The Education Sector Development Program (ESDP) of Sri Lanka, the first Asian Development Bank (ADB) program to use the results-based lending (RBL) modality, was approved in June 2013 for $200 million. It supported selected result areas of the government’s Education Sector Development Framework and Program (ESDFP), 2013–2017, which aimed to transform the school education system to create the human capital foundation for a knowledge economy. Focusing on secondary education, it particularly sought to assist the government in introducing a science stream into 1,000 secondary schools in the rural areas, as well as a new technology stream to further broaden post-school options.
RBL was selected as the lending modality given the complexities in decentralized service delivery, the large number of small procurement packages dispersed across the country, adequate existing capacity with opportunities for system strengthening, the need for stronger results orientation, and predictable financing needs under the government’s expenditure framework. The ESDP’s envisaged impact was enhanced youth employability, achieved through the project outcome of a modernized secondary education school system. Planned outputs included (i) improved student learning, (ii) improved equity and efficiency of the school system, (iii) strengthened school leadership, and (iv) strengthened capacity for effective program planning and implementation.
ESDP’s strong results orientation translated to the adoption of numerous indicators, including 33 disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) reflecting 9 disbursement-linked results (DLRs), 4 of which were at the outcome level and 5 were at the output level. The 4 outcome-level DLRs were in addition to the 4 ESDP outcome indicators directly lifted from the ESDFP’s results framework. Actions related to developing institutional capacity or managing risk were included in a program action plan (PAP).
Linking disbursements to results greatly helped the ESDP achieve most of its output targets, and consequently most of its outcome targets. The most outstanding of these program accomplishments was the introduction of the technology stream in secondary education thus making it more responsive to the labor market. By 2018, there were more than 85,000 students enrolled in 4 technological pathways: 48,396 students in 251 program-supported schools, far exceeding the DLI target of at least 100 schools. However, the government struggled to supply technology teachers, particularly in engineering.
Upgrading of 255 mainly provincial schools, through the provision of a two-story building to house science, computer, and language laboratories and additional teachers and equipment, computers, and consumables, supported a steady increase in the science enrolments in these schools. But strong competition from the technology stream resulted in technology enrolments quickly outpacing science enrolments. Consequently, national GCE Advanced Level science enrolments came up to only 23% of the total number of students in 2018, against the target of 28%. In contrast, although GCE Advanced Level pass rates fluctuated, it reached 66% in 2017 and 65% in 2018, thus meeting the program targets.
The hundreds of lecturers provided to the National Institute of Education and the national colleges of education was instrumental to achieving the PAP target for the central training institutions to be 90% staffed by 2017, with 50% women. The training targets for principals and deputy principals were largely achieved. So was the aim to enhance quality through the adoption of a national competency framework linking mastery of competencies to principals’ performance management and the provision of a continuous professional development program, ranging from basic principal training for induction to postgraduate degree programs.
The establishment of the Sector Monitoring and Technical Support Unit (SMTSU) helped improve sector planning and implementation. While initially performing satisfactorily, the STMSU’s performance however slowed after staff losses. Coordination and support to the provinces consequently weakened, as did monitoring and evaluation. But such weakening did not significantly affect the program results, as the innovative performance-based partnership agreements (PPAs) between the Ministry of Education (MOE) and provincial education departments enabled the provinces to achieve their targets. Through the PPAs, the MOE empowered the provincial education departments to reframe the national targets based on their provinces’ needs and capacities, with freedom to determine how the targets will be achieved. As such, they proved effective in inculcating a results culture and evidence-based planning and implementation in the education sector.
The program had the MOE as executing agency. Along with the education departments in the 9 program provinces, the MOE also served as implementing agency.
