Lessons

Bangladesh: Second Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project

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Lessons

Adequate ADB support for consultant recruitment will help minimize startup delays.

The implementing agency may need additional support in recruiting qualified consultants to avoid startup delays in future projects. Slow progress in the recruitment of individual consultants and firms in the first 2 years of the project led to delays in overall project implementation and contributed to the partial loan cancellation and extension of the project’s closing date.

Project Cycle Stage: 
Implementation

Implementation of high-level institutional reforms requires adequate authority in the executing agencies (EAs).

This project was not able to meet its target to have an action plan for organizational and institutional reforms formally approved primarily because the approving body, the National Teacher Education Council (NTEC), had not been set up. Inadequate authority in the EA as well as unclear responsibilities snagged the establishment of the NTEC.  As of project completion, a draft of the NTEC Act has been prepared and is awaiting submission to the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs. NTEC establishment, along with other reforms such as the recognition of prior learning, integration of the secondary teacher information system database, and educational management information system and project databases will continually be pursued under the ongoing tranche 3 project of the ADB-financed Secondary Education Sector Investment Program (SESIP).

Project Cycle Stage: 
Preparation
Implementation

Targets need to be commensurate with the project scope and timeline.

The design and monitoring framework (DMF) indicators and targets set during this program’s appraisal were relevant to the secondary education context in Bangladesh. However, several of the targets were quite high and needed to be revised during implementation.  These revisions, including those that responded to recent sector developments, made the project more relevant and ensured that the targets were within its scope and timeline. The need to revise targets, which could create unnecessary disruptions, may be minimized in future project through a more thorough reality check of the DMF during the preparation and appraisal stages

Project Cycle Stage: 
Preparation
Implementation

Incentivization of measures to improve student performance in disadvantaged groups and geographic areas may be expanded in future secondary education programs in Bangladesh.

The grants incentive piloted by this project to support remedial lessons for low-performing students in grades 6–12 in disadvantaged upazilas (sub-districts) garnered positive feedback from students and teachers interviewed by the project completion review (PCR) mission. This innovative approach has been incorporated by the government into its national sector program, the Secondary Education Development Program, partly funded by the SESIP.  Future programming to improve the quality of education for all may consider expanding such a scheme to cover other areas in Bangladesh.

Project Cycle Stage: 
Preparation

Undertaking due diligence even when not mandatory can help ensure the smooth implementation of civil works.

This project benefited from the preparation of environmental due diligence reports and the conduct of safeguards training despite having an environmental safeguards category C rating. These activities contributed to the smooth completion of civil works and the avoidance of any negative impact or complaints. Drawing on this experience, future projects can consider undertaking environmental due diligence even when not mandatory.

Project Cycle Stage: 
Preparation
Implementation

Providing more opportunities for subject-content training for in-service teachers while improving teacher deployment can further enhance secondary education teaching quality in Bangladesh.

This project provided secondary education teachers with much-needed continuous professional development training, including training on pedagogical approaches and the use of digital tools. However, interviews conducted by the PCR mission across four districts revealed that teachers still want more training on subject content. This may indicate subject-specific teacher shortages or mismatches in the secondary school system.  It also indicates the need to improve teacher deployment while offering further opportunities for subject-content training for in-service teachers.

Project Cycle Stage: 
Preparation
Background

By 2012, Bangladesh had made significant progress in access to primary as well as secondary education. However, the challenges of low completion rates, poor education quality, and inclusive access to secondary education had persisted.  The quality of teaching and thereby learning had remained a concern, and the shortage of qualified and trained teachers at the secondary level a key constraint.  While the First Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project (TQI-I), supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), helped reduce the share of untrained teachers, as of 2010, around one-third of secondary teachers still lacked training, and teacher training and oversight systems were fragmented. Teacher training also needed to be more in step with revisions to the secondary education curriculum that promote creative thinking over rote learning and the integration of technology in teaching.

Against this backdrop, ADB approved the Second Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project (TQI-II) for a $70 million loan in March 2012. Building on TQI-I lessons, this project aimed to strengthen the system further for expanded pre-service and in-service training, qualification, and training of teachers for inclusive education. TQI-II’s intended impact was improved learning outcomes in secondary education, and its targeted outcome was a strengthened, integrated, and more inclusive secondary teacher education system. These impact and outcome were to be achieved through four outputs: (i) strengthened teacher development and institutional and organizational capacity; (ii) enhanced teacher training programs and delivery systems; (iii) targeted support for inclusive education; and (iv) quality project management.

Under the project, a study on how teacher career path can be better aligned with qualification was undertaken.  Headteachers and assistant headteachers were trained in mentoring teachers along the secondary teaching competency standards developed under TQI-II. B.Ed merit scholarships were provided. The 1-year B.Ed curriculum was revised to include new pedagogical competencies and align with a revised secondary-level curriculum that prioritizes creative thinking.  The 3-month Secondary Teacher Certificate (STC) program, initiated under TQI-I to help older in-service, ineligible teachers (i.e. those without bachelor’s degrees) obtain B.Ed degrees, was continued.  Subject-based continuous professional development (CPD) training in teaching English, Math, Higher Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Accounting, and more were provided.

Computer-aided learning was demonstrated in many schools as well as teacher training colleges. Cluster center schools were likewise constructed in selected government secondary schools in 48 districts, and provided with information technology and physical equipment to serve as training facilities. Targeted support for potential female teachers was extended through pre-service scholarships for a B.Ed program. TQI-II also promoted gender-friendly teaching environments. Workshops on inclusive education and gender awareness across 9 education zones with participation from school management committee (SMC) members, district- and upazila-level officers, and headteachers helped improve the enabling environment for female officials, resulting in a 5.4%-increase in female SMC members between 2011 and 2017.

Notwithstanding significant output deliveries, the project only partly achieved its intended outcome. Shortfalls were incurred in 2 of its 5 outcome targets – the number of ineligible teachers receiving STCs and all secondary schools meeting the minimum target for female teachers.  Only 2,146 teachers of the 5,000 target completed the STC course. As of 2018, only 43.4% of schools in the rural areas and 28.3% in urban areas had met the minimum target for female teachers. Organizational and institutional reforms were also constrained by the non-establishment of the National Teacher Education Council. 

Outcome targets exceeded were on the use of teaching competencies gained from the CPD trainings and the percentage of eligible secondary teachers with a B.Ed degree.  Against a 40,000 target, 45,273 teachers completed CPD trainings, and 79% of these had demonstrated use of the competencies they acquired from CPD. Eligible teachers (i.e. those with general bachelor’s degrees) with B.Ed degrees reached 93% of the total number of secondary teachers, against the National Education Policy requirement of 90%.  TQI-II also substantially achieved its target on the overall percentage of female teachers in secondary schools:  23% in 2010 to 26% in 2017, against a target of 28%.

The project had the Ministry of Education as executing agency and the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education as implementing agency.

Project Information
Project Name: 
Second Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project
Report Date: 
June, 2020
Main Sector: 
Education
Country: 
Bangladesh
Project Number: 
40448-013
Report Type: 
PCR
Project/Modality: 
Project loan
Themes: 
Inclusive Economic Growth
Gender Equity and Mainstreaming
Governance and Capacity Development
SDG: 
Goal 4: Quality Education
Sub Sector: 
Secondary
Loan Number: 
2859
Source of Funding: 
COL/ADF
Date Approved: 
30 March 2012
Report Rating: 
Successful

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