Mongolia: Strengthening Higher and Vocational Education Project

Project. TA 7333-MON.

Name of Client: Asian Development Bank (ADB) - Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science (MECS) - Government of Mongolia.

 Name of Senior Professional staff (Project Director/Coordinator, Team Leader) involved and functions performed:

 Manuel P. Perlas (International)-  Team Leader / Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist.

Kenneth M. Holland (International)-  University Governance and Management Specialist.

Julie Barker Lebo (International)-  University Quality Assurance Specialist.
Richard DLC. Gonzales (International)-  University Human Resource & Capacity Development Specialist.
Max James Walsh (International)-  Curriculum Development and Academic Review Specialist.
Corazon A. Posadas (International)-  Education Economics, Finance and Project Costing Specialist.

Stephen Duggan (International)-  TVET Policy and Management Specialist.
Sunil Chandrasiri (International)-  Labor Economist and Enterprise Linkage Specialist.

The overall objective of this technical assistance is to develop a strategic framework for the development of tertiary education to achieve complementarities and synergies between the higher education and TVET subsectors. The expected outcome is the agreed-upon design of the Strengthening Higher and Vocational Education Project suitable for ADB financing as well as policy recommendations.

This project is ADB's first technical assistance to the higher education sector of Mongolia. It is aligned with the Government's long term National Development Strategy until 2020, which highlights the importance of strengthening the country's higher education system. It is also in line the Government's Education Sector Master Plan (2005-2025) that has underscored among other challenges, the need to develop market- and demand- based technical vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education programs.

The scope of services included:
1. Develop an overall work plan of the TA implementation, and a participation strategy with major stakeholders;
2. Design and conduct an analysis of the higher education and technical vocational education and training (TVET) sub-sectors to examine issues, constraints, and opportunities, which includes pro-poor approach and gender perspective;
3. Prepare recommendations for overall policy development and strategies for higher and vocational education in coordination with other TA consultants as knowledge product in a from of a policy note to be published and disseminated by ADB and EA;
4. Conceptualize Mongolia's tertiary education development based on TA consultants inputs;
5. Help EA to conduct strategic planning workshops on higher education and TVET policy and strategies, such as two project planning workshops at key higher education institutions (HEIs) and TVET schools; a TA inception workshop; and midterm and final workshop with key stakeholders of the project;
6.  Develop and ensure the quality of detailed feasibility study report for the ensuring project that is suitable for submission to the Government and ADB, including appropriate loan covenants for submission to the Government and ADB, including appropriate loan covenants to comply with during project implementation and detailed project cost estimates and financing plan.
7. Conduct in-depth sub-sector analysis of higher education in terms of governance issues: review and propose governance arrangements for public universities and a regulatory framework for private HEIs, including government-university relations in terms of autonomy and accountability; governance structure (with university council functions including business-industry representation); appointment procedures; student recruitment policy and arrangements; academic decision making; and public-private partnerships;
8. Conduct in-depth sub-sector analysis of higher education in terms of quality assurance which includes status in public and private universities, and draft a plan for developing institutional capacity for quality assurance and accreditation functions for the higher education system, with special reference to quality assurance mechanisms and organizations at EA relevant government stakeholders;
9. Propose feasible quality assurance arrangements for public universities, including quality standards (with international benchmarking for research and teaching), recognition of higher education degrees, government quality assurance system, university-internal quality assurance system, student selection procedures, monitoring and reporting (accountability);
10.Draft a short- and long-term (degree programs) staff development plans, including e-learning solutions for key HEIs and university staff (both administration and teaching) to be supported by the proposed project; prioritize training activities and prepare criteria for selecting candidates to be include in the staff development plan.
11.Collect data and analyze current status of school facilities and equipments, cost norms for civil works, and prepare a realistic schedule and cost estimates for design, supervision, inspection and maintenance of civil works to be planned under the proposed project;
12.Propose curriculum and academic programs in relevant disciplines and strengthen international and domestic networking at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels on the above three areas;
13.Prepare recommendations for using e-learning platforms and information and communication technology in higher education, based on international best practices;
14.Review existing procedures for disbursement, fund flow, and approvals, and recommend streamlined procedures for contracting and disbursement under the ensuring project;
15.Conduct a detailed economic (cost-benefit) analysis of the impacts and outputs of the proposed project, and assess financial management capacity, the fiscal framework and financial procedures and recommend strategies to ensure sustainability and accountability of the proposed project;
16.Conduct poverty, social, ethnic and gender impact assessment of the proposed project in accordance with ADB's Safeguard Policy Statement (2009), ADB's Poverty Handbook (2006) and Handbook on Social Analysis (2007), and assess the number of indigenous peoples and their socioeconomic status using ADB's checklist and Indigenous People Categorization Form. If necessary, develop a short indigenous people's development plan based on ADB's Policy on Indigenous Peoples (1998) and Policy on Gender and Development (1998);
17.Identify areas in the newly established national TVET system that need further strengthening and prepare policy recommendation in areas where policy gaps exist or where policy revisions may be desirable;
18.Review and analyze current trends and mechanisms in the labor market in the short-term (2009-2011) to conduct labor market research and employment forecast, and recommend improvements with special highlights on gender aspects;
19.Examine the external and internal efficiency of TVET in terms of employment and earning, labor market policies, and self-employment, including girls and women;
20.In close consultation with the Millennium Challenge Account's TVET project and quality assurance consultants, advise on the establishment of postsecondary vocational and skill standards, in addition to the accreditation/approval of institutions, the accreditation/approval of courses, and monitoring and supervision of standards.