BORROWER AND

GUARANTOR:

Government of El Salvador (GOES)

EXECUTING AGENCY:

Ministry of Education (MINED)

AMOUNT AND SOURCE:

IDB: US$73.2 million (OC)

Local counterpart funding: US$ 8.1 million

Total: US$81.3 million

FINANCIAL

TERMS AND

CONDITIONS:

Amortization period: 30 years

Disbursement period: 5 years

Interest rate: variable

Inspection and supervision: 1%

Credit fee: 0.75%

OBJECTIVES:

The objectives of the program are: (i) to expand access to the third compulsory cycle of basic education in rural areas by means of distance education; (ii) to improve the children's performance between first and third grade in mathematics and Spanish through expansion of Interactive Radio; (iii) to improve the children's learning in basic education by developing new teaching practices based on application of technology to instruction; and (iv) to continue strengthening community participation.

DESCRIPTION:

The GOES has assigned high priority to education in the 1990s, especially as part of the national reconstruction efforts following from the 1992 peace agreements. Considerable energies have since been devoted to building national consensus on the importance and urgency of education reform.

As a result of the success of the reforms in increasing school attendance and upgrading efficiency in the first two basic education cycles, El Salvador will experience a substantial increase in demand for grades seven through nine. According to conservative estimates, enrollment at this level will increase by 135,000 students by the year 2010, which would be equivalent to an increase of 60% compared with the 1996 enrollment.

Since 1995 the GOES has identified distance education as a potential means of expanding the coverage of third-cycle basic education. A pilot "Distance Learning" program has now been launched, based on Mexico's "Telesecundaria".

In its efforts to modernize and expand the secondary level, the GOES has made technology an important element of its strategy. The World Bank's Secondary Education Program will provide funds to equip all general secondary schools with Centros de Recursos para el Aprendizaje [Learning Resource Centers] (CRAs), spaces set aside in the schools and furnished with special equipment integrated with the new curriculum for this level to enhance the quality of the education provided.

More recently, the GOES has decided to extend the CRAs to a selected group of basic schools, in order to gain experience with the introduction of technology at that level and to help improve the quality of education. The GOES's strategy emphasizes the need to treat this initiative as a learning step from which experience will be gained for improving the effectiveness of technology application.

The extensive research conducted to date on strategies for introducing technology in basic schools has not identified any particular formulas as being more successful than others. While there is no lack of good experience in other countries, the findings of this research have not revealed any conclusive evidence regarding the factors that determine success or failure. However, the literature does identify the minimum requirements for successful introduction of technology, namely: (i) appropriate infrastructure; (ii) properly trained teachers; (iii) gradual introduction; (iv) continuous feedback by means of evaluation, monitoring and research; (v) direct community participation and commitment in the adoption of technology; (vi) strong leadership and management that ensure clear, sustained objectives; and (vii) adequate provision for covering recurrent costs. The GOES's decision to introduce technology in basic schools takes these important implementation requirements into account.

The program has three main components: the first seeks to increase third-cycle coverage in the rural sector; the second focuses on activities to enhance the learning process in basic education; and the third is intended to strengthen the MINED's evaluation capacity.

Component I. Expansion of the third cycle of basic education utilizing Distance Learning (US$19 million)

The expansion envisaged in this component is 24,900 additional places. This increase in coverage would close 47% of the gap that would be created by the high rate of population growth and improvements in internal efficiency.

Component II. Improving the quality of basic education (US$44 million)

This component seeks to: raise the quality of learning in the first through third grades by expanding the coverage of the Interactive Radio program; introduce technology in basic education through a pilot scheme in 9% of the country's basic schools; establish a fund for education projects to be carried out by the school administration organizations (ACEs, CDEs and CECEs) in such a way as to promote community participation and sustainability of the investments; and provide for complementary teaching aids.

Component III. Institutional strengthening

(US$4.6 million)

This component consists of activities to develop information for use in measuring the project's impact, i.e. strengthening the MINED's evaluation and research system for monitoring the effectiveness of the new technologies in teaching and learning processes. Technical assistance will also be included to ensure that the MINED has the technical capability to coordinate execution of the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND

SOCIAL REVIEW:

The CESI/TRG analyzed the environmental and social impact brief (ESIB) at its meeting of June 9, 1997. The infrastructure works are not expected to have an adverse effect on the environment (paragraph 4.11). The project will have a significant social impact since it is designed to raise the level of learning and the quality of basic education. It will also develop educational initiatives for the community, extend the successful efforts at community participation, and create greater awareness about the various cultural paradigms which could break down the gender stereotypes encultured in children (paragraphs 2.18 and 4.12 to 4.17).

BENEFITS:

The project supports the efforts underway to increase school attendance in remote communities and to raise the quality of basic education in general. The greater part of the program beneficiaries are in the lower income decile, for whom education is a key requirement for social betterment.

RISKS:

One risk is that investment in the CRAs' equipment will not have a positive impact on learning sufficient to generate savings as a result of greater internal efficiency. To lessen this risk the design of the pilot scheme follows recommendations derived from international experience. These include the proper training of teachers in use of the equipment, teacher motivation, and the existence of a body outside the school proper capable of providing appropriate technical assistance. A plan will also be drawn up detailing the actions necessary for the introduction of technology in the schools.

A second risk has to do with the simultaneous demands from other projects, the availability of local counterpart funding, and the increase in recurrent costs. A study on the project's financial impact concludes that its financial requirements are realistic if the GOES maintains its budgetary goals for the sector.

THE BANK'S

COUNTRY AND

SECTOR STRATEGY:

The IDB's strategy in education is to support education reform with an integral approach. For a country with the education characteristics of El Salvador this means expanding coverage and substantially improving quality, using the most effective means available. In the medium to long terms, it is especially important: (i) to update the curricula, methods, materials, and equipment used for education; (ii) to intensify and improve teacher training; (iii) to strengthen the MINED's capacity to manage the education systems; (iv) to develop innovative and cost-effective ways of expanding coverage; and (v) to strengthen the participation of communities and families in running the schools.

EXCEPTIONS TO

BANK POLICY:

See section on procurements below.

PROCUREMENT OF

GOODS, WORKS, AND

CONSULTING

SERVICES:

As an exception to the procedure for competitive public selection of consultants, direct contracting is recommended for: (i) the Social Investment Fund for Local Development (SIF) for execution of the civil works; (ii) the Central American Institute of Technology (ITCA) for establishment of the technological resource centers; and (iii) the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as procurement agency for goods and services. These agencies will handle all procurement, consultant hiring, or other required activities in accordance with Bank procedures. Such procurements are consistent with chapter GS-403 of the Procurement Manual (paragraphs 3.4 to 3.7 and 3.16 to 3.19).

Contracts for goods, works, and consultancy services will be in accordance with Annex B of the loan contract. The ceiling amounts above which international competitive bidding will be required would be as follows: US$200,000 for consultancy services; US$250,000 for goods; and US$1 million for construction works. Goods, works, and consultancy services costing less than the above amounts will be subject to simplified procedures attached to the loan contract agreed on with the Bank, and consistent with its policies.

Bank supervision of procurements financed with program funds will be performed by ex post evaluation of a random sample.

POVERTY

TARGETING:

Component I is geographically focused on rural communities, where the correlation between rural conditions and poverty is high. Component II geographically targets rural and marginal urban communities where poverty, measured by unmet basic needs, is high. All the components use repetition and school performance indexes to identify the most vulnerable groups. The program therefore qualifies as comprising poverty-targeted investments under the geographic criterion.

SPECIAL

CONTRACTUAL

CONDITIONS:

Conditions precedent to the first disbursement

(i) Submission of evidence that the MINED has concluded agreements with the SIF, UNDP, and ITCA (paragraph 3.4).

(ii) Submission of the first annual work program (paragraph 3.19).

Other contractual conditions

(i) For Subcomponent 2, introduction of learning technology, the MINED will draw up a plan of action for the introduction of computers in the schools; this plan must be submitted to the Bank for approval prior to the first disbursement from this subcomponent.

(ii) For Subcomponent 3, fund for community education projects, the MINED will draft the operating rules of the fund. These rules must be submitted to the Bank for approval prior to the first disbursement from this subcomponent (paragraph 3.12).

(iii) The project executing units, with the support of project management, will prepare the annual work plans indicating the activities, schedule, and budget for each year. These programs will cover the period from January through December, so that the MINED can include the project's budgetary requirements in its request for funding for the next year (paragraph 3.19).

(iv) The paragraphs listed below describe other contractual conditions, namely: paragraph 2.22, cost and financing of the programs; paragraph 3.22, retroactive financing of up to US$100,000; paragraph 3.23, recognition of expenditures of up to US$50,000; and paragraph 3.27, audit.