seek to do so, with labels on the sides of their vehicles, country flags on their office doors, etc. Increasingly, and in keeping with the philosophy of the support now, external partners seek to play down their involvement so that the work is perceived, by stakeholders and beneficiaries, as a work of the Government. BESSIP is part of the transition in that its activities are perceived by officials as distinct from the core programmes of the Ministry. So, for example, block grants to schools are known as BESSIP grants. It is an example of the risk of confusion about the role of Government in its own development activities. Decentralization increases the complexity of the dialogue for planning between the MOE headquarters and the external agencies. The MOE headquarters has strived to include District level officials in policy and planning processes, but while there are uncertainties about their role, responsibilities, staffing and funding, the representatives of decentralized agencies may be unsure whether they are in a position to exercise their voice. Respondents from Districts accepted that it is MOE headquarters that leads the discussion with external agencies. 62 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

95 Yet, over the period, the decentralized agencies, particularly District offices are increasing their role and their systemic importance for delivering services that are, in part, receiving external support. For example, Districts collect information for monitoring and evaluation, disburse funds, procure services and supervise schools. Managing the decentralization has probably taken more resources and energy than was predicted in BESSIP as demonstrated by the need to mobilize additional support to capacity building for decentralized functions. There is a feeling that external agencies, other than in legacy projects, have deserted the Provinces and that the decentralized levels do not now have a voice in the policy and planning dialogue consistent with their decentralized responsibilities. And, more pragmatically, that one source of infrastructure support to provinces, particularly for vehicles and their running costs and other operational needs, has now disappeared. Procurement has been identified, by agencies and the Ministry, as one of the weakest performance areas in Zambia, and one that plagued BESSIP s performance, but it is now improving. Personnel have been replaced, guidance and training on international procedures have been provided, and an external agency was contracted to undertake major international procurement. The aim of external assistance has been to improve capacity, and it is important to reiterate that there is no evidence of improper practices with procurement. There has been, as a result of the locus of external support, a stagnation in the development of basic education other than primary schooling. Externally supported activities outside that subsector have all but stopped. The commercial sector s supply of pre-school facilities is essentially for child-minding, and is loosely regulated by government. Lifelong learning, including adult literacy activities have fared slightly better, mainly though the efforts, including externally funded support by local and international NGOs, such as the People s Action Forum, Oxfam, and Action Aid. Finally the evaluation team looked at the factors affecting success of education initiatives, be they projects or programme. The analysis is based on the perceived successes of BESSIP, PRP (DFID and Ireland Aid) compared to the challenges arising from PAGE (UNICEF), which is seen as struggling with management weakness and loss of direction, and ZATEC (Danida) facing the challenges of training quality and retaining trainees in the teaching profession. The results, shown in Table 7, are based on focus group discussion and analysis by local consultants. The implication is that the constructs of ownership and participation are critical factors in the success of development cooperation. Country Study Report Zambia September

96 Table 7: What Works? Succeeding. (e.g. BESSIP, PRP) Participatory identification of the needs and solution, leading to national ownership from the start. Participatory planning, implementation and evaluation. Participatory selection of the TA. Participatory development of course and material. Inclusive and joint training if teachers and their managers Shared celebration for both external agencies and local stakeholders. Positive collaboration among external agencies supporting the project/programme. Low profile project image. Quickly visible results. Mainstreaming in the MOE structures and to national scope. Challenging. (e.g. PAGE, ZATEC) The need, or the solutions are seen as imposed, not locally owned with local contexts not bought into consideration early enough. Imposed TA personnel, or TA with a strong and isolated profile that risked alienating local partners. Limited key stakeholder participation in training and development of materials. External evaluators. Higher profile project image, for example on vehicles and printed materials. Results are slow to be measured and disseminated. Slow mainstreaming and relinquishing of project modalities. 6.3 Partnership The degree and quality of dialogue and cooperation between partners is impressive, and is one of the achievements of the last decade, clearly starting from the period of BESSIP s formation. The processes have achieved a meaningful shift in government ownership of policy, planning and implementation. The word ownership may have become something of a cliché but the evaluation was struck by the way MOE representatives defended key policy positions and engaged with the other partners. The external agencies are making commitments to harmonizing their practices. The joint MOU covering their operational practices with the MOE, sits alongside the agency level agreement on Harmonisation of Donor Practices for Aid Effectiveness in Zambia 22 of March 2003 (Netherlands Embassy, 2003). Such documents, which address the details of financial practices, recruitment of personnel and procurement, for example, are extremely important in that they define the rules of the partnership and will help to simplify the transaction of support and ensure more coherence. The partnerships with NGOs and CBOs are developing as external agencies and the MOE recognize the value of the civil society voice to inform and validate policy. The NGO sector is beginning to see the importance of its role, both nationally and internationally, and, with external support, is developing the representative structures and skills needed to be effective. The important representative NGOs are beginning to recognize the tensions of their growing role supported by the MOE but with a brief to be critical and the need to develop the political and organizational skills to cope with those tensions. 22 Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom 64 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

97 NGOs and CBOs are pleased to be engaged in the BESSIP processes, but do express the need to be involved in a more active way, at an earlier stage in planning. The partnership between NGOs and external funders is changing: those NGOs and CBOs with an advocacy role may still attract support, and develop working relationships with the external agencies. But those involved in practical, field-level implementation are finding it more difficult to tap into external funds. This may be the beginning of a polarization in which some organizations take the advocacy role in Lusaka, and others get on with the real work in their rural communities. The period has not seen significant changes in the partnership between the education system and the commercial private sector. Decentralization of purchasing power, particularly the BESSIP block grants to schools, provides some opportunities for markets to operate in supply of materials and services. There are no significant steps to increase the role of the market in textbook supply, which is constrained by the central procurement methodologies used over the period of the evaluation, and likely to continue A dimension of partnership that has changed rapidly in Zambia is the one between the MOE and parents. Schools are seeking to develop the involvement of parents, and the decentralization plans will increase parents roles in governance of schools. There has been increasing involvement of parents and local community in school life, assisted by sensitization actions (e.g., under the PAGE and PRP), and by requirements for parental involvement in infrastructure construction through contributions to facilities works. Figure 7: The President Says. Country Study Report Zambia September

98 However, teachers noted that the MOE s announcement of free schooling reduced some parents willingness to work with the school, even to provide in kind support. Figure 7 shows the back page of an exercise book. The teacher has written the standard note, Please buy a book for him. The parent has written: Please the President said govt. will provide books etc. for pupils from grade 1-7. Father. It suggests how the recent steps towards free education have attracted public attention, but have been a disincentive to those parents who were able and willing to fund their children. This reflects a comment made by head teachers, that the new grants were inadequate to fund all the recurrent costs but that they now find it very hard to persuade parents to contribute even those who can afford it. Some told of parents who had been willing to provide support in cash and in kind but who tell them that the school is now the Government s responsibility. The evaluation was unable to quantify the effect, but would identify it as a potential threat to the assumptions of how support can be targeted at the most needy pupils. 66 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

99 7.0 Implications for Policy and Programmes 7.1 Policy at Global and National Levels Policy Implications for External Partners There is potential tension between headquarters policies of the external agencies and the need to work within a coherent partnership. The strategic planning exercise was struggling with the need to extend support, preferably pooled support, to include the post-primary sector. For some agencies, that is simply outside the limits of policy. The issue illustrates the ambivalence in funding agency policies about the meaning of sector-wide and Zambia demonstrates the difficulty of finding an easy answer, not least because of the four ministries involved in education. But it also demonstrates the connectedness between basic education and the rest of the education sector. Success in primary education creates demand for secondary schools and postsecondary education is the provider of professional development for teachers and officials. Similarly, agencies may reconsider the policy prioritization for aspects of basic education other than primary schooling. The early childhood and the lifelong learning intentions of the EFA goals are being squeezed out of subsequent international goals, including the MDGs and the EFA FTI. That shifting priority is reflected in the field in Zambia. As a policy and programming change this merits more discussion, particularly as primary schooling is so resistant to change and slow to yield its benefits of personal empowerment and poverty alleviation. Agencies may review their degree of involvement in a country and the rationale for involvement in any country. Can all the agencies maintain the level of knowledge and engagement that enables them to bring the appropriate level of expertise to exercises such as the sector reviews and the management of pooled funding, SWAp or budget support? More than 10 external agencies are involved in BESSIP, some providing relatively small financial support packages, but all providing a representation, and requiring their voice in policy discussion. There is clearly an efficiency argument for rationalization, so that five or six agencies provide the same amount of funds (with assumed trade-offs elsewhere). What would be the obstacles to doing so? While the EFA processes, internationally and working together under BESSIP, in Zambia, have provided a common framework for cooperation it may have led to a blurring of the different missions of different agencies. Internationally, it may be clear how the roles of the World Bank, UN agencies, Regional Development Banks and bilateral national agencies complement each other, but in a country like Zambia, where policy and practices are developing according to the Government s plans, are agencies able to maintain the clarity of their role? Another way of looking at this question for an agency might be Is our support worth the cost? : not just of the agency s money, and administration, but also in the opportunity and energy cost to the recipient Government Policy Implications for the Government of Zambia A concern for the GRZ is the management of its initiatives for free primary schooling and its impact on school financing. The political presentation of free schooling may need to address explicitly that the partnership between government, school and parents continues. Inclusive school governance and accountability to parents and school communities will contribute and limit the risk, seen elsewhere, of parents deferring to the government on their responsibilities. Country Study Report Zambia September

100 Decentralization offers a route to local flexibility and accountability and education is an aspect of local policy that is likely to generate public interest, pressures and controversy for District administrations. The balance of power and action between the centre and the decentralized agencies will need review, as it is exposed to difficulties and tests. A policy commitment to monitor how decentralization is working for education, with the ability to address ambiguities of responsibility, as well as shortcomings of capacity is recommended. Decentralization will yield its real benefits only when the Districts have a meaningful budget and local accountability for their actions. The accountability is not yet through the ballot box, which means that the District Boards and the local administrations may need help to develop mechanisms of public accountability. Similarly, schools and colleges have yet to develop systems whereby the newly empowered Boards are held accountable to their communities and constituencies. There is, of course, a policy concern about the sustainability of the achievements in primary education through BESSIP. It is a high-risk strategy that assumes that the funding agencies can and will maintain the levels of support for many years to come. Yet the reality faced by funding agencies is that Official Development Assistance (ODA) budgets go up and down, governments change, and priorities shift. No-one is prepared to make estimates about the date by which external support to education would no longer be necessary in Zambia but agencies and the GRZ seem to agree that the time scale is at least 10 and may be 20 years. Perhaps this supportive partnership is an even longer term scenario, balancing global economic inequalities for the sake of a universal minimum standard of basic education. NGOs, CBOs and International NGOs play an important role and one that is likely to increase, both for advocacy and for activity, particularly if the hiatus of ECE and Adult Education is reversed. The growing pressure to ensure that adult education support not be allowed to decrease further is reflected for the evaluation in the Pietermaritzburg Declaration of 2002, following an international conference on adult education, which attracted many representatives from the region. The declaration seeks explicitly to restore the level of activity and funding for adult literacy education in Africa. 7.2 Programmes at Global and National Levels Programme Implications for External Partners The evaluation team has identified programming issues, but many have also been considered and addressed during the recent planning process, and these are not repeated here. However, there are issues of programming into the next planning period. Zambia is eligible for EFA Fast Track support. It is important that this initiative be administered in ways that recognizes the National Plan and not add substantial additional burdens to the Government. It would also assist all involved if the financial support framework for EFA FTI were clarified. All external agencies, but particularly UNICEF, have programming responsibilities for rightsbased approaches, including aspects of the Convention on the Rights of Children. The evaluation team would like to see more emphasis on abolishing the use of corporal punishment alongside more concerted approaches to tracking other abuses of children in school. The evaluation team would also recommend that children be more consistently given the opportunity to have a voice in evaluation and reviews. 68 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

101 Finally there is a consequence of current approaches to support that may merit review of the use of external study fellowships. Many senior officials in the MOE had pursued advanced study at some time in the past, often with externally funded scholarships but over the past decade the generation following them has had far fewer such opportunities. The capacity of Zambia s own post-secondary institutions has fallen in that time. There are real questions about where the next generation of educational leaders, administrators, curriculum developers, training designers, etc. will come from, made more stark with the impact of HIV/AIDS on professional personnel. There are regional centres of study that could provide the professional qualifications and international experience, if funding opportunities were to be made available Programme Implications for the Government of Zambia This evaluation recognizes that the planning process for the 2003 to 2007 education plan has been inclusive and extremely detailed (see for example, MOE 2002e, 2002g and 2002j). The plan has identified and addressed many of the challenges arising from the evaluations of BESSIP that have been considered here. So, for example, the intention is to consider the entire education sector, strengthen the decentralized agencies, address quality improvement concerns and strengthen the HIV/AIDS initiatives. This evaluation agrees with the priorities as expressed in that plan. The evaluation has identified some issues to be resolved as the plan is implemented. Monitoring and supervision of the system remains a weakness. Districts lack the personnel and operational budgets to visit schools, and the clear mandate to undertake their supervisory function. The historical role of the District Inspector, which traces back to the colonial system, could develop in ways that better serve the system s new needs for accountability, monitoring of operations and evaluation of performance. This is seen as a high priority, and one with significant, recurrent cost implications for the District offices. The supervisory function highlights the need for better information support to Districts so that they have up-to-date reliable data for their administration and supervisory roles. The EMIS has been designed and implemented to serve national systemic monitoring, and will need significant input to consider data needs, and exchanges as it is developed to serve the needs of other parts of the system. However, as Districts use the reports of the national data-collections exercises they will be in a better position to validate the national statistics, which will increase reliability of that data. Other key aspects of the programme need to look at how formative evaluation can be developed around important processes, particularly teacher education and capacity-building exercises. Training is often taken to be self-evidently a good thing, but those responsible for doing it, and for paying, must make sure that they have the evidence to support that assumption. The preservice teacher-education system needs to find out the extent and reasons for the loss of trainees from the system. The evaluation would also recommend that ZATEC be evaluated if the model is to become the norm for pre-service provision. Many of its advantages could be preserved, maybe enhanced with some small changes, such as the suggestions made to the evaluation team that two students be sent to the more remote schools; or that there be a one month exchange of first and second year students, every six months. With some experimentation and evaluation, it is likely that the results of ZATEC can be improved. Country Study Report Zambia September

102 The situation of Upper Basic Education (i.e., Grades 8 and 9) is problematic and will be for as long as schools offering Grades 1 to 7 and Grades 1 to 9 exist alongside secondary schools (i.e., Grades 8 to 12). The Upper Basic section of Grades 1 to 9 schools is a natural sink of young teenagers who fail the examination to local secondary schools. They can be a difficult group to have mixed in with the youngest children. The policy is for Basic Education to be Grades 1 to 9, but the reality in Zambia is that core basic education for many pupils and parents is Grades 1 to 7. This may be a transitional arrangement, but the evaluation team is not aware of the strategies for progressing towards the preferred system or for ameliorating its effects. The MOE has recognized the responsive role of the CS system to start up new schools and reach out to marginalized groups of children. The routes by which they can be supported and integrated into the formal provision need to be further examined in ways that recognize their special role to reach out and innovate. The aim should be to preserve the core mission of CS while increasing support, both direct support and services such as registration, monitoring, professional development opportunities for teachers and managers. The linkages between the CS and the formal structures, including nearby schools, colleges and teachers resource centres may need formalizing as the scale of linked activities grows. The free school announcement has created some confusion about the role of parents, school and government. Parents do need to recognize the importance that is attached to their role and their partnership with the school and the government in education. This perhaps needs political attention. However, it seems that the block grant will be a tool for future funding of schools. There will be concerns about accountability and, given the difficulty of monitoring schools by the Districts it will be important to see how local/community accountability may be encouraged, for example by insisting on public reporting on the use of school funds. 70 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

103 ANNEXES Annex 1: Profile of External Support to Basic Education in Zambia 1.1 Background Context A former colony of Great Britain, Zambia attained independence in Its political history can be divided into three periods. From independence until 1972, the United National Independence Party (UNIP) ruled and the African National Congress (ANC) was the opposition. From 1972 to 1991, the UNIP was the only legal party, but opposition parties were legalized in 1990 and a multi-party system has existed since. In the 1991 elections, Fredrick Chiluba the leader of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) defeated Kenneth Kaunda, who had been in power for almost 20 years. In 1996, President Chiluba took the November 1996 presidential elections with 69% of the vote. Zambia is located in the middle of Southern Africa, surrounded by countries currently or recently involved in conflicts, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Recently, Zambia has been playing an important role as a mediator in the region. The Angola civil war, however, has continued to strain relations between the two countries Economy Even in the context of sub-saharan Africa s economic performance, Zambia s economic decline has been extreme. Real GDP per capita is estimated to have declined more than 50% since The economy plunged into crisis in 1975 when the price of copper, the main export, fell dramatically. The situation improved during the first years of the 1990s, as a result of several policy reorientations. In 1991, the new multi-party democratic government introduced a series of economic reforms and a set of structural and institutional reforms was initiated, including reforms of agricultural marketing, a large privatization programme and reforms to the public sector. These policies were intended to stimulate growth. Zambia s economic performance in the 1990s has, however, been disappointing. GDP growth declined in the 1990s, driven by substantial declines in the mining, quarrying and manufacturing sector. Performance on inflation over the decade has been slightly better than that on growth. The decade started with high inflation of almost 200% in 1993, but due to a tight monetary policy, inflation was reduced to 25% in It is expected to remain high at 27.5% in 2001 and 23.6% in 2002, as reported by the Economist Intelligence Unit More worrying has been Zambia s decline in certain social indicators. Its performances on school enrolment, number of malnourished children, infant and under-five mortality declined since the early 1990s. Although the economy recovered in 1999 with a GDP growth rate of 2.4% (as reported by the IMF 1999), in micro terms Zambia s situation has continued to deteriorate. There has been a dramatic increase in poverty and inequality in urban and rural areas due to stabilization, job losses resulting from trade liberalization and the privatization programme. Country Study Report Zambia September

104 A huge majority of Zambians are living in extreme poverty, defined by collapsing urban services, environmental degradation, poor and overcrowded housing conditions and insufficient basic food intake. Poverty in Zambia is multifaceted; rural poverty (very high at 83%, according to the IMF in 1999) is deeper and more prevalent among female-headed households and small-scale farmers. Urban poverty on the other hand is estimated at 56%. Lack of access to employment, food, and assets have surfaced as significant challenges for the urban poor. Home industries have sprung up as a result: tailors, cobblers, vegetable sellers, petty traders and other micro-entrepreneurs sell almost anything to overcome the degradation of poverty. The education system in Zambia has suffered from a lack of financial and human resources, like many other sectors in this country. Enormous debt, a weak economy, and losses from HIV/AIDS and other illnesses have affected Zambia enormously, particularly the inaccessible rural areas. The GRZ is thus extremely limited in its ability to fulfil the education needs of Zambia s children. 1.2 School System Table 8: School Phases Basic Education Lower primary Ages 7-11 Grades 1-4 Upper primary Ages Grades 5-7 Junior secondary Ages Grades 8-9 Senior secondary Ages Grades Tertiary Zambia s formal sector schools are generally set up as outlined in Table 8. At the end of each level, students must pass national exams in order to continue to the next level. The first nine years of education are called Basic Education, and it is the goal of the Zambian government to make Basic Education available to all of its children. The language of instruction is in English, although most communities have a local dialect. 1.3 External Partnership Zambia entered the 1990s with the full effects of the ongoing collapse of international copper prices, with outstanding debts and a difficult relationship with its creditors, including the World Bank, partly resulting from concerns over the social impacts of structural adjustment policies. The history of the relationship with the World Bank, shown in, table 9 is revealing. 72 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

105 Table 9: Ten Years Talking to the World Bank Year Events 1986 Copper price slumps again 1986 Bank approves Multi-Sector Credit and Industrial Reorientation Credits May Government reverses the economic reform policies agreed with Bank/IMF in September Zambia resumes relations with Bank and IMF after reaching agreement on reforms 1990 Consultative Group meeting and Paris Club agreement 1991 March Arrears to the Bank cleared; IDA approves Recovery Credits 1991 October Multiparty Movement for Democracy wins the elections. President Chiluba replaces President Kaunda 1991 September World Bank suspends disbursements 1992 January Arrears are cleared. Prolonged and severe drought occurs 1992 Bank lifts suspension on lending, and approves Privatization and Industrial Recovery Credits I and II (PIRC I and II) 1993 Zambia introduces cash budget and starts to reduce inflation 1993 Privatization and Industrial Recovery Credit II (PIRC II) 1994 Bank approves Economic and Social Adjustment Credit 1995 Bank approves Agricultural Sector Investment Project and Health and Social Credits 1996 Economic Recovery and Investment Credit (ERIP) IDA started processing an Adaptable Programme Loan for the Primary Education sub-sector in 1996, with the World Bank perceived as leading the way to support the Government s 1996 policy paper Educating our Future with a sector approach. This matched the timing of most of the other agencies in Zambia, undergoing policy shifts towards poverty reduction, EFA and primary education. Until that time the main forms of external support to basic education was through discrete, standalone projects, the majority funded through by bilateral agencies and some NGOs. Many of these based their support in particular provinces of Zambia, with the aim of addressing the sub-sector needs within a geographical area. Ireland Aid, for example, undertook work in Northern Province that covered teacher-education, literacy development, management capacity and some infrastructure. Similarly, the Netherlands worked in Western Province, etc. where projects tackled teacher education, management capacity, creation of materials, and infrastructure. This Provincial focus helped manageability for the agencies, and allowed them the scope to look at and address the internal dependencies in their work without the complexities of a national bureaucracy and need to coordinate with other agencies. Others external agencies, including Danida and Finida, had a portfolio of projects including support to individual institutions, textbook production, and training for teachers of children with special educational needs. For many of these agencies, their education project support covered all parts of the system, including secondary and post-secondary levels. DFID supported a project for improving English, Mathematics and Science, which covered both primary and secondary schools. The universities Country Study Report Zambia September

106 also benefited from investments in capital equipment, and study fellowships. The mix makes it difficult to untangle Basic Education support by agency prior to the start of BESSIP funds flow. In 2000 the implementation of BESSIP started with eight inter-related components: management; infrastructure; teacher development, deployment and compensation; education materials; equity and gender; health and nutrition; school curriculum; capacity building and decentralization; and HIV/AIDS education. Table 10 shows the BESSIP support budget for 2001, by component and Table 11, the budgets for 2002 by component and source. Table 10: BESSIP Budget for 2001 (US$) Component Pool Other Total Overall Management Including HIV/AIDS 3,912,200 2,909,800 6,822,000 Infrastructure 3,075,050 20,252,264 23,327,314 Teacher Development, Deployment and Compensation 3,947,500 3,301,500 7,249,000 Education Materials 4,487,000 7,859,950 12,346,950 Equity and Gender 3,637,000 1,847,500 5,484,500 School Health and Nutrition Curriculum Development Capacity Building and Decentralization 399, ,016 1,007,382 65,000 1,070,000 1,135,000 4,292,000 2,052,000 6,344,000 TOTAL 23,815,116 39,901,030 63,716,146 Government of Zambia Counterpart Funding (this does not include 1,000,000 GRZ recurrent expenditure) Source: BESSIP Annual Work Programme and Budget, January December 2001, Ministry of Education (2000b) 74 September 2003 Country Study Report Zambia

107 Table 11: Budget for 2002 (US$) Teacher Development Education Material Gender and Equity School Health and Nutrition Component Overall Management Infrastructure Curriculum Capacity Building HIV/AIDS Total Netherlands 4,680,000 Norway 4,500,000 Ireland 4,350,000 DFID 2,153,436 Finland 1,041,385 Danida 1,000,000 Sub-total (Pool 2002) 17,724,821 Rolled over from ,516,172 Sub-total (Pool) 3,285,000 4,825,578 6,959,500 3,277,403 3,073, , ,000 3,724,950 1,860,600 28,118,351 Cases 2, 3, 4 African Development Bank 292,000 4,244,878 30, , ,858,878 Danida 0 5,867, , , , ,692,000 DFID 0 0 5,087, ,087,250 Finland 537, , , ,500 1,321,323 IDA 0 10,173, ,014, , ,687,877 IDA-ZAMSIF 0 4,378, ,378,483 European Union 0 4,876, , ,334,446 Japan 150, , , , , ,343,300 2,573,300 Netherlands Norway SC 0 179, ,500 UNICEF ,156,000 1,220, ,000,000 4,376,000 USAID 129, ,029, , ,000 1,693,410 OPSUP 0 2,705, ,705,209 Sub-total 1,109,469 33,034,793 5,852,250 3,014,100 4,661,984 1,859, , ,000 2,929,800 52,887,676 TOTAL 4,394,969 37,860,372 12,811,750 6,291,503 7,735,324 2,511, ,000 4,016,950 4,790,400 81,006,028 Source: BESSIP Annual Work Programme and Budget January December 2002, Ministry of Education, 2001b Country Study Report Zambia September

108 Table 12 gives a simplified overview of the main focus of external agencies over the period looking at trends, current activities and stated intentions for the future. Table 12: The External Agencies in Basic Education External Agency History Current Activities Scope, Value (US$) Intentions International Agencies African Development Bank Infrastructure loans Civil Works Approx. US$5 million Infrastructure European Union (EU) EU committed to ZECAB before BESSIP ZECAB just ending 5yrs, US$7 million Originally for capacity building Extended to cover scholarships too Not yet clear Policy is towards budget support UNESCO EFA processes and monitoring Facilitation Insignificant National Committee for EFA United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) Input in early 1990s to stimulate EFA policy commitment Girls education Health, nutrition Orphans and vulnerable children Annually approx US$2.5 million (increasing) Girls education Life skills education ECE Commitments to plans up to US$3.1 million per annum World Bank/IDA Sector Approach Loan funding to BESSIP US$100 million over 7 years Case 2 funding of BESSIP US$40 million 1999 to 2000 Support to move to SWAp, subject to capacity building and PRSP EFA FTI US$60 million 2001 to 2006 US$65 million to ZAMSIF in MOF National Agencies Danida Long involvement in Teacher education Pre-service Curriculum Special education Teacher education, ZATEC and TTC infrastructure Curriculum development Capacity building Case 3 (and a half) Approx US$30 million over the last 5 years Zonal TRCs Inclusive education Women in PE ECE Considering pool modality 76 September Country Study Report Zambia

109 External Agency History Current Activities Scope, Value (US$) Intentions DFID (UK) Legacy projects AIEMS, PRP moved into BESSIP Now pooled funding PRP BESSIP pool and supportive additional work Building/restructuring and policy support Pool approximately US$8 million since 1999, including TA PRP US$ 16 million over 5 years Support to SWAp, including budget support Capacity building Finland Previously in various parts of the sector ESSP Infrastructure, inclusive education, capacity building, materials, HIV/AIDS, etc. ESSP II approximately US$6 million ESSP III US$7 million Pool US$0.5 million Towards support to SWAp, through budget support Cases 1 and 3 Germany Technical and vocational education (GTZ) Technical and vocational education Some input to preparations for EMIS Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland/ Ireland Aid Northern Province varied support, including teacher education and Breakthrough to literacy Ongoing projects for teacher education, literacy, etc. Capacity building BESSIP approximately US$9 million to pool Other approximately US$2 million Support to SWAp, including budget support May reserve a fund for responsiveness and flexibility Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Were focused on junior high school (1980s) Now, Basic Education Facilities, materials Volunteers TA School building, including proposals from CS US$1.8 million for Basic Education Keep work within GRZ plans HIV/AIDS Support to NGOs in CS sector Royal Netherlands Embassy Education since about 1990 Decentralization, (WEPEP) Girls education Materials and other support BESSIP approximately US$15 million to 2002 WEPEP approximately US$3.5 million Support to SWAp, through budget support Direct support to NGO/CSOs Plus support to establish ZCSS, FAWEZA, decentralization, etc. Country Study Report Zambia September

110 External Agency History Current Activities Scope, Value (US$) Intentions Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway Pool Institutional links including of MOE (Also Norway Education Trust Fund of the World Bank) Approximately US$10 million in 2002 Contributions to PAGE through UNICEF Support to SWAp, and moving to budget support USAID School, health and nutrition, EMIS and PAGE (identified as suitable projects ). Interactive Radio EMIS 3 years US$3 million SHN 3 years approximately US$5 million Economic growth is a headquarters policy Some options for pooling PAGE Interactive radio 2 years, US$0.8 million VVOB (Belgium) Volunteers, including in TTCs Source: Mission interviews and agency documents 78 September Country Study Report Zambia

111 Annex 2: Profile of Basic Education 2.1 Overview Government policy towards education was published as Educating Our Future, in 1996 and specifies that the aim of education is:...to enable pupils to achieve a standard of functional education which would enable them to live productively in society, and to possess occupational competence in a skill or a group of skills. Basic Education in Zambia means the education provided in Government Schools and Community Schools as well as in the much smaller numbers of primary-level Private Schools and Grant-Aided Schools. 97% of Primary-level Schools are Government Schools (1998 estimate) but the number of Community Schools is rising rapidly. Education data published by the MOE include all Government Schools plus those other (Private or Grant-Aided) schools that are registered with the Ministry. Following the restructuring of the education system in 2001, Basic Education is defined as the first nine years of schooling, which is comprised of: Lower Basic (Grades 1 to 4), Middle Basic (Grades 5 to 7) and Upper Basic (Grades 8 to 9). The transition from the system of Primary Schools (Grades 1 to 7) and Secondary Schools (Grades 8 to 12) has begun, with the introduction of Grade 1 to 9 schools, called Basic Schools. There are public examinations at the end of Grade 7, and Grade 9. In 2001 there were 5,677 basic schools, of which 4,332 are government, 63 are grant-aided, 133 are private and 1,149 are community schools. Pre-service Teacher Education, for Basic Education teachers, is undertaken in the TTCs. The TTCs are currently providing a two-year programme, of which the whole second year is schoolbased practice. The GRZ has specified targets for the reduction of adult illiteracy (reported to be 25% in the 1990 Census) and the elimination of the male-female illiteracy differences. There is a widespread system of adult literacy classes, both in urban centres and in rural villages. ECE is not included within the Zambian definition of Basic Education. Pre-school education is not well developed in Zambia and Ministry data for 1998 indicated that only 7.3% of children were able to attend some form of pre-school centre, mainly in urban areas. Few children in rural areas attend any formal pre-schooling. Few data are available relating to pre-school education. Early childhood development is under the MLG. Country Study Report Zambia September

112 A stakeholder map is shown below. Figure 8: Stakeholder Map Education Stakeholder Map International NGOs Zambian NGOs Zambian Zambian Zambian NGOs NGOs NGOs Zambian NGOs Zambian NGOs Community Schools Teachers Parents Children 80 MINISTRY OF FINANCE National Tender Board Min. of Health, Min of Social Welfare Cooperating Partners - BESSIP poolers - BESSIP funders - Others MINISTRY OF EDUCATION -Planning -Human Resources -M & E, EMIS Miin of Sci. Tech and Voc. Trg. Min of Youth, Sport and Culture Min of Comm'ty Dev. & Soc. Serv. Min of Local Governement BESSIP Coordination & Implementation Other Other projects Other projects projects Curric. Teach er etc. HIV/ AIDS 9 Provincial DEO 72 Districst -DEO -Distirct Board ~700 Zones -Zone Resource Centre ~ 4700 Government Schools Community Teachers Parents Children September Country Study Report Zambia

113 2.2 Indicators System data has improved since 1998, but there are problems with earlier data and longitudinal views that cross the 1998 boundary. There is also a warning that net and gross intake rates, enrolment rates and all other ratios with age-cohort populations, are subject to dispute after the 2001 census revealed mismatches with the previous extrapolating formulas, as shown in the intake and enrolment data in Table 13, Table 14 and Table Net and Gross Intake Rates Table 13: Gross and Net Intake Ratios (1994 to 1998) Year Gross Intake Ratio Net Intake Ratio Male Female Total Male Female Total Source: MOE 1998 EFA Report Discrepancies are apparent when comparing these data with the more recent ones below. Table 14: Gross and Net Intake Ratios (1996 to 2000) Year Gross Intake Ratio Net Intake Ratio Source: BESSIP 2000 Programme Performance Indicators, Ministry of Education (2001b) Country Study Report Zambia September

114 2.2.2 Enrolment Table 15: Primary School Enrolments 1990 to 1998 Year Boys Girls Total Percentage of Girls , ,896 1,461, , ,049 1,494, , ,007 1,477, , ,902 1,538, , ,078 1,542, , ,951 1,530, , ,767 1,516, , ,538 1,574, Source: Ministry of Education, unpublished data and Kelly (1999) Table 16: Enrolment by Age and Gender Students Age Year / Gender Year / Gender Year / Gender Year / Gender Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female 06 or less 8,225 10,247 8,783 10,947 9,870 12,343 10,100 12, Years 60,228 64,955 63,130 66,826 67,528 72,340 66,799 71, Years 92,263 93,548 94,366 96, , ,823 99,279 99, Years 105, , , , , , , , Years 108, , , , , , , , Years 100,399 94, ,779 96, ,675 95, ,970 95, Years 98,658 90,225 96,980 88,205 98,343 90,273 96,130 87, Years 88,699 79,181 89,828 78,705 86,676 76,425 87,023 77, Years 70,137 57,754 67,221 54,968 61,470 49,335 59,364 48, Years 76,569 42,504 72,640 41,159 40,303 27,422 39,747 26, Years 17,574 9,531 19,263 10,529 Over 16 11,635 3,540 12,861 3,475 Grand Total 809, , , , , , , ,531 Different reporting format in 1996 and 1997 leads to these missing figures. All included in the 15-year-old age group (defined in 1996 and 1997 as 14 and above.) Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database 82 September Country Study Report Zambia

115 Table 17: Gender Parity by Province and Location Year Location Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Central Copperbelt Eastern Luapula Lusaka North western Northern Southern Western Nationally Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Table 18: Gross and Net Enrolment Ratios (1996 to 2002) Year Gross Enrolment Ratios Net Enrolment Ratios Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Progression and Retention In 1991, the proportion of children who dropped out in rural areas ranged from 5% in Grade 1 to 11% in Grade 6, and ranged between 4% in Grade 1 to 8% in Grade 6 for Thus, there was a decrease in the drop-out rate in This decrease was, however, reversed in 1996 when the drop-out rate ranged from 4% in Grade 1 to 16% in Grade 6. Over the period, the drop-out rate for girls in rural areas was higher than for boys. In 1991, the proportion of girls (for the whole country) dropping out ranged from 3% in Grade 1 to 10% in Grade 6 as compared to 7% in Grade 6 in In 1996, on the other hand, the drop-out rate for girls ranged from 3% in grade 1 to 8% in Grade 6. Country Study Report Zambia September

116 Progression rates and dropout rates for 2001 are shown below. Table 19: Progression Rates (2001 data) Grade Male 86.41% 88.63% 90.37% 84.34% 84.38% 84.87% 31.77% 82.81% 18.61% Female 84.69% 86.06% 87.66% 84.19% 81.44% 81.62% 30.46% 79.56% 14.10% Total 85.55% 87.36% 89.05% 84.27% 82.97% 83.35% 31.18% 81.37% 16.35% Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Table 20: Drop-out Rates (2001) Grade Male 3.32% 3.22% 3.31% 3.59% 4.00% 4.13% 4.84% 4.99% 6.57% Female 3.36% 3.33% 3.44% 4.05% 4.41% 5.01% 5.99% 6.47% 8.57% Total 3.34% 3.27% 3.37% 3.81% 4.20% 4.54% 5.36% 5.65% 7.44% Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Repetition rates for 2001, and single grade retention rates are shown in Table 21 and Table 22. They indicate the increased repetition and loss of students around Grade 7. Table 21: Repetition Rate by Gender and Grade (2001) Grade Male 4.61% 5.39% 5.59% 6.57% 6.34% 7.74% 14.47% 4.17% 12.30% Female 4.58% 5.15% 5.33% 6.22% 5.96% 7.20% 12.43% 4.50% 12.84% Total 4.60% 5.27% 5.47% 6.40% 6.16% 7.49% 13.55% 4.32% 12.54% Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Table 22: Single-Grade Retention Rate by Gender, Grades 1 to 9 (estimate based on singleyear data) Grade Male 91.33% 93.88% 96.72% 90.05% 91.45% 99.23% 33.15% 94.43% 21.22% Female 89.29% 90.91% 93.48% 89.53% 87.75% 93.21% 31.90% 91.28% 16.18% Total 90.31% 92.41% 95.14% 89.80% 89.69% 96.42% 32.59% 93.04% 18.69% Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database 84 September Country Study Report Zambia

117 2.2.4 Teachers Table 23: Number of Teachers, Lower and Middle Basic, by Gender Year Male 23,000 23,042 18,280 16,797 15,736 16,542 Female 17,488 17,435 16,530 16,069 16,031 16,440 Total 40,488 40,477 34,810 32,866 31,767 32,982 Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Table 24 shows the current numbers of pupils and teachers and the pupil/teacher ratio in The national pupil/teacher ratio has dropped from 47 to 46 over the period since 1998 but the pupil/teacher ratio varies from 23 in some districts to 99 in others. Table 24: Pupils and Teachers Total Students Total Teachers Pupil/Teacher Ratio 1,740,274 37, Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database In 1990 there were 28,480 trained teachers. This number increased to 31,627 in The target was a 93% increase, but, due to lack of resources for teacher training, this target was not met. One significant observation about the Zambian TTCs is that while 2,226 teachers are being trained 1,500 teachers are being lost annually from the system, for various reasons. This leaves a net number of 700 teachers, which is far lower than the required teacher supply. Teacher attrition in Zambia s public schools is increasingly becoming a major source of concern. Records show that 680 died in 1996, 624 in 1997 and 1,331 died between January and October They died from many causes, including HIV/AIDS. Those who remain are underpaid, poorly housed, demoralized, poorly deployed, provided with little support in the field and given little instructional time. Steps being undertaken to reduce attrition rates of teachers include: increased teacher supply from the TTCs; sensitisation of teachers on HIV/AIDS; rural hardship allowances; increased salaries; high salary entry notch for rural areas; decentralization of payroll; home ownership scheme for teachers; and freezing postings to urban areas Textbooks Tale 25 shows the recent ratios on the availability of textbooks, which vary from about four pupils per book (i.e., 0.25 books per pupil) to nearer one book for two pupils (0.5 books per pupil). There is wide variation across different subject areas. Country Study Report Zambia September

118 Table 25: Pupil to Textbook Ratios Year Zambian Language English Mathematics Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Achievement The goal for learning achievement was that at least 80% of 14-year-olds, beginning school at age 7, should achieve or surpass the competencies defined for Grade 7 by the year The process of defining the learning competencies has started with assessments from Grade 4 and a national testing instrument has been developed. Nevertheless, establishment of the benchmarks is in its infancy. The Southern Africa Consortium for the Measurement of Educational Quality (SACMEQ) undertook a study sponsored by the International Institute of Educational Planning. The study had tests that were designed to measure reading ability of Grade 6 pupils. The tests indicated minimum and desirable performance standards on an internationalized standard. The findings of the study are shown in Table 26. Table 26: Reading Achievement of Grade 6 in the SACMEQ Study Province Percentage reaching the minimum mastery level Percentage reaching the desirable mastery level Central Copperbelt Eastern Luapula Lusaka Northern North-western Southern Western Zambia Boys Girls Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database 86 September Country Study Report Zambia

119 The National Assessment System (NAS) has been established to measure levels of learning achievement in reading and numeracy. NAS also assessed contextual factors and their effect on learning achievement. It is designed for pupils in Grade 5 and implemented by the Examinations Council of Zambia. The assessment was first conducted in mid-1999 with results as shown in Table 27. Table 27: Grade 5 National Assessment Mean Scores (percentages) Subject English Mathematics Icibemba (Northern) Icibemba (Luapula) Silozi Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Pre-schooling Data on early childhood and pre-school provision is scarce, but Figure10 shows levels and the differences between rural and urban pre-schooling. Figure 9: Rural-urban Differences in Pre-schooling Source: Ministry of Education, EFA 1998 monitoring Country Study Report Zambia September

120 2.2.8 Literacy Literacy levels have increased from 54.8% in 1990 to 67.8% in 1996 (Ministry of Education, 2000b); male literacy has increased from 63.4% to 76.7% and female literacy from 46.7% to 59.9%. Literacy rates in 2002 have been estimated at 78.9% (OECD 2002 country report). The national literacy campaign was launched in 1990 and its achievements comprised the revision and reprinting of 95,000 primers, training of 1,926 instructors, and the provision of instruction to 98,701 participants between 1992 and In terms of enrolment, the national literacy campaign signed up 73% women. Table 28: Enrolments in the National Literacy Campaign 1992 to 1998 Year All 15,514 10,444 9,956 10,330 16,188 16,523 19,468 Female 11,514 7,434 7,084 6,584 11,610 12,158 15,660 Male 4,278 3,010 2,872 3,746 4,578 4,365 3,808 Males to female ratio 1:2.7 1:2.5 1:2.4 1:1.8 1:2.5 1:2.8 1:4.5 Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database 2.3 Financing Education Table 29 shows the MOE budget and expenditures (estimated for 2002) over the period of 1998 to 2002, in constant 2001 prices. The table is in billions of Kwachas (3.5 billion Kwachas in 2001 is approximately US$1 million). 88 September Country Study Report Zambia

121 Table 29: Ministry of Education Expenditure (Kwacha billions) Actual Actual Original Actual Original Actual Original Estimate MOE (GRZ (incl. Budget (incl. Budget (incl. Budget accounts) Case 4) Case 4) Case 4) in constant prices Total Including Aid Domestic External aid as a percentage of GDP Total Including Aid 2.3% 2.7% 3.8% 2.8% 4.7% 3.7% 5.3% 4.1% Domestic 2.3% 2.1% 2.1% 2.0% 2.8% 2.6% 3.0% 2.9% External aid 0.0% 0.6% 1.7% 0.8% 1.9% 1.1% 2.2% 1.2% Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Since 1990, public current expenditure on primary education has been increasing in nominal terms as a share of total education expenditure and national income. In 1990, Primary Education expenditure as a percentage of total expenditure on education and national income stood at 28.7% and 0.8% respectively. This expenditure almost doubled by However, the increase does not take into account the fluctuations in prices due to lack of monetary stability. On the other hand, public current expenditure on primary education per pupil, as a percentage of national income per capita, has almost remained below 10% since The proportion of the GNP going to primary education has remained below 1.5%. A joint study in 2000 by the MOE Planning Unit estimated the cost per year per pupil of primary education as US$25.8. The cost of tertiary education was estimated in the same study as US$1, Summary The MOE website ( provides updates to the educational statistics. Zambia is included in the 2002(a) UNESCO EFA Assessment as one of 57 countries at risk of not achieving UPE by 2015, and 79 countries at risk of not halving adult illiteracy by Table 30 shows the World Bank Framework of indicator benchmarks and Zambia data as available. Country Study Report Zambia September

122 Table 30: World Bank Framework Efficiency Indicator Benchmark Zambia Average teacher salary, expressed as a multiple of per capita GDP (prior to increases secured in early 2003) Pupil teacher ratio 40 1:47 (2000/2001) Non-teacher salary share of current primary education spending 33% ~30% Primary school repetition rate 10% or lower 6.5% Percentage of primary enrolment in private schools 10% <5% Government revenues as percentage of GDP 14/16/18 25% Education spending as a percent of total government recurrent spending 20% 17% Primary as a percentage of recurrent education spending 50% 56% Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit Database Table 31 shows trends in the main education indicators. Table 31: Some Trends in the Main Indicators Year Gross Intake Rate 86% 84% 84% 78% 88% Net Intake Rate 36% 35% 37% 35% 37% Repeaters (No.) 100,000 94,000 91,000 95,000 98,000 Repeaters (%) Drop-outs (No.) 76,000 75,000 54,000 51,000 71,000 Drop-outs (%) Pupil-Teacher Ratio No. of Primary schools % of Primary schools located in urban areas 38:1 38:1 45:1 47:1 50:1 4,019 4,078 4,221 4,290 4, % 11.1% 12.0% 11.9% 12.7% Source: BESSIP 2000 Programme Performance Indicators, Ministry of Education (2001b) Notes: Gross Intake Rate = New entrants of all ages into Grade 1/Population aged 7 years old. Net Intake Rate = New entrants aged 7/Total child population aged 7 years old. Repetition rates rise steadily as pupils progress to higher classes: in 2000, Grade 1 = 3.9%, Grade 2 = 4.8%, Grade 3 = 5.0%, Grade 4 = 6.1%, Grade 5 = 6.2%, Grade 6 = 7.1%, Grade 7 = 12.6%. Repetition rates are highest in Grade 7 90 September Country Study Report Zambia

123 because pupils not successful in being selected for entry in Grade 8 try to gain entry the following year. Repetition rates for boys and for girls do not differ significantly, but are much higher in rural than in urban areas (1998: in Grade 7, 10% against 4%, more recent data not available). Drop-out rates, which are somewhat lower than repetition rates, also rise steadily as pupils progress to higher classes: in 2000, Grade 1 = 3.1%, Grade 2 = 3.5%, Grade 3 = 3.6%, Grade 4 = 4.3%, Grade 5 = 4.6%, Grade 6 = 4.9%, Grade 7 = 8.7%. Drop-out rates are significantly higher for girls than for boys (1998: for Grade 6, 7% against 4%), and in rural areas than urban areas (1998: for Grade 6, 8% against 3%, more recent data not available). The increase in the Pupil-Teacher Ratio is attributed to the incidence of HIV/AIDS. The Pupil-Teacher Ratio data need to be seen in the light of the double-shift system of school attendance that operates in most Primary Schools through Zambia. Number of schools includes all registered Primary schools but excludes Community Schools. Country Study Report Zambia September

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125 Annex 3: Methodology 3.1 Key Informants Government MOE Hon. Andrew Mulenga Barbara Chilangwa Lawrence Musonda Arnold Chengo A.K. Sikazwe Bridget Chitambo Kaj Björk, Minister of Education Permanent Secretary BESSIP Coordinator, Director Planning BESSIP Manager CIS Finance Manager, BESSIP Finance advisor (Finland) Bessip Component Managers Joseph F. Nthele Simon Chiputo Shadreck Hakalima Ester Banda Sinkala Kyangubabi Chiika Muyebaa Lilian Ntalasha Catherine N. Phiri Irene Malambo Reginah Muzamai Dorothy C. Kasanda George Sililo Infrastructure Teacher Development, Deployment and Compensation Education Materials Equity and Gender Curriculum Curriculum School Health and Nutrition HIV/AIDS Senior Accountant Capacity Building and Decentralization Ex-Director CDC Ministry of Finance and Planning Office Regina Mulenga Department Accountant General F. Chongola Chief Economist, Economy and Technical Cooperation Ministry of Commerce Development and Social Welfare Patrick M. Chooye James Mwitwa Director Training, Research and Evaluation Country Study Report Zambia September

126 Cooperating Partners Josephine Muchelemba Ginette St. Cyr Mette Knudsen Richard Arden Suzanne Korpia Bond Kevin Kelly Hakushi Hamaoka Turid Hallstrom Bert Huguenin Stella Manda Kent Noel Dr. Clement Siamatowe CIDA CIDA Country Programme Manager Danida DFID Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland/Ireland Aid JICA Assistant Resident Representative Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway Royal Netherlands Embassy UNICEF USAID World Bank Technical Assistance/Consultants Shay Linehan Satoshi Nakamura Marianne Christensen Fred Brooker Mary T. Ncube Chingaji F. Chiyenu DFID Education Field Manager (PRP), JICA Technical Cooperation Adviser, TED Advisor, Danida TA MOE Adviser (Finland TA) Financial Specialist, People Systems Inclusive Education Specialist, People Systems Inclusive CSOs and NGOs Hellen Mpundu Chipepo Jennifer Chiwela Malama Muleba Mr.Mwanachingwala Leah S. Kasaji Collins Siulapwa Chileshe L. Mutega Bentry Nkhata Tony Kisadha Mary Kantemba Acting Executive Director, Zambia Community Schools Secretariat Executive Director, PAF Programme Manager, PAF Secretary General, ZANUT ZANUT Dep. Gen. Sec. Finance, PETUZ Acting Director, Institute of Economic and Social Research UNZA Page Monitoring Unit Programme Manager, Save the Children, Norway Senior Programme Manager, Save the Children, Norway 94 September Country Study Report Zambia

127 Yaona Mwale Zambia Pre-Schools Association B. Chizyuka Zambia Pre-Schools Association Emmanuel Kabuswe Phosile Tracy Sickinga Peter W Kabungo Joel Kamoko Sister Marian Leaf John Ng anjo Elizabeth Khondowe Antonina Ponga-Yashini Banda Michael Christine Kasonda Acting Executive Director, Adult Education Association of Zambia YMCA ZCSS Zambia National Union of Teachers Zambian Open Community Schools Reformed Open Community Schools Reach Out Development Foundation FAWEZA ZPA General manager, Longman Zambia Country Study Report Zambia September

128 3.2 Field and Site Visits Southern Province Mr. Wood and Dr. Anne L. Sikwibele visited Southern Province in October 2002 and visited Provincial and District officials, the Teacher Training College and several schools. Southern Province presents a mix of urban, peri-urban and some rural schools. Solomom H. Mweemba Mubita Mubita Munamukuni E. Shandele Bason Chibombwe Trust Malambo Hanguwa Godfrey Musupelo Maxwell M. Bbalo Maxwell T. Chieza Gabriel M Muvwanga Howard Sikwela Edward Simabikiti Hudson I Mutwena Edah Makkaba Sinkala Rose M.S. Likokoto Stephanie Mukolo Maseka Isabel Habwacha Muuka Kashoti Owen Christine Sikwela Deputy Provincial Education Officer, Southern Province Senior Inspector of School Senior Inspector of Schools TED Accountant Senior Education Officer Statistics Officer DEO, Livingstone District Accountant, Livingstone District Education Officer, Livingstone District Acting Principal, Livingstone District Head, Mahululo Primary School Head, Linda East P. School Acting Senior Teacher/Bursar, Linda East P. School Mentor/Sports Teacher, Linda East P. School Head, Linda West Basic School Acting Department Head, Linda West Basic School Teacher, Linda West Basic School Head, Mulwani Basic School 96 September Country Study Report Zambia

129 3.2.2 Western Province John Berry and Geofrey Tambulukani visited Western Province in October They held meetings and made site visits as shown below. Western province was chosen because it is remote from Lusaka and has many isolated rural schools. It has been the centre of several legacy project activities, as well as a beneficiary of activities under BESSIP. Janet Mwananyanba Kayama PEO N. Nasilele Provincial Senior Inspector of Schools and focal point for teacher education and Development Mutokola Mujala Provincial Accountants Provincial Accountants F. N. Likolo PEO, Continuing Education Patrick Kalukango Richard Chingumbe P.S. Ngonda Provincial Teacher Resource Centre Provincial Teacher Resource Centre Head Teacher, Imwiko Basic School 22 teachers of all grades Imwiko Basic School 12 Pupils from G2 to G9 Imwiko Basic School Inambao Nakwebwa Mr. Zimba Joseph Mulonda Catherine Munalula Mukokwa Mukelabai Kapui Kapui Joseph M. Matongo, K. Liwera, Jeff. Wasamunu Lushi, Christina Kasiku Zaza, Veronica Akafumba Mwimanenwa, M.M. Kanyata, M. Mufalo World Vision Western Province Education Project (WEPEP) Head, Mulambwa Basic School Head Liyoyelo Community School Mongu District Education Officer Head Teacher, Namushakende Basic School PTA Members, Namushakende Basic School 4 other teachers Namushakende Basic School 3.3 Consultation Meeting The consultation meeting was held on the morning of December 16, 2002 at the Pamodzi Hotel Lusaka. The morning also included the opening remarks by the Honorable Andrew Mulenga, Minister of Education, and was well attended. A document of preliminary findings was circulated and briefly presented to the meeting by the team members. Country Study Report Zambia September

130 The meeting then formed into seven groups (of approximately 15 people each) with instructions for each group to focus on one of the areas of the evaluation, with about 90 minutes for deliberation. Team members circulated and joined the discussion with each of the groups who then prepared written responses for the team. Name Title Designation Institution Hon Andrew Mulenga Minister of Education Ministry of Education Hon C.E Kasukumwa Deputy Minister of Education Ministry of Education Hon R. Chipampe Deputy Minister of Education Ministry of Education B.Y. Chilangwa Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education Dr. Lawrence Musonda Director, Planning and Infrastructure. Ministry of Education E. Sinkala Director, HRD & A Ministry of Education A. K. Sikazwe A/CIS Ministry of Education Ms. Gwaba Acting Assistant Director-HRD Ministry of Education Mr. Chiyesu A/Ass. Director-HRA Ministry of Education M. Sichone Continuing Education Ministry of Education G. B. Kamungulu Principal Internal Auditor Ministry of Education F. Sinyangwe Controller EBS Ministry of Education P.C. Mwansa ZEPIU Ministry of Education L. Luanja Chief Accountant Ministry of Education Newton Mutanekelwa Director, ECZ Ministry of Education S. Chiputa TED Ministry of Education Katundu Chief Planning Officer Ministry of Education F. Katulundwe Senior Accountant Ministry of Education I. Jere Financial Planner Ministry of Education B. Mugwagwa Principal Statistical Officer Ministry of Education BESSIP Management Implementation Team Mr. J. Nthele Senior Inspector of Schools Ministry of Education Mr. Lwenje MEPSU Ministry of Education Irene Malambo HIV/AIDS Ministry of Education C.N. Phiri SHN Ministry of Education Mrs Kasanda CABUDE Ministry of Education Mr. Mumbula Decentralization Ministry of Education A. Chengo BESSIP Manager Ministry of Education 98 September Country Study Report Zambia

131 Name Title Designation Institution Mr. Joe Kanyika ECZ Ministry of Education Mr. Kapambwe ECZ Ministry of Education R.M. Muzamai BESSIP Senior Accountant Ministry of Education Technical Advisors And Consultants B. Chitambo BESSIP Finance Manager Ministry of Education J. McCormack Programme Manager ZECAB MoE Fred Brooker Programme Coordinator. ESSP III Ministry of Education Pekka Tuominen Building Adviser-ESSP III Ministry of Education S. Nakamura Technical Adviser JICA Ministry of Education J.M. Ngenda WEPEP Ministry of Education Tony Kasida REDD BARNA/SC, Norway Ministry of Education Dr. Graybill USAID Derrick Warrick EMIS Ministry of Education Kai Bjork ESSP III Robin Consultants (4) BESSIP Internal Evaluation For Presentations Marianne Christensen Shay Linehan Sera Karuiki Danida DFID USAID Province, District, College and District Representatives S. Chanda PEO Copperbelt Ministry of Education D. Bowasi PEO-Lusaka Ministry of Education S. Muhyila PEO, Southern Ministry of Education PEO, Western Ministry of Education B. C. Mwale PEO, Northern Ministry of Education Mr Mwansa PEO, Chipata Ministry of Education V. Simpila PEO, Luapula Ministry of Education L. N. Chitomfwa PEO, North-Western Ministry of Education Mr. Chilaka PEO, Eastern Ministry of Education DEOs Lusaka; Choma; Livingstone; Kazungula; Nakonde; Mpika; Mbala; Ndola; Kitwe; Luanshya; Solwezi; DEOs Ministry of Education Country Study Report Zambia September

132 Name Title Designation Institution Kasempa; Chipata; Nyimba; Mansa; Samfya; Chibomba; Kapiri Mposhi; Mongu; Senenga. Mr. Jumbe Principal, KTTC Ministry of Education Principal Principal, NISTCOL Ministry of Education Principal Principal, Nkrumah T. College Ministry of Education Principal Principal, DLTTC Ministry of Education Principal Principal, COSETCO Ministry of Education Line Ministries Dr. P. Nkanza Mubita Lwabelwa Director, Technical Education Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture Ministry of Finance and National Planning Other Representatives Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture; Ministry of Community Development and Social Services Ministry of Health; Ministry of Local Government and Housing. Pre-school Association; ZANUT; PETUZ; JCTR; ZCSS; Kara Counselling; ZAFD; FAWEZA; OXFAM; ZAMSIF; PAF; Evangelical Church; Episcopal Church; Christian Church. Norwegian Embassy; DFID, Lusaka; Irish Aid; USAID; Netherlands Embassy; Embassy of Finland; World Bank; Canadian Embassy; Embassy of Japan/JICA; Danish Embassy; UNICEF; European Union; VVOB. 3.4 Documents A request for documents covering the history of external support and policy formation was made during inception, and reinforced during subsequent meetings if necessary. The Ministry made available the documents associated with the Strategic Planning process and the BESSIP Mid- Term Evaluation. 100 September Country Study Report Zambia

133 Annex 4: Comments from the Country Reference Group The Country Reference Group reviewed a draft of this report on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at the MOE conference room and made a number of comments for accuracy and structure. Most of these have been reflected in the revisions to the document. The following comments were not fully incorporated for the reasons given below. Comment More detail is needed on the MOU (between the MOE and cooperating partners) as a tool for the partnership. More elaboration of the entire MOE sector plan would make a big difference. Having acknowledged the contribution by NGOs/CSOs to complement the Government s schools to reach out to poorest children and communities, and given the fact that NGO/CSO funding comes from agencies, it is desirable to capture and expand on evolution of support to NGO/CSO educational programmes; to Basic Education outside the umbrella of a ZCSS, but in receipt of external funding; and any concrete Partnership for developing basic education. Is NGOs/CSO complementary support to Basic Education seen as temporary (which I believe it is), and if so for how long? Is there a correlation between MOE s felt need for financial support for the next 10 or 15 or 20 years and the NGOs/CSO continued presence on the education plat form? What are the evaluations inferences that might point to future collaboration and assistance by the cooperating partners? Response The importance of the MOU for formalizing the partnership is recognized in Section The evaluation was not able to review in detail the negotiating points and difficulties that arose in finalizing the MOU, as this was ongoing at the end of the evaluation period. The evaluation acknowledges the importance of the sector plan and discusses, in Section 5.0, some aspects of the plan that reflect its genesis in the partnership of GRZ and the external agencies, including the sector-wide scope and full integration into MOE programming. There is a description of the key elements in Section 5.0, but it is not for this evaluation to review the sector plan in more detail. The evaluation acknowledges the weakness in data on the external support to the educational NGOs and CSOs. It proved almost impossible, within the resources available, to obtain data on the scale and sources of such support. The organizations are not required to publish accounts and some are protective of information about their funding and disbursements. The question has been reflected in Sections 5.0 and 6.0. However, the evaluation remains cautious about predicting how these relationships will develop, noting that it may well depend on personalities or external circumstances. Country Study Report Zambia September

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135 Annex 5: Bibliography Auditor General. (1999). Basic Education Sub sector Investment Program (BESSIP) accounts for the year ended 31st December Lusaka, Zambia. Auditor General. (2000). Basic Education Sub sector Investment Program (BESSIP), accounts for the year ended 31st December Lusaka, Zambia. Bentall, C., Peart, E., Carr-Hill, R., & Cox, A. (2001). Education for All 2000 assessment thematic studies: Funding agency contributions to Education for All. Paris: UNESCO. Cashen, L., Elacqua, G., Gometz, E., Karume S., Nadirova, K., Naito, E. & Schmeil, N. (2001). Educating children out of the system: The community schools movement in Zambia. Lusaka, Zambia: UNICEF. Coppinger, R., Hough, J. & Ziewers, M. (2002). Zambia education capacity building program, mid-term review European Commission. Curriculum Development Centre, Ministry of Education. (2002). The basic school curriculum framework. Danida. (1999a). Sector program support document: Support to the Basic Education Sub sector Investment Program , Zambia, volume one: An overview. Copenhagen. Danida. (1999b). Sector program support document: Support to the Basic Education Subsector Investment Program , Zambia, volume two: Area of support descriptions. Copenhagen. Danida. (2000). Denmark s development assistance Copenhagen: Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Danida. (2002a). Annual consultations on development cooperation between the Government of Zambia and the Government of Denmark, agreed minutes. Lusaka, Zambia. Danida. (2002b). Mid-term review of Danida support to the Basic Education Sub- sector Investment Program. Lusaka, Zambia. Development Researchers Network, Italy and FTP International, Finland. (2001). Evaluation of EC support to the education sector in ACP countries: Zambia. Brussels: European Community. DFID. (1996). Project memorandum. BESSIP Preparatory Fund. DFID. (1997a). Action to improve English, Mathematics and Science (AIEMS), Project Review. Lusaka, Zambia. DFID. (1997b). Project progress report. AIEMS. Country Study Report Zambia September

136 DFID. (2000). Action to improve English, Mathematics and Science: Final review of the AIEMS project. Lusaka, Zambia. DFID. (2002a). PRP evaluation study. Lusaka, Zambia. DFID. (2002b). Program List (Zambia). Higgins, K. (2001). Breakthrough to literacy review, Northern Province Zambia. Final report. Lusaka, Zambia: Ireland Aid. Human Rights Watch. (2002). Suffering in silence: The links between Human Rights abuses and HIV transmission to girls in Zambia. Retrieved from International conference on adult basic and literacy education in southern African development community (SADC) region. The Pietermaritzburg Declaration. (2002). Ireland Aid and MOE. (2001). Ireland Aid Education Sector Support Program Zambia: Northern Province. Lusaka, Zambia. Ireland Aid. (2000a). Sector-wide approaches to education provision and emerging networks the case of BESSIP in Zambia. Dublin. Ireland Aid. (2000b). Country strategy paper for Zambia Lusaka, Zambia. Ireland Aid. (2000c). Education sector six monthly report January to June Lusaka, Zambia. Ireland Aid. (2001a). Education policy and practice guidelines. Dublin. Ireland Aid. (2001b). Education sector, three top-line issues. Lusaka, Zambia. Ireland Aid. (2001c). PAEG Ireland Aid education sector cooperation Zambia Lusaka, Zambia: Ireland Aid. Ireland Aid. (2002a). Terms of reference for the development of a program to intensify support for the decentralization process at the district level in Western and Northern Province. Lusaka, Zambia. Ireland Aid. (2002b). Ireland Aid education sector support program Six monthly progress report. Lusaka, Zambia. Ireland Aid. (2002c). Report on BESSIP/GRZ grant survey in Northern Province. Lusaka, Zambia. Irish Aid Advisory Committee and Ireland Aid. (2000). An HIV/AIDS strategy for the Ireland Aid program. Dublin. Irish Aid Zambia. (1997). Kasama Primary Education Project review. Lusaka, Zambia. 104 September Country Study Report Zambia

137 Jesuit Centre for Theological Research (JCTR). (2000). Cost of living of primary school teachers: The case of Lusaka Province. Lusaka, Zambia. Kelly, M.J. (1999). The origins and development of education in Zambia. Image Publishers Limited. Kelly, M.J. (2001). Intensifying the response Ireland Aid can make to the HIV/AIDS pandemic through the education sector. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministers of Education of African Member Sates (MINEDAF VIII). (2002). Dar Es Salaam statement of commitment, learning to build the New Africa. Dar Es Salaam. Ministry of Education. (1996). Educating our future: National policy of education. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (1999). Education for All 2000 assessment. Lusaka, Zambia. ( Ministry of Education. (2000a). BESSIP annual work programme and budget, January-December Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2000b). Zambia EFA 2000 assessment. Planning Unit. Ministry of Education. (2001a). Talking to our children about sex and growing up. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2001b). BESSIP annual work programme and budget, January- December Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2001c). BESSIP 2000 program performance indicators. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2002a). Accelerated decentralization program for the Northern and Western Provinces of Zambia: Draft report. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2002b). BESSIP mid-term evaluation: Inception report. Robins Consultants Limited. Ministry of Education. (2002c) BESSIP annual progress report, Management Information Team. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2002d). Memorandum: Re: Introduction of free education. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2002e). Draft implementation framework MOE strategic plan 2003 to Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2002f). Outstanding payments for repatriation allowances and leave: Terminal benefits. Lusaka, Zambia. Country Study Report Zambia September

138 Ministry of Education. (2002g). Education in Zambia 2002: Situational analysis (Strategic Plan). Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2002h). Sector program in practice: The Basic Education Subsector Investment Program (BESSIP) case. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2002i). HIV/AIDs program: Training and resource manual for education staff. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2002j). Strategic plan: , draft. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (2002k). Joint Aide-Memoire for the external appraisal of the Ministry of Education Strategic Plan Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Education. (undated). Basic Education Subsector Investment program, overall financial report for the year Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. (2000, July). Interim PRSP. Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Finance. (2002a). Project disbursements, Paris Club Members ( ). Lusaka, Zambia. Ministry of Finance. (2002b). ADB/ADF List of active project loan amounts. Ministry of Finance. (2002c). Donor flows (Project financing) 1998 to Mumba, E.C., Chikalanga, I., Sikwibele, A.L. & Nkhat, B. (1998). Evaluation of Advancing Girls Education in Zambia. UNICEF. Musonda, L.W. (1999). Teacher education reform in Zambia is it a case of a square peg in a round hole? Teaching and Teacher Education, 15, Mwansa, D. (1998). Community schools: Their strengths and weaknesses, pupil and teacher profiles. UNICEF & ZCSS. Netherlands. (2002a). Financial report (Activity Summary Landscape). Netherlands. (2002b). Overview of Dutch support to the education sector in Zambia in the period 1993 to Netherlands Embassy. (2003). Harmonisation of donor practices for aid effectiveness in Zambia. Lusaka, Zambia. Nkamba, M. & Kanyika, J. (1998). The quality of primary education some policy suggestions based on a survey of schools. SACMEQ (International Institute for Educational Planning, UNESCO and Ministry of Education Lusaka, Zambia). OECD. (2003). African Economic Outlook 2002/03 Country studies: Zambia. 106 September Country Study Report Zambia

139 People s Action Forum (PAF). (2002). People s Action Forum strategic plan, Lusaka, Zambia. Riddell, A. (2001). Sector wide approaches in education: Implications for donor agencies and issues arising from case studies of Zambia and Mozambique. Stockholm: Sida. Robins Consultants Ltd. (2002). BESSIP mid-term evaluation: Draft report. Lusaka, Zambia. Save the Children Norway. (2001). Annual report 2001, Zimbabwe, Zambia. Oslo, Norway. UNAIDS (2002). UNESCO (2002a). EFA global monitoring report: Is the world on track? Paris: UNESCO. UNESCO. (2002b). State of progress of the EFA process in Sub Saharan Africa. UNICEF. (1999). Children orphaned by AIDS. USAID. (2002a). A literature review of community schools in Africa. Washington, DC. USAID. (2002b). BESSIP: The role of USAID and other cooperating partners, Current working paper (SO6) BESSIP Phase II. USAID. (2002c). USAID/Zambia mission education results framework, with key activities and ministry partners. USAID. (2002d). Education non-project assistance feasibility study. Lusaka, Zambia. World Bank Group, Operations Evaluation Department. (2002). Zambia Country assistance evaluation. Washington, DC. World Bank Group. (1995). Sector institution analysis, Zambia education. Washington, DC. World Bank Group. (1996). Country operational review, Zambia. Washington, DC. World Bank Group. (1999). Proposed credit to the Republic of Zambia in support of the first phase of the Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Program. (Program Appraisal Document). Washington, DC. World Bank Group. (2001). Zambia - Public expenditure review: Public expenditure, growth and poverty - a synthesis. Washington, DC. World Bank Group, Operations Evaluation Department. (2002). Zambia Country assistance evaluation. Washington, DC. Zambia Community Schools Secretariat. (2002). The SPARK handbook: A guide for teachers in Zambia s community schools. Lusaka, Zambia: Ministry of Education and UNICEF. Country Study Report Zambia September

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