Sector Assistance Program Evaluation on Education in Uzbekistan

B. Lessons 
107. This section summarizes lessons derived from completed loan and TA operations in 
Uzbekistan, which are quite similar to the lessons identified by the 2008 Sector Synthesis of 
Evaluation Findings in the Education Sector
50
(Appendix 5, Box A5).
1. 
Lessons from Loan Projects 
108. The following are the lessons identified from the loan projects: 
(i) 
The experience of ADB assistance to education sector in Uzbekistan suggests 
that education sector loan projects that respond to the government’s priorities 
and have its full commitment and are prepared in consultation with beneficiaries 
and stakeholders have higher chances of success. 
(ii) 
Policy-based loans focusing on the structural and institutional reforms in a given 
system should be designed and implemented only in the context of a proper 
sector road map and political economy. This is required not only for the financing 
institutions, but also for sharing the future vision for the sector with other 
development partners. 
(iii) 
All assistance, including policy-based or infrastructure-oriented assistance, 
should seek to align itself and link up with resources already available on the 
ground to maximize synergies that advance development. 
(iv) 
When a process-oriented methodology or system such as “student-centered 
learning” or “learning by doing” is to be introduced to develop trainability among 
students, it requires a long lead-time in which core professionals and 
functionaries are trained and given time to digest the new process. 
(v) 
Appraisal should be thorough and rigorously carried out to make sure that it 
yields appropriate cost and financing estimates. Otherwise, it may lead to undue 
financial burden on the borrowers. 
(vi) 
Many executing agencies are still focused on inputs and outputs. Executing and 
implementing agencies need to understand that the outcomes and impact of the 
project are just as essential as the outputs in justifying the process, modality, and 
the magnitude of assistance. 
50
ADB. 2008. Sector Synthesis of Evaluation Findings: Education Sector. Manila (Executive Summary, pp. iii–v). 

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(vii) 
Establishment of a full-fledged M&E system should be a necessary condition for 
both designing and implementing a project. Too many projects get approved and 
implemented without developing M&E systems.