C. Sindh EMO Policy - BPA Call RFQ Attachment.pdf

Innovative Public Private Partnerships for Education Education Management Organizations (EMOs) Policy Reform – SED GoS

Brief Note

Education

Management

Organizations

Policy Reform by School Education Department, Government of Sindh

Introduction:

School Education Department (SED), Government of Sindh (GoS), in a pioneering effort, has initiated the policy reform of Education Management Organizations (EMOs) through which management of selected public sector schools is being outsourced to reputable private sector organizations under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

This reform supports the Government’s compliance with Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, and the “Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2013” passed by the Government of Sindh. This legislation is a fundamental right and constitutional obligation on the Government of Sindh and the SED, GoS to provide improved delivery of services free of cost in education sector to all children aged 5-16 in the province of Sindh.

Situational Context

The key governance issues facing the education sector are manifold; among which some critical ones highlighted by the “Framework for Economic Growth, 2011” prepared by the Planning Commission of Pakistan include:

a) An overly centralized education system where distant ministries and directorates determine syllabi, post and transfer teachers and manage budgets without results

b) No results-based systems

c) Weak or nonexistent accountability of teachers and educational administrators to parents and communities

d) A complex structure, where the provincial government has policymaking responsibility while the district governments are responsible for implementation

e) Limited capacity for planning and monitoring, especially at the district and lower levels of government

f) Poor management of available sector resources

g) No efforts to build the capacity of parent-teacher councils to contribute to school management

The Sindh Education Sector Plan (SESP) 2014-18 states that “despite the Government’s concerted efforts to make education free and compulsory (with free textbooks, stipends and, in some cases, uniforms and food provisions), the education sector is still struggling to break free from crises of ‘access’ and ‘poor quality education’ in both public and private schools.

In a situation where mechanisms have weakened and there is a dearth of resources, forming partnerships between key stakeholders – including public-private partnerships – is a vital strategy to join forces and resources for improving the state of the education system.

Since the mid-1990s, public-private partnerships have become an important part of Pakistan’s education policy discourse as the Government has encouraged the involvement of the private sector and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the financing, management and delivery of education services in Pakistan.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2009 also strongly advocates engaging in public private partnerships as preferred arrangement for outcomes based approach to meeting the targets of access, quality and equity by sharing risks at lower costs and mobilization of expertise across public and private sectors.

Foundations for the Policy Reform of EMOs

Public Private Partnerships for education are emerging as an innovative mechanism for the public education sector to acquire services, expertise and resources of the private sector and mitigate gaps in education services delivery.

The civil society, corporate, for-profit and non-profit sector of Pakistan involved in education is also showing encouraging interest to partner with the Government for increasing access to, and quality of education for the masses.

Historically, the provision of education through public-private partnerships has also been supported by various education policies and plans, for example the Education Policy of 1998, ESR-Action Plan 2001-2005, MTDF (2005-2010) and the NEP 2009. The latter placed increased emphasis on public-private partnerships.

The SESP (2014-18) also presses on the need to broaden the scope of public-private partnership in every aspect of the education system, such as establishing schools in partnership with the private sector, capacity building of education managers and teachers, provision of services such as IT, and supervision of school systems. Such partnerships should be initiated with defined rules of engagement and operating procedures.

The policy reform of EMOs supports objectives set by SESP for Public-Private Partnerships in education sector over the next five years to map existing educational resources in the private sector; to develop broad based public-private partnership framework for education and to ensure the sustainability of existing successful public-private partnership initiatives.

In addition to the SESP-2014, and National Education Policy (NEP)-2009, the Pakistan Economic Survey 2013-14, and Accelerated EFA National Plan of Action 2013-16 have documented numerous challenges in efficiency and effectiveness of the public school system in Sindh.

The SED, championing a holistic reform program has articulated in Sindh Education Sector Plan 2014-18, utilization of private sector expertise for public education system through management contracts for provision of core and ancillary educational services under the PPP mode. The reform also mandates for an established PPP institution in the SED to articulate new projects, develop relationships with donors, and all involved stakeholders, as well as, administer current and ongoing projects’ compliance requirements, outcomes based monitoring and evaluation, management information systems, PR and communications, etc.

Salient Features

The EMOs reform is an important part of the Government’s strategy towards developing Sindh’s education sector, and meet targets of access and quality and improving the literacy rate. In 2013, the Government of Sindh passed the Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act in compliance with Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan.

The legislation has placed a renewed obligation on the Government of Sindh, including the Authority, to take steps to address the weak performance of the education sector.

Under the EMOs reform, the SED, GoS will design, contract, and administer partnerships with credible EMOs from the private sector to manage and improve the functioning of public schools by introducing innovations, modernizing the education system, addressing management gaps, maintaining and upgrading the school building and facilities, and cooperatively working along with teachers, schools’ staff, school management committees, surrounding communities and local tiers of the School Education Department.

In order to improve the standard of education in the province of Sindh, the project envisages a PPP model, for outsourcing management of public schools in Sindh to EMOs. Accordingly, the public schools managed and run by the EMOs will function under the given constitutional provision and the aforesaid Act passed thereafter. The education in such public schools will remain free of charge for all the students. The admission process will be strictly non-discriminatory and as per the spirit mentioned in the statute law.

The key objectives for the reform to improve the education sector in Sindh include:

Improving the functioning of public schools through innovation and modernization of the education system;

Reducing inefficiencies and addressing the management gaps in public education through well managed partnerships;

Delivering better quality education to the children in the province of Sindh;

Encouraging greater private sector investment in the education sector, in particular in the rural and less developed areas of the province of Sindh; and

To meet the key performance indicators as set out in individual contracts under which public schools shall be outsourced to private sector.

Implementation

Through the EMOs policy reform, the GoS has endeavored to outsource management and administration of certain public schools in Sindh to EMOs on a public-private partnership contract. The EMOs will be selected by the Government through a fair and transparent competitive bidding process and the Government will enter into a concession agreement with each of the successful EMOs in respect of the project.

Some of key achievements in implementation include:

The PPP Policy Board, chaired by the Chief Minister of Sindh granted approval for the EMOs reform in its 12th meeting dated September 12, 2014.

The SED embarked on a robust dialogue and consultative process with education stakeholders, including the larger private sector to acquire recommendations, advice, address concerns, comments, and create a buy-in among all involved stakeholders to formulate and refine a framework for the EMOs reform. This included;

o Policy Dialogue on EMOs Reform – Sep ‘14 o Expert Group Session on KPIs for EMOs reform – Dec ‘14 o Expert Group Session on Financial Modelling for EMOs Reform – Feb ‘15 o Project Advisory Group Meetings – Jan ’14 and ‘15 o Policy Conference on EMOs Reform – Mar ‘15 o Road Show on EMOs – June ‘15 o Consultative Session on RFP for EMOs – August ‘15 o Pre-Bid Conference – November ‘15 o Kick-Off Sessions with EMOs – March and December ’16 o Consultative Session on Cluster Model for EMOs – June ‘16 o Signing Ceremonies for EMO Agreements – Feb and Dec ‘16 o Consultative Session for Independent Experts on EMOs Reform – Jan ‘17 o Roadshow for EMOs – April ‘17 o District Level Stakeholder Sessions on EMOs – 2015 till present (on-going) o Session of District Support Team for EMOs – 2016 (on-going)

After completing first series of dialogues and consultative process, the SED notified the Policy Framework for EMOs in a conference held on EMOs on March 12, 2015.

Following the Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (SPPRA) rules, SED published an Expression of Interest (EOI) in national newspapers on May 13, 2015. A very healthy response was received from private sector and 39 organizations applied to be shortlisted under the EOI.

The SED, GoS has notified a Technical and Financial Evaluation Committee (TFEC) which, through an extensive technical and financial evaluation process, approved shortlisting of 20 organizations out of the total 39 organizations in its decision taken on August 12, 2015.

Parallel to these developments, the GoS in order to provide the financial backing to the reform, allocated PKR 500 million in the financial year (FY) 2015/16, and PKR 1 billion in FY 2016/17 for outsourcing management of selected public sector schools to credible prequalified organizations under a transparent procurement process.

Till present, the GoS has run two rounds of procurement of EMOs in which GoS developed and issued two Request for Proposal (RFP), approved by the TFEC to all prequalified organizations under a two stage bidding process.

After extensive technical and financial evaluations, four EMOs – IBA Sukkur, Indus Resource Centre, Beaconhouse and Charter for Compassion – were selected by TFEC to outsource management of the first nine schools reconstructed with the support of USAID under the Sindh Basic Education Program.

Two signing ceremonies have been was held at the Chief Minister (CM) House, Karachi; one on February 27, 2016, and recently, the second one on December 03, 2016 where CM Sindh, Minister Education, US Ambassador and Consul General, Chief Secretary, Secretary Education, Finance Secretary and other senior representatives of USAID, GoS, development partners and private sector witnessed the signing of EMO concession agreements.

The Reform is moving forward at a fast pace, with third and consecutive rounds of procurement of EMOs initiated for SBEP schools being completed in 2016/17.

While consolidating the gains of initial phases of reform implementation and community mobilization efforts of SBEP, SED-GoS has introduced a cluster approach for EMO schools. Under this approach, the newly reconstructed school along its nearby schools will be considered one package for bidding. This approach is expected to further improve school management and resource efficiency at several levels.

The GoS has also decided for expansion of EMOs Policy Reform to all districts of Sindh, and in that connection, has issued another EOI in January, 2015. The EOI has attracted very encouraging response from the private sector.

Under the implementation framework of EMOs, the GoS is also working to institutionalize and strengthen the PPP Node of SED with competent personnel/human resources and leadership for technical, financial, management, administration and compliance functions to design and administer PPP projects; and to equip the office of the PPP Node of SED with the necessary equipment and facilities in order to effectively establish, operate and expand PPPs for education in a sustainable manner.

This will significantly increase the capacity of SED, GoS to drive focused efforts in designing innovative PPP projects, create a market interest for the projects, and manage the projects effectively while managing relationships with all involved stakeholders including the private sector/donors.

SINDH EDUCATION MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS

POLICY DOCUMENT

NO.SO (G-1) E&L/SEMO/2015

Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh, Pakistan

Background

In compliance with Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, the Government of Sindh has passed the “Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2013”. The legislation puts a renewed obligation on the Government of Sindh and the Education & Literacy Department (ELD) to provide improved delivery of services in education sector to all children in the province of Sindh.

Several official documents like Pakistan Economic Survey 2013-14, Pakistan National Education Policy 2009, Sindh Education Sector Plan 2014, and National Plan of Action 2013-16 have recorded numerous challenges in efficiency and efficacy of the public school system in Sindh. The ELD, as a component of holistic reform program articulated in Sindh Education Sector Plan 2014, has planned to utilize private sector expertise for public education system through management contracts for provision of core and ancillary educational services under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

Education Management Organization (EMO) Concept

Under Government of Sindh’s PPP Act 2010, ELD will contract credible Education Management Organizations (EMOs) from the private sector to manage and improve the functioning of public schools by introducing innovations, modernizing the education system, addressing management gaps, maintaining and upgrading the school building and facilities, and cooperatively working along with teachers, schools’ staff, school management committees (SMC), surrounding communities and local tiers of ELD.

The concession agreement to be entered into between the ELD and EMOs will have specifically defined roles and responsibilities for both parties. While remaining in the overall regulatory framework, the ELD will empower EMOs both administratively and financially to undertake this initiative. Although the government teachers and staff appointed at the schools will continue to be managed under the Appointment Promotion and Transfer Rules, 1974, the Sindh Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 1973 and other such rules and procedures, the concession agreement will contain provisions to ensure that the EMOs have necessary tools available to enhance the management and standard of education of the public schools. EMOs are expected to take school specific reform initiatives such as continuous professional development of staff, Management Information Systems (MIS) for the school, contracted hiring of staff and teachers, formative and summative assessments and other such measures identified through robust needs assessments conducted in coordination with the ELD.

Legal Opinion

The Government of Sindh has obtained a legal opinion on the EMO initiative which states that the ELD is empowered under the Sindh Public Private Partnership laws to outsource the operation and

SINDH EDUCATION MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS

POLICY DOCUMENT

NO.SO (G-1) E&L/SEMO/2015

Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh, Pakistan management of public schools in the province of Sindh to EMOs from the private sector on a public-private partnership basis. Therefore, there are no impediments within the Sindh Public Private Partnership laws that would restrict the ELD from outsourcing the management of public schools to the private sector. The ELD will follow the public procurement process under the Sindh Public Procurement laws to outsource the management of such schools to the private sector and in this regard, an appropriate bidding process will be conducted. The terms and conditions on which EMOs will be given the task of operating such public schools will form part of the concession agreement that they would finalize and execute with the ELD.

The ELD will conduct wide ranging consultations with stakeholders prior to signing contract/concession agreements with the EMOs. The consultations will take place with schools’ staff and teachers, SMCs, communities and educationists to ensure that the right balance between rights and responsibilities is available in the proposed concession agreement. Accordingly, the concession agreement will provide various incentives to the EMOs along with keeping checks and balances to ensure a smooth implementation of this initiative of the ELD.

Financial Structure

In return for the management of public schools by the EMOs, the ELD will make performance based payments to the EMOs under the concession agreement. These performance based payments would be linked to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) defined under the concession agreement. In order to ensure that the EMOs and the ELD carry out their respective obligations under the concession agreement, an independent third party oversight mechanism has been proposed, whereby reputed firm/consortia would be hired as an Independent Auditor (IA) to oversee compliance by the parties of the terms of the concession agreement. Furthermore, under the proposed mechanism, the IA would be responsible for developing periodic reports on the performance of the EMOs against the predefined KPIs set out in the concession agreement and, based on the performance of the concerned EMO, the IA would then approve the release of the periodic payments to such EMO. Therefore, under the concession agreement, the IA would be empowered to approve the release of the periodic payments to the respective EMOs on behalf of the ELD.

The ELD and the Government of Sindh looks forward to a successful implementation of this initiative with the support of all stakeholders.