Mongolia : Supporting Post-COVID-19 Recovery in Education Sector

Project Name

Supporting Post-COVID-19 Recovery in Education Sector

Project Number

55047-002

Country / Economy

• Mongolia

Project Status

Active

Project Type / Modality of Assistance

• Technical Assistance

Source of Funding / Amount

TA 6869-MON: Supporting Post-COVID-19 Recovery in Education Sector

Source	Amount
Technical Assistance Special Fund	US$ 500,000.00

Operational Priorities

• OP1: Addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities
• OP2: Accelerating progress in gender equality
• OP6: Strengthening governance and institutional capacity

Sector / Subsector

• Education / Education sector development

Gender

Effective gender mainstreaming

Description

The knowledge and support technical assistance (TA) aims to support the post-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recovery in Mongolias education sector. It will (i) improve teachers knowledge and skills to assess students performance, (ii) enhance teachers skills on blended learning methods; (iii) strengthen schools management for post-COVID-19 recovery, and (iv) assess the factors affecting learning loss and quality of learning outcome.

Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic and prolonged lockdowns had devastating impacts on education in Mongolia, which worsened already poor learning outcomes. The MES implemented measures to sustain the quality and accessibility of education services during the lockdown. Online and distance learning were organized through information and communication technologies throughout the country.4F4F Overall, children in rural areas received distance education for 100 days, or 20 school weeks (62% of the total academic year coverage), and children in the capital city for 110 days, or 22 school weeks (68% of the total academic year coverage) during school closures. Given the exacerbation of the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Mongolia since May 2021, the minister of the MES and the minister of health issued a joint order mandating the use of a blended learning scheme by combining both face-to-face and distance learning approaches at schools. As of 15 September 2021, about 57% of all schools nationwide were using face-to-face learning, 15% were using online-only schemes, and 30% were using blended schemes, taking into account the local pandemic situation. The future trend does not seem to allow for universal face-to-face learning, thereby requiring teachers to master the blended learning approaches.

Impact

Access to and quality of education in Mongolia improved

Project Outcome

Description of Outcome

Management of post-COVID-19 recovery in the primary and secondary education subsectors improved

Progress Toward Outcome

The TA activities are on track to achieve its outcome.

Implementation Progress

Description of Project Outputs

Teachers knowledge and skills to assess students learning improved

Teachers skills on blended learning methods improved

Schools management capacity for post-COVID-19 recovery strengthened

Factors affecting learning loss and quality of learning outcome assessed

Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues)

The consulting team completed the desk review of the international practices on the student formative assessment, and prepared e-handbook on the assessment methodologies. The team also conducted 2-day workshop for the Education Evaluation Center's specialists on "Developing, testing and improving assessment tasks in accordance with the learning." The TA consultants are currently piloting the students' assessment methods (differentiated instructions) and learning and teaching materials at selected schools. The consulting firm completed the desk review of the international best practices and prepared a technical report on Situation Analysis on Blended and Online Teaching and Learning. A team also produced a technical report on the Information and Communication Technology (lCT) Integration Strategy, Process and Methods Towards Blended Teaching and Learning, and prepared a guideline for developing e-handbooks and video materials. The team completed a draft handbook on blended and online learning methods. The consulting team prepared an e-handbook and several, power point presentations (PPT) on the school-based management (SBM) topics for the development of video contents. A training for trainers on SBM has been completed. The consulting team developed the assessment methodology factors affecting the learning loss and quality of learning, which requires further consultation with General Authority for Education and Education Evaluation Center.

Geographical Location

Nation-wide

Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects

Environmental Aspects

Involuntary Resettlement

Indigenous Peoples

Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation

During Project Design

During Project Implementation

Business Opportunities

Consulting Services

ADB will engage a national consulting firm specialized in education training and evaluation (6 person-months of international, and 78 person-months of national consulting inputs) using consultants' qualifications selection method and biodata technical proposal. ADB will engage the consultants following the ADB Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and its associated procurement staff instructions.

Contact

Responsible ADB Officer

Lonjid, Itgel

Responsible ADB Department

Sectors Group

Responsible ADB Division

Human and Social Development Sector Office (SG-HSD)

Executing Agencies

Ministry of Education and Science

Timetable

Concept Clearance

13 Oct 2021

Fact Finding

13 Oct 2021 to 18 Oct 2021

MRM

-

Approval

10 Dec 2021

Last Review Mission

-

Last PDS Update

27 Sep 2023

Funding

TA 6869-MON