Zanzibar Improving Quality of Basic Education Project

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Despite significant progress in terms of improving access to basic education in Zanzibar over the past decade, additional concerted efforts are needed to ensure that these gains also translate to improvements in learning outcomes. The most recent Early Grade Readiness Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) in 2017 measuring learning outcomes for grade 3 students, indicate that only 1 percent of students met the oral fluency benchmark (50 correct words per minute) and only 4 percent met the reading comprehension benchmark, whereas 0.9 percent were able to carry out the addition/subtraction and 5.9 percent were able to accurately complete the missing number subtask. The low learning outcomes are indicative of the lack of proper acquisition of foundational skills, affecting the ability of students to progress through basic education with adequate learning levels and impacting their readiness in lower and upper secondary. Moreover, the availability of data on learning outcomes is scarce. The country does not have a national learning assessment and large-scale learning assessments, such as the EGRA/EGMA, or SACMEQ, have not been systematic, as it is usually donor-funded and based on project needs. These assessments also tend to use different measures of learning outcomes and are not comparable. The learning environment can also be challenging and an impediment to effective teaching and learning. For example, some districts have average class sizes of over 75 students, and some even as high as 104 (e.g. Magharibi district). This prevents teachers from effectively applying student-centered pedagogies which require smaller classroom settings, and also creates challenges in terms of rolling out effective continuous assessments. This limits the teacher's ability to provide individual feedback and support to pupils. Moreover, some schools also lack adequate sanitary facilities, especially for lower secondary girls. Although access to primary and lower secondary education has increased over time, boys tend to disengage early, especially at the lower secondary level and girls tend to underperform on Form 4 examinations. Boys tend to repeat classes more frequently and dropout, especially at the lower secondary level. The transition rate from Form 2 to Form 3 in 2021 was 65 percent for boys compared to 83 percent for girls. In addition, girls tend to underperform on their end of cycle examination (Form 4) despite being over-represented in the cohort of Form 4 students. The Zanzibar Improving Quality of Basic Education Project (ZIQUE) seeks to strengthen teaching and learning in basic education and promote higher completion rates by: (i) supporting the roll out of the new competency-based curriculum and related teaching and learning materials; (ii) improve the capacity to monitor learning levels through the national learning assessment; (iii) support school-based teacher Continuous Professional Development; (iv) support the use of educational technologies to enhance teaching and learning; (v) carry out strategic construction to improve learning conditions, (vi) implement a Boys and Girls Science and Leadership Program to enhance socio-emotional readiness of students; and (vii) support system strengthening. By focusing on high quality teaching and learning materials, improving the learning environment, and providing regular, targeted and effective support to teachers, the Project aims to improve learning outcomes and support student progression through the cycle. The proposed Project will be implemented over a six-year period and aims to address some of the most critical challenges to achieving quality basic education in Zanzibar. The proposed design builds on: (i) global evidence regarding factors which impact learning, in particular those that address what happens within the classroom; (ii) achievements and lessons learned from the implementation of the current ZISP project; (iii) sector priorities identified within the Zanzibar Education Development Plan (ZEDP II); and (iv) contextual evidence based on past and ongoing analytical work carried out in Zanzibar. The proposed instrument is an Investment Project Financing. The proposed activities are organized in four components: (i) Strengthen teacher effectiveness; (ii) Strengthen Teacher Support; (iii) Support Conducive Learning Environments; and (iv) Systems strengthening and project management.