In this months’ issue: We are pleased to feature: Public-Private Partnership in Action:
The Challenge of Finding a Balanced Approach. This article discusses the results of the World Bank-funded Women's Literacy Project (WLP), one of the first literacy programs in Senegal that successfully made use of public-private partnerships to implement literacy services.

About the author: This report was written by Mr. Bjorn Harald Nordtveit, PhD, a consultant in the Human Development Department, Africa Region at the World Bank, who has been following the evolution of this project over the past six years

Background

Various types of civil society associations have a history of implementing small-scale basic skills and literacy education in Senegal. The impact of their intervention, in terms of poverty alleviation and literacy, has been rather limited. In the 1990s a new implementation strategy, based on public-private partnerships between civil society organizations and the state, was tested out. The method became known under the name of faire-faire or literally, “to make do.” This approach apparently has had a great impact, and enrolled over a million learners, mainly young women, over a ten-year period.

The World Bank-funded Women's Literacy Project (WLP) was one of the first literacy programs in Senegal that successfully used public-private partnerships to implement literacy services, and it was subsequently used as a model in Senegal and in other countries, including Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. Several tracker studies have followed the project, and the Senegalese Department of Literacy and National Languages (DALN) has acquired a quite substantial database on the project. The following sections present the procedures and functioning of the WLP, the outcomes of the project, and the challenges of finding a balanced approach in which the government can effectively regulate the sector, and in which civil society becomes a genuine partner to the government.

Partnership processes

A simplified overview of the selection procedure would begin with the local civil society association, which would contact prospective learners, and define needed literacy and basic skills education in each community. Based on this needs assessment, a formal project proposal is written and sent to a selection committee, which verifies that the information in the proposal is accurate and decides on the projects to be financed. The decision is based on a technical analysis of the project document, using a defined matrix of criteria evaluating the cost and quality of the proposal. The budget is based on a fixed unit cost per enrollee, set at approximately $50 per learner [Note: A project with 300 participants would therefore obtain US$50 x 300 = $15,000]. In using a fixed unit cost, the competition is not based on how to create the least costly project, but on how to create the proposal with highest quality. By adapting this approach, the government hopes to boost the quality of the training. After selection, a parastatal contract-managing agency (AGETIP) sets up contracts with the provider association and transfers the funds to it. Each installment of funds is, in theory, contingent on various control mechanisms that are supposed to ensure that the project is on track.

In most cases, the prospective provider requests funding for literacy and basic skills courses in ten to twenty communities. Each course enrolls about 30 learners (each provider consequently receives funding for 300 - 600 learners). The provider recruits one literacy teacher for each literacy course and trains them. The courses provide about 450 hours of instruction over a 12-18-month period. The lessons include literacy (teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic skills) and basic skills (teaching about health, hygiene, and income-generating activities). Both the government’s Department for Literacy and National Languages (DALN) and AGETIP follow up on the implementation and ensure that the quality of the courses is adequate.

According to government statistics, about half of the providers are local for-profit associations, about 25% are local non-profit associations of different types (language and cultural associations, religious associations, etc.), and about 12% are NGOs. The learners are mainly young illiterate women.

The provider association and the community in most cases build a learning and activities center, in which the classes take place. Also, the providers supply a number of books to the community library situated in this center. The village-based literacy teachers train two villagers to function as a “relais” or relay persons, who continue to conduct literacy and basic skills classes in the learning and activities center after the project has ended (and the teacher has left the community). These activities are intended to ensure sustainability of the learning activities, and to develop a literate and enabling environment in the communities.

Implementation and Results

The main phase of the WLP was implemented between 1996 and 2001, and its objective was to enroll 135, 000 people in literacy classes, of which at least 75% were to be women. The quantitative enrollment goals of the project were surpassed, since about 200,000 people (87% women) enrolled in literacy training. Currently the project continues as a component under the education sector program in Senegal.

Evaluations show mixed results from the courses. A longitudinal evaluation showed that in average, at the start of the literacy class, 74% of the participants are illiterate and only 17% are somewhat literate. Two years after the start of the program, as much as 66% of the learners are able to read fluently or at least to decipher words; the remaining 34% still cannot read a word at the end of the course.

The results of the courses vary a great deal between providers. Many learners who were really interested in learning compensated for low-quality instruction by attending several literacy courses. An impact study of 1500 people shows that as many as 53% of the enrollees (in 2003) have been to previous literacy classes, 36% have been to Arabic classes, and 23% have been to formal primary schooling. Only about 30% of the learners attended literacy instruction for the first time. The literacy level of the participants who had attended prior institutions, however, was very low and most of them were still illiterate.

Lessons Learned on PPPs

Since the providers are mostly using existing (or building low-cost) infrastructure, the WLP's expenses in fixed transactions costs may be lower than those of a state-implemented literacy project (for which necessary infrastructure would in many cases need to be rented or built). [Note: This is assuming that civil society infrastructure is excess capacity, or low-cost as compared to state-run infrastructure. In some cases this assumption may not hold true]. On the other hand, the variable transactions costs can be particularly heavy when using public-private partnerships, because of the costs of ensuring contract compliance. This has been a major problem in Senegal, where a considerable amount of money and energy have been spent on setting up a monitoring and evaluation system which has largely failed to ensure that the activities were of adequate quality (World Bank/ICR, 2004). In addition to heavy supervision and monitoring costs, the variable transaction costs also include heavy costs of information, training and selection of providers, as well as the running costs of the contract-managing agency.

Furthermore, asymmetric information in the selection of providers and in the implementation phase, easily leads to problems of moral hazard. Often, the providers take advantage of the asymmetric information situation, and act in their own instead of the communities’ interest. For example, providers frequently try to earn money from the projects by cutting costs and thereby reducing the quality of the courses. At a larger scale, these problems are connected to the regulatory function of the state. In order to successfully implement a public-private partnership, the state needs to be capable of regulating implementation services by the private sector and it also needs to be willing to do so. Partnerships in most cases cannot be created without solid government support.

Another problem encountered by the WLP is that providers usually make a priority of setting up literacy classes in the areas that are easily accessible from the road. The mechanisms of the partnership approach therefore lead to the exclusion of certain population groups from service delivery (e.g., nomads, or inhabitants of remote and inaccessible areas). Also, when the provider performs badly, the participants in most cases do not have the possibility to change the provider association (their only option is to “vote with their feet” and leave the course). The provider associations therefore often establish a monopoly on literacy activities in the village. These process-related problems lead to the implementation of low-quality courses, and infringe on necessary standards of equity. Also, the market-based provision of literacy in some cases changes the nature of civil society, and transforms the provider associations from social capital (i.e., trust-based networks) into private businesses dependent on government financing.

WLP personnel in Senegal are currently looking at ways to correct these problems, and to find more balanced procedures that avoid problems of asymmetric information and moral hazard. This has led to efforts to build government regulatory capacity, and to set up incentives for working with disadvantaged population groups. Some of the actions that have been considered, include the involvement of the communities in the control of the funds (e.g., making the clients responsible for payments to the providers upon delivery of satisfactory services rendered). Also, WLP personnel have suggested the redesign of the selection processes, and to make local authorities responsible for the pre-identification of target communities. Subsequently, providers would compete for obtaining funds for implementing literacy courses in those pre-selected communities. To further enhance stakeholders' ownership of the local activities, representatives from the concerned communities could be involved in the selection process. Also, the selection committee could take into account providers’ previous performance instead of basing the selection only on the project proposal. A list classifying the providers of literacy classes according to their results could be re-initiated [Note: This was done for the courses implemented in 1997/98 and 1998/99. The results were published in the project’s newspaper, Partage, no. 8 and no. 16].

The Senegal WLP has shown that literacy and basic skills classes are not simple market commodities, and cannot successfully be treated at such. The classes should make a priority of enrolling and fostering competencies for the poorest and most vulnerable in society, and the clients' ownership of the process should be ensured by making them involved in the management of the funds. Also, it is necessary to create government capacity for regulating the sector and ensure that the partnerships become genuine, partnerships in which civil society, the clients, and the government work towards a shared vision of creating a literate and enabling environment.

For more information on this project, please consultant the link below. If you would like to receive a copy of the Working Paper on this project please email Edinvest.

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDK:20204319~menuPK:540090~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html

Articles

The Asian Development Bank will help develop more highly skilled workers in Sri Lanka through a new US$20 million loan to improve technical education and vocational training in the country. For the entire story please see the website:
http://www.adb.org/Media/Articles/2005/8856_Sri_Lanka_technical_educatio
n/default.asp?RegistrationID=7177

The voucher program in Washington DC is receiving good reviews, according to a recent article in the New York Sun. Mayor Anthony Williams began the Opportunity Scholarship program which is a federally funded, five-year pilot. Launched in 1994, it provides a voucher of up to $7,500 for low-income families in the District of Columbia to send their children to private schools. Now in its second year, the voucher program is generating positive reviews, both formal and anecdotal.
See the story online: http://www.nysun.com/article/22972

In his recently tabled White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools For All, British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The White Paper proposes increasing the number of spaces in better schools by expanding existing ones and setting up new ones. Private and faith-based schools have been invited to join the state sector. In addition, a new self-governing authority a “trust” will oversee schools and can be run by successful schools or outside providers. Parents are also being encouraged to establish schools.
See the entire article at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4371182.stm

A November 16th article in the Chronicle of Higher Education reports on Pennsylvania's prepaid-tuition program which has become the first such plan in the United States to receive a credit rating, earning an A3 mark from Moody's Investor Services.
In its analysis, the credit-rating agency said that, over the next 25 years, account holders can expect to receive, as promised, the full-tuition value of their accounts, taking inflation into account, when their children are ready to attend college. Contributions to Pennsylvania's Tuition Account Program's Guaranteed Savings Plan are expected to grow at a rate that keeps pace with tuition inflation. See the article online: http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/11/2005111604n.htm

A recent article in the New York Times suggests that American educators should look at the Japanese system as an example of good quality education. The article suggests that there are two other things that set America apart from its high-performing peers abroad. One is the American sense that teaching is a skill that people come by naturally. The other is that the curriculum that varies widely by region. Countries that excel in math and science decide at the national level what students should learn and when and emphasis educational quality control. See the article online at

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/21/opinion/21mon4.html

According to a recent study, the Gains of Education on the Labor Market, higher education in Brazil grew 27% between 2001 and 2003. This increase was driven by private institutions. The study by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), concludes that three-quarters of the 4.4 million people who partake of higher education in Brazil are enrolled in private universities. See the story online:

http://internacional.radiobras.gov.br/ingles/materia_i_2004.php?materia=246504&q=1&editoria=

Publications

A recent NBER Working Paper (No. W11597) Do Accountability and Voucher Threats Improve Low-Performing Schools? by David Figlio and Cecelia Rouse examines the effects of school vouchers and school stigma on the performance of “low-performing” schools using student-level data from a subset of districts. See the paper online at http://www.nber.org/papers/

Events

Monash University is sponsoring a conference on International Education, A Matter of Heart which will focus on understanding the cultural, interpersonal and quality aspects of international higher education. It will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 13 to 16 February 2006. Please see the website for additional information:
http://www.celts.monash.edu.au/InternationalEducation

The 8th Annual Education Industry Investment Forum will take place in Sunny Isles, Florida, March 20-22, 2006. Topics to be discussed include the globalization of the education market, the market potential for corporate trainers and real estate and its impact on the market. For more information, see the website:
http://www.iirusa.com/edu/

Suzanne Roddis