Malawi Education Sector Improvement Project (MESIP)

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The development objective of the Education Sector Improvement Project for Malawi is to improve the equity and quality of primary education service delivery in early grade levels with an emphasis on improved accountability and functioning at the school level. The project comprises of five components. The first component, performance-based school improvement grants for improving promotion and retention objective is to pilot the feasibility of improving promotion rates through addressing the inefficiencies of repetition and dropout in the primary education system through performance based funding (PBF) and incentives, including how to keep girls in school. The second component, improving equity for the most disadvantaged, including girls focus on improving the retention of teenage girls especially in standards 6 to 8 by improving availability of sanitary facilities an issue identified as a constraint for girls. The third component, improving learning outcomes, accountability, and cost-effectiveness at school level will support three activities: (a) school leadership program to change school level management and teacher behaviors; (b) school data collection and usage; and (c) improving community involvement in schools, especially targeting retention of teenage girls. The fourth component, variable part and disbursement linked indicators will focus on development, endorsement, and operationalization of the strategic policy frameworks. The fifth component, project management, and sector program support and coordination will finance activities, core consultant staff, technical assistance (TA), and recurrent costs related to project management and sector program facilitation and coordination, including communication, monitoring and evaluation (M and E).