Evaluation report
Afghanistan - Second Education Quality Improvement Program Project
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Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This is a World Bank-style completion review of the Second Education Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP II) in Afghanistan. It rated outcomes as moderately satisfactory, with low risk to development outcomes. The project helped increase the number and qualification level of trained teachers and included measures to raise girls' enrollment. Construction work was weakened by low ministry capacity, unsuitable school designs, procurement delays and poor supervision, made harder by insecurity. The follow-on project (EQRA) will focus on lagging provinces with the most out-of-school girls.
Key points
- Ratings: outcomes moderately satisfactory, risk to development outcome low or negligible, Bank performance satisfactory, monitoring and evaluation quality substantial.
- The Ministry of Education had very low capacity to develop construction and procurement plans, and school designs were not suitable to local conditions.
- Construction supervision was very poor, as staff were poorly qualified and often could not reach sites because of security conditions.
- EQUIP played a significant role in increasing the number of trained teachers and their qualification level, but only a small proportion of teacher college graduates entered teaching.
- The nationwide focus spread resources thinly, so the follow-on EQRA project will target provinces where the share of out-of-school girls is highest.
Limitations
The text is a short summary of ratings and lessons, with no data, sample sizes or effect estimates on enrollment or learning. It does not show how outcomes were measured or whether the girls' enrollment measures worked.
Abstract
Ratings for the Second Education Quality Improvement Program Project for Afghanistan were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was low or negligible, the Bank performance was satisfactory. and the monitoring and evaluation quality was substantial. Some lessons learned included: projects with large construction components need capacity to develop detailed construction and procurement plans as well as strong management and supervision teams to be successful. Under EQUIP II, MoE had: (i) very low capacity for developing construction and procurement plans, (ii) school designs were followed that were not suitable to local conditions; (iii) school drawings and technical specifications were not detailed enough making monitoring difficult; (iv) limited procurement knowledge leading to substantial delays; and (v) very poor construction supervision and its monitoring as most of supervision staff was poorly qualified and to make it worse even they could not access many sites due to security conditions. EQUIP II included supply and demand features to increase girls’ enrollment with the inclusion of infrastructure investments (i.e. boundary wall, toilet, water) and well as scholarships for girls to attend TTC. The EQRA project will expand on these activities to further increase girls’ enrollment and retention. The EQUIP project played a significant role in increasing the number of trained teachers and improving the qualification level of teachers. This was a good beginning to improving the quality of education in Afghanistan but only a small proportion of teacher college graduates entered the teaching force. EQUIPII had a nationwide focus which presented difficulties for completing civil works and monitoring given the increased security concerns during project implementation. Moreover, the nationwide focus spread resources thinly over the country. Going forward, the new EQRA project will focus resources specifically on lagging provinces with regard to access interventions where the proportion of out-of-school girls is the highest. (Afghanistan)