CASE STUDIES OF SUCCESSFUL REFORMS TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES OF FINANCING EDUCATION SYSTEMS EFFECTIVELY JUNE 2023 Ensuring Efficient Provision of Teaching and Learning Materials The Case of Mozambique 1. Introduction Books are one of the most important inputs in student learning and are generally considered a cost-effective input for increasing the quality of primary education (Fredriksen et al., 2015). After salaries, which typically account for around 80 percent of spending on basic education in Sub-Saharan Africa, textbooks are in many countries the next largest area of recurring spending on basic education, accounting for 5–10 percent on average (ibid.). For textbooks to be beneficial for learning, they need to be appropriate to students’ language needs, and teachers need to be adequately trained to utilize them (Glewwe, Kremer, and Moulin, 2009); textbooks need to be utilized by teachers in class instead of simply being stored at school (Sabarwal, Evans, and Marshak, 2014). Where they are appropriately designed and utilized, however, providing textbooks has been found to be one of the most cost-effective inputs for learning at primary level (Michaelowa & Wechtler, 2006; McEwan, 2014). Despite their importance for learning, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa struggle to deliver an adequate number of textbooks to students on time. Among 38 Sub-Saharan Africa countries, 21 had pupil-textbook ratios in reading and math higher than 1.5 in the period 2010–15, with 12 having very high ratios of three or more (Bashir et al., 2018). As education systems have grown rapidly across Sub-Saharan Africa in response to the introduction of free education policies, governments have found it increasingly difficult and expensive to ensure that every student has the books they need to learn. Inefficiencies in the supply chain are a key source of these problems. Ministries of Education often have ineffective or outdated systems School in the city of Beira in Mozambique. for projecting demand for and procuring books, leading to a weak Photo © Sarah Farhat/World Bank. match between the books needed and those procured and to delays in delivery. Production costs in many Sub-Saharan Africa countries are unsustainably high, as high as US$15.00 per book in some cases (Fredriksen et al., 2015). These high costs may be exacerbated by uncompetitive procurement practices which fail to utilize competition to bring down costs. Distribution of books to schools is also commonly inefficient, with between 20 and 50 percent of books ordered not reaching schools (Fredriksen et al., 2015). Many books are of low quality, resulting in high rates of wastage, with one-quarter or more CASE STUDIES OF SUCCESSFUL REFORMS TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES OF FINANCING EDUCATION SYSTEMS EFFECTIVELY of textbooks needing to be replaced each year (Read, 2015). The government in Mozambique provides free primary school Concerns about the future supply of books and book quality workbooks (exercise books with pre-printed exercises in can also prevent utilization of books in schools, as parents or which students write their answers) to all students in teachers may prefer to keep books in pristine condition rather Grades 1 and 2 for Portuguese and mathematics and free than risk damage through their use (Read, 2015; Sabarwal, textbooks for a range of subjects to all students in Grades 3 Evans, and Marshak, 2014). to 7. Against the backdrop of rapid enrollment growth, the cost of providing textbooks quickly became a considerable burden By making it so that many students lack the correct books, for the government: by 2009, primary grade textbook costs these inefficiencies then contribute to further inefficiency accounted for 15 percent of finance provided to education by of the entire education system. Other inputs, such as teachers, donors and development partners, thus limiting the finance are likely to produce less learning in a context where a available for other priorities supported by partners, including large share of students lack textbooks. These challenges classroom construction and the provision of grant finance to contribute to the overall learning crisis in Africa, where various schools.1 regional assessments—in different subjects and primary grades—demonstrate that the majority of students are below A number of inefficiencies in the textbook procurement minimum learning levels and many early grade students are system exacerbated the cost challenge. unable to read even a short passage (Bashir et al., 2018). • High costs for frequently replaced workbooks. As students Mozambique provides a good example of a country that has write in the workbooks used in Grades 1–2, they require achieved a higher efficiency of expenditure on textbooks replacement every year, meaning upward of 5 million by reducing costs while simultaneously raising quality. workbooks are reordered each year. The publishers of Through a decade-long and ongoing series of reforms, the the original books held the copyright for workbooks, government has reformed book production, procurement, and with the government compelled to purchase the annual replacements at prices dictated by the publisher, thus distribution, reduced its reliance on international publishers, preventing them from taking advantage of the competitive rationalized its textbook needs, and adopted a higher-quality international market for book printing. In 2009, the average format for books, thereby securing reductions in cost while unit cost per workbook was US$0.83; while this was not high supporting the rapid expansion of the education system. by international standards,2 the sheer quantity of annual reordering meant that it represented an unsustainable recurring financial burden on the government and a key 2. What was the problem? source of inefficiency in spending. • Uncompetitive procurement procedures and limited Mozambique’s textbook challenge quality textbooks. Unlike workbooks (which were fully replaced each year), textbooks were supplied in a single Since the end of the civil war in 1992, Mozambique has order following their initial contracting. However, although achieved rapid economic growth with average annual textbooks are not written in by students and can be GDP growth of 5.2 percent during 2000–2022. The poverty reused year-to-year, in practice low durability meant that headcount ratio fell from 80.6 in 2002 to 64.6 in 2014 (World approximately 30 percent of books needed to be reordered Bank, 2023). Nevertheless, Mozambique remains one of each year, representing a significant waste of resources the poorest countries in the world. It ranked 185th out of compared to other countries where replacement of 191 published countries in the Human Development Index. 20–25 percent is more common (Fredriksen et al., 2015). This reordering was conducted through direct contracting The constitution in Mozambique declares education as “a with each publisher each year (once again with an iterative right and duty of all citizens” (Mozlegal, 2019). In 2005, the annual process of renegotiation on price), making it difficult government introduced free primary education (Grades 1 to for the Ministry of Education and Human Development 7). This triggered a large and rapid increase in enrollment, (MINEDH) to plan costs over time. As a result, the average and the country has achieved near-universal access to primary unit cost for procurement of reordered textbooks in 2011 school with a gross enrollment rate (GER) in lower primary was US$1.52—more than double the cost of workbooks. grades of 135 percent in 2015. However, high dropout rates mean that the GER falls to just 66 percent in upper primary grades (6–7). Low rates of learning in lower grades contribute to 1 In all, 15 percent of the total finance in the Education Sector Support this high dropout rate: in the 2013 national learning assessment, Fund, which channels the majority of external finance for education in Mozambique. only 6.3 percent of Grade 3 students were at their reading 2 Grade 1 book costs in nine Sub-Saharan Africa countries ranged from competency level (World Bank, 2016). US$0.75 to US$7.50 (Fredriksen and Brar, 2015) ENSURING EFFICIENT PROVISION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS: THE CASE OF MOZAMBIQUE Although this was still on the lower end of the range included a dedicated US$89.1 million component to improve of typical costs for similar books in Sub-Saharan Africa, the quality of education through teacher training reforms, the uncompetitive procurement process still prevented production and distribution of free primary school books, school MINEDH from realizing economies achieved through more grants, and trainer subsidies. In addition, an operational plan for competitive procedures.3 textbook provision (Plano Operacional) was approved in 2013. • An excessive number of different book titles. The cost The plan introduced a schedule which calculated textbook burden was exacerbated by an excessively large number needs according to projected enrollment growth and book of separate workbook and textbook titles. In addition replacement needs, improving planning and predictability of to workbooks and textbooks for the key subjects of book needs and supporting the broader reforms. mathematics and Portuguese language, Mozambique’s primary curriculum required textbooks for subjects Acquisition of licenses for reprinting early grade workbooks. (including physical education) which do not typically The first step was to separate publishing and printing by require them, as well as separate textbooks for multiple successfully negotiating for the license to reprint the workbooks social and natural sciences. In all, primary schools required for Grades 1 and 2. After acquiring these licenses MINDEH a total of 82 different titles in adequate quantities for was free to contract the reprinting of workbooks with a students and teachers.4 wider range of printing companies, taking advantage of • High distribution costs with poor results. All textbooks and the competitive international market for book printing and workbooks were manufactured abroad and then shipped significantly reducing printing costs. to Mozambique. The distribution of books from the port of Development of in-house workbooks. Having established arrival to different districts was managed by Distribuidora Nacional de Material Escolar (DINAME), the government’s capacity for regular competitive procurement of printing for distribution agency. MINEDH annually negotiated an MoU workbooks, beginning in 2014, MINEDH set out to create its own with DINAME, and DINAME delivered books to all districts internally developed workbooks for the first time. The content within provinces and all schools in the provincial capitals. of these would be entirely owned by MINEDH, obviating the This method did not yield information on the cost drivers need to pay any licensing fees. Technical assistance was underpinning DINAME’s quotation, which, combined with provided to MINEDH’s curriculum development institute customs costs relating to the import of books printed (INDE) for developing the workbooks. The measure redirected abroad, meant that total distribution costs in 2011–14 resources from spending on licensing fees to investing in the averaged US$0.33 per book, one-fifth of the unit cost for internal capacity to generate and maintain ownership of textbooks and more than half the unit cost of workbooks—a learning materials. With technical assistance provided by major contributor to the overall cost. Despite these high an international publishing company, new workbooks for costs, book distribution was neither reliable nor accurate, Grades 1 and 2 were written, illustrated, tested, and revised at with not all books reaching the planned schools. In 2014, INDE in 2016 and, following competitive bidding for printing despite considerable investment, only 68 percent of students as before, these government-owned books began to be had books in Portuguese and math (World Bank, 2014b). used in schools in 2018. In addition to eliminating the need to pay for licenses, government ownership of the content enabled easier modification of technical specifications (paper, 3. What reforms were introduced binding, color) as well as quantities to be printed, depending on fiscal or educational circumstances. to tackle the problem? More competitive procurement of upper-grade textbooks. Beginning in 2009, MINDEH undertook a series of reforms With action taken on early grade workbooks, the second aspect to reduce textbook costs. These reforms were ramped up of the reforms focused on improving the competitiveness, beginning in 2011 with the support of the Education Sector and as a result the cost-effectiveness, of procurement for Support Project (ESSP), implemented by MINEDH with finance the textbooks used in Grades 3–7. MINEDH held a new from development partners including the International international competitive bidding (ICB) process for publishing Development Association of the World Bank and the and printing of a number of textbook titles in 2012. As the Global Partnership for Education, with an original financing Government was already planning the review of the curriculum amount of US$161 million (eventually extended to a total of (see below), which would necessitate a further new bidding US$368 million through a series of additional financings). This process, it was not felt necessary at this stage to obtain the license for printing as was done for early grade workbooks. Instead, in the new contracts the Government adopted a more 3 Grade 6 book costs in nine Sub-Saharan Africa countries ranged from US$1.00 to US$15.00 (Fredriksen and Brar, 2015) transparent process for the annual reodering of replacement 4 This includes teacher’s guides. textbooks. In lieu of the previous annual negotiation for the CASE STUDIES OF SUCCESSFUL REFORMS TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES OF FINANCING EDUCATION SYSTEMS EFFECTIVELY annual 30 percent reordering, the new contracts established Development of in-house textbooks. Building on its successful a fixed price-adjustment formula which required the publisher transition to in-house workbooks for early grades, at the time to declare the share of overheads (including profit) and of writing, the government is in the early stages of developing independently verifiable indices of materials (paper) and in-house textbooks for Grades 3–7. Following the curriculum labor, enabling transparency about costs and profit margins. In review for Grades 5–6, the government developed its own addition to providing transparency and reducing the likelihood textbooks for these grades for the majority of subjects, of rapid price increases, the formula reduced the time spent eliminating the need to pay licensing or publishing fees. negotiating and the lead time required for reordering. Further In 2022 this was extended to Grade 3 mathematics, and ICB procurements were completed to provide textbooks for development of Grade 4 and Grade 7 textbooks is currently Grade 3 in 2018 and Grade 4 in 2019. underway.6 Reducing the number of different textbooks required in Introducing a comprehensive textbook management system. schools. Beginning in 2014, a wide-ranging curriculum review Supported by a successor project to ESSP—the Improving reduced the number of textbooks required for Grades 3–7. Learning and Empowering Girls project—MINEDH in 2022 Subjects with multiple textbooks saw them merged into introduced a comprehensive textbooks distribution, tracking, a single book, and non-core subjects such as physical management, and inventory system to enable more up-to- education no longer required textbooks. In addition, teacher’s date and comprehensive tracking of textbooks and ensure guides for each subject and grade were consolidated into a all ordered books reach schools. In addition, internal reforms single book per grade. The result was to reduce the number within the government placed all textbook-related activities of different workbook, textbook, and teacher guide titles under the purview of a single MINEDH directorate, which required for Grades 1–7 from 82 to 33.5 coordinates activities by various sectoral bodies for the Improving the quality of textbooks. With 30 percent of development, evaluation, and procurement of books and the textbooks requiring reordering each year, improvements implementation of the Plano Operacional. in durability had the potential to reduce this share, with significant savings. To increase the lifetime of books, MINDEH required polyurethane reactive (PUR) binding in most cases. PUR binding is high-quality and durable, commonly used, 4. What was the impact of the reforms and, as a result, cost-effective for most international printers. on improving the efficiency of Using PUR eliminated the need for section sewing, which is slower and more expensive. education funding? Rationalizing distribution. With distribution costs running The government’s adoption of competitive annual at one-fifth of unit costs for textbooks, there was significant procurement for workbook printing led to large cost potential for rationalization. Starting in 2017, MINEDH reductions. Even allowing for royalty fees paid to the original sent detailed information to DINAME regarding the number publishers, this reform reduced the unit cost of workbooks from and weight of book packages arriving in Mozambique from US$0.83 in 2009 to US$0.59 in 2011 and provided a predictable international suppliers, disaggregated by port of arrival and basis for forecasting costs. Between 2011 and 2015, the unit destination district. DINAME was asked to quote the cost of cost of workbooks declined further to US$0.49 (Table 1), an the following services separately: services by port of arrival overall reduction of 41 percent from 2008 to 2015, representing (separately by management, reception, dispatch); storage by a significant gain in education expenditure efficiency. port; loading and dispatch, by province; and transportation, by destination district. The information enabled MINEDH to The reduction in the numbers of different books required map the true cost of the services rendered by DINAME and to enabled further savings and slowed growth in the quantity canvas competing services (for example, trucking) where of books required despite rapid enrollment growth. Between these were available in the private sector. Starting from 2011 and 2020, enrollment in primary education increased the southern region of Mozambique, private sector carriers more than 30 percent, driven by rapid population growth and were competitively selected to deliver textbooks to districts, and DINAME was eventually replaced by these carriers throughout the country. 6 For Grade 4 Portuguese, the changes in the curriculum review were not substantial enough to enable the government to develop its own textbooks, so it instead acquired the license to print the books, similar to what was previously done for Grade 1–2 workbooks in the early stages 5 In addition, seven new teachers’ guides were introduced to provide of the reform. Following a reform, Grade 7 is now considered part of support to teachers as part of the curriculum review; these required only secondary education and the development of in-house textbooks is being one copy per teacher, thus making their contribution to costs minimal. conducted along with Grades 8–9. ENSURING EFFICIENT PROVISION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS: THE CASE OF MOZAMBIQUE TABLE 1 Grades 1 & 2 workbook quantities & costs, TABLE 2 Primary Enrollment and total books ordered, 2011–2022 (US$) 2011–2020 2011 2015 2019 2020 2011 2012 2019 2020 Printing cost 2,766,705 2,330,183 2,640,648 2,048,775 Total primary 5,253,670 5,359,019 6,940,864 7,219,935 enrollment Licensing fees/ 244,630 205,917 72,921 72,921 development costs Books procured 13,245,275 12,946,850 15,609,200 13,470,300 Total cost 3,011,335 2,536,100 2,713,569 2,121,696 Source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), 2023a (enrollment); Procurement Department at MINEDH (procurement). Quantity (no. of copies) 5,069,700 5,136,400 6,470,600 5,269,500 Unit cost 0.59 0.49 0.42 0.40 Note: In all tables in this technical note, the year indicated is the school year, the book and 2022 (and averaging 6.0 percent across the period) orders made the year before. Licensing costs presented for 2011 and 2015; development (UIS, 2023b); despite the rapid increase in enrollment. The costs for 2019 and 2020. Development costs accrued at one time in 2015 and spread improved efficiency of book provision is one of the efficiency across subsequent years to 2022. gains which enabled the education system to increase rapidly Source: Procurement Department at MINEDH. in size without significant increased investment. improvements in access. Despite this, the reduction in the number of different books required in each grade resulting 5. What are the main lessons for from the government’s curriculum review, combined with other countries? unit cost savings, meant that the total number of textbooks required increased by only around 15 percent (Table 2). Regular, competitive, and flexible procurement is vital to The unit cost of Grade 3–7 textbooks fell substantially. achieving value for money. Although Mozambique had Between 2011 and 2015, the annual cost of purchasing conducted competitive bidding for book provisions in 2006, Grade 3–7 textbooks was between US$11.5 million and one single publisher had been awarded the contract for all books, and the reprinting required each year to replace damaged US$15.7 million. Between 2019 and 2022, following the copies had to be negotiated through direct contracting. transition to primarily in-house developed textbooks, the This arrangement left the government little flexibility and annual cost of printing was significantly lower at between effectively enabled the publishers to dictate prices. By moving US$5.0 million and US$8.5 million, representing a reduction in toward more regular competitive procurements with different unit costs of more than one-third.7 publishers for different contracts and a fixed formula for The reforms to book distribution significantly reduced reprinting costs, the government was able to achieve initial distribution costs. Distribution costs for workbooks and reductions in prices for textbooks, though these gains were textbooks remained constant in US dollar terms from 2011 to not sustainable over the long term. 2014, at US$0.33 per copy. Following the reforms to MINEDH’s Separation of publishing and printing may enable reductions partnership with DINAME beginning in 2017 and subsequent in costs and a transition to self-production in the long full transition to private contracting of distribution, per-book term. Relying on international publishers, especially without distribution costs have fallen by an estimated 70 percent to adequately competitive procurement procedures, leaves US$0.10 per copy on average between 2019 and 2022. The new governments without adequate control of a key area of textbook tracking system is expected to further reduce waste spending. When services for printing and publishing are and inefficiency, enabling more cost savings over time. provided together, governments are limited to contracting The improved efficiency of book provision contributed to the with the available publishers, who then typically subcontract overall increased efficiency of the education system. Overall printing. When language and distance from competitive public expenditure on education remained approximately environments severely limit the number of competent constant during 2011–2020, at 6.3 percent of GDP in both 2011 publishers to supply finished textbooks, these procurements may be particularly constrained. By acquiring the licenses to print Grade 1–2 workbooks, the government was able 7 These annual costs do not include the cost of development of in-house to take advantage of the significantly larger international textbooks. market for printing, with benefits for costs. In the longer CASE STUDIES OF SUCCESSFUL REFORMS TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES OF FINANCING EDUCATION SYSTEMS EFFECTIVELY term, transitioning to developing materials in-house can textbooks to every child in Sub-Saharan Africa: Strategies for secure intellectual property ownership and achieve further addressing the high cost and low availability problem. World cost economies. Bank Publications. 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By rationalizing their curriculum to focus textbook use in Mozlegal. 2019. “Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique”. subjects where it is most relevant, Mozambique was able to Available at: https://cdn.accf-francophonie.org/2019/03/ hold steady the number of textbooks required despite rapid mozambique_const-en.pdf. Accessed: April 14, 2023. enrollment growth. Such reforms may generate a substantial Read, T. 2015. Where have all the textbooks gone?: Toward sustainable gain in efficiency of expenditure on books. provision of teaching and learning materials in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank Publications. Sabarwal, S., Evans, D., and Marshak, A. 2014. “The Permanent Input Hypothesis: The Case of Textbooks and (No) Student Learning Acknowledgments in Sierra Leone.” World Bank Group Policy Research Working Paper 7021. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. 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