OECS- Skills and Innovation Project

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The Project will achieve its development objectives by leveraging regional externalities in post-secondary education and innovation investments among OECS Member States. This is expected to promote higher quality teaching and learning, generate more relevant education programs, contribute to the development of the regional innovation ecosystem, and better prepare current and future students to thrive in the ever-changing world of work, including by building the human capital needed for countries to transition to lower-carbon economies. As a result, 1,200 post-secondary graduates are expected to display enhanced skills, 4 innovations are expected to be adopted by entrepreneurs, and at least 120 entrepreneurs are expected to engage in collaborative innovation with 120 post-secondary students. In particular, the first component, implemented by the OECSC, will benefit all OECS Member States by enhancing regional collaboration in post-secondary education (subcomponent 1.1) and strengthening regional innovation ecosystems with private sector participation (subcomponent 1.2). While Component 2, implemented by Grenada and Saint Lucia, will focus on strengthening the capacity of selected post-secondary institutions to deliver a high-quality learning experience and will support private-sector-led innovation partnerships with those institutions, these activities are designed to have significant regional externalities. Subcomponent 2.1 will support assessment of capacity and needs of post-secondary institutions (developing or adopting diagnostic tools, which can be used beyond the two participating countries in the future), and the development and implementation of Regional Enhancement Plans, which will feature explicit mechanisms for sharing resources and conducting knowledge exchanges with other OECS Member States. Priority transversal skills and advanced technical skills in prioritized sectors will be further supported through subcomponent 2.2 to make post-secondary education provision more effective, relevant, and personalized, with developed resources and lessons learned being shared with OECS Member States. The collaborative innovation between post-secondary education institutions and entrepreneurs in Grenada and Saint Lucia sponsored under subcomponent 2.3 will benefit the overall OECS region through the development of innovative solutions aiming to address the challenges faced by the region that can eventually be adopted by other OECS countries. Also, the OECS region will benefit also from the increased dynamism in the regional innovation ecosystem, particularly since stakeholders from other OECS countries will be encouraged to participate in the collaborative innovation projects and as evaluators in the innovation grants program.The Project would achieve its development objective through the implementation of four components: (i) Fostering regional collaboration for skills and innovation in the post-secondary space; (ii) Strengthening post-secondary institutions and collaborative innovation ; (iii) Project Management and Technical assistance, and (iv) Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC). Component 1, Fostering regional collaboration for youth skills and innovation in the post-secondary space, will support the development of an overarching regional strategic framework for post-secondary education and of mechanisms to enhance collaboration among OECS Member States on post-secondary education, the improvement of post-secondary data at the regional level, and the development of a regional innovation ecosystem with strong participation of post-secondary institutions. The component will be implemented by the OECS Commission through an IDA grant. The benefits of the activities and outputs in this Component will accrue to all countries in the OECS region.Component 2, Strengthening post-secondary institutions and collaborative innovation, will provide direct support to National Colleges and other selected post-secondary institutions in participating countries to implement Regional Enhancement Plans (REPs), develop new or enhance existing programs for priority skills, and support collaborative innovation projects, with the objective of promoting improved learning environments and fostering better skills and innovation in the OECS region. Some of the regional initiatives financed under Component 1, such as the development of common learning standards, harmonized post-secondary teacher qualifications, and the use of KTIP for identifying potential innovation projects, will be piloted and implemented at the national level through Component 2. The component will be implemented by Project Implementation Units in Saint Lucia and Grenada. Most direct and indirect benefits of this Component will be regional, but some activities will accrue more benefits to national stakeholders.Component 3, Project Management and Technical Assistance, will provide technical assistance to support the implementation of Project activities and finance the establishment and functioning of three Project Implementation Units (PIUs). This component will also strengthen selected aspects of the OECS’ post-secondary education system’s performance.Component 4 is a Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC). The CERC is designed as a mechanism for rapid response in the event of an eligible emergency, which can be activated upon request from the Government. This component does not have any initial funding allocation, but in the event of an emergency, uncommitted funds can be reallocated from other components in accordance with an Emergency Action Plan prepared by the Government and the CERC’s implementation modalities.