SECTOR: Education

PROJECT NAME: Secondary Education Improvement Program in the State of Paraná

(950/OC-BR)

TOTAL COST: $222 million

FINANCING:

IDB $100 million

LOCAL $122 million

DATE OF APPROVAL: September 18, 1996

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The objective is to increase the efficiency, equity, and efficacy of Paraná's public secondary school system, while strengthening the sectoral managerial capacity at local, regional and state levels. The program will support reforms such as the creation of the general secondary school, with its own institutional identity and mission, as well as the transformation of technical-vocational education to a post-secondary level. The groundwork will be laid for future reforms regarding how the secondary education system is financed and the revision of the State Teacher Statute in order to accommodate a new Teacher Career Stream envisioned by the Secretaria Estadual da Educação (SEED).

The program consists of the following subprograms:

(a) quality improvement in secondary education by financing curriculum development, learning resources, training of educational professionals and incentives for improved teacher performance, as well as school rehabilitation and equipment; (b) modernization of technical-vocation education, establishing regional technical-vocational centers in industry, services, and agriculture in partnership with the private sector, and financing the modernization of technical-vocational curriculum, equipment, information and educational software, and the physical adaptation of existing facilities; and (c) strengthening educational system administration and management by financing the development and installation of a strategic planning unit, evaluation system, management information system, curriculum development unit, pilot program for school autonomy, and general program administration.

CONSULTANTS: Consulting services will be hired to: (a) establish a permanent information system which links current enrollments and expected student demand for primary and secondary education, and identifies the professional and educational background of all secondary school teachers (10 consultant/months);

(b) produce educational software; (c) provide training through seminars, workshops, and study groups for teachers and school administrators for skills upgrading and in areas such as organizational management, human and financial resource management, and strategic planning; (d) design a planning system for future training programs (eight

consultant/months); (e) support specific background papers to formulate a career path for teachers, administrators, technicians, and support staff, as well as modify the State Teacher Statute for primary and secondary school teachers (six consultant/months); (f) develop the curriculum and instructional materials to be implemented at regional teacher training institutes (18 person/months of curriculum development specialists in pre-service teacher training); (g) design and implement a strategic planning unit, and carry out studies on the sources and uses of funds for secondary education (65 person/months of services in strategic planning and educational finance); (h) design and develop a permanent monitoring and evaluation system which will include student, teacher and institutional evaluation activities, as well as test development and administration and the processing of test results (18 consultant/months); and (i) carry out a pilot program for school autonomy, including revision and definition of the roles of local organizations, design and implementation of a decentralization strategy, monitoring and evaluation of this experience, and dissemination results (13 person/months of consulting services in educational decentralization).

GOODS AND EQUIPMENT: The following will be purchased: (a) 36 notebook computers; (b) multi-use vehicles; (c) 728,000 textbooks in Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Portuguese; (d) 909 encyclopedias; (e) 17,059 dictionaries; (f) 8,530 atlases; (g) 61,500 volumes (120 new titles) relevant to the new secondary

(950/OC-BR) English

curriculum; (h) 8,900 computers and basic software packages; (i) computers for natural science laboratories and libraries; and (j) equipment and materials for six regional teacher training institutes.

CIVIL WORKS: The following works will be financed:

(a) rehabilitation and expansion of existing schools; (b) construction of a new facility in Londrina; and (c) conversion of existing infrastructure into centers which would have adequate physical space for administrative, career guidance and placement offices, and classrooms and laboratories for training.

EXECUTING AGENCY: Secretaria Estadual da Educaçáo (SEED)

Avenida Agua Verde, 1680

CEP 80240-900, Curitiba, Paraná

Brazil

Tel: (55-41) 340-1682, 340-1611

Fax: (55-41) 340-1610

Contact: Luis Walter Chalusnhak

lwalter@pr.gov.br