Education Innovation Project

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The objectives of the Education Innovation Project are to: (1) improve, in selected higher education institutions, the quality and quantity of social science education and encourage better governance systems and efficiency in the use of resources; and (2) improve the quality and availability of school textbooks. The project has three components: (1) The Higher Education Innovation Fund encourages the reform of selected institutes; and establishes an Innovation Fund focusing on international best practice and on the development of social sciences and governance and management reform, which offers grants to higher education institutions. (2) School Textbook Reform provides training and equipment for both the Ministry of Economy and regional educational administrators to strengthen educational standards and create new textbook titles; reviews and renews the federal list of textbooks; establishes electronic information and book ordering systems for schools, parents, and students; and trains regional and local administrators in these systems. (3) The Pilot Textbook Procurement Fund assists selected oblasts in obtaining textbooks, makes a competitive selection of textbooks, and eventually demonopolizes the textbook publishing industry; speeding up, developing, and selecting more appropriate texts for secondary schools; and the creation of a sustainable system of funding for textbook supply for the secondary education system.