Pakistan: Third Punjab Education Sector Project

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The development objective of the Third Punjab Education Sector Project for Pakistan is to support Punjab province to improve school participation, completion, and teaching-learning practices with a particular focus on low-performing districts (LPD). LPDs are ten districts that have among the lowest participation rates for children of age 6 to 15 years. The proposed project supports the implementation of the Government of Punjab’s larger education program supporting the 2018 Education Goals. The project comprises the following two components. The first will use results-based financing to support the achievement of the GoPunjab’s 2018 education goals and growth strategy through nine subcomponents along three strategic areas: (a) improving access to schooling for the poorest; (b) ensuring quality teaching and learning for all; and (c) improving leadership, management, and accountability. For each subcomponent, there will be a disbursement-linked indicator (DLI) with time-bound targets. Funds will be disbursed against agreed eligible expenditures upon the achievement of DLI targets. The project supports the first three 2018 Education Goals, that is, (a) to ensure high quality teaching and learning in the classroom; (b) to improve leadership and accountability at all levels; and (c) to enable a conducive learning environment for students. The first strategic area, improving access to schooling for the poorest will support interventions to provide students from the poorest households with financial resources and opportunities enabling them to attend school at the primary and secondary levels. It has three sub components. a) Education Voucher Scheme (EVS), b) Public-Private Partnerships in Education, and c) Stipends for Secondary School Girls. The second strategic area, Ensuring quality teaching and learning for all will support interventions to raise the quality of teaching and learning by (a) improving the quality of Early Childhood Education (ECE) in schools; (b) strengthening the human resources management of teachers; (c) reinforcing the field-based Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of teachers; and (d) creating an enabling context for assessment activities and improving the quality, utility, and accessibility of assessment data. Four subcomponents will support this strategic area. (a) Early Childhood Education, (b) Effective Human Resources Management for Teachers, (c) Quality in the Primary Classroom and (d) Improved Education Assessments to Enhance Quality. The third strategic area, improving leadership, management and accountability will strengthen the system of allocation and accountability in the use of non-salary budget (NSB), and better integrate and use education data to lead and efficiently manage the education system. Two subcomponents will support this strategic area. (a) School Specific Non-Salary Budgets and (b) Data Strengthening and Performance Management; The second component, capacity building, project management, monitoring, and evaluation is to strengthen implementing institutions to design, deliver, and monitor and evaluate activities to achieve their mandates and the DLIs; and to ensure efficient and effective project management. The project will provide critical and strategic technical assistance and capacity building to support and strengthen implementing agencies in the primary and secondary education subsectors in Punjab.