CO- SECONDARY EDUCATION

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The objectives of the Secondary Education Project are to support government initiatives designed to: (a) implement a new national government strategy of cofinancing investments in education with the departments and municipalities; (b) provide incentives to regional and local governments to achieve national educational development targets; and (c) support the assumption by municipalities of an expanded role in education by building local capacity for the planning, co-financing, and execution of investments. The project comprises four main components designed to provide participating municipalities with the assistance needed to implement their education plans and investment programs for secondary education development. In order to receive project support, each municipality would be required to prepare a Municipal Education Plan (MEP) with sub-projects. Provision for the funding of municipal secondary education development plans and the National Ministry of Education (MEN) initiatives in support of secondary education is made under the following project components. Increasing Coverage: a program providing grants and loans to local governments to help them fund new school construction and the rehabilitation of an estimated 50 percent of some 1,250 public school facilities and equipment. Expanding Access: an education vouchers program providing 55,000 vouchers to give low income students the choice of attending private schools with excess capacity where public school places are not available. Educational Quality Enhancement: a program to upgrade educational quality, including funding for School Improvement Plans (SIP) to encourage principals and teachers to diagnose their school and formulate programs to improve school quality and efficiency, in-service training for principals and teachers and provision of 4.2 million textbooks and instructional materials. Finally, Management and Institutional Strengthening: the project will: (a) provide management and institutional strengthening in the departments and municipalities and in MEN, based on the adoption of a plan prepared by MEN for implementing the decentralization of education; (b) improve quality and reliability of educational statistics; (c) assist MEN in conducting national assessments of student achievement in math and reading at the secondary school level; and (d) conduct policy and evaluation research.