Message-ID: <199606251730.WAA25278@sdnpk.undp.org> Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 15:57:34 -0400 From: Riaz Khan <mailto:RIAZKHAN@NLDP.SDNPK.UNDP.ORG> To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Dear List members. I thought that the following concept paper written by me may be interesting to some list members. Sorry if it is too long.
CONCEPT PAPER FOR QUALITY MONITORING UNDER THE SOCIAL ACTION PROGRAM (SAP)
BACKGROUND The Government of Pakistan has initiated the Social Action Program (SAP) to improve services in the SAP sectors through improved Planning, better Implementation, by focusing on Quality of service, increasing allocations and initiating Policy Reforms. There has been a great deal of improvement in the planning process with the introduction of the Annual Operational Plan. A number of Policy Reforms have been initiated to create an enabling environment. At the same time allocations to the SAP sectors have also increased significantly. The quality of service is being improved by focusing attention on the Non-Salary component of the recurring budget and reducing development expenditure by minimizing new construction.
The implementation of the activities under the Annual Plan still remain the weakest part of SAP. Within the implementation process Reporting and Monitoring remained inadequate during SAP I. Efforts are being made to improve the Quantitative aspect by operationalizing EMIS and HMIS etc. However very little has been done to improve the qualitative aspect of monitoring. To date the quality aspect of monitoring has been captured through the following mechanism:
- verification of site selection criteria by the Auditor General s office - students achievement surveys - SAP field level reviews conducted by the concerned Federal and Provincial departments with the Technical and financial assistance of MSU.
The above initiatives although adhoc have been well received and some very useful information has been extracted through these instruments. Therefore it is recommended that a proper system for covering the Qualitative aspect of monitoring be established and institutionalize within the departments. This concept paper provides a framework for establishing such a system.
OBJECTIVES OF MONITORING THE QUALITATIVE ASPECT OF SAP One of the major thrust of SAP has been to improve the quality of service within the four SAP sectors. Through the normal progress reports it is difficult to assess the quality aspect of the activities being undertaken. It is not necessary that increased spending automatically translates into improved services. Thus while on paper the numbers may show considerable progress but the reality may be quite different. Thus the main objective of monitoring the qualitative aspect is to judge the effectiveness of the implementation mechanism.
The CONCEPT Given the difficulty in capturing data about the qualitative aspects of SAP activities it is recommended that such monitoring be carried out through regular SPOT CHECKS on quarterly basis and surveys on annual basis. The results need to be included in the Quarterly SAP Progress Report which will introduce regularity. Spot checks can be considered as informal rapid appraisal tool while surveys are meant to be more formal and extensive in coverage. The idea is to develop through spot checks a quick, efficient and cost effective feedback mechanism for management. The Spot checks are generally more subjective in nature. This Concept paper will focus on Spot Checks.
It is proposed to carry out one spot check in each district during a year and at the same time to cover the entire province within the a year. This translates into approximately 7 districts per quarter for NWFP. Further it is proposed to cover about 5 field units per district per sector.
The qualitative aspect which need to be monitored across sectors are:
1. Financial Most of the financial information can be captured through Quantitative means. 2. Development Site selection To check compliance with the Site selection Criteria. Construction To check design and quality of construction. 3. Personnel Merit based recruitment To check transparency of process and suitability of the staff for the post. Training To check the quality of training. Absenteeism To check absenteeism.
4. Service To check the quality of services
5. Community Participation To check the quality of community participation.
6. Procurement Supplies/Materials To ensure compliance with the procurement guidelines. To check the quality of supplies and materials and its delivery
7. Repairs and Maintenance To check the quality of repairs and Maintenance.
8. Facilities Conditions Physical infrastructure To check the physical condition of the field unit.
9. Organizational Structure Check capacity building efforts Effectiveness of Various sections eg. SAP Cells.
10. Policy Reforms Administrative, Financial, Operational To check if the approved administrative reforms are being adopted at the appropriate level.
11. Data Verification EMIS, HMIS etc To verify the data being presented in the various reports.
IMPLEMENTATION In order to implement the above concept it is proposed that a third party carry out these Spot check to ensure impartiality and objectiveness. Being a monitoring report it is recommended that the report be submitted on quarterly basis to the Chief Secretary and included in the SAP quarterly Progress report. SAP Coordinator's office is in an excellent position to coordinate the activity.
The following is the sequence and time frame for implementation: 1. Appointment of third party 2. Review of: - Sectoral activities - Development of the necessary forms, tools and checklists - Development of Output Reports - Field testing total 4 weeks 3 Computerization of the tools including debugging and some modification after the first report total 8 weeks 4. Field Visits per Quarter It is recommended that a team be composed of a male and female member. The total number of Field Units to be assessed per quarter are: (7 district/quarter * 5 Field units/district/sector * 4 sectors) ñ40 Field Units
It is expected to take approximately 5 units/day/team. Thus total person days (140 units/quarter * 1 day/5 units/team * 2 persons/team) õ6 person days/quarter or 28 team days/quarter.
It is essential that the spot check be carried out by persons who understand the sector, the concept behind the spot checks and the overall nature of SAP since a lot of the analysis may be subjective in nature. The persons must have strong analytical background and should be able to extract and present the information in a simple manner to the management.
5. Data Entry and Reporting Once the Computer software has been developed then the data entry exercise is a fairly routine job and can be performed by any competent Data entry Operator. Pre defined output reports which will be part of the software can be easily generated.
total time ò weeks/one operator including data validation.
6. Reporting and Analysis Initially the analysis will require a certain level of expertise and may take a little longer but over time some aspect of it can be standardized.
total time ( 1.5 week )
7. Followup If required the third party can also monitor the followup activities emerging from the Spot Checks.
BUDGET The budget depends on the implementation mechanism that is selected. In any case the costs will have the following main components: - Salary/Professional fee - Travel Costs
I would be grateful for comments on the above. Especially those who are doing such monitoring.
regards
Riaz Khan National representative Netherlands Library Development Project House 13, Street 12, F 7/2 Islamabad Tel: 92-51-828761 FAX: 92-51-828762