A comedy of errors: $155m US-funded education programme fails to achieve its goals

ISLAMABAD:

A $155 million programme, financed by the United States' (US) taxpayers, to improve dilapidated infrastructure of schools and increase literacy in Sindh has so far failed to achieve its targets.

An audit of the US-funded Sindh Basic Education Programme by the US Office of Inspector-General (OIG) revealed that the $155 million - Rs15.5 billion - programme is not making any headway. The five-year programme was aimed at increasing and sustaining enrolment rate in primary, middle and secondary schools in targeted areas of Upper Sindh.

The funding was committed out of a $7.5-billion five-year civilian assistance package under the Kerry-Lugar Bill. The Sindh school programme, which is in its second year of implementation, also aims to construct and improve 120 schools in flood-affected areas, improvement of early-grade reading in primary schools and community mobilisation.

"The programme is not achieving its goals," said the findings of the US auditors. "No schools have been built under it and little, if any, improvement in early-grade reading and community mobilisation can be seen." The auditors have held the provincial government responsible for delaying implementation and have also blamed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for setting unrealistic targets.

The audit found that the programme has not made any progress in developing a school environment that is conducive to teaching and learning, which would increase and sustain student enrolment. Pakistan's education sector is weak and is neglected in terms of public and private spending. Education indicators in Sindh are low, as two-thirds of women and one-third of the total population below 10 are illiterate, according to the report. About four million children between the ages of five and 12 are out of schools.

Out of the $155 million, the USAID had agreed to provide $81 million to Sindh for the construction and consolidation of schools. The remaining $74 million will be spent by the USAID to improve early-grade reading and community mobilisation with the help of non-governmental organisations.

USAID's mistakes

The USAID's target to improve literary and numeracy of 750,000 students between kindergarten and grade five in seven districts of the province exceeded the total number of students in these districts.

A separate survey conducted by the USAID, through the Information Management and Mine Actions Programme, revealed that only 475,000 students were present in these seven districts.

The OIG recommended revising the targets in order to make them more realistic and hence achievable. The programme also seeks to improve reading and math skills of 100,000 out-of-school children in seven districts of Sindh, including five towns of Karachi.

In line with the guidelines of the Kerry-Lugar Bill, the US hired a local implementer to execute the programme but the contract had to be cancelled due to the lack of experience of the local implementer. The USAID had awarded a five-year contract to the Teachers' Recourse Centre (TRC) at a cost of $30 million to implement the early-reading enhancement component. The contract was awarded to TRC despite the USAID's survey finding the local partner to be a 'high-risk recipient' due to its limited capacity, according to the auditors.

Due to the significance of the programme objective, the auditors have suggested extending the programme completion period.

Sindh at fault

Due to the Sindh government's mismanagement, the numbers of schools that can be built and reconstructed will have to be brought down to 83, since as many as 37 schools can no longer be built due to cost escalation.

According to the auditors, implementation delays have increased construction prices by $1.3 million for six schools. The USAID finalised cost estimates in September 2012 but the Sindh government failed to solicit bids until June 2013.  Due to this, the construction cost of the six schools increased from the previously estimated $4.56 million to $5.9 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2014.