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INTRODUCTION
AUSTRALIAN ASSISTANCE TO DATE
Education has consistently been one of the major elements in the
Philippines Australia Development Cooperation Program (PADCP). The achievements
of Australian assistance have been well recognised by
the GoP and other donors.
This support has included assistance to the Technical and Vocational Education
(TVET) sector, including the Philippines-Australia Vocational Education Project
(PATVEP), the Philippines-Australia Quality Technical Vocational Education
Training (PAQTVET) and (importantly) in the basic education sector through
several successful projects including the Philippines Australia Science and Maths Education Project (PASMEP) and the Project on Basic
Education (PROBE).
The Pre-Feasibility mission identified a number of options for
assistance that would build on this previous success and the lessons learned.
The provision of additional assistance to basic education was one of several
key requests from the Secretary of Education as part of the Pre-Feasibility
phase consultations.
Of direct relevance to this design is the ongoing Australian
support for the GoP basic
education system through the Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao project
(BEAM Phase I: 2001-2004) and the impending BEAM Phase II (2004-2008). It is
important that this proposed new intervention, as detailed in this PDD, fully
capitalizes upon the wealth of past and current experience in this sector.
1.2 PROJECT ORIGINS AND
PREPARATION
A Pre-Feasibility study in November .
December 2003 was commissioned by the Australian Agency for International
Development (AusAID) to identify possible options for
further Australian assistance to the Philippines education
sector. The study identified a .long-list. Of fifteen possible activities that
key stakeholders agreed as priority areas. The major elements of the proposed
activities were analysed and (where appropriate)
combined, leading to the development of five prioritised
options for further consideration by AusAID and the
Government of the Philippines (GoP).
After due consideration, the partner governments identified two of
the five options as suitable for further analysis and development. A
Feasibility mission was commissioned by AusAID in
February-March 2004 in order to facilitate key decisions concerning the project
locations and the feasibility of implementation in the chosen locations. This
involved two feasibility studies as indicated below:
a) Accreditation
of Madari Schools
“An intervention that focussed on Madrasah in Mindanao, with an
aim to assist madaris gain DepEd
accreditation, while maintaining the Madrasah.s role
within the Islamic community”.
b) Education
and Training for In-School and Out of School Children/Youth
“An intervention in the Basic Education in the Visayas, located in Bohol and Northern Samar and with a focus on improvements in
education quality in Science, Mathematics and English. Support will also be
provided through programs that attract and retain students in schools and
provide training and options for out-of-school youth”.
The two Feasibility Studies were conducted in parallel and the
findings presented to key stakeholders in Manila for
consideration on Monday,
March 8th 2004. AusAID referred the Madaris
Accreditation Feasibility for additional analysis and to gather more data and
information.
However, the meeting recommended a design team immediately be
commissioned to produce a Project Design Document (PDD) for the proposed
“Education and Training for In-School and Out of School Children/Youth”
intervention. The design team conducted their field mission from 9th-22nd March 2004.
1.3 PROJECT PREPARATION
CONSIDERATIONS
In development of this project account has been taken of the
following considerations:
·
Previous and current interventions by AusAID (and other donors) in the basic education sector,
particularly the PROBE and BEAM;
·
GoP funding
and ongoing support capacity;
·
Goals of
the Philippine EFA 2015 Plan;
·
Project
alignment with AusAID.s Country Program Strategy
(CPS) and the match with the educational policies of both governments;
·
Cross-cutting issues of poverty
alleviation, human rights, governance, peace and order, gender and the
environment;
·
Impact on access and equity;
·
Links to the previous AusAID
funded Area Focus Studies; and
·
The need for flexibility.
1.4 METHODOLOGY
In undertaking the Project Design Mission, the team:
·
Reviewed a range of relevant literature
collected from AusAID desk personnel in Canberra; the
Post in Manila; NEDA; DepEd National, Region and
Division; Provincial Planning and Development Offices (PPDO); and a range of
other agencies working in basic education in the Philippines (see References);
·
During the Feasibility-Design period, held
a series of meetings and consultations with DepEd
staff, key officials in other GoP agencies, staff
involved in the management and implementation of World Bank and ADB-funded
projects in basic education, other donor representatives, representatives of
UNICEF and NGOs, staff involved in teacher education, and GoP
personnel involved with PROBE and now BEAM;
·
Visited Bohol and Northern Samar twice to meet with key officials of NEDA,
PPDO, DepEd, TESDA, the University education
faculties, teachers, school children and community members. In addition, the
team met with representatives of selected NGOs and were able to visit and
observe different types of DepEd schools and
livelihood training establishments;
·
Held two stakeholder workshops, one in Bohol and the
other in Northern Samar. Some
fifty persons representing a broad mix of stakeholders, including
representatives of Parent Teacher Associations, attended. These workshops
provided an opportunity for the design team to explain the purpose and scope of
the mission, and to subsequently obtain valuable input to the PDD design
process;
·
Held regular review team meetings to analyse the information collected and to synthesize
responses in terms of the TOR;
·
Tested preliminary conclusions and the
likely project design framework through further follow-up meetings;
·
Presented the draft findings of the Design
Mission to key stakeholders in the form of an Aide Memoire
in Manila on 22nd March 2004 prior to
the departure of the Australian team members for Australia;
1.5 THE PARTNER AGENCY
The Partner Agency will be DepEd
Central office. Implementation will be largely devolved to DepEd
Division and District Offices located in Bohol and Northern Samar, with the DepEd
Central providing the chair of the Project Coordinating Committee (PCC) and
providing strategic oversight, with the Region VII and VIII Offices assuming a
monitoring role. Implementation of project initiatives involving the out of
school children and youth will require strong working linkages with the PPDOs, Bureau of NFE, NGOs, TESDA and the local
communities, who are each active in the non-formal basic education sector.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Project Origin and Design Preparation
A Pre-Feasibility study in November.December
2003 was commissioned by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) to identify possible options for further Australian
assistance to the Philippines education
sector. The study identified a “long-list” of fifteen possible activities that
key stakeholders agreed were priority areas The major elements of these fifteen
proposed activities were analysed and (where
appropriate) combined, leading to the development of five prioritised
options for further consideration by AusAID and the
Government of the Philippines (GoP).
After due consideration, the partner governments identified two
of the five options as suitable for further analysis and development. A
Feasibility mission was commissioned by AusAID in February-March
2004 in order to facilitate key decisions concerning the project locations, as
well as the feasibility of implementation in the chosen locations. This
involved the development of two feasibility studies as are indicated below:
·
Accreditation
of Madaris
An intervention focussed on Madrasah in Mindanao, with a
focus on science, mathematics and English with the aim to assist madaris gain DepEd accreditation,
while at the same time maintaining role of the Madrasah
within the Islamic community.
·
Education and Training for
In-School and Out of School Children/Youth
An intervention in the Provinces of Bohol
and Northern Samar with a focus on student
improvements in science, mathematics and English, together with support for
programs that attract and retain students in schools and provide an integrated
program of literacy, numeracy and livelihood
opportunities for out-of-school youth.
The two Feasibility Studies were conducted in parallel and the
findings presented to key stakeholders in Manila for their
consideration on Monday,
March 8th 2004. At the
meeting, AusAID deferred design work on the Madaris Accreditation pending additional analysis and to
gather more data and information. However, AusAID
approved the Basic Education Feasibility report outlining assistance to parts
of the Visayas for in-school and out-of-school
children and youth.
The meeting thus recommended that a design team immediately be
commissioned to produce a Project Design Document (PDD) for the “Education and
Training for In-School and Out of School Children / Youth”. The design team
conducted their field mission from 9th-22nd March
2004 and submitted the draft PDD to AusAID
in April 2004.
Bohol
Context
The province of Bohol, one of the 4
provinces in Region VII, comprises the main island of Bohol
and a number of small islands, mainly located along the north and west coasts.
Administratively the province comprises 47 municipalities and one city, the
provincial capital of Tagbilaran. The total
population of Bohol based on
the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, was 1,139,130 having grown at the
average annual growth rate of 2.95 percent during the intercensal
period 1995-2000. If this growth rate continues, the population of Bohol is
expected to double in about 23 years. Bohol was a
focus province of the AusAID funded Area Focus
Studies conducted during 2001-2002.
There are currently a total of 174,660 students enrolled in over
900 elementary schools (90,800 male and 83,860 female) and 72,538 in over 50
secondary schools (35,803 male and 36,725 female). The public school system
absorbs approximately 91% of the total school enrolments.
There are over 5000 elementary teachers and over 2000 secondary
teachers. LGUs/municipal authorities recruit and pay
for some teachers, particularly at secondary level. Generally the terms and
conditions of these teachers are considerably inferior to nationally paid
teachers and often they are less qualified. Student: teacher ratio at the
elementary level is 34.1 and 36.1 at the secondary level.
National assessments indicate Bohol
elementary results are below the national average in mathematics and science,
and for secondary, below in mathematics, science and English.
Northern Samar
Context
Northern Samar has 30 School
Districts, 569 barangays (local administrative
areas) and a population in 2000 estimated at 500,639, comprising almost equal
numbers of male a | 
