Implementation Completion Memorandum

Project Number: 45127-001 Grant Number: 9161 June 2017

Philippines: Enhancing Access to Quality Early

Childhood Education Services for Children in Poor

Communities (Financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction) This document is being disclosed to the public in accordance with ADB’s Public Communications Policy 2011.

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JAPAN FUND FOR POVERTY REDUCTION (JFPR)

IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION MEMORANDUM (ICM)

I. BASIC INFORMATION

1. JFPR Number and Name of Grant:

JFPR 9161-PHI: Enhancing Access to Quality Early Childhood Education Services for Children in Poor Communities

2. Country (DMC):

Philippines

3. Approved JFPR Grant Amount:

$1,500,000.00

4. Grant Type:

Project

5-A. Undisbursed Amount

$64,906.93

5-B. Utilized Amount

$1,435,093.07

6. Contributions from other sources

Source of Contribution: Committed Amount

Actual Contributions:

Remark - Notes:

DMC Government $1,627,814 $1,627,814 Actual contributions are the estimated value of the Department of Education’s in-kind contributions of land for 60 school buildings and share of local travel expenses plus per diem for teacher training participants.

Private Sector $383,716 $383,716 Private sector donors (San Miguel Corporation, Gokongwei Brothers Corporation, Security Bank, and Coca Cola) contributed 15 school buildings equipped with furniture and supplies in the project areas.

Community/ Beneficiaries $31,140 $31,140 Actual contributions are the estimated value of the in-kind contributions of community and parent volunteers’ time.

7-A. GOJ Approval Date:

13 January 2012

7-B. ADB Approval Date:

20 February 2012

7-C. Date the LOA was signed (Grant Effectiveness Date):

23 March 2012

8-A. Original Grant Closing Date:

23 March 2015

8-B. Actual Grant Closing Date:

23 September 2015

8-C. Account Closing Date:

20 May 2016

9. Name and Number of Counterpart ADB (Loan) Project:

N/A

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10. The Grant Recipient(s): Republic of the Philippines Department of Education Meralco Avenue, Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines Contact Person: Ms. Leonor Magtolis Briones, Secretary Telephone Numbers: +632 633-7208 / +632 633-7228

11. Executing and Implementing Agencies: EXECUTING AGENCY: Department of Education Meralco Avenue, Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines Contact Person: Mr. Jesus Mateo, Assistant Secretary Email address: jesus.mateo@deped.gov.ph IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: AGAPP Foundation 3/f Regalia Corporate Center Tower A Pedro Tuazon, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines Contact Persons: Ms. Pinky Aquino Abellada, Chair Ms. Gel Caguioa, gelcag2@gmail.com Ms. Feny de los Angeles Bautista, teachpinay@ymail.com

II. GRANT PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

12. Description (Background rationale): Good quality early childhood education and nutrition programs for disadvantaged children can bring long-lasting and highly cost effective results in school retention rates, intellectual ability and performance, and long-term earnings and welfare.1 These findings are reinforced by an evaluation of ADB’s Early Childhood Development Project.2 While decades of investment in early childhood care and development (ECCD) programs and services in the Philippines improved daycare and maternal and child health, the following key challenges remained at the time of grant formulation:

(i) creating access to quality learning environments for young children, particularly at preschool age;

(ii) building teaching capacity in preschools; and

(iii) engaging parents and communities, and mobilizing support from broader civil society and the private sector.

There was a pressing need to solve interlinked problems of low enrollment in preschool due to lack of physical access, low quality, and low parental awareness of the importance of preschool in the formative years. In 2011, the government of the Philippines embarked on a comprehensive education system reform, including universalizing kindergarten education and adding two years of senior high school in what is known as the K-12 reforms. Although the budget for pre-primary education increased, it remained inadequate to ensure universal access to kindergarten. The Department of Education (DepEd) facilities then could cover less than half of the country’s 2.5 million 5-year-old children. DepEd undertook to introduce a new preschool curriculum launched in school year 2010–2011 along with other new programs to strengthen early literacy and numeracy. In addition, DepEd continued to seek new models and partnerships to engage parents, communities, and a broader array of agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Health, local government units (LGUs), and international agencies like UNICEF and other development partners, in preschool and elementary education.

1 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 2006. The UNESCO Education for All Global

Monitoring Report 2007: Strong Foundations – Early Childhood Care and Education. Paris: UNESCO. 2 ADB.1998. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Loan to the Philippines

for the Early Childhood Development Project. Manila (Loan 1606-PHI, $24,500,000, approved on 6 January).

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DepEd also sought to expand partnerships with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and the private sector to expand resources, particularly to construct new classrooms and develop a high-quality kindergarten program at the base of the new K-12 system.

13. Grant Development Objective and Scope: The development objective was to improve access to quality early childhood education services to create a stronger foundation for schooling and learning, especially among children in poor communities in the Philippines. The project supported a sustainable multi-stakeholder partnership to implement the Government of the Philippines’ program to universalize preschool for 5-year-old children to prepare them better for primary education, thereby reducing the dropout rate and improving their learning outcomes. The development objective was intended to be achieved by:

(i) constructing 60 preschool buildings that are safe, child-friendly, and accessible to children with disability (Component A);

(ii) training preschool teachers and primary school heads in delivery and management of universal preschool education (Component B);

(iii) building sustainable partnerships with communities and civil society in the areas of school health and nutrition, livelihood programs, and parent education (Component C); and

(iv) establishing a monitoring and evaluation system and impact studies for evidence-based policy recommendations for preschool and early primary education (Component D).

The grant design was relevant. It not only supported the government’s ambitious education sector reform agenda (including Republic Act 10157, the Kindergarten Education Act of January 2012) but also directly complemented the rapid expansion of country’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program for poor families, supported by ADB’s Social Protection Support Project approved in 2010.3 The CCT program requires children aged 3–5 to attend preschool, but services must be available for families to meet the condition. The JFPR project sites were in the Negros and Bicol regions and were selected per the following criteria: (i) DepEd’s priority divisions (school districts) with high classroom shortage and low performance; (ii) poor communities targeted for the DSWD’s CCT program; (iii) high prevalence of malnutrition among elementary school children; and (iv) evidence of local community support and effective school leadership. The project was well aligned with ADB’s country partnership strategy 2011–2016 which highlighted ADB support for education, social protection. Overall, the grant’s objectives, components, implementation arrangements and schedule were appropriate as designed, and there was broad-based stakeholder participation in its formulation, leading to strong ownership. The site selection was appropriate and met the well-defined criteria. Negros and Bicol are two of the country’s poorest regions. The implementing agency completed all 60 kindergarten buildings on schedule and to a high standard, indicating an appropriate schedule (see Annex 1 for the complete list of schools). Of the total 60 schools, the 45 constructed with JFPR grant funds received four interventions: new classrooms and library, teacher training, school feeding, and livelihood support (referred to as 4 Component or 4C schools in this ICM). The 15 schools constructed with private sector contributions received new classrooms and library and teacher training (referred to as 2 Component or 2C schools). The project’s gender category was effective gender mainstreaming, which was appropriate, and specific gender targets were incorporated into the design and monitoring framework and the grant implementation manual. These included: (i) parent education programs to reach at least 40% men; (ii) improvement of DepEd’s gender-inclusive preschool curriculum; (iii) training of elementary school teachers and staff on key gender issues; and (iv) collection and reporting of sex-disaggregated data. The project followed ADB social and environmental safeguard policies and guidelines as articulated in ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (2009). No grievances were reported. Construction was very small in scope and was limited to existing elementary school grounds, and there were no significant environmental impacts. The project did not involve any involuntary resettlement, land acquisition, compensation, or associated issues.

3 ADB. 2010. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Loan to the Philippines

for the Social Protection Support Project. Manila (Loan 2662-PHI).

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While the project did not specifically target indigenous communities nor include specific activities for indigenous school children, the project equally benefited all eligible students, including indigenous children in the target communities. There were three design weaknesses. First, the inclusion of a livelihood sub-component, while well-intentioned, may have diluted the focus of the grant which was primarily about improving access to and the quality of early childhood education. Second, the grant was approved with no baseline values for its key performance indicators in the design and monitoring framework. A baseline survey was meant to take place within 6 months of effectiveness but was significantly delayed. Evaluation lessons often highlight delays in obtaining baseline survey results. It is therefore best practice to establish baselines as part of quality-at-entry and project readiness considerations. Third, monitoring gender equality results would have been easier had a gender action plan been prepared during design and regularly reported on during implementation.

14. Key Performance

Indicators

Accomplish-ment Rating

(HS,S,PS,U)

Evaluation of each Indicator:

i) Elementary transition rate

among targeted students

improved by at least 10%

S This indicator is assessed as satisfactory, based on the project’s tracer study. The sample included 5 two-component (2C) schools, 5 four-component (4C) schools, and 6 control schools.4 The 4C schools obtained the highest average transition rate from kindergarten to grade 1 (99.6%) during project implementation. The transition rate in 2C schools was 95.3%. The transition rate in control schools was 99.2%. While the target of 10 percentage points improvement was not met, the target may have been unrealistically high.

ii) Elementary drop-out rate

reduced among the targeted

students by at least 10%

HS This indicator is assessed as highly satisfactory. The 4C schools saw the largest decrease in kindergarten drop-out rates, from 2.05% before in SY2011–2012 to 0.22% in Year 3. This is a drop of 89.3%, far exceeding the 10% target. The Grade 1 dropout rate from 4C schools fell from 1.47% in SY2011–-2012 to 0.36% in Year 3, a drop of 75.5%. The Grade 2 dropout rate in 4C schools was 0.13% in Year 3. These are both significantly lower than the national dropout rate of 13.04% in Grade 1 and 4.78% in Grade 2 in SY2011-2012.5

iii) Age-appropriate child

development index scores

achieved by at least 90% of

targeted children6

HS This indicator is assessed as highly satisfactory, with the target well exceeded. In SY2013-14, 93.6% of 5-year-olds and 92.1% of 6-year-olds in kindergarten achieved age-appropriate child development scores, well above the target of 90%. In SY 2014–15, 91.5% of 5-year-olds and 89.4% of

4 The 2C schools received infrastructure and teacher training components funded by AGAPP’s mobilization of private

sector support and AGAPP’s own counterpart funds. The 4C schools received the complete JFPR grant package: infrastructure, teacher training, supplemental feeding for students and livelihood support. The criteria for selection of tracer study sample schools were participation in the teacher training program, personnel retention, and full compliance with the project requirements and agreements. Control schools are regular public schools that received no JFPR-financed interventions. The tracer study covered three kindergarten batches from year 1 (SY2012–2013) to year 3 (SY2014–2015) for 2C and control schools. Among 4C schools, the study covered two kindergarten batches in year 2 and year 3.

5 UNESCO. 2015. Philippines Education for All 2015 Review Report. Manila. 6 Targeted children are the kindergarten children enrolled in the 45 JFPR-financed schools. This KPI was assessed

using the Philippine ECCD Checklist scores of 3,983 children in SY 2013–2014 and 4,019 children in SY 2014–2015.

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6-year-olds achieved age-appropriate child development index scores.

iv) Proportion of grade 1

enrollees with prior preschool

participation increased by 20%

S This indicator had a very high baseline of 88.38% in SY2011–2012, since the Kindergarten Law made Kindergarten attendance a mandatory prerequisite for Grade 1. Increasing this baseline by 20% would have required an impossible 17.68 percentage point increase (to more than 100%). Nevertheless, this indicator is still rated satisfactory, since the proportion of Grade 1 enrollees with Kindergarten experience in JFPR-supported schools increased to 92.17% in SY2012–2013 and to 93.41% in SY2013–2014.

v) More and stronger

partnerships developed to

support preschool and early

primary education as

measured by amount of

resources mobilized from the

private sector, and

development partners.

HS Significant resources were mobilized through partnerships. Partnerships were formed to support preschool education with LGUs, parent-teacher associations, and other private sector groups and NGOs, generating a variety of resources (Annex 2 contains a list of the various types of resources mobilized). AGAPP mobilized more than $380,000 from private sector partners for 15 of the project’s 60 school buildings. Other partners supported infrastructure and facilities through donation of materials like tiles, playground equipment, child-sized sinks, electric fans and other fixtures. Some organizations facilitated the provision of utilities (electricity and water) to the new schools. They also helped implement the Gulayan sa Paaralan (school gardening) and Brigada Eskwela (school brigade) programs. Private and non-government organizations provided additional learning materials for children, such as school supplies and books. LGUs provided funding for locally-funded teachers, barangay tanod (village watch) security and special education funds.

15. Evaluation of Inputs Project inputs under the 4 components were (i) infrastructure and learning materials, (ii) teacher and school leadership capacity building, (iii) parent education, (iv) feeding program, and (v) livelihoods. Component A: Safe and child-friendly learning environments. Infrastructure and learning materials were provided at a cost of $970,630 (70% of utilized grant proceeds). A total of 60 schools received modern, bright and inviting kindergarten buildings that are accessible to people with disabilities (45 of these were financed using JFPR grant funds, 15 were provided by private sector partners). The kindergartens have 2 classrooms each, libraries, and sanitation facilities with child-sized toilets and basins (see Annex 1 for a complete list of the supported schools). Buildings were completed to schedule and all were equipped with furniture and age–appropriate materials which promote the development of thinking and language skills, gross and fine motor development, analytical and mathematical skills. Classrooms also received a wide-selection of children’s books in Filipino and English (story, picture and trade books), plus school and art supplies. The materials enabled the teachers to apply the play-based and learner-centered practices that are important features of the national 40-week kindergarten curriculum. Before the project, most of the beneficiary schools did not have dedicated kindergarten classrooms and were using makeshift, dilapidated rooms. They also had poor sanitation facilities. Component B: Teaching and school leadership capacity building accounted for a total of $84,650 (6% of utilized grant proceeds) and benefitted 605 teachers and school heads. Delivered in four 3-day modules, the training program for teachers and school heads focused on (i) the revised national kindergarten curriculum; (ii) developmentally-appropriate practice in early childhood education; (iii) child development assessment and screening for curriculum implementation and the assessment of quality of learning

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environments; and (iv) improving existing literacy programs especially transition and enrichment support for children in primary grades 1–3.7 For school heads and principals, there was an additional focus on enhancing supervision and support for teachers, facilitating parent involvement in schools (from parent education to livelihood programs), forging meaningful partnerships for child development with the community, and implementing school health and nutrition programs. The modules integrated training on key gender issues. Teachers were exposed to different structured and unstructured learning experiences. The sessions combined theory and practice by combining discussions and presentations with experiential and interactive approaches. The workshops promoted learning by doing to help kindergarten teachers and school heads internalize and practice the approaches most appropriate for kindergarten children. The project partnered with Japanese NGO Global Volunteer Service (GVS) to conduct play-based learning workshops for teachers, parents and students in November 2013. GVS partnered with the Japan Foundation and the Tokyo Toy Making Foundation to organize a team of toy experts to conduct the hands-on workshops in Quezon City, Tagaytay City, and Cebu City. The main objective was to train teachers and parents of JFPR beneficiary schools on origami, toy making and other crafts that teachers could use in the classroom to enhance learning; and that parents might do at home with their children. The workshop received coverage from a Manila television stations and was featured on a children’s educational show.

Component C: Sustainable partnerships with communities and civil society Parent education. The teacher training program introduced the concept of parents as partners beginning in module 1. Schools were encouraged to strengthen their partnerships with parents as school stakeholders. Teachers were trained on activities and topics for parent education sessions, including child development and learning, and caregiving practices that ensure health, well-being and support for children as learners at home and in school. Teachers—initially not that receptive to the concept of parent education as an important component in child development—had several misconceptions about the home-school partnership. The project promoted behavior change on the part of the school personnel, in terms of seeking out parents’ participation. This was a new concept. Similarly, parents at first had a negative attitude towards school meetings and activities because they perceived these as fund-raising initiatives. They were not necessarily aware of their roles in their child’s school life and overall learning. By Module 4, the participants recognized the importance of parent education. Compared to Module 1, where there was some awareness but a rather passive attitude, there was better understanding with a more committed stance toward implementing parent education programs. School feeding program. The project implemented a supplemental feeding program across all 45 JFPR-funded schools beginning in July 2014 (the start of year 3). The implementation plan was based on a 200-day supplemental feeding program for kindergarten pupils aged 5-6 years old, designed by the local NGO consultant in Negros, Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC) using Mingo, a locally-produced powdered food supplement made of rice, mongo and malunggay. Produced by the social enterprise arm of NVC, Mingo is rich in protein and contains Vitamins A, C, B1, B6, Potassium, Iron, Calcium and Zinc. Importantly, it also tastes good and comes in multiple flavors, so children are happy to eat it. Because of savings in other components,8 and positive results observed during field visits, ADB approved a reallocation of unutilized grant funds to conduct three more months of the feeding program to benefit a new batch of kindergarten students in project schools. Feeding accounted for 16% of utilized grant proceeds, benefitting close to 7,300 students.

7 Module I: Orientation on the DepEd-AGAPP-JFPR ECCD Project Child Development and Partnerships with Parents

and Families (October 2012); Module II: Supporting Early Literacy through ECCD (January–February 2013); Module III: Strengthening ECCD Programs through Parent Participation and Education and Enhanced Curriculum Implementation (September 2014); Module IV: Strengthening Early Literacy and Parent Participation in the Kindergarten Program (July 2015) (note: module IV was developed for newly hired teachers and school leaders who had not attended modules I–III).

8 Grant savings were realized when, instead of hiring consultants for the grant implementation unit, existing AGAPP directors took charge of implementation with the help of just one consultant.

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Livelihoods. There was a lack of clarity in the original project design regarding the scope of the livelihood component, and the budget allocation for livelihood programs was low at $6,977.9 A minor change to the project approved in March 2015 proposed that instead of supporting either 6 or 10 small livelihood programs, the project would support two larger community-based livelihood investments that benefited multiple families and promoted community participation, for a total of $13,200. The livelihood programs, implemented in partnership with local NGOs, were (i) a poultry raising project on a typhoon-affected island in Negros Occidental, involving 20 families, and (ii) a school farming project in Bicol that worked with parents and students at all 24 JFPR-supported schools in partnership with social enterprise Aquaponics. In producing eggs, chicken, fish and vegetables, these programs intended to sustain school nutrition and feeding programs, in line with the description of the component C activities. A total of $13,000 was utilized for the livelihoods component. Partnerships with external stakeholders. The project was highly effective at supporting a variety of partnerships to mobilize resources. These are summarized in Annex 2. Component D: Project management, monitoring, and impact evaluation Performance of the EA was satisfactory. DepEd guidance and support was valuable throughout the implementation, and particularly during the school selection phase. There was high-level support for the project and participation in school handover ceremonies. The EA provided all planned counterpart contributions in the form of land for school buildings. The IA would have liked to see more participation in field visits by central office officials, and a stronger policy to minimize turnover of school leadership and trained teachers in project-supported schools.

Performance of the IA was satisfactory. AGAPP implemented the grant efficiently and without waste or leakage, and saved grant funds by using its own directors to implement the project, with just one finance consultant (whose performance was also satisfactory). Its success in mobilizing local NGOs, social enterprises, and the communities around the schools is noteworthy, and a good partnership with DepEd laid the foundation for close collaboration. The IA conducted evaluation studies using appropriate tools, and prepared a series of reports and a policy brief with pertinent recommendations. Regular progress and financial reporting for the most part followed ADB requirements, though the IA did not consistently report sex-disaggregated data as required in the Grant Implementation Manual. Submission of final reports and policy briefs was delayed, as was the baseline report. The quality of reporting on the design and monitoring framework indicators was partly satisfactory, largely because of the lack of baseline values. Performance of ADB was satisfactory. ADB’s project design was relevant and front-end work quality met ADB’s good practice standards. ADB guided project implementation following JFPR grant policies and guidelines on Japanese visibility. Project officers and analysts undertook regular supervision missions with field visits to Negros and Bicol, including with JFPR staff and DepEd officials to participate in inauguration ceremonies for completed schools. Although there were 3 changes in the ADB project officer, relatively smooth transitions were ensured. For better monitoring of gender equity results, though it was not compulsory, ADB could have included a gender action plan at design stage, attached to the Grant Implementation Manual. ADB processed one minor change to the project, extending the original closing date by 6 months and using grant savings to undertake additional modules of teacher training, with the objectives of training newly assigned teachers and focusing on community mobilization and development skills, extending the school feeding for three months for all kindergarten children in the JFPR-funded schools, and getting the two larger livelihood initiatives up and running smoothly. Performance of partner NGOs was highly satisfactory. A key aspect of the grant’s effective implementation was the role of the local NGO partnerships with Negrense Volunteers for Change (in Negros), and Pinoy Power Bicol Coalition, Inc. (in Bicol). With offices and operations located in the regions where the

9 According to the grant’s design and monitoring framework, at least 10 livelihood programs would be established.

However, the detailed cost estimates line item for seed money included only 6 livelihood programs at $1,163 each, for a total of $6,977. If there were to be 10 livelihood programs, each would have had an average budget of less than $700.

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JFPR beneficiary schools and communities were located, these NGOs served as local implementing agencies, providing support, supervision and monitoring at all stages of grant implementation. Crucial to their role was the ability to mobilize and engage communities—an activity central to their own missions. The partnership with local NGOs proved to be a highly effective model of community empowerment. The performance of Global Volunteer Service was also highly satisfactory.

16. Evaluation of Outputs and Results Component A: Safe and child-friendly learning environments. The project built 60 safe and child-friendly, seismically stable, fully furnished and equipped preschool buildings.10 This met the target and gave students from some of the poorest communities access to more conducive learning environments. The 120 classrooms (2 per building) benefitted a total of 16,020 children (48.4% girls) in the 5 years from SY2011–2012 to SY2015–2016 (against a target of 6,000) and they will continue to benefit approximately 5,000 students per school year. According to parents and teachers, these attractive environments motivated students to come to school every day. More than 59,000 students had access to the library facilities (against the target of 9,000). The availability of books develops a love for learning and reading. Even students from higher grades often visit the kindergarten libraries to read and borrow books. Aside from the buildings, children were also given learning materials to use and manipulate, for example in math and language. Poor students previously did not have or only had very limited access to educational materials, toys and books. Supervision visits confirmed that teachers used the learning materials. The learning materials facilitated implementation of non-traditional methods of teaching. Teachers received enough materials to conduct varied play-based group activities to provide the students with strong foundational skills. The 45 schools built with JFPR funds showed marked improvement using the ECERS-R tool. This observation-based measure of early childhood environment quality looks at 43 variables grouped into seven subscales. Scores for each item range from 1 (inadequate) to 7 (excellent). For the project, six subscales were used: space and furnishings, personal care routines, language reasoning, activities, interaction, and program structure.11 Prior to the intervention, schools scored from 1 to 4 (minimal) on the ECERS-R variables. At baseline, most schools failed to meet the minimum requirements in space and furnishings, personal care routines, and activities. After the intervention, the mean scores for all schools ranged from above 4 to 5 (good). Looking at disaggregated data schools in Negros Occidental obtained the highest mean scores across the six subscales, with ratings ranging from 5 to 7. Excellent ratings were achieved in program structure, interaction, and language reasoning. Component B: Teaching and school leadership capacity building. In post evaluations, 92% of the participants rated the training programs as relevant and specifically appreciated the topics of (i) child growth and development, (ii) parent involvement and education, (iii) the use of the ECCD checklist as an assessment tool and for curriculum development, and (iv) preparation of teacher-made instructional materials. Nearly all respondents (97%) perceived the facilitators as effective. Prior to the project, many teachers in the target areas had never received training on play-based instruction. For others, the project first introduced them to the new national kindergarten curriculum. Before the teacher training program, many relied mainly on their own knowledge and experience (i.e. use of lectures, flash cards, work books). They used the curriculum guide but lacked the recommended learning materials. They usually implemented whole-group activities rather than small group activities. Storytelling was not part of daily activities because they lacked children’s books. Teachers seldom implemented outdoor activities, though they did have action songs as part of music and movement activities. Teachers also lacked knowledge on the use of the Philippine ECCD checklist. After the workshops, teachers implemented more play-based activities, using resources that are compatible with the curriculum. Classrooms have more of the children’s work displayed because teachers learned how to implement the activities and they had access to new school and art supplies. Teachers were also exposed

10 UNICEF defines a safe school environment as one that is physically safe, guarantees children a safe and protective

space for learning, and has adequate water and sanitation facilities and healthy classrooms, among others (https://www.unicef.org/lifeskills/index_7260.html).

11 The subscale for parents and staff was omitted because all the variables are not all applicable to the Kindergarten program in Philippine public schools.

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to theme-related and literature-based activities, making them more creative. They now use indigenous materials like shells, and scrap materials from local woodwork shops and carpenters. While the training touched on how to handle students with behavioral issues, the time was limited, and teachers still lack in-depth training in teaching children with special needs. Though 605 teachers participated in teacher training, personnel turnover was a persistent challenge during project implementation. Not all teachers and school heads assigned to beneficiary schools participated in training modules 1–4 because of reassignment or termination. Many newly hired teachers attended only modules 3 and/or 4. The training program had to be adjusted to accommodate the needs of the newly-hired teachers and newly-assigned school heads. Some teachers were replaced by teachers who were concurrently assigned to higher grade levels. School heads were transferred to other schools. This impacted the effective implementation of teacher quality features of the project. Component C: Sustainable partnerships with communities and civil society Parent education. The project reached a total of 6,389 parents with advocacy and awareness raising activities on the importance of preschool, early literacy, and foundational learning. Of these, 20% were fathers, falling short of the 40% target for male participation. Schools that implemented parent education shared that there was an increase in parent attendance and participation in school activities. Teachers in a focus group discussion noted the many benefits of parent education, such as parents’ knowledge on the 7Ks (essential child development and learning principles), and a change in parents’ attitudes towards the school. Parent education programs increased trust in and support for the school, and parents themselves provided more and varied child-centered activities. According to one principal, investing time and energy on parent education elicits full support and cooperation. Parents appreciated the use of play as the main method of instruction. Parents also learned about the joys and challenges of parenthood, the 7Ks, and aspirations for their children. The sessions also served as a venue for sharing parenting experiences. Parents’ participation was evident in the feeding and livelihood programs implemented through the parent-teacher association (PTA). Parents assisted in the preparation and distribution of the Mingo feeding supplement, plus additional ingredients. They also worked on the Aquaponics and poultry farms (the two livelihood projects, see below). However, the high rate of teacher turnover (discussed under teacher training above) also affected the expansion of the parent education program that would have enabled broader and more sustained participation. School feeding. The school feeding component was highly successful, reaching 7,294 children in all 45 JFPR-financed schools. The Mingo supplement (provided through partnership with a social enterprise) was appropriate as it is nutritious and easy to prepare as a porridge. Perhaps most importantly it tastes good, so kids are happy to eat it, which is crucial for the success of any supplemental feeding program. Field visits confirmed that mothers volunteered their time and effort in helping to prepare and supervise the feeding. The project impact assessment found a significant improvement in children’s level of malnutrition after implementation of the supplementary feeding program. The proportion of wasted or severely wasted children in project schools fell by 16.5 percentage points. In comparison, the proportion of wasted or severely wasted children in control schools fell by 8.05 percentage points. Livelihoods. The Aquaponics farms in Bicol have largely served as a source of supplemental feeding for the students of the beneficiary schools rather than as a livelihood undertaking. The project decided to support small school farms at all 24 schools in Bicol. Teachers use the small harvest to cook meals to serve to kindergarten students. In some cases, meals are sold at a minimal cost, and the proceeds are used to buy new seeds or fingerlings. Overall, the value of the farms has been significant in terms of (i) community engagement and cooperation, (ii) education and new knowledge, and (iii) the addition of healthy nutrients to children’s meals. Ideally the number of aquaponics set-ups in each school could grow to a level that can eventually support a small livelihood activity. There could also be a demonstration effect, where parents see that similar set-ups can be built in homes as sustainable food sources. The poultry project in Negros faced challenges that it seems the community, the LGU and the local NGO partner had not fully anticipated: animal sickness, extreme weather, and waning support from some members. Funds had to be used for the procurement of a second batch of chicks, of which only 73 survived. In a community meeting to assess the project, it was agreed that the LGU would take over supervision and funding of the poultry project. The local

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NGO partner continues to support the LGU, and is helping to evaluate a new project proposal to produce smoked fish. Although neither the Aquaponics farms in Bicol nor the poultry project in Negros have resulted in successful livelihood enterprises, there was value in the establishment of multi-stakeholder partnerships. Component D: Project management, monitoring, and impact evaluation Project evaluation. The IA produced a comprehensive evaluation study in four detailed volumes: (i) Stronger, Hopeful Beginnings for School Success: Evaluating Impact of an Early Childhood Education Project in Philippine Public Schools, (ii) The Children in Silid Pangarap [the Filipino name of the Kindergarten buildings] – based on a series of family information and health surveys, (iii) The Gabay Guro Teacher Training Component, and (iv). Aruga: Parent Education, Support for Feeding, and Livelihood Component. Other reports included a summary report of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (Revised Edition) (ECERS-R) assessment of the 45 JFPR-financed schools, a report on the School Readiness Year-end Assessment, Following the Footsteps of Children from Silid Pangarap to the Primary Grades – based on the project’s tracer study, a summary report based on a teachers beliefs and practices survey, and a final Policy Brief: Investing in Human Resources for the Kindergarten Program in Public Schools. Gender. Overall, achievement of the gender targets was successful. While the achievement of 20% male participation in parent education fell short of the 40% target, the target itself may have been too ambitious. Overall, DepEd’s kindergarten curriculum is gender-inclusive,12 and post-training evaluation found that 100% of teachers were implementing it. Gender concepts and the use of gender- sensitive principles are now integrated into curriculum development and implementation, and teaching guides that harmonize pedagogical strategies and gender concepts are available. The four teacher training modules effectively mainstreamed gender and inclusion considerations: the post-training evaluation found that 97% of kindergarten teachers consider it either ‘very’ (40%) or ‘extremely important’ (57%) that books, pictures, and materials in the classroom include people of different races, ages, and abilities and both sexes in various roles (the remaining 3% found it ‘fairly important’). However, the Grant Implementation Unit did not consistently collect and report on sex-disaggregated data.

17. Overall Assessment and Rating (HS,S,PS,U): In the overall assessment, the project is rated successful, based on the four equally weighted ratings of relevant, effective, efficient, and likely sustainable. The project was relevant, based on the three aspects of consistency with the national strategy, consistency with ADB’s strategy, and soundness of project design. The project was effective, as achievements in all key performance indicators were either successful or highly successful, despite poor formulation of the targets in some cases (e.g. unrealistic percentage increases given the lack of baseline values). Ultimately, the project provided 120 new and accessible kindergarten classrooms and a modern, interactive approach to early childhood education, benefiting more than 15,000 children from poor communities during the life of the project (far exceeding the target of 6,000) and continuing to benefit about 5,000 students per year. Japanese visibility was ensured through plaques at the entrance to each school, engagement of a Japanese NGO, and invitations to Embassy of Japan and JFPR officers to participate in school handover ceremonies in Negros and Bicol. The project was efficient, as there were no delays or cost overruns. Although there was some deviation from original plans (e.g. adjusted livelihood component, inconsistent monitoring of gender targets) this did not impact the achievement of the key performance indicators. The project is likely sustainable, as the kindergarten buildings were completed to a high standard, in existing school compounds, and there is an established legal framework that requires kindergarten attendance. However, sustainability of the investments in capacity building for school leaders and teachers is somewhat at risk given the lack of supporting policies at DepEd regarding deployment of principals and hiring of kindergarten teachers. High teacher turnover was a major challenge, despite being recognized at the outset in the risks and assumptions section of the project’s design and monitoring framework, and noted during each review mission.

12 UNESCO. 2015. Philippines Education for All 2015 Review Report. Manila. p. 44

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18. Major Lessons Learned: 1. Partnerships are beneficial. The partnerships formed between the schools and communities, local NGOs and LGUs in the areas of school health and nutrition, livelihood programs, and parent education proved to be a main driver of success. The project found that these relationships were loosely present in many cases but needed to be strengthened with higher quality content and closer supervision. 2. Field visits require broad participation. Field visits are most effective when national government agency staff members from central and regional offices also participate. In some cases, only the Schools Division offices were represented during school visits, and some superintendents did not participate. Field visits are an important mechanism for ensuring a shared understanding of project experiences, issues and problems, and this understanding has implications for program and policy development for the national kindergarten to Grade 3 program. 3. Parents play a crucial role in young children’s education. Parent education—with sufficient training and tools for school heads and teachers to apply—is a key ingredient of quality early childhood education programs. The project’s tracer study and direct parent feedback found lasting benefits of participation in the parent education program. DepEd leadership should encourage school heads and teachers to commit to full and sustained implementation. This project has demonstrated that enhanced parent involvement in school life is often a natural result of their participation in parent education programs. 4. Play is an essential building block of optimum learning. One of the more challenging aspects of supporting the effective implementation of the national kindergarten program was helping teachers—whether newly-hired graduates or experienced teachers—to fully understand the value of play in children’s lives, and especially in school. Although the national kindergarten curriculum is based on the principles of play for optimum learning, teachers’ personal experiences and pre-service teacher education often do not include theory and practice on the value of play in early childhood education. The traditional emphasis on rote-drill methods with a reliance on books, workbooks, and chalkboards still dominate teachers’ experiences. 5. Including too many interventions may dilute a project’s effectiveness. The inclusion of the livelihood component was based on the premise that several key elements would be in place: (i) school heads would assume leadership for implementation, (ii) principals and teachers would sustain the parent education program for the duration of each school year; and (iii) the local NGO partner would be the direct co-facilitator with the school head. There are precedents in the Philippines of community-based ECCD projects, run by NGOs, that successfully implemented livelihood components. However, the NGOs were in more direct control of factors like staffing, program leadership at ground level, and project timeframes. In this case, working through DepEd’s structure and programs, it may have been too much to expect school management teams to also take responsibility for livelihood development. Livelihood support is perhaps better left to other government agencies—such as DSWD and the Department of Labor and Employment, which both run extensive targeted livelihood support programs, or the Department of Agriculture—or to specialized NGOs. 6. Gender action plans help project partners monitor gender targets. The JFPR’s gender categorization was effective gender mainstreaming and both the JFPR report and the Grant Implementation Manual noted various gender equality actions and targets. These were not captured in a gender action plan that would have made monitoring results easier and more consistent, and efforts more focused at promoting gender equality in and through early childhood education for children in poor communities.

19. Recommendations and Follow-up Actions: 1. Disseminate project results. DepEd may wish to disseminate project reports to inform current school heads and kindergarten teachers in beneficiary schools about the project lessons and recommendations. ADB’s Digitial First team could develop the Policy Brief Investing in Human Resources for Kindergarten in Public Schools into online content for the new Development Asia platform and disseminate the link to DepEd’s ECCD Council, ideally by Q4 2017.

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2. Budget for well-equipped kindergartens. DepEd may consider conducting an inventory to determine if the project-supported classrooms meet all the requirements for kindergarten classrooms. If yes, it is recommended that subsequent budget planning include provisions for the furniture, learning materials and children’s books such as those provided by the project (some are best procured nationally, others locally by Schools Division Offices). If new classrooms are required, AGAPP has turned over to DepEd the complete architectural plans and building specifications. 3. Invest in human resources. The most important provisions to ensure are the human resources for quality early childhood education: qualified competent kindergarten teachers with opportunities for in-service professional development plus supportive school leaders to provide supervision and support. Through this JFPR and AGAPP’s work in other regions, preschool coordinators at division and district level have participated in the teacher training modules. These coordinators could be supported and encouraged to conduct more school and division-level training. Policies to minimize teacher turnover should also be considered. 4. Replicate models that work. Ensuring access to quality early childhood education for children in the poorest communities is possible within the public school system. The new national kindergarten curriculum provides children with a solid start to the K-12 school experience, but it has to be effectively implemented by competent teachers with the participation of better informed and motivated parents. The JFPR project’s model of providing classrooms with learning materials and children’s books, teacher training and parent education is a viable formula that DepEd may consider replicating, especially in areas of high poverty incidence where the risks of failure and drop out are particularly high. 5. Revisit the policy framework. DepEd may wish to study several policy issues and their implications for programming, learners’ interests, staffing, and effective school management. These include (i) the age of admission to public kindergarten and grade 1 and appropriate actions for under- or over-aged children; (ii) the need to accurately report and differentiate between school repetition and failure in elementary grades vs. having an under-aged (4-year-old) repeat a year of kindergarten because s/he is not yet 6; and (iii) the criteria for kindergarten teacher accreditation, where certification should include consideration of prior teaching experience and in-service training. 6. Seek synergies across programs. The content and methods of the JFPR supported parent education component could be useful to enhance both DepEd parent-teacher and home-school partnerships as well as the DSWD Family Development Sessions delivered as part of the 4Ps CCT program, particularly in helping parents to support children’s early childhood education and transition to primary school. The Family Development Sessions currently do not sufficiently emphasize early childhood education and parent support for children’s schooling. 7. Partner with civil society. Government partnerships with qualified and specialized nongovernment organizations can improve the quality of early childhood education programs. Given the early stages of implementing the national kindergarten education program and the new Grade 1-3 curriculum under the K-12 program, DepEd should consider nurturing and expanding similar partnerships. 8. Incorporate gender perspectives. DepEd should continue reinforcing the importance of integrating a gender perspective into quality early childhood education. This is the time when gender stereotypes and prevailing social norms can easily be passed on or reinforced in very young children. For this reason, it is critical to (i) ensure gender-sensitive curricula, materials and teaching methodologies in pre-school education, (ii) train of teachers in this respect, and (iii) raise awareness among parents.