Document ofThe World Bank

Report No: 66165-MR

RESTRUCTURING PAPER

ON A

PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING

OF THE

HIGHER EDUCATION PROJECT

BOARD APPROVAL: AUGUST 3, 2004

TO THE

MARCH 26, 2012

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

DCA Development Credit AgreementDLC Distance Learning CenterIDA International Development AssociationHE Higher EducationIHE Institutions of Higher EducationICT Information and Communication TechnologiesLMD License, Master and DoctorateMAED Ministry of Economic Affairs and DevelopmentMIS Management Information SystemOP Operational ProcedurePAD Project Appraisal DocumentPDO Project Development ObjectiveSDR Special Drawing Right

Regional Vice President: Obiageli K. EzekwesiliCountry Director: Vera SongweSector Manager: Peter N. Materu

Task Team Leader: Cherif Diallo

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MAURITANIA HIGHER EDUCATION PROJECT

P087180 CREDIT 3970-MAU

P087180CONTENTS

PageEXTENSION OF CLOSING DATEANNEX 1: RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING

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Extension of Closing Date

Mauritania: HIGHER EDUCATION Project

Restructuring Paper

1. The closing date for Mauritania “Higher Education” is proposed to be extended from March 31, 2012 until October 30, 2013. The original credit was in the amount of SDR 10.20 million (US$15 million equivalent), approved by the Board on August 3, 2004 and became effective on January 12, 2005. The purpose of this extension request is to: (i) allow for the completion of contracts that have already been entered into but have not been completed; (ii) provide much needed higher education reform, civil works, goods and equipments; and (iii) complete ongoing activities necessary to achieve the Project Development Objective (PDO).

2. Although actual disbursements only account for 35 percent of the credit, disbursements plus commitments amount to 63 percent and are mainly comprised of civil works activities. The remaining 37 percent will be used to procure pedagogical and Information Technology software and hardware to equip the buildings currently under construction. Delays in civil works have slowed down overall disbursements. Should an extension be granted, the credit is expected to be fully disbursed. The main activities are: (i) construction of part of the new campus and procurement of associated equipment; (ii) assisting the Government in reforming its higher education system; and (iii) twinning of three university departments with foreign universities to improve their academic program to render them more labor-market oriented.

Progress to Date

3. Higher Education law approved : Approved on July 21, 2010, this law lays the ground for: (i) greater autonomy to higher education institutions; (ii) a more favorable environment for the development of the private sector; (iii) setting up the standards for academic programs; (iv) establishing the management body of public higher education institutions; and (v) clarifying the status and career paths for all employees in the Higher Education subsector (faculty, library staff, directors, etc.).

4. Increased quality of teaching staff : In order to increase quality of teaching, the project supported training/internships of university staff. To this end, 119 senior lecturers and 379 faculty members were trained in three-month internships to meet or surpass minimum qualifications. This is an impressive result as it led to triple the number of qualified senior lecturers and almost double that of qualified faculty members.

5. Twinning of three university departments (science, human resources and economics) with foreign universities: Currently, 379 faculty members from the University of Nouakchott are enrolled in twinning programs in three universities located in Canada, Morocco, and France, respectively. As such, professors from these foreign universities traveled to Nouakchott and trained Mauritanian faculty to upgrade their programs into License, Master’s and Doctorate programs (LMDs – see next paragraph) and adapt their teaching methods. The twinning program is still under way and could

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yield impressive results on the final number and quality of programs upgraded by the science, human resource and economics departments.

6. Introduction of License, Master’s and Doctorate programs (LMDs) and certification: As part of the twinning program, and to better respond to employers’ needs, the three above-mentioned faculties have upgraded or adjusted their academic programs to meet LMD standards. To date, 51 academic programs have been upgraded (28 professional and 23 general academic programs), surpassing the initial target of 17 and providing students with more flexibility in choosing a career (i.e., general medicine program for all medical professions other than doctors). The demand for such programs can be seen by the percentage of students currently enrolled: 14 percent of university students are enrolled in professional programs, which also exceeds the initial target of 12 percent. A first cohort of students graduated in June 2011.

7. In parallel, the government has been in negotiations with the “Bologna Secretariat” to develop a National Qualifications Framework by which the new LMDs will be evaluated to ensure their compatibility with the European Higher Education Area framework (called the “Bologna Process”). If the process is successfully implemented in Mauritania, Mauritanian graduates would be able to transfer to European Universities at the same level and without having to repeat courses. Therefore, continuing to support the twinning program, and hence the development of new programs that are likely to meet the criteria of the National Qualifications Framework, would heighten chances for improved quality at the higher education level.

8. Leveraging support from other donors: The project was instrumental in shoring up additional financial support for the university campus. So far, the Islamic Development Bank, the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the State of Kuwait have pledged support for the “Department of Science”, the “Department of Medicine” and the “Department of Humanities and Social Sciences”, respectively.

Outstanding activities critical for PDO achievement

9. In addition to completing the twinning program, the following activities will be critical to ensure PDO achievement:

10. Implementation/rollout of the Higher Education Law: Although approved, the government will require assistance in implementing the law to help complete the process of rendering the university fully autonomous. Only once fully autonomous can the university sign performance contracts with the government generate its own resources and prepare institutional development plans. Furthermore, the law will allow the private sector to establish Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) and prepare their own institutional development plans to be submitted to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development (MAED). This, in turn, will help the MAED prepare its three-year subsector strategy and hence contribute to the improved management of the Higher Education sector. Also, the implementation of the law is needed for both the university and IHE to prepare procedures manuals and set up their financial and accounting management systems. These will support efforts to render them more financially efficient and improve their financial management capacity.

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11. Construction of the Central Library, Administrative buildings and Distance Learning Center (DLC): The completion of these buildings (at 49, 75 and 25 percent completion respectively) is essential for the effectiveness of the university as they are linked to other investments. For instance, without the library, the university will not be able to procure and install an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) network to provide students with internet resource access. Equally, without the Administrative buildings, the various budgeting and planning offices cannot be set up nor can the required equipment be procured. This, in turn, would make it difficult to install an integrated Management Information System (MIS) to improve overall efficiency and planning capacity.

12. Training of various non-teaching key university personnel : In order to facilitate the transition from semi-autonomous to fully-autonomous status, non-teaching key university personnel (such as rectors, vice-rectors, deans, librarians and IT staff) would be trained. However, to identify the right people to train, the higher education reform law must be implemented (i.e. human resource management, performance contract negotiations and implementation, etc.) and the buildings established (i.e. to provide hands-on training for IT staff, identify a maintenance program etc.).

Reasons for delays and remedial actions

13. There exist several general reasons for the delays in implementation: (i) key prerequisite studies (the environmental assessment, the campus master plan, and the architectural studies), although financed under a previous credit, were not completed by project effectiveness and prevented the immediate launch of the civil works component; (ii) the Coup d’Etat led to the Bank’s suspension of all activities in Mauritania for 15 months until March 19, 2010; and (iii) the resolution of a complaint by a competing construction company delayed the Bank’s no-objection issuance. To these reasons that led to a first extension, the following reasons contributed to additional delays that require a second extension: (i) the Bank team underestimated the time needed to implement the Higher Education reform process; and (ii) both the Bank and the government teams underestimated the time and physical resources needed to carry out the civil works, and that equipment could only be installed once the construction was completed. In addition, the Bank’s team was informed in October 2011 that works had almost completely stopped due to problems with the contractor.

14. Recognizing the serious implications on the success of the project and to reconfirm its commitment to it, the government took the following steps to address the issues related to the contractor performance: (i) establishment of a committee composed of the State Minister of National Education, Higher Education, and Scientific Research (MEENESRS), the Minister of Economic Affairs and Development (MAED) and the Bank’s Country Office manager, which visits the campus on a monthly basis to track progress and, in collaboration with the contractor, takes remedial actions if and when necessary; (ii) obtained a letter of commitment and detailed implementation plan from the contractor to allow easy tracking of progress; and (iii) received confirmation by the company supervising the construction that the revised implementation plan and promised resources are indeed adequate to finish works by December 31, 2012.

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Implications for PDO achievement and justification for extension

15. In order to achieve the PDO and support the government in its efforts to complete higher education reforms and render the university and IHE more efficient, the government requested a 19-month extension. This extension would have the following advantages over a shorter extension: it would (i) safeguard the achievement of the PDO from possible slippages in civil works, which would have a negative effect on equipping and rendering operational key departments and would also undermine efforts to strengthen pedagogical and financial management; (ii) provide enough time for the government to complete its reforms and support the university and IHE to prepare institutional development plans and performance contracts; (iii) allow for the completion of the development and installation of an integrated MIS; (iv) provide opportunities to conduct studies to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of LMD programs; and (v) allow enough time to complete training of all key staff (both teaching and non-teaching). All of these aspects would also contribute to the improvement of quality and relevance of higher education instruction.

16. Furthermore, an extension would send a positive signal to other developing partners about IDA’s commitment to continue supporting higher education. Given that IDA only supports a few projects in higher education in Africa, supporting the Mauritanian government in modernizing this subsector is also providing the Bank with valuable lessons. Lastly, failure to grant an extension could cause serious reputational harm to the Bank not only in terms of lack of commitment but also by leaving buildings unfinished and creating safety hazards for the population (especially children who might use the construction site as a playground).

17. There are no changes to the PDO description as mentioned in the Project Appraisal Document (PAD). As such, the project aims at: (i) improving the quality of the learning environment and the relevance of courses to the labor market; and (ii) establishing pedagogic, administrative and financial management systems in the IHEs.

18. In order to better measure progress towards achieving the PDO during the extension period, however, the Results Framework has been adjusted to ensure: (i) full compliance with IDA core indicators and those included in the PAD; (ii) refinement of the wording of certain indicators to make them clearer and more concise; (iii) removal of duplicates and indicators rendered irrelevant following the introduction of the Higher Education (HE) law; (iv) adding new indicators to measure impact of the HE law; and (v) inclusion of adequate indicators to measure progress towards all aspects of the PDO. No changes are proposed to the indicators included in the grant agreement at this stage.

19. The extension of the closing date satisfies OP 13.30, paragraph 3 on Closing Dates, namely that: (i) the project objectives continue to be achievable; (ii) the performance of the Recipient and other project implementing agencies is satisfactory; and (iii) the Recipient prepared a specific action plan acceptable to IDA to complete the existing contracts and agreements. The project continues to comply with all legal covenants; financial management is satisfactory, with no outstanding audit and financial report.

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20. This will be a second extension of the closing date. A first extension of 21 months was granted on March 19, 2010 to compensate for the Bank’s inactivity in Mauritania following the coup d’état in August 2008. If the present request for a 19-month extension is granted, the cumulative extensions will add up to a total of 40 months.

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ANNEX 1: Results Framework and Monitoring

MAURITANIA: HIGHER EDUCATION PROJECT

Project Development Objective IndicatorsThe project aims at (i) improving the quality of the learning environment and the relevance of courses to the labor market; and (ii) establishing pedagogic, administrative and financial management systems in the IHEs."

Original Indicator Name New Indicator

nameCore Unit of

MeasureBaselineOct. 2003

CurrentMarch 2012 End Target

Oct 2013

Comments

Students enrolled in science and technologyPDO (i) - relevance

Percentage7.00 19.6 12.00

This indicator has exceeded its initial target and will no longer be tracked.

Students in professional programsPDO (i) - relevance

Percentage 7.00 14 12.00 This has been achieved as all public IHE are moving towards transforming their programs into professional programs,

Public IHE have transformed their programs into LMD programs PDO (i) Quality

Number 0 6 7 The IHE are: (a) Univ. of Nouakchott; (b) Ecole Normale Supérieure; (c) Institut Sup. d’enseignement technologique, Rosso; (d) Instit. Sup. de compt. & admin. des enterprises; (e) Centre Sup des Enseignement Techn; (f) Inst. Sup des Etudes & Recherches Islamiques ; (g) Ecole National d’Admin ; (h) Ecole Mine ; (i) Univ. de Science Islamique;

HE law approved and all ministerial decrees issued PDO (ii) Institutional

Number 0 4 6 Law approved and 4 decrees issued

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Development

University faculties having participated in twinning that are accredited PDO (i) - Quality

Number 0 0 3 Twinning exercise has not yet been completed, so accreditation process cannot be launched yet. Accreditation will be done by applying the Bologna process (i.e. determining if degrees from these Univ. of Nouakchott faculties are comparable to European University degrees).

Faculty (teaching) staff meeting minimum qualifications PDO (i) Quality

Number 230 619 400

Institutional development plans (IDP) in place PDO (ii) Institutional Development

Yes/No No Draft “Model” IDP prepared & submitted for government approval; awaiting approval

Yes Model IDP, on which basis each IHE will prepare its own institution-specific IDP, has been approved and is being used.

Proportion of students repeating

Proportion of students repeating in IHE not enrolled in LMD PDO (i) Quality

Percentage 32.60 10.00 25.00 We propose to refine this indicator since there is no repetition with LMD but institutions that do not have LMD but offer professional programs.

Employment rate of graduates completing short courses and professional programs

Students employed six months after graduation PDO (i) -Relevance

Percentage 20.00 50 (refers only to graduates from Faculty of Science & Technology)

40.00 This indicator is not part of the PAD or DCA. We propose to reword it to be in line with Africa Higher Education results matrix.

Direct project beneficiaries

Direct project beneficiaries, of which are female

Number 0.00 22,693 16,600 We are refining this core indicator; the end target has been exceeded but percentage of female students has not been. Therefore, this

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indicator will continue to be tracked.

% female Percentage 0.00 31 34Intermediate Results Indicators

Original Indicator Name

New Indicator name Core Unit of

MeasureBaselineOct. 2003

CurrentMarch 2012

End TargetOct 2013 Comments

Component 1: Quality and Relevance of higher education

Proportion of students using internet and computer-assisted instructional material at the University

Percentage 25 The rapid expansion of internet connectivity in private homes has rendered this indicator obsolete, so we propose to drop it.

Establishment of MIS to support pedagogic, administrative and financial autonomy

Yes/No No No. However it is in good progress

Yes This is a duplicate from another indicator below (see second to last) so we propose to drop this one.

An ITC network installed and used

Yes/No No No. Since new campus has not yet been built. However, the project has financed computer purchase and wiring at old campus.

Yes This refers to the use by teachers and researchers in the University of Nouakchott.

Transfer of autonomy to the University (budgets, programs, administrative personnel)

Yes/No No Partial Yes This indicator was not in the PAD nor the DCA, but it is an important process measure towards full autonomy.

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Education facilities built or rehabilitated

Number 0.00 In progress31%

3.00 This is the aggregate indicator for the 3 facilities, which are being tracked separately below, so we propose to drop this indicator

University Administrative Center

University Administrative Center completed

Percentage 0.00 In progressRealization rate 75%

1.00 We propose to change the indicator measure from “number” to “percentage” to monitor progress given the construction problems.

Director, 2 key managers trained; technical staff

Yes/No 0.00 0.00 Director and 2 key managers trained; technical staff

We propose to drop this indicator as it is not relevant to Comp. 1 “Quality and relevance of HE”

Distance Learning Center is completed

Percentage 0.00 In progressRealization rate 25%

100 We propose to change the indicator measure from “number” to “percentage” to monitor progress given the construction problems.

2. DLC director and 2 key managerial staff are trained.

Yes/No 0.00 0.00 2. DLC director 2 key managerial staff are trained.

We propose to drop this indicator as it is not relevant to Comp. 1 “Quality and relevance of HE”

Library completed Library is completed

Percentage 0.00 In progressRealization rate 49%

100 Slight change to wording to be in line with DCA. We also propose to change the indicator from “number” to “percentage” to monitor progress given the construction problems.

2 Library director, 3 key managerial staff, and all technical staff are trained and operational by end of 2007

Yes/No 0.00 0.00 2 Library director,3 key managerial staff

We propose to drop this indicator as it is not relevant to Comp. 1 “Quality and relevance of HE”

Senior lecturers Number 36.00 235 65.00 Not in PAD nor DCA but in the ISR; this is a

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relevant indicator to measure “quality of instruction”

At least 100 faculty trained

Number 0 200 100 Refers to teachers trained in partner universities

At least 8 new professional programs introduced and 9 general programs renewed

Number 0.00 63 17.00 With the introduction of the LMD, no more “general” programs exist at the University. Given that this indicator has already been met, going forward, professional programs having been established or upgraded will be tracked.

General programs renewed

General programs converted into professional programs after introduction of LMD.

Number 0.00 34 9.00 These figures report on University programs pre-LMD introduction. This indicator will no longer be measured.

Professional programs started

Number 0.00 29 8.00 Measuring the number of professional programs created after the introduction of LMD

At last 50% of new programs have modules in distance learning

University departments having participated in twinning programs include distance learning modules in their courses

Percentage 0.00 25 This target was reduced from 50% to 25% because from the onset of the project, only 17 programs were supposed to be new/upgraded, while now it has already reached 63, so reaching 50% would be unrealistic. Also, increase in number of qualified teaching staff has reduced the need for long distance learning. Therefore, the university departments most likely to include a DL module are those currently enrolled in twinning programs.

Component 2: Institutional Development

Performance contracts with

Yes/No No Pending approval of Model “IDP” by

Yes

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Government implemented by 2007

the government

Structures responsible for pedagogic autonomy are created and trained in 9 IHEs in 2008/09.

Committees in charge of pedagogic autonomy are established in 9 public IHEs in 2008/09.

Yes/No No Yes/this indicator has been met as all 9 public IHE have “Conseils / Committées Pédagogique”

Yes The wording was changed to clarify this indicator to show that a) we talk about the 9 existing public IHE; b) it does not include training of any kind; and c) they are established within the IHE

Procedures manuals for administrative autonomy approved and operational by end of 2005.

Yes/No No In progress Yes This measures the establishment of a “Standard Manual”, which will serve as basis for each IHE to adapt the manual to their specific circumstances.

Financial and accounting management system operational end of 2006.

Yes/No No No Yes Financial and accounting management in place in current university campus but not in new because it is not yet built; originally it was supposed to be designed by 2005 and operational by 2006.

At least 3 IHEs have generated financial resources in 2008/09, and 5 in 2011.

Out of the 9 IHE, at least 3 have generated financial resources in 2008/09, and 5 in 2011.

Number No 6 IHE generated financial resources

Yes We propose to change the measure from “Yes/No” to “Number”

Quality assurance system launched in 2005. Procedures and tools operational in 2007.

Yes/No No Partial (twinning programs are almost complete; next step is to have qualified university accredit specific programs

Yes Partially achieved: Twinning contracts is part of the quality assurance; having a qualified university accredit a specific program would meet the target.

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MIS for student services, finance, human resources, planning, and monitoring installed and operational by 2007

Yes/No No In good progress; Agreement with AUF reached to help university develop and implement an adequate software, and train university technicians; training of 7 technicians already completed.

Yes

Financial and accounting reports, student tracer studies, plans of operations produced and audited in 2007/08.

Based on MIS, Financial and accounting reports, student tracer study reports, plans of operations produced and audited in 2007/08.

Yes/No No In progress Yes We propose slight rewording for clarity purposes

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