Reform Support Unit

SINDH EDUCAITON REFORM PROGRAM (SERP)
TERMS OF PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (FY 2006-07)
SCHOOLS INFRASTRUCTURAL EXTENSION/REHABILITATION

These guidelines are recommendatory in nature for effective working under SERP, and shall not, in any case, supersede the provincial rules/regulations/guidelines in force.

The District Govt. is recommended to follow key environmental/health concerns regarding provision of safe drinking water at all schools, before proposing the provision of water and sanitation schemes for these schools. In order to address these concerns, it is recommended that:

All proposed schemes relating to provision of water, are required to be located at adequate distance from the location of lavatory blocks within the school premises;
Similarly, all proposed toilet/lavatories and septic tanks (sanitation schemes), are constructed at a safe distance from drinking water facilities being provided (or if already available) at the proposed schools;

General Precaution:
In order to avoid duplication under the any component of the proposed schemes, the following measures are required by the district govt. before proposing the units for PC-1:

(2) A Cross match with the schemes/units taken up within the district under any projects/schemes/plans (both govt. - , donor-funded or otherwise) by district govt.;

Advice: It is advised to the benefit of the district, that, the proposals for providing missing facilities to schools be cross checked with the current reported status of the same units as available in the newly collected SEMIS DATA (2007), now available with the local DO(DEMIS) of the district concerned, to help district avoid any probable overlapping/duplication in the relevant component;

Preparation of PC-Is (Taluka wise): PC-1s are recommended to be prepared on Taluka wise-component basis;

PC-1 Administrative Approval: Administrative approval is recommended to be accorded by DDWP if it falls within the limit of approval of the district govt.; the minutes thereof be recorded for record/reference under intimation to the department/RSU; each page of the approved PC-1 (Taluka wise) are required to be signed by the members of the DDWP

Details of proposed units in the PC-Is: Approved PC-Is is recommended to contain as part of the main document, the name of each unit proposed with prefix, its SEMIS ID, address (village, UC and Taluka), estimated cost and description of work proposed under each unit and be supported by a signed prescribed certificate (copy enclosed);

Justification of cost estimates for PC-1: Such detailed justification is recommended to be provided by including the working of detailed cost estimate of one specimen for each unit taken u (such as shelter less or additional class room) or in the case of missing facilities, the detailed item wise estimate of one specimen each for water provision, lavatory, boundary wall and electricity, under each type of PC-1, incorporated into main body of PC-1 each, with a copy of the provincial schedule of rates so used, to help document the cost estimates for third party ex post review (envisaged)of PC-1s:

           Example: Cost estimate of a Shelter-less unit (specimen)
          -Cost of construction of two rooms with dimensions with detailed item-wise rate               estimates;
          -Cost of lavatory block (single/dual) with detailed item-wise rate estimates
          -Cost of boundary wall (dimensions) with detailed item-wise rate estimates
          -Cost of an Iron Gate (dimensions/thickness) with rate
          -Cost of provision of water, sanitation, electricity, and any other allied things with            detailed item wise rates;
          -Any other extra charges – discretionary/non-discretionary (with reasons and                            supporting official authorized justification) with rates and limits

Technical sanction of the PC-1s: Such technical sanction is recommended to be obtained for architectural planning with structural design/drawing and detailed estimates (with minutes thereof to be recorded in writing and attached with approved PC-1 for record/reference under intimation to the department/RSU) in accordance with the provincial/departmental guidelines in force;

Availability of engineering drawings & estimates: It is recommended that the requisite architectural plan, supporting structural drawings and detailed quantity estimates of materials be provided to intending participating bidders;

Once the PC-1 have been administratively approved (with minutes thereof) as well as technically sanctioned (with minutes thereof) incorporating the requisite information as per SERP PC-1 guidelines, SERP Recommendatory Guidelines on bidding process under preparation in consultation with the procurement specialist of donors, would be followed. In any case, district governments are now duty-bound to follow the PPRA Public Procurement Rules, 2004, as adopted by the Govt. of Sindh, vide Notification No. SO(C-I) SGA&CD/4-80/06, of Nov. 1st, 2006 (copy enclosed).

OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COORDINATION OFFICER
DISTRICT GOVERNMENT ___________________________

VERIFICATION (FY 2006-07)
UNDER SINDH EDUCATION REFORM PROGRAM (SERP)
(To be attached with each PC-1 approved)

Certified that the all the schemes proposed under SERP Schemes (CLIPPS), proposed by the District Government, for utilization of SERP Tied Grant for Rs. 100.00 Million (for extension/rehabilitation of school infrastructure) as per TOP Agreement, for the FY 2006-07, fulfill the following criteria and procedure:

All units consist of Existing (no new schools), Govt. , Main (no branch schools), Functional(no closed schools) Primary schools with verifiable SEMIS-ID ;
All units have been physically surveyed for their verifications and need assessment as per laid down procedure provided in the SERP guidelines for district focal persons;
All units have been cross checked with all other schemes/projects etc funded by all agencies including govt. in the district, to avoid any duplication; Hence no unit or part of scheme is duplicated;
No repair and maintenance work is proposed under the units ;
Component wise budget limits (25% for Additional Class Rooms, 25% for Shelter-less & 50% for Lacking/missing facilities) have been adhered to;
Estimation/costs are prepared for Pc-1 are verifiable and are in accordance with the provincial guidelines and schedule of rates for relevant type of construction in force;
PC-1 contains required information as to the identification of units proposed with SEMIS ID, location, unit cost, total cost (Taluka basis/component basis), specimen detailed cost of unit activity proposed, with supporting rates/justifications;
PC-1 is approved as per prescribed procedure, and that the requisite technical sanction thereof would be completed as per prescribe procedure.
The PPRA Public Procurement Rules 2004, as notified by the Govt. of Sindh, vide its Notification No. SO(C-I) SGA&CD/4-80/06, dated Nov. 1, 2006, would be followed for bidding procurement under the program;
All govt. rules/regulations/guidelines in force, as being overriding in effect to the SERP Guidelines shared, have been and/or being followed wherever applicable.

__________________________                                 _____________________________
           DO (W&S/EW)                                                  DO (E)
     (District Focal Person –I)                         (District Focal Person-II)

________________________ ______________________
EDO (Works & Services) EDO (Education)

_________________________
EDO (Finance & Planning)
                                                                  _____________________________________
District Coordination Officer
                                                               District Government __________________

SUB: - TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION (ToC) AND ENGRAVEMENT OF YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION (YoC)
UNDER ToP-SRP/SERP SCHOOL SCHEMES

The RECOMMENDED TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION (RToC), by the Department, is RCC framed Structure, which is based on reported safety concerns expressed on failure of load bearing/related structures for school buildings in the wake of natural calamities like earthquake etc. The technical sanctioning agency ( District W&S Department) is therefore required to approve the Type of Construction (ToC) as per its technical sanction (TS) in the following prescribed manner:

The technical sanction for recommended Type of Construction (ToC) along with detailed estimates may be accorded to all SRP/SERP school schemes except where specific technical circumstances may not allow for implementation of the Recommended Type of Construction (RToC);

The permission to deviate from the Recommended Type of Construction (RToC) under specific circumstances, to be best decided by the technical sanctioning (District W & S department) agency, may not be construed as a blanket approval for all the SRP/SERP primary school schemes;

The reasons for deviation from Recommended Type of Construction (RToC) may be recorded in the Minutes of Meeting (MoM) for technical sanction of all schemes;

A copy of the technical sanction (with minutes thereof) with Approved/Actual Type of Construction (AToC) and supporting reasons for deviation and detailed estimates against each SRP/SERP scheme, be issued under intimation to this office/department, before the closing date of tenders.

THE YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION (YoC) is required to be engraved on all school buildings to be newly constructed under Sindh Education Reform Program (SERP). A special mention is also required to be incorporated in the approved technical sanction of all schemes. The Year of Construction (YoC) may be engraved in the following prescribed manner:

For Shelter-less School component:

The Year of Construction (YoC) may be engraved over the entrance to the main school building for shelter-less school;

The Year of Construction (YoC) for each new class room being constructed may be engraved on the front/veranda side of one wall of each new class room;

For Lacking/missing facilities component:
The Year of Construction (YoC) may be engraved on the front side of the each lavatory block being constructed;
The Year of Construction (YoC) may be engraved on the front side of each water facility/tank being constructed;
The Year of Construction (YoC) may be engraved on front side of the boundary wall (near the main gate to school

All the Partner (ToP signatory) City/District Governments and their nominee District Focal Persons (ToP/SRP-SERP) are requested to ensure the implementation of this circular for ensuring good governance and /for future reference/record.

(IQBAL HUSSAIN DURRANI)
                                                                                                                       CHIEF PROGRAM MANAGER (CPM)
                                                                                                                              REFORM SUPPORT UNIT (RSU)

Strict monitoring measures: All existing measures/rules in force are recommended to be followed by the district govt. for the proper, effective and transparent utilization of the tied grant under SERP schemes in order to meet the requirements of good governance, accounts and auditing procedures and Public Procurement Rules, 2004 (as notified by Govt. of Sindh vide its Notification No. SO(C-I) SGA&CD/4-80/06, dated Nov. 1, 2006;

New charter of Accounts: Compliance to PIFRA codes under new charter of accounts, be ensured for reporting and preparation of expenditure reports;

Tracking of funds utilisation: (i) A SERP monthly report may be intimated to the department/RSU, on the updated status of funds available , funds released, funds utilised, and balance funds unutilised, with relevant dates, by 3rd of every following month to be co-signed by EDO (F&P) and EDO(W& S)/EDO(E) as the case may be;

Monitoring of work completion with respect to release of funds: The district govt. is recommended to exercise judicious precaution in the matter of release of funds with respect to work completion stage, and its utilisation under SERP; please also refer to the Para-d of Govt. of Sindh Notification No. SO(C-I) SGA&CD/4-80/06, dated Nov. 1, 2006 (copy enclosed);

Component wise funds funds utilization: It is recommended that utilisation of funds may be carried out component wise i.e. shelter-less schemes (25%), additional class rooms (25%) and missing/lacking facilities (50%) for current financial year;

No funds for repair and maintenance work: Utilisation of these funds is not allowed for either repair and maintenance work or for establishment of new schools; the funds are reserved for infrastructural extension of existing, main, functional govt. primary schools only during the current financial year;

OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COORDINATION OFFICER
DISTRICT GOVERNMENT ___________________________

VERIFICATION (FY 2006-07)
UNDER SINDH EDUCATION REFORM PROGRAM (SERP)
(To be attached with each PC-1 approved)

All units consist of Existing (no new schools), Govt. , Main (no branch schools), Functional(no closed schools) Primary schools with verifiable SEMIS-ID ;
All units have been physically surveyed for their verifications and need assessment as per laid down procedure provided in the SERP guidelines for district focal persons;
All units have been cross checked with all other schemes/projects etc funded by all agencies including govt. in the district, to avoid any duplication; Hence no unit or part of scheme is duplicated;
No repair and maintenance work is proposed under the units ;
Component wise budget limits (25% for Additional Class Rooms, 25% for Shelter-less & 50% for Lacking/missing facilities) have been adhered to;
Estimation/costs are prepared for Pc-1 are verifiable and are in accordance with the provincial guidelines and schedule of rates for relevant type of construction in force;
PC-1 contains required information as to the identification of units proposed with SEMIS ID, location, unit cost, total cost (Taluka basis/component basis), specimen detailed cost of unit activity proposed, with supporting rates/justifications;
PC-1 is approved as per prescribed procedure, and that the requisite technical sanction thereof would be completed as per prescribe procedure.
The PPRA Public Procurement Rules 2004, as notified by the Govt. of Sindh, vide its Notification No. SO(C-I) SGA&CD/4-80/06, dated Nov. 1, 2006, would be followed for bidding procurement under the program;
All govt. rules/regulations/guidelines in force, as being overriding in effect to the SERP Guidelines shared, have been and/or being followed wherever applicable.

__________________________                       _____________________________
           DO (W&S/EW)                                               DO (E)
     (District Focal Person –I)                          (District Focal Person-II)

________________________ ______________________
EDO (Works & Services) EDO (Education)

__________________________
District Coordination Officer
District Government
__________________

NO.SO(C-I)SGA&CD/4-80/06 : The Government of Sindh is pleased to adopt the Public Procurement Regularity Authority (PPRA), Public Procurement Rules 2004 with immediate effect and till further orders to improve transparency in procurement of goods, services and consultancies. Accordingly following guide lines are issued for strict compliance by all departments/attached departments, autonomous semi autonomous bodies, all offices and subordinate offices of the Sindh Government, District Governments/TMAs/UCs and all establishments associated with Government of Sindh.

The Public Procurement Rules 2004 shall have overriding effect on all existing Procurement Rules, Regulations, Manuals, Instructions / Orders issued by the Government from time to time and shall apply to all departments, District Governments, autonomous, semi autonomous organizations / commissions and all offices being paid directly and indirectly out of or through finances of Govt. of Sindh.
All tenders, as required under PPRA, Public Procurement Rules 2004 bidding documents, processing of bidding documents and final decisions taken by the procuring departments / officers of Government of Sindh including District Governments must be placed on the website of the Government of Sindh www.sindh.gov.pk Any violation by any department / authority / officer in the matter would result in invalidation / cancellation of such tender and responsible officer to be proceeded under relevant disciplinary laws of the Government of Sindh.
The practice of enlisting and registration of contractors and suppliers by departments / district governments and government agencies / semi government agencies authorities is stopped with immediate effect and in future all intending participants may bid for the tenders and final decision may be made by procuring authorities after analysis, evaluation and vetting of the technical and financial proposals.
The budget of Government of Sindh / Annual Development Programs (ADP) including periodical releases and periodical utilization progress reports must be placed on website of Government of Sindh to disseminate the information for general public and all stake holders.

The Principal Secretary to President of Pakistan, Islamabad.
The Principal Secretary to Prime Minister of Pakistan, Islamabad.
The AGPR, Govt. of Pakistan, Islamabad.
The Provincial Ombudsman Sindh, Karachi.
The Additional Chief Secretaries, Govt. of Sindh (all).
The Senior Member (including all Members), Board of Revenue, Sindh.
The Principal Secretary to Governor Sindh, Karachi.
The Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sindh, Karachi.
The Administrative Secretaries to Govt. of Sindh (all)
The Chairman, CMIT, Karachi.
The Managing Director, PPRA, Govt. of Pakistan, Islamabad.
The City / District Nazims / TMA/Taluka Nazims / UC Nazims
The Provincial Police Officer Sindh, Karachi.
The DCO’s/DPO’s/TPO’s (all) in Sindh.
Headquarters 5 Corps, Karachi.
The Deputy Secretary (Staff) to Chief Secretary Sindh.
The P.S to all Ministers/Advisors/Special Assistant, Govt. of Sindh.
The P.S. to Secretary (GA/C), SGA&CD.

SUMMARY OF SERP/TOP STEPS
SINDH EDUCATION REFORMS PROGRAM (SERP)
TERMS OF PARTNERSHIP (TOP) AGREEMENTS
SCHOOL REHABILITATION PLAN (FY 2006-07)

TOP Agreements signed with the District Governments in December, 2007, was aimed synergizing the province-district partnership under SERP. The co-signatories of the agreement were the Secretary, Education & Literacy Department, on behalf of the Govt. of Sindh, and the District Coordination Officer, on behalf of the District Government concerned; the TOP agreement laid down the framework for implementation and monitoring of the program through mutual consultation;

The roles of the two governments have been clearly defined under the TOP agreement signed, whereas targets have been proposed there under, for their achievement by the district government;

As per TOP Agreement, the nomination of two focal persons – DO (E) & DO (EW) - from your district government was obtained. The two nominees are supposed to work as a joint team to create coordination and joint ownership between education department (user) and work & services (executing agency) under the district government. In addition, they were required to assist and brief the district government the developments under SERP and communicate the progress follow up progress report in consultation with the district administration to the Department/RSU;

Detailed General Guidelines for District Focal Persons (DFPs) were issued to focal persons themselves and to the district govt. separately on hardcopy/CD; the purpose of the General Guidelines was to help the district focal person in effectively working under the program and help develop a minimum basic criteria for selection of proposed schemes of primary schools only.

Divisional Cluster Meetings were held twice (Jan.-Feb., 2007) with your nominee district focal persons and in-depth discussions were held to acquaint them with the actual mode of working (modus operandi) as to how to identify locations and propose them for achieving the objectives set (strategy);

Teacher Rationalization in Primary Schools (TRIPS) was also discussed at the divisional cluster meetings; a technical model exercise on teacher rationalization based on SEMIS data was shared as to how to rationalize the availability of teachers at primary schools from surplus teacher schools to deficient ones in a district; the proposed exercise recommended UC basis redeployment for lady teachers and Taluka basis for male teachers; feedback/critique was requested from the districts on the model exercise; the district focal persons were enthusiastic about the proposed exercise;
The DFPs (E) however recommended that availability of teachers at primary schools could only be ensured if concomitant political will of the district Nazim was obtained; they disagreed to the criteria set for redeployment; instead, they recommended UC and village level for redeployment; they also recommended that posts of primary teachers be sanctioned for each school, to avoid posting of too many teachers at schools; policy of school specific appointment be adopted; formula of max. and min. quota of teachers subject to enrolment criteria, be adopted for posting of teachers at schools, to avoid problems of lack of availability of teachers at schools; incentives for teachers posted at far flung areas be introduced;

Minimum basic criteria was shared which was previously prescribed as per DFP Guidelines provided to each district; Points raised by DFPs were responded to in consultation with the Chief Program Manager, RSU, wherever required;

A provisional work plan was prepared based on cluster meetings feedback; Efforts were made to encourage the district focal person to expedite the work process and meet the targets for better performance amongst the districts;

Major issues discussed with the DFPs were how to avoid the overlap/duplication of schemes at district level amongst identical programs/initiatives funded by any agency including government. Other pre-requisites were physical survey/verification of infrastructure of the proposed schemes for their need assessment and donor coordination at district level for cross verification/matching at district level;

The technical assistance was provided by identifying and sharing a district profile (with regard to higher enrollment) of schools based on the SEMIS Database 2005-06; however, under the true spirit of the consultation, the district focal persons were informed they may propose any units satisfying the minimum prescribed criteria for selection of primary schools, as laid down in the DFP guidelines; Such proposed units must be existing, functional, main, govt. primary schools with verifiable SEMIS ID, only, for the current financial year;

Under the provisional work plan, all the districts were requested to finalize the Core List of Priority Primary Schools (CLIPPS), and submit the duly approved list to the department/RSU by end of March, 2007. A majority of districts failed to abide by the deadline for submission of the Core Lists, which was end of March, 2007;

The Core List of Priority Primary Schools (CLIPPS) received were reviewed in the light of the available SEMIS Data base (ref. point was 2005-06 SEMIS) and discrepancies/problems found concerning current status of the school, was shared with the districts/district focal persons through DCO fax as well as email; the districts are in the process of removing these discrepancies either through replacements or corrections in terms of data reporting problems; the district have been informed that the final ownership and responsibility in selection of schools lay with them in order of their priority – hence the core priority of schools, by district governments themselves as per prescribed criteria;
The districts governments have been bound to furnish a prescribed certificate verifying the observation of the prescribed criteria under the program; the certificate is to be attached with the approved PC-1s, to be signed by the District Focal Persons, EDOs concerned, and the DCO of the district (as the guardian of the TOP Agreement);

The completion of PC-1 process is being hampered owing to problems in finalization of Revised CLIPPS by district governments; however, it has been noted with appreciation that the district have been open to suggestions for removal of problems in the proposed lists; majority of the districts are now in the process of finalizing their revised Core Priority Lists (CLIPPS),the most critical step before moving on to preparation of Taluka wise PC-1s of components which is expected to be completed by April 10, 2007; the delay on the part of the district govt. may hamper the completion of the process; therefore, the district govt. would have to expedite the process as per SERP PC-1 guidelines shared;

Meanwhile, the Govt. of Sindh fulfilled its commitment to the program, by releasing Rs.100 million (SERP TIED/CONDITIONAL GRANT) to all the district/city governments; the conditional grant is prescribed to be utilized for schemes included in the Core List of Priority Primary Schools, under three components i.e. 25% for additional class rooms, 25% for shelter less schemes and 50% for lacking/missing facilities; the district governments have been requested through SERP Utilization/Tracking of Funds guidelines to ensure timely submission of monthly reports and follow the existing govt. financial and auditing/accounting rules and regulations;

The districts have been requested to follow the Public Procurement Rules, 2004, under SERP, as the whole procurement process is now required to be governed by the PPRA Public Procurement Rules, 2004, as adopted by the Govt. of Sindh, vide its notification No. SO(C-I)SGA&CD/4-80/06 dated: Nov. 1st, 2006, read with the Sindh Public Procurement Ordinance, 2006; the whole procurement process is required to be on an open, transparent, competitive bidding process; no gallop tender is allowed; no pre-listing of contractors/firms is allowed under the rules in force; standard bidding documents as per rules are to be used for it;

Note: Further guidelines in accord with the rules, are being prepared in consultation with the donors for ensuring transparent, open, competitive bidding process under the current rules in force;

GOVERNMENT OF SINDH