Second School Access and Improvement

closed

This is the Second School Access and Improvement Program Project, and will continue to support classroom expansion, but with greater attention paid to middle school construction and equipment. The demand for middle school places is expected to increase sharply by 2006-2007, and it is expected the additional classrooms will accommodate the increased flow of students from primary through the middle school cycle. The project will also expand coverage of quality basic education, through targeted activities which contribute toward increased access and retention rates. The Project components will therefore: 1) increase access to, and equity of basic education, seeking to increase student enrolment and retention. Attention will focus on access for girls and children with special needs, along with adequate facilities to complete primary education. This component will finance the construction and rehabilitation of classrooms in the five districts of the country; schools will be provided with equipment and school furniture, including the adequate number of latrines to meet the needs of the school population; 2) improve quality of education and service provision. The project will support a learning environment conducive to quality learning and teaching, pursuing and finalizing the reform of the basic education curriculum, improving the rationalization of textbook production and distribution, developing a cost-effective in-service training strategy through improved training of trainers, and teacher training, strengthening information exchange, and the education system supervision, and, introducing learning achievement measurements; and, 3) improve the efficiency and capacity building within the Ministry of National and Higher Education (MNHE), and improve sector management and utilization of sector resources. A technical audit of the MNHE will be carried out with a view to clarifying the organizational and functional settings. Furthermore, management tools will be developed for the MNHE central and district levels to efficiently manage their resources; and, for the development and implementation of a comprehensive training program for MNHE's administrative staff.