ZR Support to Basic Education Program

closed

The development objectives of the Support to Basic Education Program under the Global Partnership for Education Fund Project for Democratic Republic of Congo are to: (a) increase access and equity in primary education; (b) improve learning conditions in primary education; and (c) strengthen sector management and promote greater accountability by introducing new management practices at the local levels. The project has three components. The first component is increasing access and equity at the primary level through rehabilitation and re-construction of classrooms. The objectives of this component are to: (i) rehabilitate or replace classrooms in disrepair and those built with non-durable materials (mud and straws and leaves); (ii) add or rehabilitate school director offices and annexed facilities such as latrines and water supply; and (iii) involve local communities, specifically the Conseils de gestion scolaire (COGES) in the provision and management of school infrastructures and furniture. The second component is improving the quality of the learning environment. This will support the teacher skills development in Equator and Kasai-West, and the provision of textbooks and pedagogical materials country-wide. This component has following two sub-components: (a) strengthening in-service training to improve teacher quality given the erosion of teacher training capacity through the crisis period; and (b) provision of learning materials, as planned in the Interim Education Plan (IEP), support the acquisition and the distribution of textbooks, country-wide to all public and private primary education schools. The third component is strengthening sector management. This component will support interventions to ensure that current regulations are applied and strengthened as a basis for more efficient and more accountable sector management. It has following three sub-components: (i) restructuring of the education administrative offices. This sub-component will consist of: (a) provision of operating costs for school management offices (Bureaux Gestionnaires de Proximite); (b) the development of management and reporting tools and communication activities; (c) the design of results-based agreements; and (d) financial audits and quality assessments; (ii) other strengthening of institutional capacity to provide technical assistance to Service de Controle et de la Paie des Enseignants (SECOPE) to implement reform. This technical assistance will cover the 3-year period of the project but will intervene on a periodic basis following a clear work plan; and (iii) project management and coordination. This sub-component will support project management and coordination through the financing of medium-term consultant services and technical assistance in the education sector.