| General Information |
Project/Program |
Project |
| Project Name |
The Improved Basic Education in Cambodia Project |
| Duration |
October 1, 2009 – September 30, 2014 |
| Donor |
USAID |
| Implementiong Organization |
the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS); Kampuchean Action for Primary Education (KAPE) ; WEI; Buddhist Social Development Association (BSDA); Women and Children’s Rights Development (WCRD); Economic Development Association (EDA) ; NGO Education Partnership (NEP) |
| Sector and/or Subsector Classification |
Education |
| Region |
Kampong Cham, Kratie and Siem Reap |
| Financing |
10000000 |
| Analytical Information |
Stakeholders |
Ministry of Education Youth and Sport; IBEC project management and staff; IBEC project implementing partners; School directors, staff, teachers and students at target schools; and Commune officials, village officials and parents in target school areas. |
| Cross-cutting Issue |
Environment |
|
| Gender |
|
| Impact Analysis |
The end-of-project performance evaluation provides evidence to confirm that IBEC largely achieved its objectives to improve access, quality and relevance of basic education in Cambodia. Dropout rates have generally been reduced in target schools, although dropout of secondary school females remains a problem. Repetition rates are trending below the project baseline, but above the national Education Management Information System (EMIS) rates, which may be understated. As repetition is a school decision, it may be informal school practice to understate these numbers to accord with Ministry policy to reduce repetition. This would give rise to an artificially low Education Management Information System (EMIS) rate. Gender parity rates show a slight preponderance of boys in enrollment at IBEC primary schools and a preponderance of girls in IBEC secondary school enrollment. |
| Effectiveness |
Ownership/Partnership |
Evaluation |
IBEC developed and piloted a Life Skills curriculum composed of 30 modules on different relevant topics. This curriculum has been adopted by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MoEYS). The project works closely with community, including commune councils, to improve their engagement and ownership |
| Rating |
5/5 |
| Policy Coherence/Harmonization |
Evaluation |
Within the IBEC framework, relevance is purposefully reflected in the Life Skills curriculum developed by the project. The project was successful in gaining Ministry approval for most of their new Life Skills curriculum modules. The associated IBEC Life Skills texts were also imprinted with the official MoEYS logo. Project advocacy contributed to new Ministry policy which now officially allocates time in school schedules for Life Skills instruction and activities. These project accomplishments attest to IBEC success in increasing the relevance of education, especially related to the curriculum. |
| Rating |
4/5 |
| Evaluation Framework |
Evaluation |
The IBEC project monitoring and evaluation data were scattered among a variety of printed and electronic sources, and held by various individuals with component responsibilities. Moreover, the design of the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework were in parts inconsistent and with several shortcomings. The Project Indicators were of varying quality and relevance. The Project Indicators were activities and outputs and gave no actual indications of goal achievements. In addition several of the indicators were almost identical. The Result framework should follow a consistent and transparent design. |
| Rating |
2/5 |
| Alignment/Composition of Finance |
Evaluation |
Despite the low budget input from the host government, the Ministry is supported by a number of donors namely: Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB), UNESCO, UNICEF, European Union, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Japanese International Cooperation Agency, Korea International Cooperation Agency, and others. These development partners support the Ministry through loans and grants. More specifically, ADB and WB provide loans to the Ministry; where as other donors primarily provide grants. |
| Rating |
4/5 |
| Other Remarks |
IBEC's great efforts to advance a relevant education in Cambodia have met with success as the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport endorsed the IBEC Life Skills curriculum and made life skills an obligatory subject at schools. Much of the training of teachers and capacity building of school directors to advance relevance and to support the Life Skills program in IBEC has also improved the general quality of teaching and management at target schools. |
