PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT ON A PROPOSED LOAN IN THE AMOUNT OF US$l50.00 MILLION TO THE ARGENTINE...

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Document o f

The World Bank

FOR O FFICIAL USEONLY

ReportNo: 33215-AR

PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT

ON A

PROPOSED LOAN

IN THE AMOUNT OF US$l50.00 MILL ION

TO THE

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC

FOR

RURALEDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT-PROMER

November 17,2005

HumanDevelopment Sector ManagementUnit

Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay Country Management UnitLatin Amer ica and the Caribbean Regional Office

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the

performance o f their of f i c ia l duties. I t s contents may not otherwise be disclosed without WorldBank authorization.



CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

( E xc h a ng e R a te E f f e c t i v e N o v e m b e r 10,2005)

C u r r e n c y Unit = Argen t ine Peso

A R S $ 2 . 9 4 = US$1

C A SCFE

CIPPEC

DGUFI

D N G C y F D

D N I E C E

EGB

IIPE

I N D E C

M E C y T

N A P

NEA

NOANPRE

ONE

PERMER

P N E I B

P IR L S

P IS A

P R O D Y M E S

P R O M E R

FISCAL YEAR

January 1 - D e c e m b e r 31

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

Coun try Assistance Strategy

Consejo Federal de Educ aci6n or Federal Education Counc il

Center for Implem entation o f Publ ic Pol icies for Equity and Grow th (Centro de

Implementacidn de Pol i t icas Ptiblicas Pa ra l a Equidad y el Crecimiento)

General Directorate o f he Unit o f nternational Finance (Direccidn General

Unidad de Financiamiento Internacional)

Nat iona l Di rectora te o f Curricular Management and Teacher Train ing (Direccidn

Nacional de Gestidn C urr icular y Forma cidn Docente)

Nation al Directorate o f Educational Information, Evaluation and Educational

Qual i ty (Direccidn Nacional de Informacidn y Evaluacidn de la C al idad Educativa)

General Basic Education (Edu ca ci h General Bisica)International Inst i tute fo r Educational Planning ( Instituto Internacional de

Planeamiento de la Educacidn)

Nat iona l Ins t i tu te o f Statistics and Censuses (Institut o de Estadistica y Censos)

Nat iona l Ministry o f Education, Science, and Tec hno logy (Minister io de Educacidn,

Ciencia y Tecnologia)

Core Lea rning Pr ior i t ies (Nzicleos de Aprendizajes P riorita rios )

Northeast Argentina (Noreste Argentina )

Northwes t Argentina (Noroeste Argentina )Nat iona l Program fo r Rura l Educat ion

Operativo Nacional de Evaluacion or Nationa l Evaluation Survey

Renewable Energy in the Rural Electr ici ty Market (Proyecto de Energ ia Renovable

en el Merc ado Ele'ctrico Ru ral or Project)

Nation al Intercul tural Bi l ingua l Education Program (Programa Nacional de

Educacidn Intercu l tural y Bi l ingi ie)

Progress in International Reading Li teracy Study

Prog ram for Internation al Student Assessment

P rogram o f Decentral ization and Improvement o f Secondary Education (Programa

de Desc entralizacidn y M ejoram iento de la Educacidn Secundaria)

Rura l Educat ion Improvement Pro ject (Proyecto de Mejo ram iento de la Educacidn

Rura l )

Vi ce President: Pamela Co x

Sector Direc tor: Evange line Javier

Sector Manager: Eduardo Vele z Bus ti l lo

Sector Leader: Jesko Hentschel

Country Di rector: Ax e l van Tro tsenburg

Task Te am Leader: Suhas D. Parandekar



ARGENTINA

Rural Education Improvement Project. ROMER

CONTENTS

Page

A. STRATEGIC CONTEXT AND RATIONALE ................................................................. 1

Cou ntry and sector issues.................................................................................................... 1

Rationale for Bank involvem ent ......................................................................................... 5

Higher l e v e l objectives to wh ic h the project contributes .................................................... 6

1

2

3 .

B. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................. 6

1

23 .

4.

Project development objective and key indicators.............................................................. 6

Project components ............................................................................................................. 7

Alternatives considered and reasons for rejection ............................................................ 12

Lessons learned and reflec ted in the project design.......................................................... 11

C. IMPLEMENTATION........................................................................................................ 12

1. Moni to r ing and evaluat ion o f outcomes/results.,.............................................................. 13

2. Sustainability ..................................................................................................................... 14

3. Cri t ica l r isks and possible contro versial aspects............................................................... 14

4 . Lo an conditions a nd covenants ......................................................................................... 15

A P P R A I S A L SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... 15

1. Economic and financia l analysis....................................................................................... 15

2 Technical ........................................................................................................................... 15

3 . Fiduciary ........................................................................................................................... 15

4 Social .............................................................................................................................. 15 7

5 Environment ...................................................................................................................... 17

6

7

I . .

Safeguard policies ............................................................................................................. 17

Pol icy Exceptions and Readiness ..................................................................................... 17

Annex 1: Country and Sector o r Program Background......................................................... 18

Annex 2: M a j o r Related Projects Financed by the Bank and/or other Agencies .................30

Annex 3: Results Framework and Monitoring ....................................................................... 31

Annex 4: Detailed Project Description ..................................................................................... 36



Annex 5: Project Costs ............................................................................................................... 44

Annex 6: Implementation Arrangements................................................................................. 45

Annex 7: Financial Management and Disbursement Arrangements..................................... 49

Annex 8: Procurement Arrangements...................................................................................... 63

Annex 9 : Economic and Financial Analysis ............................................................................. 70

Annex 10: Safeguard Policy Issues............................................................................................ 76

Annex 11: Project Preparation and Supervision..................................................................... 88

Annex 12: Documents in the Project Fi le ................................................................................. 90

Annex 13: Statement o f Loans and Credits.............................................................................. 94

Annex 14: Country at a Glance................................................................................................. 97

Map IBRD 33362



ARGENTINA

DEVELOPMENT

Total:

RURAL EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT - P R O M E R

228.39 12.19 240.58

P RO JE CT A P P R A I S A L D O C U M E N T

La tin America and the Caribbean Regional Off ice

Hu ma n Developmen t Sector Management Unit

Date: Novem ber 22,2005 Te am Leader: Suhas D. Parandekar

Country Director: Ax el van TrotsenburgSector Manager/Director: Eduardo Velez Bus ti l lo/

Evangeline Javier

Project ID: PO70963

Lendin g Instrument: Speci f ic Investment Loa n

Sectors: General Educat ion (100 percent)Themes: Education for all (S)

Environm ental screening category: B

Safeguard screening category: B

(SIL)

[X I L o a n [ ] Credit [ ] Grant [ 3 Guarantee [ ] Other:

For Loans/Credits/Others:

Tot al Ba nk finan cing (US$m.): 150.00

R E C O N S T R U C T I O N AND

Borrower:Argentine Republ ic

Responsible Agency:Ministry o f Education, Science and Techn ology (MECyT)

Santa Fe 1548-(1060), Piso 10, Bue nos Aires, A rge nti na

TelDax: (5411) 4129-1931

ema il aarango@me gov. ar

Contact: L ic . Aida Arango, D irectora General, D i r e c c i h General Unid ad de Financiamiento

Intemacional.

i



Does the project depart from the C AS in content or other significant respects? Re$

PAD A.3

Does the project require any exceptions fr om Ban k policies?

No

[ ]Yes [XINO

Covenants applicable to project implementation: Signed bilateral agreements between Federal and

Prov incia l Governments

Ref: PA D D.7Ha ve these been approved by Ba nk management?

[ ]Yes [ IN0

[ ]Yes [ IN0

I s approval for any p ol ic y exception sought from the Board?Does the project include any cr i t ical r isks rat ed “substantial” or “high”?

Re$ PAD C.5

Does the project me et the Regional criteria for readiness for implementation? Re f.

PAD D.7

Project development objective Re$ PAD B.2, Technical Annex 3

[X IY e s [ ] N o

[XIYes [ ] N o

The project seeks to support nationa l Government polic y to imp rove the coverage, efficiency , quality, and

governance o f he Argentine education system.

Project description Ref: PA D B.3.a, Technical Annex 4

The project seeks t o contr ibute t o i mprov ing the gro wth potentia l o f Argentina and reducing socia’inequality. Argentina’s rura l sector, w hi ch wo ul d be supported by this proposed project, has a tremendou!

potentia l to contr ibute to gr owth and economic development in Argentina.

The proposed project would provide education inputs to rur al schools under a scheme o f bilatera

agreements between the Na tiona l an d Provin cial Governments that w ou ld seek t o attain results regardin8

the coverage and qualit y o f basic rura l education. The inputs would include teacher training, didactic

material and equipment including textbooks, workbooks and guides, and school rehabil i tation to briq

schools up to basic minimum standards. Special attention would be paid to ensure that these inputs arc

appropriate for the loc al context o f ur al areas. The project has two components:

Component A: Impro ving Qual i ty and Coverage o f Rural Education (US$244.60 mi l l i on )This component i s designed and implem ented around three subcomponents: (i)mproving Operatin]

Condit ions o f Rural Schools; (ii)xpanding Coverage and Impro vin g Student Promotio n Flow ; and (iii

Strengthening Lin e Departments at the Provinc ial Levels;

Component B: Enhancing Stewardship Capaci ty o f he National Government (US$5 -40mi l l ion)

This component consists o f he fol l ow ing tw o sub-components: (i) trengthening Li ne Departments at thiNation al Level; and (ii) oni to r ing and Eva luat ion.

W h ic h safeguard policies are tr iggered, i f any? Re$ PAD D.6, TechnicalAnnex 10

(i)nvironmental (OP/BP 4.01) and (ii)ndig eno us Peoples OP 4.10.

Significant, non-standard conditions, if any, for : N o t appl icable.

Ref: PAD C.7

Bo ar d presentation:

Lo ad cr ed it effectiveness: Signed bilate ral agreements between the Federal Governm ent and at least tw ~

Provinces.

*.11



A. STRATEGIC CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

1. Country and sector issues

Argentina i s n o w recover ing fro m a severe economic and social crisis. Aft er three years o f fast growth

(averaging some 8.5 percent during 2003-2005), GDP has recovered to the pre-crisis peak o f 1998. Thefocus in Argentina must no w m ove aw ay f ro m crisis response to long -term structural issues regarding the

econom y and society-issues o f growth, equity, resilience and avoidance o f urther crises. Three features

o f Argentina’s growth path, as recognized in the Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for

Argentina (Report 2734 0-AR, January 29, 2004) have a crucial bearing on the policies f or the education

sector and the rol e o f he Bank in support o f hose policies:

First, Argentina seeks a permanent improvem ent in the investment cl ima te to support sustained long -term

growth. There i s a strong growth in the productive sector o f he economy, no t just in services but also in

agriculture and manufacturing. Argentina seeks to build o n i t s existing comparative advantages inagriculture and cert ain manuf act uring and service sectors to serve as engines o f growth. A successful

transi t ion from economic recovery to sustained gro wth wou ld further fuel a strong demand for ski l led

labo r and the educ atio n sector needs to be able to m eet this demand.

Second, the issue o f long-term social inclusion o vulnerable groups i s a very important i tem o n the

agenda o f social poli cy. The Government seeks to provide equal i ty o f opportunity, through employment

generation for exclude d populations, like segments o f urban yo uth w ho never had a chance to completeschooling, and by imp rov ing educational attainment o f the population in rural areas, particularly in the

poorer provinces o f he Northwest and Northeast. Annex 1 documents the nature o f disparities regarding

the quantity and quality of education.

m,he sustained long-term growt h path wou ld on ly be v iable under a ser ies o f simultaneous p ol ic y

actions such as measures to promote infrastructure, investment, improve the business environment and

simplify procedures to start businesses, strengthen property laws, and maintain macroeconomic stability.

Impro ved human resources are o nly part o f a complex interplay o f orces that lead to or impede economic

development. I t s vi ta l to remember that improvements in the education sector in turn influence a nd areinfluenced by the larger conte xt o f development as the particular c ontext o f the education sector i s

examine d more closely.

Uncompleted educational policy reforms

Argentina’s education sector i s characterized by uncom pleted reforms, with decentralization as the central

element in the refo rm agenda. The history o f decentral ization (of pr ima ry schools in 1978 and secondary

schools in 1992) i s checkered in Argentina. Provincial Governments had widely varying levels of

ownership and capacity to administer the educational ref or m pro gram in the 1990s. In addit ion to the

handover o f al l schools to provinces that removed the Federal level com pletely fro m school

administration, there was simultaneously a majo r curricular reform . Th e system that had been in existence

for man y decades consisted o f prim ary school in 7 grades, and secondary school in 5 grades (6 fo rtechnical schools). The ne w system wo ul d consist o f a com pulso ry year o f pre-school, an extended

compu lsory prima ry or basic school o f 9 grades, an d a secondary school or Pol imodal with f lexible,

modular o f fer ing o f 3 years (4 for technical schools).

A significant changeo ver o f this kind required some rather di f f ic ul t logist ical problems o f organization,

and implied the need for significant additional resources to retrain teachers and rearrange the

infrastructure, equipment and didacti c materials. The two systems ha d to co-exist for some time, as

1



childr en were m ov ed fr om one educational mo del to another, wh ic h generated additiona l complications.

T he resources available fo r such a dramatic change although not entirely absent, we re no t available in a l l

jurisdictions to the required level, and certainly not with any consistency or regularity for a complete

transition to the ne w system. Meanwh ile, problems o f he quality and relevance o f he education system,

that had led to the reforms in the f i r s t place, remained large ly in place, wh ic h le d to considerable erosion

in he support fo r the reform.

The late 1990s and the early part o f this decade witnessed the worst economic c risis ever experienced in

Argentina, and the education sector suffered the brunt o f the cuts in the avai labil i ty o f resources, even

thou gh some jurisd iction s were able to cope with less resources and less damaging disasters. In spite o f

the problems, there has been a real increase in educational attainment in the 1990s. The out-of-school

populat ion in the 10-14 years age-group fell f ro m 6.8 to 2.9 percent, and the out-of-school popu lation o f

15-19 years fe ll f ro m 45.8 t o 30.6 percent (Source: Population Census o f 1991 and 2001). Currently inArgentina, approxim ately ten years after the reform s were initiated, there are s t i l l great disparities across

and within provinces in terms o f educational opportunities offered to people, depending on where they

l i v e a nd their socio-economic background. The current status o f he Argentine education system i s often

refe rred to as “fragmented.”

In this fragmented context, the Federal Government recognizes a strategic opportunity to supportprovince s through p ol ic y guidance and resource transfers under the aegis o f a revamped national

educational program . The regulatory framework in Argentina provides a role for a national program as

the responsibil i ty fo r the education system i s shared between the Federal and Pr ovinc ial levels. Provinces

are responsible fo r running he education system o f heir jur isdict ion; the Federal Governm ent i s entrusted

with supporting the provinces under a national educational poli cy based on principles o f natio nal unity,

cul tural identi ty and equali ty o f opportunit ies. The ro le o f he Federal Government i s best understood in

the context o f some basic figures about publi c educational expenditures.

Public educational expenditures: Role of the Federal Government in the Provinces

O f average publi c education expenditures o f US$6,700 m il l i on (in constant 2005 dollars) in Argentina in

the pe riod 1995-2005, the Federal Government’s share was about 24 percent or an average o fapproximate ly US$1,600 mi l l ion , o f wh ich US$1,500 mi l l i on i s the budget o f he Nat iona l Ministry o f

Education (MECyT). O f he MECyT expenditures, about 70 percent or about US $95 0 m il l i o n s allocatedto universi t ies. Th e rem aining US$550 m i l l i on is spent as national grant transfers t o P rovincial

Governments. O f the approximate US$4,900 m i l l i on o f provincia l education expenditures, about 95

percent pays salaries o f teachers and adm inistrative staff. Alt hou gh trends regarding the func tional

classifica tion o f non-univ ersity national educational expenditures over tim e i s diff icul t to make (due to

fluctuations in allocations), in recent years (1999-2005) MECyT transferred substantial amounts to

prov ince s to supplement teacher salaries, fo r an average o f about U S 3 5 0 mi l l i on per year. These Federal

salary supplements were absent before 1999, and were largely begun to address the provincial

Governments’ ina bil i t y to pay teacher salaries regularly, w hi ch l ed to massive teacher strikes and incertain provinces, the virtu al cessation o f educational service delivery. Federal grant transfers for

infrastructure, school materials inc lu din g textbooks, in-service teacher training, a nd qua lity enhancementprogram s and scholarships form nearly the entire corpus o f non-salary pre-univ ersity pub lic expenditures

in provinces.

Argentina’s population and economic activity are highly concentrated regional ly; o f the c ountry’s 24

jur isd ic tions, the C i ty o f Buenos Aires and three Pampa prov ince s (Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and C6rdoba)

account for three-fourths o f the GDP and two-thirds o f the populat ion. The remaining 20 provinces

account for only 25 percent o f he GDP and one-third o f he population. Even though provinces have their

ow n revenues fr om taxes, the region al disparities necessitate a large dependence o n a shared poo l o f

2



nat ion al taxes under a ‘co-participation’ regime that has compensatory elements to make revenues

avai lable to poorer provinces. An nex 1 provides a mo re detai led account o f educational financing issues.

The fo l lo win g f ive salient points are made in this analysis:

E v e n with compensatory elements in co-participation, owing to the basic differences in

economic geography, differences in revenue avai labi l ity to each province are a dr iver o fhuge disparities across provinces in terms o f annual expenditures per student (w hic h range

f ro m rough l y US$200 in Salta to US$800 in Santa Cruz);

Differences in provincia l f iscal effor t for educat ion account for o nly a sma l l por t io n o f

differences in per student expenditures across provinces (education expenditures average

about 27 percent o f otal prov incial expenditures and most provinces are near that number);

Dir ec t federal educat ional programs in provinces have made onl y a dent in the inequali ty o f

resource allocation, in part because even though the federal programs are practical ly the

on ly programs d irected at i tems other than salaries, the rel ative magnitude o f these

programs s small;

The magni tude o f federa l programs i s changing drastical ly as a result o f a concerted po licydecis ion by the Government. F o r example, expenditures o n a qua lity an d compensation

progra ms increased by near ly 17 percent in 2005 as compared to 2004, and an increase o f

s imi lar or greater margin i s anticipated for the 2006 budget. I t should be noted that the

recent increase comes after a period o f decline between 1999 and 2004 in such programs

that cumulat ively amounts to a decline o f nearly 40 percent; and

The margin for improvement within the envelope o f the exist ing pattern o f resource

distr ibut ion across provinces would not be sufficient to address the disparit ies in

educational opp ortun ity. There i s a need fo r transparent and non-discretionary transfers

fr om the Federal Gove rnme nt to address the fundamental or structural inequalit ies.

Policy response: Improving distribution o f federal educational grant transfers to provinces

These structural problem s characterized by inter-provincial spending di f ferences are not unco mmon in a

country with very high disparities in economic development, and i t s di f f i cu l t to achieve a high degree o f

hor izonta l equi ty through the s ing le ins t rument o f i sca l po l i cy . There is a limit t o w h i c h high revenue-

generating provinces can be taxed t o transfer t o poorer provinces before negative incent ive effects set in,no t to m ention the adverse incent ives f or the re ceiv ing provinces. Rather than wa i t f or a comprehensive

reform in Argentina’s fiscal framework, the Government’s education sector policy seeks to work within

the l imi tat ions o f he exist ing arrangement. The Federal Governme nt woul d cont inue to pro vide resources

for qual i ty and compensatory programs that prov inces wou ld n ot be able t o implement o n thei r own.

Po l ic y reforms underway ai m to im prov e the impact o f scarce federal resources by apply ing wel l -def ined

and measurable educational goals as a starting poi nt f or the iden tif ica tion o f needs and the subsequent

al loca tion o f federal grant transfers across provinces, with the d istr ibut ion o f resources based on

transparent, non-discretionary criteria.

An impo rtant attempt to establish a strategic d irect ion fo r the education sector i s being pursued through

the proposed La w for E ducat ional Financing, n o w under considerat ion by the National Congress. This

3



proposed la w prov ide s a clear visio n of ten educational “bi-centenary goals”’ to be accomplished by th e

year 2010, when Arge ntina completes 200 years o f t s f i r s t independent Government. The proposed law

wo uld also prov ide a mechanism for the ut i l izat io n o f iscal resources under the shared responsibi l i ty of

the Federal and Provin cial Governments. Provinces wou ld be able t o choose whether to enter in to the n e w

f inanc ing f ramework, in wh ich case they would s i gn a b ilateral agreement with the Federal Government

com mitt in g to achieve speci f ic goals and to ma tch additional federal resources with add itional resourcesfr om th eir general revenues. Specific reme dial measures wo ul d be made e xpli cit in the proposed law to

deal with possible non-compliance. T w o mode rniz ing pr inciples wou ld und erpin the proposed la w the

establishment o f clear systemic goals, and the provis ion o f esources under an established set o f rules for

resource al locations that pro vide incentives to provinces t o meet those goals.

Ba nk f inanc ing i s proposed for one element o f the nat ional educat ional program, na mely the Natio nal

Program for Rura l Educat ion (NPRE). The NPRE wo uld advance regardless o f whether or n ot the ne w

l a w i s approved or whether or n ot the Ba nk approves f inancing f or the NPRE. In this context, the central

idea i s for the Ban k to par tner with the Government through f inanc ing and pol icy innovat ion that w ould

potent ial ly be leveraged to other elements o f the nat iona l program. These innovat ions relate to the

ident i f icat io n o f systemic goals and the al locat ion o f resources to fol low provincia l needs, using a model

o f bi lateral agreements. The remainder o f this sect ion prov ides a b r ie f overv iew o f rura l education in

Argentina.

Coverage, Quality and Effic iency o f Ru ra l Education

The education system in Argentina i s heavi ly biased in favor o f the overwhelmingly large urban

population. Rural education in Argentina sti l l faces pockets with l im i te d coverage, m ain ly in the poorer

Northeast (NEA) and Nor thwest (NOA) regions o f he country, where access to the ten obl igatory years

of education i s not complete, par t icular ly for pre-school and for the third cyc le o f Bas ic Educat ion

(EGB3). In ru ra l areas where there i s prov is i on o f pre-school and EG B3 education, there are fe w signs o f

constraints on the demand side. How ever, coverage f or the extended span o f compulso ry education (to

pre-school and EG B3) has lagged for r ural areas. Fo r Pr imary Edu cat ion (EGB1 and EGB2), coverage i s

near ly universal even in rur al areas; however, the qua lity o f this education i s uneven, w hic h results in

high rates o f epet i t ion and dropout, and constrains the possibi l i ty o f access to highe r levels o f educationa2Wh i le there are nat io nal programs that address the issue o f qual i ty in urb an schools, this has not been the

case for rur al schools to date. As a resul t, the G overnment aims t o im pleme nt a targeted program that

wo uld address the pe cul iar i t ies o f schools in rural areas, includ ing the need to prov ide educat ion services

to local i t ies with l o w populat ion dens ity, to prov ide c loser involvement o f ch i ldren with the ambience o f

farming and related act ivi t ies, and to recognize the heightened ro le o f a school as a cul tural node f or the

local communi ty . The Government’s Nat ional Rura l Education Program wo uld thus direct ly support the

f i r s t tw o bi-centenary goals at the focus o f the refo rm agenda-universal ization o f pre-school and

complete coverage o f te n years o f compulsory educat ion. The Ru ral Educat ion Progra m wo uld also help

address another imp ortan t bi-centenary go al rega rding the qu ality o f basic education, esp ecial ly related to

1 See Annex 1 for an enumeration of the t e n goals. Essentially, these ambitious goals are concerned with an

improvement in the quality and contribution o f he education sector to the Argen tine society, in a manner that carriesal l Argentines w i th it, especially by includin g hitherto excluded groups.2 At the end o f A nnex 1, a series of schematic maps provides a graphic demon stration o f the distribution o f

education gaps in Argentina’s ru ra l areas. I t s estimated that roughly 140,000 children in rur al areas do n ot haveaccess to pre-school and EGB3, with 70 percent o f those out o f school belonging to NOA an d NEA. There areapproximately 714,000 c hildren in rur al areas in EGBl and EGB2, with 38 percent o f hose chi ldren being overage,

compared to 23 percent for urb an areas. The rural EGB1 and EGB 2 enrol lment f ro m the NOA an d NEA provincesaccounts for nearly 60 percent of the total rural enrollment for th e country, even though NOA an d NEA represent

only about 20 percent o f Argentina’s population.

4



the core basic sk i l l s that form pa r t o f the nat ional ly rat if ied Core Lea rn ing Pr ior i t ies (Nccleos de

Aprendizujes Prioritarios, NAP).Achievement o f the nat ional goals for rura l areas wo ul d contr ibute to

the task o f mak ing the educat ion system in Argentina m ore product ive and equi table.

Simi lar t o coverage, the qual i ty o f education in rur al areas i s also s ign i fi cant ly be low that o f urb an areas.

Owing to lo w populat ion densi ty, schools in rur al areas have multi-grad e classrooms, quite d ifferen t fro mthe m ul ti pl e sections per grade that characterize most urb an schools. R ura l teachers do n ot hav e access to

the in for ma tio n sources, peer support and opportunities f or professional development that are ofte n taken

fo r granted by ur ba n teachers. In addi t ion to the problem deal ing with the organizational and pedagogical

mod el that has been used for ru ral schools, another serious p roble m has been the la ck o f access to basic

educational inputs - rural schools have unfor tunately tended to be at the end o f the pr ior i ty l i s t in the

alloca tion o f esources for infrastructure, equipment, didactic materials and trained teachers. A signi f icant

propor t ion o f ura l schools do not have e lec t r ic i ty or drinkingwater as they are off-g r id. I t s only recent ly

that rur al schools have begun to b e equipped with cost-effe ctive a lternative en ergy sources, suc h as solar

panels that are now commercial ly avai lable, or with mo de m ecological ly appropriate methods o f

col lect ing rai n water, or with other l o w cost water sources. Shortcomings in the prov i s ion o f c r i t ica l

inputs such as the phy sica l plant an d didactic materials are part o f a genera l p ic ture o f ack o f adequate

atten tion to ru ra l schools. The characteristics o f rur al schools also includ e pos itive features, such as

greater cohesion with the com munity and the potent ial fo r d eveloping educat ional act iv i t ies that are betterintegrated with t he da i l y l i f e o f chi ldren in ru ra l areas, but this potent ial i s not a lways fully exploited.

The use o f inappropriate pedagogical and organizat ion models, p oor physica l plant, the la ck o f

educat ional equipment and didact ic mater ials, and the neglect o f programs to p rovid e training and

pedagog ical support to rural teachers exp lain the lo w qual i ty o f educat ional attainment o f the rura l

populat ion. Repeti t ion, over-age and drop-out rates are muc h higher f or ru ral chi ldren than fo r their urban

counterparts. Rur al chi ld ren learn less when they are in school, and drop out mo re often after continuous

repet it ions. Imp rovin g the coverage and qual i ty o f rural educat ion has the potent ial to contr ibute to an

improvement o f he ef f ic iency in the overal l use o f pu blic ed ucational resources in Argentina. The use o f

multi-grade classrooms, when combined with the pro vis ion o f adequate mater ials and training also

provide s an incremental mechanism to imp rove the ove ral l ef f ic iency in the deployment o f teacher

resources thro ugh the educational system.

2. Rationale fo r Ba nk involvement

Support ing the important Nation al Program for Ru ra l Educat ion provides an excel lent oppo rtuni ty fo r the

Ba nk to continue to wo rk in partnership with the Government, in an area that addresses social inclu sion o f

vu lnerable groups, equal ity o f oppor tuni ty and the improvement o f pro duc t iv i ty -cen t ra l themes in th e

CAS. Ban k support under the proposed operat ion woul d increase the f inanc ia l envelope o f the R ura lEducat ion Program, al lo wing i t to accelerate implementation and increase i t s geographical scope. Bank

support would also provide state-of-the-art technical inputs that: (i) trengthen the Government’s

financial, technical and operational capabil it ies; (ii)ontr ibute to the analy t ica l bas is o f po l i c y dec is ion-

making; (iii) ring cross-country experience, bo th fi-om developed and de velop ing countries; a nd (iv)

fac i li ta te w ork within a federal f ramewo rk by building o n previous experience gained o ver several years

o f support to Argent ina’s educat ion sector at bo th federal and provin cial levels. Exp er ience expected to b e

gained by the nat ional and prov incia l Governments th rough project implementat ion wo uld h elp strengthen

the or ientat ion towards resul ts and development impact, n ot just for the proposed Bank-f inance d Project,

but fo r the Government’s education prog ram as a whole.

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3. Higher level objectives to which the project contributes

The Project supports k ey elements o f the N ational Educat ional Program that contr ibutes to the task o f

reducin g social inequal i ty and imp rovin g Argentina’s growth potential . In Argentina, there i s a close

correlation between socio-economic levels and schooling success, suggesting that education has often

served in the past to exacerbate rather than al leviate social and economic inequalit ies. Chi ldren whocome fr om relat ive ly weal thier fami l ies do better in school, even i f hey attend pu blic schools, an d are

less l ik el y to repeat and to drop o ut o f school, an d they show better test scores. Th ey ten d to proceed to

mo re successful careers in the labor market and earn better incomes. Conversely, chi ldren fro m poor

fami l ies tend to per fo rm worse in school a nd consequently afterwards. In general, the education system i s

no t able to compensate for the economic deficits that constrain po or childre n in their ho me environment.

The proposed Project focused on ru ral areas wou ld be a par t o f various other effor ts in a nat ional

endeavor to reverse this process o f poor educat ion perpetuat ing p overty. The proposed Project’s

cont r ibut ion to a reduct ion in the inequal i ty o f outcomes in rura l educat ion wo uld help to lead to a

reduct ion in the overa l l inequal i ty o f he educat ion system.

B. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The lending ins t rument i s a speci f ic investment loan, which provides both f inancial and technical

assistance throughout implem entat ion o f he proposed Project.

1. Project development objective and key indicators

The Project ’s Development Object ive i s to suppor t nat ional Government pol icy to : (i)mprove the

coverage, efficiency, and qua lity o f he Argentine education system, and (ii)o im prove the governance o f

the Argen t ine educat ion system through strengthening o f the normative, planning, informa tion,

monitoring, and evaluation capacity at the national and provincial levels. These general objectives

translate into the fo l lo win g speci fic P roject Development Objectives (PDO) to be reached in a p e r io d o f

fiv e years:

A. Coverage(Al) Reduce by ha l f he d i f ference in he access o f 6 year old chi ldren in ls trade as compared to

5 year old chi ldren in Pre-School in rur al areas in Argentina;

(A2) Increase fr om 73 percent to 85 percent the access o f students co mpl etin g the 7th grade to the

8’ grade o f school ing in rur al areas in Argentina;

B. Efficiency(B1) Improve prom ot ion rate in EGB1 (Grades 1 to 3) in rur al areas in Argen ti na f r o m 76 percent

(2002) to 85 percen t (2010);

(B2) Reduce two or more years o f overage enrol lment in E G B 2 in rura l areas f ro m 24 percent

(2002) t o 12 percen t (2010);

C . Quality(C l) Improve the percentage o f students in Grade 3 in ru ral schools a chieving prof ic iencies in

the nat ional ly rat i f ied standards o f he Core Lea rning Pr ior i t ies (NAP);(C l) Improve the percentage o f students in Grade 6 in ru ral schools achieving prof ic iencies in

the nat ional ly rat i f ie d standards o f he Core Lea rning Pr ior i t ies (NAP);

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D. Governance

(Dl) Number of bi lateral agreements between nat ional and provincial Governments in

satisfactory execution; an d

(D2) Annual p lans regard ing the compilation, analysis, dissemination and use o f educational

statistics in satisfactory execution.

2. Project components

Component A:U W 4 4 . 7 9 million Bank financing)

Improving Quality and Coverage o f Rural Education (US$234.85 million;

This component would support improvements in rural educat ional services throug h the N ationa l Program

for Rura l Educa t i on (NPRE) approved by the Federal Educat ion Cou nci l (CFE) in 2004. The component

wo uld f inance the development and appl icat ion o f pedagogical and organizational models that are

appropriately tai lored fo r the par t icular social , cul tural and economic con text o f rural households.

Act iv i t ies in the prov inces wou ld be par t o f the educat ion po l icy formulated around specif ied coverage

and qua l i ty targets regarding rural educat ion for each province. The n at ional program w ou ld be executed

through signed co nv en io s- or bi lateral agreements-between the nat ion al and prov incia l Governments.

The NPRE assigns resources to al l provinces, with pr ior i ty to those where the coverage and quality gaps

are the greatest. Th e distr ibut ion o f esources among the provinces wou ld b e based on the percentage o f

rural pop ulat ion and the percentage o f households with unm et basic needs in the province. The detai ls o f

inter-provincial al locat ion o f esources are speci f ied fur ther in he Operat ions Man ual . The m ain purpose

of this approach is to use a more equitable instrument to link the federal resources to the needs o f

provinces, and cont r ibute to redress the high l eve l o f d ispari ty in educational spending across Argen tine

regions.

The implementat ion arrangement for the Project w ou ld center on convenios betwe en the nat ional and

prov incial Governments. These convenios f orm the basis o f an accountabi l i ty framew ork for the project.

The accountabi l i ty regarding the rural educat ion component wo uld be centered on f ive-year goals and the

annual targets f or ru ral educat ion that would fo rm part o f he convenios descr ibed in Annex 6. This annexalso descr ibes ho w the f low o f esources wo uld be l inked to accomplishment o f he goals laid out in th e

convenios.

This component consists o f a two-pronged implemen tat ion strategy, that wo uld also be ref lected in th e

definition o f the disbursement categories for B an k financing as fol low s: (i)he f i rst par t o f he strategy

refers to the implementat ion o f ac t iv it ies that wou ld b e coord inated and purchased by the national level,

whic h includ e the provis ion o f didact ic mater ials and teaching equipment and other inputs; and (ii)he

second par t o f this strategy wo uld consist o f act iv i t ies that wo uld be executed di rect ly by the provinces

and schools with resources transferred by the nat ional level to the provinces, referred to as Provincial

Sub-projects. B o th o f these elements o f the implementat ion strategy would be included in the bi lateral

agreement or convenio, and wo ul d fo rm part o f he province’s pl an for r ura l educat ion. There are three

sub-components:

Sub-component A l : Improving Operating Conditions o f Rural Schools (US$117.79 million;

US$106.01 Bank financing)

This sub-component covers fou r a ct iv i t ies that are com mon to a l l levels o f compulsory educat ion in th e

coun try: Pre-school, EGB1, E G B 2 and EGB3, and special support fo r indigenous education:

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Pro vis ion o f basic didactic ma terials and teaching equipment: Dida ctic materials financed

by this sub-component wo ul d include: (a) textbooks, workbooks, student and teacher

guides; (b) l ibrary books, reference books, school supplies, audio-visual materials; (c)science and technology equipment (computers and televisions) and software; a nd (d) sports

and did actic games.

Minimum school infrastructure standards: This act iv i ty intends to provide minimum school

infrastructure standards for al l schools in the rural areas. This act iv i ty would pr ior i t i ze

schools located in egions where the problem o f di lapidated nfrastructure and lack o f water

and electr ic i ty supply are most crucial. T o achieve i t s object ives the act iv i ty wo uld f inance:

(a) cons tructio n o f additio nal classrooms to absorb a ddition al enrollment; (b) replacement

of di lapid ated schools and rehab il i tation o f school facil i t ies; (c) furniture; and (d) school

mainte nance costs.

Establishment o f Clusters o f Rural Schools (amupamientos) : T o faci l i tate loca l

organization and management, this act iv i ty w ou ld support the establishment o f school

clusters. These clusters w ou ld operate as a suppo rt system for teachers in solate d areas and

wo ul d increase the exchange o f experiences in the r ur al areas. A c lus ter o f rura l schools

wo ul d group, more or less, ten schools. The cluster wo uld pro vide space for deal ing with a

com mon set o f problems whi le at the same t ime generating economies o f scale in core

func tions such as educational planning, train ing and management o f didactic materials,

teach ing equipments, and fin ancia l resources. This activity would finance: (a) technical

assistance; and (b) operational resources for the formatio n and fu nct ionin g o f c lusters as

detai led in Annex 4.

Distance educat ion through the Educat ion TV Channel: This act iv i ty would support the

supply o f technological tools to perm it schools and students t o receive the TV programs

del ivered by the TV National Educat ion Channel . The component would f inance: (a)

technical tools to connect the TVs in each school with the satellite; and (b) operational

costs relate d to this act iv i ty.

Indigenous educat ion: Th is act iv i ty wo ul d support the development o f actions to increase

awareness o f he cul tural diversi ty exist ing in the rura l communit ies as we l l as knowled ge

o f the t rad i t ional language and cul ture o f the ind igenous populat ion. This act iv i ty would

finance: (a) technical assistance and consultant services fo r the pre parat ion o f school

development plans; (b) t r a in i ng o f he members o f he commun it y who wou ld support the

implementat ion o f l i teracy programs and development o f inst i tut iona l projects, and (c)

training programs fo r schools developing indigenous educat ion programs.

Sub-component A2: Expanding Coverage and Improving Student Promotion Flow (US$106.46million; US$29.17 Bank financing)

This sub-component wo uld support four act ivi ties, each o f whi ch corresponds to a par t icular educat ion

leve l within the general category o f compulsory educa t ion in Arg ent ina (Pre-school, EGBl, E G B 2 a nd

EGB3) :

(i) Expanding coverage for Pre-school education: This act iv i ty wo uld support the extension o f

pre-school programs in the rural areas throug h the development and appl icat ion o f multi-

grade pre-school models. T o expand the provi s ion o f pre-school in the ru ral schools, this

act iv i ty wou ld support the fol low ing: (a) prov is ion o f eacher guides on act iv i t ies for pre-

school chi ldren; (b) train ing activ it ies f or teachers; and (c) technical assistance.

8



(ii)

(iii)

(14

Redu cing repet i t ion in EGB 1 This act iv i ty wo uld promote organizat ional and pedagogical

act ions to prevent dropout and repet i t ion in the first years o f school ing, through three l ines

o f act ions: (a) development o f act ions to increase the reading abi l i ty o f students in th e

in it ia l grades, in clu din g preparatory activit ies at the pre-school leve l; (b) adopti on o f a

three-year learning cycle as the framework for learning and students’ promotion; (c)improvements in the curr iculu m materials for teaching mat h and other c urricula contents;

an d (d) training activit ies. This act iv i ty would f inance teacher training programs and

techn ical assistance to ensure appropriate use o f he selected educational teaching-learning

materials financed under sub-component A1

Accelerat ion program fo r increasing students’ attainment in EGB2: In most rura l areas inArgentina, an estimated 30 percent o f students 11 or 12years o f age are over-age in relat ion

to t he grade, due to repetit ion, dropout an d sporadic re-enrollment in school. T o reduce the

overage problem, this act iv i ty aims to help the over-age students in rural areas catch up

academically and thereby reduce the serious age grade distortion in EGB2. The

implementat ion o f an accelerated learning program, using special ly developed materials,

teacher or ientat ion and student sel f-guided wo rk w ou ld reduce the impa ct o f previous

repetit ions and would stimulate the capacity in over-aged chi ldren for cont inuing theirstudies rather than dropping o ut prematu rely fro m school. This act iv i ty wo ul d f inance: (a)

teacher training; (b) teaching-learning materials; (c) school supervision visits; and (d)

technical assistance.

Lower secondarv education (EGB3): Schools that belonged to the p revious 7-year pr imar y

school system would be extended to the 9-year EGB system. T o ex tend the years o f

school ing o f students, and cont inue the use o f mul t i -grade classes in EGB3, this act iv i ty

wo ul d support: (a) the design o f earning modules for students, wh ich wo ul d al low students

to wo rk a t the ir own pace with regula r guidance; (b) textbooks, workbooks/manuals with

activit ies adapted to the rura l context; (c) audio-visual materials spec ifica l ly developed for

the rura l context; (d) school development plans; (e) train ing fo r teachers to act as tutors for

the sel f-guided act iv i t ies o f EGB3 students; and (0 train ing o f secondary school teacherswho wo uld be i t inerant teachers o r placed at nodes o f ura l school clusters, or w ou ld ut i l ize

distance learning methods (depending o n the specific ru ra l context).

Sub-component A3: Strengthening Line Departments at the Provincial Levels (US$10.60 million;

US$9.61 million Bank financing)

This subcomponent wo uld support the establishment and consol idat ion o f he management capaci ty o f he

provinces in the implementat ion o f he Pro jec t and susta inabil ity o f he educat ion pol ic ies and ac t iv it ies

after proj ect completion. T h i s subcomponent seeks to raise the qua l i ty o f management o f he schools and

intermediary inst i tut ions so that they can better achieve their academic functions and social

responsibi l i ties o f prov iding equal access and qual i ty educat ion o the chi ldre n in he rur al areas. Thus, thesubcomponent w ould support measures for increasing the prov incial ministr ies’ capaci ty in he fo l l ow ing

dimensions: planning/ information and pedagogical and a dministrat ive areas, in clud ing moni to r ing. Th e

l i n e departments at the provin cial leve l wo uld also be strengthened to support projec t implementat ion and

operation o f he educat ion system at that level . Und er this subcomponent, the project would finance: (a)

technical assistance and consultancy services f or supp orting the pedagogical, a dminis trative and

information areas in each province; (b) trav el expenses; (c) sc hool su pe rvis ion services; (d) i n format ion

system costs; and (e) other operational costs. Adm inist rativ e capacity w ou ld includ e procurement,

financial management, an d au dit ing capac ity.

9



Component B: Enhancing Stewardship Capacity o f National Government (US$5.35 million;


The Project’s support for the Nationa l Program for Ru ral Educat ion uses an organizat ional mo del that

does not re ly o n paral le l inst i tut ional structures and funct ions that w ou ld depend on a Ban k-f inanced

project. Project implementat ion rel ies on the exist ing Government structures-exist ing units at theME Cy T, at the nat io nal level , and at the Provincial ministr ies o f educat ion. The Project wou ld f inance a

large number o f inputs (as provided in Component A above) u nder the frame work o f the nat ional-

prov inc ia l convenio, wh ich w ou ld establish a broad accountabi li ty fram ework for the Project. In order for

that accou ntab il i ty frame work to f un ction as planned, the Project wo ul d pro vide assistance for

strengthening the re leva nt l in e departments in MECyT.There are two sub-components:

Sub-component B1: Strengthening Line Departments at the National Level (US$2.37 million;


An inst i tut ional analysis assessing the capabi l i ty o f he majors actors involve d in project implementat ion

was undertaken, and capacity building measures were identif ied. The requirements at the national level

would strengthen the planning, normative, monitoring, evaluation and implementation support activit ies,

with the bulk o f he support being provided to the departments at the MECyT (i-e., the areas in charge o fthe rur al education program ; evalua tion and statistics; analysis o f pu blic educational expenditures, and

internat ional p roject co-ordination). T o help ensure the adop tion o f ne w processes and procedures and

long-term sustainabi l i ty o f he proposed act ions, through this subcomponent, the p roject w ou ld support:

(i)evi ew of the ins ti tut ion al arrangements o f selected units to ide nt i fy and correct over lapping o f

activit ies and establish mo de m procedures and mechanisms to mo nit or an d evaluate education activit ies

and projects; and (ii)raining programs t o upgrade the technical sk i l l s o f hose i nvo l ved in improvement

of educat ional qual ity, m ain ly in he use o f mplementat ion tools and inform atio n management systems.

This subcomponent would f inance: (i) onsultant services and technical assistance to increase the

inst i tut ional capacity o f ine departments o f the Min i s t r y o f Educa t ion dea li ng with rur al educat ion and

information, as we l l as moni to r ing and evaluation (M&E) activities; (ii)omputer equipment; (iii)

independent auditing at the provincial level; (iv) travel expenses for supervising the provinces andschools, and other ope rational costs.

Sub-component B2: Monitoring and Evaluation (US$2.99 million; US$2.69 Bank financing)

This sub-component wo ul d support the development and imple menta t ion o f a system o f data col lection,

analysis, disseminat ion and use o f nfor matio n for p ol i cy decisions at the National , Pro vincial and School

levels. I t s expected that the info rmat ion system wo ul d also provide inputs for fu ture expansion o f Project

interventions and fo r d er iv ing lessons learned for appl icat ion o f educat ional p ol i cy areas not covered by

the Project, This sub-component would finance technical assistance, and equipment (computers and

software). This sub-component w ou ld develop the fol low ing act iv i ties:

(i) Surveys and Impac t Evaluat ion Studies. F inancing wo ul d be provid ed for a per iodic survey o n

the funct ioning cond i t ions o f rura l schools. Surveys wo ul d includ e those at nat ional andprovincial levels that would evaluate processes and outputs in the course o f Project

implementat ion, and an impact evaluat ion o f a general nature to pro vide insights into the

effectiveness o f publ ic investments in education;

(ii) Student learning. assessments. The proposed Projec t wo ul d fin ance the extension o f a sample of

standardized national student assessments (Operat ivo N acional de Evaluacidn or ONE) t o

ensure representativeness for rural schools by province. This act iv i ty would also include the

10



moni to r i n g o f p rogress in the achievement o f the Co re Lea rning Pr ior i ties (NAP) and

diagnost ic in format ion f r om this assessment to b e pro vided t o indiv idua l schools.

3. Lessons le arn ed and reflected in the pro ject design

In he course o f support ing Argent ina’s educat ional po l icy refo rm through the four PRO DYM ES Pro jects(I,1 I11 and IIIA), well as through support for other investment and adjustment (now development

pol icy) lending in Argentina, a number of lessons have been learned by the Bank. These can be classified

in five dimensions:

a) Definition o the borrower; In a previous project support ing investments at the provin cial lev el

( P R O D Y M E S I),rov inces were ident i f ied and prov inc ia l w i ll ingness to bor row was conf i rmed during

project preparat ion. Eve n so, long delays ensued when external macro-economic shocks compounded

with internal problems led some o f the provinces, after loan approval by the Bank, to avoid tak ing o n

additio nal indebtedness. In he case o f P R O D Y M E S 11, the Federal Government stepped in o assume the

Ba nk oa n after a pe r io d o f wo years wi thout disbursements. Fo r the proposed Project, it i s clear that this

i s a nat ional pro jec t with national indebtedness. In keeping with the nat ional Government’s responsibi l i ty

for educat ional qu al i ty and for compensatory programs, the nat iona l Governmen t wou ld be responsible

for the product ion o f instruments for impro ved educat ional service del ivery. Provinces wo uld contract

with the na tio n to use these instruments to ob tain imp rov ed educational services.

b) Consultat ion and Partnership with Provincial Education Ministr ies: An impor tant lesson f rom

previous projects is the need for a process o f consultat ion with the province s that are responsible for the

administrat ion o f the educat ional system in their respective jur isdict ions. The p roject supports nat ional

educat ional pol icy that i s shaped progres sively in per iod ic meetings o f he Consejo Federa l de Educacidn

(CFE). In addition, the project shares elements with the ne w proposed educat ional f inancing l a w that i s

the subject o f extensive consultations with provincial administrations as well as civi l society at large. At

the operational level, there have been a series o f meetings and consultations with prov inces for def in ing

the Project intervent ions. The design o f the project incorporates provinc ial par t ic ipat ion in determining

the timing and locus o f n tervent ions. Convenios between the nat ional and prov inc ia l Government wou ld

further strengthen provincia l ownership o f he project.

c) Systemic and sustainable impact: Projects that do n ot deal with systemic issues tend to have a l o w

development impac t. Fo r educat ion projects, the ine r t ia o f the ent i re educat ion system can overwh elm

even w el l executed intervent ions in project schools. Targeted interventions in urb an ma rgin al areas, as

was the case with P R O D Y M E S 11 are fine conceptually, but sustained performance improve ment m ay

suffer sin ce there i s n o pol i t i ca l economy locus o f dec is ion mak ing for the schools outs ide o f he pro jec t.

Thus, whe n such a project ends, sustainabi li ty proves very di f f icul t , due no t only to budgetary restrict ions,

but also to the absence o f an inst i tut ional locus for cont inuat ion. The proposed Project ’s support o f

nation al educational policie s for rura l education, integr ated with the bi-centenary goals that do n ot o we

their existence to this proposed Project are factors that enhance the chances f or sustained and systemic

pro jec t impact

d) Importance o monitor ing and evaluation: In spite o f substant ial investments in systems to comp i le

educational statistics, there has no t been a commensurate imp rovem ent in the ready avai labi l i ty an d use of

such statistics as important inputs i n to pol icy dec is ion mak ing. The proposed Pro jec t inc ludes a

component for moni to r ing and evaluat ion and provides resources at bot h the nat iona l and prov incia l

levels t o strengthen the m oni to r ing and evaluat ion funct ion. The inclusion o f educational stat ist ics as par t

of nat ional-provincial convenios addresses the need for good moni tor ing and evaluat ion. The project

design puts emphasis o n the timely col lect ion and feedback o f educat ional indicators at var ious levels o f

11



educational administrat ion an d provides resources f or the implementat ion and dissemination o f studies

inclu ding those on mpa ct evaluat ion.

e) Importance o Flex ib i l i t y : Investment projects finance inputs.A ke y learnin g experience relates to the

need to build in to p roje ct design a process that enhances the flexibility o f ac tivi ties in order to achieve

product iv i ty o f those inputs. The detailed and disaggregated p r ior d ef ini t ion o f act iv i t ies to b e f inancedunde r the propos ed Project, over a fiv e year period and across mu ltip le urisdictions, requ ired foresight to

def ine the opt imal input mix to meet the development objectives. Experience shows that imple men tation

tends to slow do wn wh en circumstances change and alterations to the or iginal plan req uire agreement by

mult ip le par t ies. To address this, the proposed Project incorporates flexi bi l i ty by prov iding o nly a general

def ini t ion regarding possible inputs, an understanding o f the process by whic h those inputs w o u l d b e

employed so as to mon i tor and o btain the results and a system for annual review an d revis ion on he basis

o f ntermediate results.

4. Alternatives considered and reasons for rejection

Nat ional vs . Provincial Loans. One alternative considered was a combina tion o f selected pro vincia l loans

instead o f a nat ional loan. This al ternat ive would involve prohibi t ively high transactions costs both for

prep aratio n as we ll as implementation. A lso, in a scheme o f provincial loans, the provinces with the most

needy beneficiaries may be the ones least able to incur indebtedness, and such a scheme would not be

able to ut i l iz e the federal context o f Argent ine educat ional pol icy, where the Federal Governmen t has an

impor tant ro le to p lay in redressing inequal i ty a nd resolv ing problems o f quality.

SWAp. Since the projec t supports n ation al programs, i t wo uld seem a logical step to prepare this project

as a Sector W ide Appro ach (SWAp), where there wo uld be a full mingling o f esources f ro m the Nat ional

Treasury and from Bank f inancing for project intervent ions. This project al ready meets one important

object ive o f SWA PS that seeks to reduce transact ion costs s ince paral lel ins t i tut ional mechanisms wo uld

n o t be set up, other than those o f exist ing federal programs where execut ion i s cooperat ively done with

provinces. However, with rega rd to fin ancia l f low s and procurement arrangements, the Gov ernm ent has

indicated i t s interest in beingable to cont inue a separation o f he f inancial sources and to fol low the Ban k

procedures.

With an investment len ding operation that supports results and i s i n tegra l l y l inked to educat ional po l i cy

measures, another alternative c ould hav e been a Develop ment Po licy L en din g (DPL) operation. However,

in addi t ion to the policy aspects, the proposed operation also covers unmet investment needs for the

expansion o f educational services in ur al areas. Further, in he current C A S as we l l as the upcoming CA S

under discussion, there i s a clear emphasis on investment le ndi ng in the Bank ’s por t fo l io in Argentina. In

a detai led c l ient survey carr ied out as par t o f he C AS preparat ion, a k ey finding was the pub lic preference

for the Ban k to invest more in Argentina in projects fo r education, hea lth and infrastructure.

C. IMPLEMENTATION

The imp leme ntatio n arrangements fo r this Projec t c losely fo l low the pr inc ip le o f par tnership with theGovernment in the del ivery o f he nat ional program o f ura l education. The implement ing agency wou ld

be the National Ministry o f Educat ion, Science and Techno logy (MECyT), through i t s Directorate

General for the Unit o f In ternat ional F inance (DGUFI). The DGUFI would be respons ib le for

coordinat ing the var ious act ivi t ies o f the Project with the other agencies o f MECyT as well as other

Federal and Prov incial Government Agencies. The DGUFIalso manages an Inter-A mer ican Developm ent

Bank-f inanced (IDB) Operation (see Annex 2) and has substantial experience with the internat ional

standards o f inancial management and procurement.

12



The DGUFI i s not expected to develop technical expertise that already exists in l in e departments o f

national and pro vinc ial education ministries. The R ural Educ ation area i s under the Directora te General of

Curr icu lum Management and Teacher Training (DNGCyFD). The area o f monit or ing and evaluation fal ls

under the Nation al Directorate o f Information and Evaluation o f the Qual i ty o f Education (DNIECE).

Other units such as the Infrastructure Unit o f the ME Cy T wou ld a lso be i nvo l ved in the implementationo f he program. The pro ject implementa tion arrangements wo uld buildon he experience o f hese national

programs. The three ke y MECyT units receive a substantial budget for man agin g the ir respective natio nal

programs. There wo ul d not be any need to set up Project Coordination Uni ts (PCUs) either at the Nationa l

or at the Provin cial levels. Where there i s a particular need to build provinc ial implementation capaci ty,

this would be done by strengthening existing l i ne departments at prov incial Min istr ies o f Education,

rather than throug h parallel administrative units.

National-Provincial convenios or bilateral agreements would be signed that would delineate the

responsibil i t ies o f he national and provi ncial Governments, and in some cases, as with resource transfers

to schools, specify the roles and responsib il i ty at that administrative lev el as well. The bilateral

agreements would be supported by annual work plans with the provinces that would move beyond

specification o f inputs and contain targets about the results expected as outputs from the project

interventions. Rather than a pre-determined and fixed allocation across province s for the duration o f heProject, a l locations w ou ld be made on a year ly basis o f a review o f progress towards compliance with the

previous year’s wo rk p la n and projected activities for the future year’s plan. Provinces that are slow in

implementation o f targets w oul d receive help and special attention fro m the national level . Continuedproblems in implementation at the Provincial level wou ld put at r i s k the allocatio n o f esources across to

non-perfor ming provinc es. Details about the bilateral agreements are provid ed in Annex 6 .

1. Moni to r ing and evaluat ion of outcomeshesults

The proposed support o f a national program with implementation through a combination o f national and

provinc ial arrangements makes the role o f monitor ing and evaluation even more impo rtant than in more

tradi t ional input-based projects. Implementation Com pletion Reports o f previous Bank-f inanced

education projects have indicated the need for closer attention to establishing benchmarks early o n in theproject cycle, and for follow -up regarding established targets. In order to ensure the timely and regular

availabil i ty o f data about proje ct implementation, resources have been set aside fo r a special mo nito ring

and evaluation component o f he proposed Project. There wo ul d be three related nterventions in this area.

First, there wou ld be special purpose surveys such as those to f ol lo w the status o f nfrastructure o f ura l

schools. Second, there would be training and technical assistance directed at the provincial level to

encourage the adoption o f the use o f analyt ical wo rk on educational pol icy . Third, there would be

attention placed on dissemination activities inc ludin g the establishment o f systems t o generate periodic

information o n Project implementation. Information on the success or otherwise in meet ing targets used

for project supervision wou ld also be devolved to the educational establ ishments wh o w ou ld benefi t f ro m

the Project. Constant attention to the mon itor ing o f outcomes and results, as we ll as the dissemination o f

results, including the tracking o f project expenditures and involvem ent o f civ i l society organizations is

expected to im prov e governance and accou ntabil i ty that i s crucia l to the success o f he proposed P r ~ j e c t . ~

Detai ls about monitor ing indicators are provided in Annex 3.

3 MECyT already collaborates closely with NGOs regarding oversight o f the use o f pub l ic resources for school

infrastructure.

13



2. Sustainability

The support for an integrated nat ional progra m within a federal framework, such as the Nati on al Program

for R ur al Educat ion, brings benef its o f cont inu i ty in Government pol icy and reduces the uncertainty

regarding sustainabi l i ty in a project. In he case o f nat ional programs, the ro le o f he dec is ion mak ing o f

the Federa l Educat ion Counc i l (Consejo Federal) i s very important-the NPRE i s supported byresolut ions and declarations o f the Consejo Federal. Apar t f rom the ins t itu t ional ro le p layed by the

Consejo Federal, sustainabil i ty i s also aide d by the operational level deliberat ions inv olv ing provinces.

The p ropo sed Proje ct’s goals have a modest fiscal impa ct. Increasing the enrollm ent at the Pre-School and

EGB3 levels in ru ra l areas, with the use o f pedagogical and administrat ive models that re ly o n multi-

grade teaching an d the use o f tinerant teachers, tutors and supplemental material for students wo ul d have

only a smal l marginal impact in te rms o f the teacher wage bill. Improvements in ef f i c iency f rom the

accelerated programs f or over-age chi ldren and attent ion t o problems o f repet i t ion and dropout w ou ld

actual ly lead to improvements in the eff ic iency o f exist ing resources. The economic analysis in Annex 9

presents some basic simulations regardin g he analysis o f sustainabil i ty o f he project interventions.

3. Critical risks and possible controversial aspects

Possible Risk Factor

1. Poor implementationcapacity in provinces would

delay execution o f the

program.

2. Transfer o f project

management from a PCUapproach to management by

l i ne units o f M E C y T may face

capacity constraints.3. The project may besuccessful in provid ing inputs,but outputs and outcomes may

not be attained.

4. A re-emergence o f crisis

conditions ma y lead to severe

cutbacks in Governmentexpenditures

asin

the 2000-2002 period.

Overal l Risk

Proposed Mitig atio n Measures

a) Detai led Insti tutional Analysis o f ProvincialCapacity leading up to insti tutionalstrengthening measures in the National -Provincia l convenios.

b) Close and constant mon itoring o f projectimplementation and remedial action in case o fproblems.

a) Provisio n o f echnical assistance to l ine units o fM E C y T .

b) High pr ior i ty p laced by Government onstrengthening o f Ru ral Educat ion U ni t of

M E C y T .a) Inclusio n and monitorin g o f outputs and

outcomes in National-Provincial bi lateralagreements.Ut i l i za t ion o f results o f impact evaluation and

other studies incorporated into th e project

design.Flexibility in def ini t ion of nputs to be financed

by the project.

b)

c)

a) Improved portfol io monitoring procedures put

in place by the Bank’s Country ManagementUnit after the last crisis would provide earlywarning.

b) Current pol i t ical and economic situationindicates stability (this i s not a mi t igat ion

measure).

Risk Rating

Substantial

Medium

Substantial

Medium

Substantial

14



4. L o a n conditions and covenants

Loan Effectiveness would require signed bi lateral agreements between the Federal Government and at

least tw o Provinces. The project will be carr ied out fol lowing the requirements o f an Operat ional Ma nua l

that wil l includ e amon g others the fiduciary and technical requirements o f the project, including the

selection and implementation requirements of the provincial subprojects and the school managedactivit ies. T he pro ject wou ld also includ e disbursement conditions requ ir ing for each Province where the

pro ject wo ul d be implemented, a signed bi latera l agreement and a satisfactory finan cial management and

procurement assessment o f he province.

APPRAISAL SUMMARY

1. Econo mic an d financ ial analysis

Annex 9 reports the findings o f the economic and financia l analysis, and i t i s summarized here. The

Ann ex presents the findings f ro m a recent ly conducted Rura l Household Survey (RHS) carr ied out fo r a

study on ru ra l pover ty in Argentina. The survey o f isolated rural areas i s smal l in scale (with 414

households sampled in the provin ces o f Chaco, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, an d Mendoza) incompar ison to the wide ly used Permanent Household Survey (Encuesta Permanente de Hogares or EPH)

that covers urb an areas in Argentina. H owev er, wage earnings regressions repo rted in th e study prov ide

important insights regarding the potent ial benef its o f his Project. Fol low ing the presentation o f data fro m

the rur al house hold survey, a cost-benefit analysis o f he Proje ct is presented that indicates an interna l rate

o f e tu rn o f 14.3 percent under conservative assumptions. T he second part o f Annex 9 ident i f ies the f iscal

impact o f the investment, wh ich appears t o be min or considering the magni tude o f educat ional

expenditures in Argentina.

2. Technical

The technical just i f icat ion of the Project i s based on three grounds: (i)ime l y comple ti on o f he ob l iga to r y

years o f basic educat ion in rura l Argent ina wo uld b e an impor tant e lement to reduce inequal i ty and

pover ty , and contr ibute to improved product iv i ty o f he wo rk force in the lo ng term; (ii)he focus o f thisProject i s to provide educat ional inputs under a national program, with bilateral agreements with

provin ces to enhance accountabil i ty; a nd (iii)he l im i ted but impor tant investment o f the Pro jec t indeepening the use o f information and educat ional research wou ld be ve ry use ful in malung marginal

improvements towards stronger analyt ical foundations o f educat ional pol ic y.

3. Fiduciary

Financ ial Management and Audit Arrangements : The pro jec t w ould be implemented using the exist ing

structures that are in place at the DGUFI. Add i t iona l arrangements regarding project imple menta t ion at

the prov inc ia l level would be implemented to coord inate the f lo w o f funds and in format ion. At the

central level, the MECyT, through the DGUFI, would be respons ib le for car ry ing out f inanc ia l

management, procurement and disbursement activit ies, as well as for monitoring and supervising thef iduciary arrangements at the provincial level . Provincial Governments would use their planning,

finan cial management systems, and in tern al cont rol arrangements, e.g. M&E, f iduciary management and

intern al arrangements, for supervising the ru ra l school clusters.

A number o f measures have been agreed during project preparat ion to address the inhe rent comp lexi t ies

o f f iduciary oversight for a decentral ized operat ion. These include (i)he f inancing scheme for the

Project, under wh ich some expendi tures wo ul d be pai d at the Nation al Governmen t level throug h the

15



DGUFI. Even though the DGUFI s w el l organized and has experience fr om previous projects, i t wou ld

benefit fr om the p ro vi si on of technical assistance to coordinate actions at the operational leve l regarding

bo th national and pro vinc ial l i ne departments; and (ii)he strengthening o f he fiducia ry capacity at some

o f he weakest provinces that wou ld be required for the province to part icipate in he project. Th e DGUFI

wo uld prov ide ad ministrat ive and financial management support to the project and wo ul d be responsible

for al l payments or ig inated at the Federal Government level directly to providers, contractors andconsultants inc lud in g the transfers made to the Prov incia l level and Rur al School Clusters. TheProvincial Government level would be responsible to contract and directly pay contractors and

consultants hire d by them. The DGUFI wou ld have the ma in funct ion in this case o f consolidating the

financial management information , and supervising the use o f project resources according to the project

objectives and the financia l planning.

The Project’s Operational Manual would include procurement, disbursement, in-kind contribution,

financial management an d interna l contro l procedures and processes Th e DGUFI’s and the init ial selected

provinces’ financial management capacity i s in the process o f bein g strengthened with the support o f

technical staff. The finan cial statements o f the Project would be audited annually by the Comptroller

General (AGN). The DGUFIwo ul d be responsible f or c ollecting finan cial management data, accounting,

reporting, and ensuring external auditing o f all project-related expenditures. Ann ual a udit reports wou ld

be completed by AGN, and forwarded to the Bank within six months o f he end o f each f isca l year. TheProject financial statements audits w ou ld be conducted fol low in g natio nal audit standards compatible

with International Organization o f Supreme Audit Inst i tut ions ( INTOSAI). The Project wo uld have

external audit arrangements for the central Government and al l provinces, w hi ch wo ul d o in the Project,under the responsibi l i ty o f AGN. This arrangement requires that external auditors would provide a

tradi t ional independent audit o in t ly with the support o f he MECyT intern al audit unit in order to provid e

technical assistance during the f iscal year. The Project incorporates the Bank’s n ew p ol ic y on el ig ibi l i ty

for Ban k f inancing. T o im plement the pol icy, the Country Financing Parameters for Argentina were

approved by th e LCR Regional V ice President in M a y 2005.

A special account (SA) wo ul d be required to transfer resources fro m the Ba nk based o n the requirements

to be made by the Government. The Bank wou ld f inance up to 90 percent o f he project total expenditures

effectively made by the project. Lo an proceeds wou ld be disbursed at a rate o f up t o 90 percent to coverthe cost o f goods, works, services and flat recurrent costs requir ed to imp lem ent the bilater al agreement.

The t e rm s and conditions f or the advance o f finds f rom the S A to the provinces wou ld be agreed in eachbi lateral agreement. The Ban k wo uld monito r the Government o f Argentina’s assessment o f the

insti tut ional performance o f each part icipating Province fo r the purpose o f adjusting the size o f the

advances in the future. As i t s customary in Argentina, the Government wou ld open a SA, as a rev olv ing

bank account to pre-finance proj ect expenditures for al l components and wo ul d request reimbursement for

the Bank’s share o f he f inancing. Requests fo r reimbursement w oul d be submitted to the Ba nk on the

basis o f Statements of Expenditure (SOEs). Resources wo uld be transferred f ro m the W or ld Ba nk to a

Ministry o f F inance t ransi tory Bank Account a t the B IS Ban k in Base1 in dollars. The Ba nk wou lddisburse to the Government based on transaction-based disbursement requests sent by the DGUFI.

Resources would be transferred fr om the W or ld Ban k to a special account open at the Banco de la Naci on

Argentina in dollars. An operative b ank account in pesos wo uld be also open at “Banco de la Naci6n” on

the name o f he DGU FV ME CyT to manage resources t ransferred f rom he SA .

An assessment o f the procurement capaci ty was carr ied out f or the implementing agency DGUFIand for

one of the Provinces that w ou ld be responsible for the imple men tatio n o f the sub-projects (Province of

Misiones). The overall procurement r i sk i s assessed as AVERAGE. In order to mit igate risks, specialprocurement provisions are bein g include d in the Loa n Agreement and a Procurement Actio n Plan has

been agreed. DGUFI wo ul d organize a procurement team consis ting o f at least one senior procurement

specialist and two junior procurement special ists, a l l o f hem should be already fami l iar with the Bank’s

16



proc urem ent guidelines, documents an d procedures. This team would assess the implementing capaci ty

o f he selected provinces and determine the level o f risk invo lved in he case o f each beneficiary Province

using a method ology acceptable to the Bank . The team wou ld establish an Excel-based info rma tion

system to mo nito r pro ject and procurement progress.

4. Social

The national p rogram supported by this proj ect has been discussedwidely with ci vi l society. There are n o

con trov ersia l social issues associated with this project. A br ief summary o f he consultat ions i s presented

in Annex 10 in connection with the support being provide d under the project fo r education in rura l areas

where student beneficiaries include those f ro m indigenous families, m ai nl y in the NEA and NOA regions

o f he country. The Indigenous People’s Development Pla n ( IPDP) i s presented in Annex 10 and has been

duly discussed and divulge d in accordance with Ba nk disclosure policies.

5. Envi ronment

This Project does not support the large-scale construction o f new schools. However, the project does

include civi l works activi t ies in general o f a sm al l scale for the repair and rehabi l i tation o f exist ing

schools. In the case that provinces do undertake such construction activities, they would undertake

prev enti ve measures to limit environmenta l damage. A template o f environmental guidel ines to be used inpossible constru ction contracts has been presented to the Bank; and these guidelines w ou ld be inclu ded as

p a rt o f an Env ironmental Management Frame work (EMF) in he Operations Ma nu al for the project.

6. Safe guar d policies

Safeguard Policies Triggere d by the Project Yes No

Envi ronm enta l Assessment (OP/BP/GP 4.0 1) [X I [INatural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) [IPest Manageme nt (OP 4.09) [ICultu ral Property (OPN 11.03, being revised as OP 4.11) [IInvo lunta ry Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) [IIndigenou s Peoples (OD 4.20, being re vised as OP 4.10) [XI

[X I

[X I

Forests (OP/BP 4.36) [I [X I

Safety o f Dams (OP/BP 4.37) 11 [XI

Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP/GP 7.60) [I [X I

Projects on nternational Waterways (OP/BP/GP 7.50) [I [X I

The National Program for Rural Education supported by the Project i s associated with a program o f

intercul tural and bi l ingual education (Programa de Educacidn In tercu l tura l B i l ing i ie or PEIB) fo r

indigenous groups in Argentina, about 50 p erc en t o f w h o m l i v e in ru ra l areas. There are approxim ately

500,000 indigenous people in Argentina, in clud ing the fol low in g ethnic groups: Collas, Chiriguano-

ChanC, Chulupi, Diaguitas-Calchaqui, Huarpes, Wichi, Mocovi, Pilagh, Toba, Mbya-Guarani, Mapuche

and Tehuelche. Annex 10 includes a presentation about the status o f education regarding indigenou spopulations in Argentina and discusses the support o f the project to the education o f chi ldren in

indigenous communities living in rural areas. The IPDP i s also presented in Annex 10 and has been duly

discussed and divulge d in accordance with Ba nk disclosure pol icies.

7. Policy Exceptions a nd Readiness

No po li cy exceptions are expected.

17



Annex 1: Country and Sector o r Program Background

Argentina: Rural Education Improvement Project - PROMER

Year

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

Significant strides in educational attainment: Argentina’s education sector has made great strides in

the past fo ur decades, and represents the highest average lev el o f education in he region.

UnitedStates

5.3 2.9 5.2 2.8 5.4 4.3 9.1 4.8 4.7 1.9 3.7 8.5

5. 5 3.0 5.0 2.9 5.1 5.4 8.8 5.1 5.0 2.4 3.8 9.1

6.2 3.3 5.7 3.7 5.7 4.9 9.1 5.4 5. 5 2.6 4.8 9.5

6.3 3.0 5.6 3 .9 6.2 6.6 9.8 5.9 5.7 2.8 4.7 9.7

7.0 3.1 6.4 4.8 6.2 7.9 10.3 7.0 5.9 3.8 6.0 11.9

7.1 3.5 6.7 5.2 6.9 8.7 10.8 7.3 6.2 3.9 5.8 11.6

8.1 4.0 7.0 6.7 7.1 9.9 11.0 8.0 6.5 4.9 6.4 11.7

8.5 4.5 7.3 7.0 7.3 10.6 11.4 8.3 6.9 5.5 6.8 11.9

8.8 4.9 7.6 7.2 7.6 10.8 11.6 8 .7 7.2 5.9 7.3 12.1

Argen tina B razil Chile Mexico Uruguay Korea Canada Greece Italy Portug al Spain

Increasing ncome inequality:The increase o f educational attainment shown in he above table contrasts

marked ly with the d is tr ibut ion o f income in the past three decades or so. Data are available only for

Greater Buenos Aires, but i t i s remarkable that the Lorenz curve for income shown in Figure 1 has keptFigure 1: Lorenz Curves - Distribution of Equivalized Household expanding outward. The Gini

coeff icient for the distr ibution o f

household per capita income increased

from 34.5 in 1974 to 53.8 in 2002,whi le the poverty headcount rat io

increased from around 5 percent to

more than 50 percent in the same

period. In “Argentina’s Distr ibutional

Fa i lu re : The ro le o f In tegra t ion and

Public Policies”, by Leonard0

Gaspar in i, Nat iona l Un ivers i ty o f L a

Pla ta , C ED LA S Wo rk in g Paper # 1,

Sept. 2003 (source o f Figu re l),he

- i s n - - 9w . m e - m- ~ so z - . -+ -sow author claims that there are no

countries in Lat in Amer ica and the

Caribbean that experienced suc h dramatic changes in the income distr ibution. Education i s often posi ted

to be the engine o f reducing social inequality, wh ic h makes eminent com mon sense-absent significant

physical asset redistribution, education potentially affords children from poor or relatively less well-offfamil ies to acquire sk i l l s that would, in principle, help them to overcome their disadvantage at birth.

However, in Argentina over the past few decades, as the average educational attainment grew, the

inequal i ty also grew dramatically. In order to understand this mystery, i t i s impor tan t to l ook a t

productiv ity, since the link between education and incomes comes throu gh productivi ty.

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.D 1

18



Contribution o f Human Capital to Productivity: The simplest evidence regarding the link between

huma n capi tal and prod uct iv i ty can be obtained by an empir ical estimation o f a Cobb-Douglas produc t ion

Output per

Worker

funct ion. Using data f rom 1991 f rom

155 countr ies, Hall and Jones

analyzed the patterns o f output per

worker, using th e United States as astandard. Output per worker i s

regressed o n a measure o f physical

capi tal and human capi tal and the

residual i s at t r ibuted to product iv i ty

that cannot be measured directly.

Table 2 presents an excerpt o f he data

for a subset o f countr ies with a focus

on the example o f Argentina. The

table shows that the ou tput per worker

in Argentina was 42 percent o f ha t inthe US., about the numb er that could

be expected for a middle- income

developing country . Workers f ro m

D ue t oue t odifferences in differences inPhysical Hu ma n Residual

Cati tal CaDital Di f ferences

Un ite d States

N or w ay

Canada

Hunparv

1.00 1oo 1 oo 1 oo0.76 1.20 0.91 0.70

0.94 1 oo 0.91 1.03

0.3 1 1.12 0.93 0.29

Poland 0.241 1.281 0.801 0.24

Argentina have 68 percent o f he Huma n Capi tal o f he numeraire U.S. worker , so the years o f attainment

(used to measure Hu ma n Capital) does no t quite explain the large differenc e in overal l product iv i ty, and

the difference in the residual i s closer to I rela nd than the Eastern Europ ean countries. I t s probable that

the product iv i ty di f ference i s due to differences in educational qual i ty, and due to the distr ibut ion o f

educational attainment within the country.

I re land

Argentina

L ow educational quality and skewed distribution:The Program f or Internat ional Student Assessment

(PISA) provides a v ery us eful understanding o f educat ional qual i ty benchmarke d to an internat ional

0.58 1.051 0.771 0.71

0.42 0.951 0.681 0.65

Figure 2: C D F o f PISA Test Score 2000: Selected Comparison

700

600

500

400

300

200

120 40 60 80 100

context. -The data f or the P IS A assessment

for mathematics provides a reveal ing

picture. Considering mathematics scores, i f

we arrange the pa rt ic ipat ing countries by th eaverage score, Argentina, with a score o f

388, comes in at the e ighth f rom the bot t om

amongst 43 part ic ipat ing countr ies. The

average scores range from a high o f 564

(Netherlands) to a l o w o f 292 (Peru), with

the average o f country averages being 473,

indicat ing that Argent ina's score i s m u c h

below the average. I t i s mo re interest ing t o

note that i f the countr ies are ranked

according to the di f ference in average scores

o f th e t o p 5 percent i le and the bottom 95

percentile, Argentina's r an k fal ls precipitously, second fr o m the bottom, with only Is rael showing h igher

inequal i ty. The cumulat ive distr ibut ion funct ion (CDF) comparing some countries makes this po in t

vividly-the top 20 percent o f students in Argentina (third i ne going d ow n f ro m the top) score more than

500 points, The second l ine from the top i s U S A , a n d i t crosses the 500 ma rk at about 60 percent -meaning that 60 percent o f the students in U S A scored less than 500. Thus, 20 percent o f Argent ine

chi ldren scored better than 60 percent o f chi ldren in t he USA . I f we imagine tak ing these 20 percent o f

Argent ine ch i ldren to the Un i te d States, a country with four t imes the per capi ta GDP in PPP terms (i t

w o u l d b e 8 times in terms o f nom inal exchange rates) , they wo ul d be do ing better than the median U S

chi ld, or al ternat ively, they wo uld b e perform ing much better than other groupings o f s imi lar s ize in the

19



U S A . At the same t ime, at the bottom end o f he distr ibut ion, Argent ina crosses over to be belo w Ch i le

and Peru. In Argentina, therefore, the high per form ing students d o mu ch better than at least the general

regiona l pattern, and the l o w performin g students do m uc h worse.

Nexus between Equity and Quality: Figu re 2 above shows on ly the distr ibution o f he test scores and

no t incomes. However, there i s a close correlation between student achievement and fam ily ba ckgro undand income. A recent Bank repor t (“Building a Ski l led Labor Force for Sustained and Equi table

Econ omic Growth”, W o r l d Ba nk 2005) reports fro m a regression analysis o f hree di f ferent kinds o f est

scores, including the PISA, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the

ONE, Argentina’s ow n nation al standardized test. The authors also u sed multiple measures o f household

resources, inc lud ing hous ehold income. Th e authors report “Consistent with prio r research on the factors

associated with learning in Argentina and in other countries, our analyses also find that fami ly

background i s closely related to student achievement. Parental education i s strongly associated with

student achievement in al l three assessments. Children o f better educated parents, have higher scores, on

average, in all three assessments evaluated for this report. This consistent result indicates that

intergenerat ional mo bi l i ty in educational attainment and q ual ity remains a challenge.”

Regio nal Disparities: There are sig nifican t disparit ies in terms o f access to pre-school educat ion and to

EG B3 or lo wer secondary educat ion. Pr imary Educat ion (EGB1& 2) has universa l coverage, th oug h thisl eve l i s plagued by problems o f neff ic iency. The table below shows the coverage across the provincia l

jur isd ic tions a nd by urban and rura l areas within a Province. No te the lo w f igures fo r coverage o f Pre-Sch oo l (age 5 years) in some provinces, su ch as the 44.6 percen t coverage in rura l areas o f Chaco. In he

age-group o f 12 to 14 years, corresponding to EGB 3, th e figures sh owi ng coverage in the seventies and

eighties in percentage terms correspond to the poorer No rt h Eastern and No rt h Western Provinces.

20



Table 3: Coverage o f the Edu cation system b y Urban an d R u ra l Areas across Provinces.

Bicentenary Goals: Arge ntina celebrates i t s second bicentenary in the year 2010, and has proposed to

meet ten s imple but strategic educat ional goals that are drawn f rom the M i l l en ni um Development Goals

(MDGs) and the Dakar goals o f Educat ion For All (EFA).Th e bicentenary goals are as fol lo ws:

Enro llment o f he popu la ti on o f 5 years o f age into schools throughout the country. Fifty

percent o f chi ldren between three and four years ol d enrol led int o pre-school level .

Guarantee a minimum o f ten years o f compulsory school ing for Argent ine ch i ldren and

youth. Aim f o r 30 percent o f EGB students accessing full-time school.

M ov e forwa rd towards universal access to secondary educat ion, inclu ding you ng peo ple

who are out o f school and helping th em complete their studies.

Imp rove teachers’ labo r and salary conditions, c ont r ibu ting to giving prestige t o teaching

as a career.

Expand the incorporat ion o f in forma t ion and comm unicat ion technologies in an

increasing number o f establishments a nd mo ve fo rward towards a u niversal ly taughtsecond language.

Improv e the qua l i ty o f the nat io nal educat ion system, guaranteeing a 100 percent

achievement o f he Core Learn ing Pr ior i t ies (NAP)by EGB students

El iminate i l l i teracy throughout the country.

21



Guarantee equipment and modernization o f technical schools an d the necessary

pedagog ical transformations in order to reach the federally agreed quality standards for

competency-based national certifications o f echnical and vocational education.

Strengthen democratization, quality, innovation and relevance o f higher-leve l education.

Gi ve prestige t o science and technology research, guaranteeing the goals proposed fo r theScience and Technology Pluri-annual Plan approved by the Cabinet Committee on

Science and Techno logy (GACTE C).

Increased Educational Expenditures within an accountability framework: In order to meet these

goals, the Go ver nme nt has proposed legis latio n that seeks to increase the am ount o f publ ic expenditure on

education fro m 4.2 to 6 percent o f GDP, distributed between the Na tion al and Prov inc ial Governments,

with the Nationa l Government potentia l ly contr ibuting 40 percent and Provinces potent ially cont ributing

60 percent o f the increment in expenditures. The proposed changes in the framework o f educational

financing w ou ld inc lude the l inkage o f ncremental resources for education to three factors regarding each

Province: (i)ctual enrollmen t (a weigh t o f 80 percent); (ii)ontr ibut ion o f rura l to to ta l enro l lment (a

weight o f 10 percent); and (iii)opulat ion o f 3 to 7 year chi ldren out o f school (a weight o f 10 percent).

The proposed project i s but a sm al l part o f he overal l p icture regarding publ ic educational expenditures

and the associated reforms. The project would make federal resources available to Provinces for ruraleducation, with Province s co ntribu ting resources in erms o f eachers’ salaries.

The MECyT makes grant transfers that averaged US$550 million to provinces for non-university

education. The Ministry o f Education (MECyT) has spent an average o f US$1,500 mi l l i on per year

between 1995 and 2005. Of this expenditure, approximately U S$550 mi l l io n or AR$1,600 mi l l i on i s fo r

non-university expenditures that are spent as federal grant transfers to provinces, as shown in Table 4

be low. In the table, the entry for FONID refers to the Incentive Fund for Teachers (Fondo de Incentivo

Docente) that i s a federal supplement to th e prov incial salaries o f eachers. O ther federal transfers are for

qual i ty and compensatory programs. Th e M E C y T budget between 2004 and 2005 increasedby 17 percent

after a drop o f 40 percent between 1999 and 2004. An increase in 2006 simi lar to the magnitude for 2005

i s foreseen.

Table 4: Federal Education Expenditures (MECyT): 1995 - 2005

Source: MECyT; * Figure for 2005 shows programm ed expenditure

Provinces in the North East and North West that represent the greatest education deficit are the

ones that are most dependent o n Federal Co-participation Transfers: Table 5 shows the provinces

arranged in descending order o f dependence o n National Transfers. The provinces at the bottom o f he l i s t

are the very NEA an d NOA provinces that have the greatest def icit in te rms o f prov is ion o f educationa l

services as shown in Table 3. These are the poorer provinces in the country, and their lo w revenue

22



col lect ion i s st rongly linked to the lowe r level o f economic act iv i ty. The table shows that only a f ew o f

the pro vince s escape the dependence on na tiona l transfers. Other tha n the Ci ty o f Buenos A ir es , this

inc ludes the Patagonian provinces that receive o i l revenues. This regional inequal i ty in Argentina i s very

impor tant when i t comes to considerations o f nation al expenditures for education-the capacity o f the

most needy p rovinces to raise their ow n revenues m ay be v ery l im i ted in some cases, an d even the no t so

needy provinces in the Pampa region (Entre Rios, Santa Fe, C6rdoba) a nd the Cu yo re gion (Mendoza,San Juan, San Lu is, L a Pampa) are dependent on nation al transfers. The case o f he Provin ce o f Buenos

A i res i s complete ly unique an d i s no t discussed further here, except to say that the projec t does no t inten d

to m ake large transfers to this Province.

Jur isdict ion

Table 5: Prov incial Dependence o n National Transfers (Year 2003)In thousands of pesos

I I

Tota l Receipts (Own Provincial own Provincial own

Revenues + Nat ional RevenuedTotalRevenues

Transfers) Receipts

Ciudad de Buenos Aires

NeuquenChubut

Santa Cruz

Buenos Aires

Mendoza

3,988,452.81 3,498,597.88 87.72

1,802,800.74 1,410,542.93 78.241,048,651.24 669,916.58 63.88

1,259,455.88 791,760.22 62.87

11,345,998.71 6,573,742.00 57.94

1,790,952.89 925,447.79 5 1.67

Chaco

Corrientes

Jujuy

L a R i o j a

Formosa

TOTAL

Federal transfers are in principle based on non-discretionary rules, but in practice significantdiscretionary elements have entered into the picture: Table 6 shows the provinces arranged in

descending order o f he provin cial per capita income. I t can be seen at a glance fro m the table, com par ing

th e f i r s t and last column of numbers in he table, that there was n o clear comp ensatory pattern to transfers,

though provinces with highper capi ta income are n ot necessar ily r icher in erms o f he popu la ti on o f poor

or those in greater need o f social services. The simple correlat ion coeff ic ient between the two columns o f

1,158,405.49 174,35 1 OO 15.05

864,803.53 111,550.50 12.90

755,741.73 92,625.83 12.26

674,760.49 60,282.45 8.93

778,671.65 59,432.4 1 7.63

41,846,870.3 1 19,388,120.62 46.33

23



co-part ic ipat ion transfers and provincia l per capi ta income i s -0.22; however, i f th e r o w o f th e C i t y o f

Buenos Ai res i s excluded, the correlation coe fficient becomes +0.22.

Table 6: Compensatory Effect of National Transfers: Average Annual (1994-2000)

Source: Mezzadra and Rivas, (CIPPEC) 2005; Figures are in current pesos o f he period.

High Inequality in Public Expenditures per Student: Table 6 shows the inequ al i ty in avai lab i l ity o f

public resources across the provinces in Argentina, that i s in l a rge par t a product o f the h is tor ica l

development o f Argentina. Ne xt, the co rrelat ion between tot al resources and educat ion expendi tures i s

presented in the graph below .

24



Figure 3: Per Student Expenditurescompared to Province Total Fiscal

Resource per Capita

Expenditure per Stude nt (Current Pesos, Av. Annual for 1994-

*'O0' 3,000 1

500 -

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000

Total Fiscal Resources per Resident of Province

Whereas Table 6 and Figure 3 deal with general transfers per capita and consolidated education

expenditures per student respectively, i t i s useful to examine the incidence across provinces o f specific

transfers in educational programs direct ed through MECyT. Table 7 shows that there is s t i l l a positive

correlation between prov inc ial education per spending and national transfers (the value o f he correlation

coefficient, no t show n in the table, i s 0.27). Given the inequal i ty al luded to ear lier regarding provin cialspending, i f he national transfers ha d been perfectly compensatory, there wo ul d have been a negative orat least an absence o f a positi ve cor relation between the tw o amounts. I t should be noted that even though

i t may no t be so good for inter-provincial equity; the more posi t ive the correlation, fr om a point o f vie w

o f encouraging f iscal effort fro m the provinces, the less tendency there w ou ld be for national crowding

ou t o f provi ncial expenditures.

25



Table 7: Comparisons o f Education Spending per Student andNationa l Educational Programs

Source: CIPPEC, 2005; Figures are in current pesos o f the period.

Table 7 shows that for a c hi l d born in NeuquCn or Santa Cruz, the State spends AR$2,000 or AR$2,800

on one year o f educat ion, and for a ch i ld bo rn in Misio nes o r Chaco, this f igure i s around AR$800. Th e

differences in expenditures are related to differences in teacher salaries, and in the nu mber o f teachers

employed, a nd to a lesser extent on non-wage expenditures. T he wage bill accounts for roughly 90percent o f expendi tures. Doe s a high er pa id teacher necessar ily mea n a better qua l i ty o f education? This i s

a diff ic ult question to answer, butan interest ing analysis reported by Mezzadra and R ivas i s that there was

an inverse correlation bet ween the days los t to teacher str ikes a nd the average teacher salary. In addition,there i s a strong correlat ion between high er pa id teachers and the presence o f aux il iary o r support services

to teachers and non-salary expenditures. In general, the co nclusio n reached by the var ious authors wh o

have exam ined pub lic edu cational expenditures in Argentina’s federal an d decentral ized environment i s

the fol lowing-there are impo rtant differences in the general f iscal effor t made by provinces and in th e

distr ibut ion o f provincia l f iscal resources fo r educat ion as compared to other areas o f expenditure, and

reforms should be made to encourage greater provincial f iscal effort, in general and for education in

particular. At the same time, the marg in for imp roveme nt within the envelope o f he ex is t ing pattern o f

26



distr ibut ion o f esources across provinces wo uld not be suff ic ient to address the dispari t ies in educational

opportunity, and there i s a need for transparent and non-discretionary transfers f ro m the national

Gov ernm ent to address the fundamental o r structural inequalities.

Solving the problem of inequality and inefficiency in expenditures through tied and matching

transfers from the Federal Government: The pol ic y response o f he Federal Government i s to make ama rgin al effo rt at change, pro vide earmarked fiscal resources for education to provinces, f ol lo w

pr inciples o f transparency and provide adequate attent ion to issues o f accountabi l i ty fo r the expected

resul ts. The pro ject seeks to serve as an example o f h o w the nat ional Government can provide d i rect

assistance to pro vince s to imp rove the qu ality o f educational services in the area o f ural education, whi le

at the same t im e encouraging provinces to take ownership o f the program and to increase their o w n

commitment to the educational sector. The use o f mul ti -grade ins t ruc tion impl ies a l owe r need to hi re

mor e teachers as compared to the standard mo del o f one teacher per section. Proje ct interventions to

reduce repetit ion, overage and drop-out in rural areas would resul t in more students being retained

product ive ly in the educational system. In this way, the pro jec t woul d not lead to a worsening o f the

si tuat ion regarding eff ic ient teacher deployment, and ma y even lead to marginal improvements. However,

the project i s not going to so lve the general problem o f nef f ic ienc ies in eacher d e p l ~ y m e n t . ~

A series of schematic maps provides a graphic demonstration of the distribution of education gaps

in Argentina’s rural areas. I t i s estimated that roughly 140,000 children in rura l areas do not have

access to pre-school and EGB3, with 70 percent o f those out o f school be longing to NOA and NEA.There are app roxima tely 714,000 child ren in rur al areas in EGBl and EGB2, with 38 percent o f those

chi ldren be ing overage, compared to 23 percent for urban areas. The rur al EGBl and EG B2 enro l lment

f r om the NOA and NEA provinces accounts for ne ar ly 60 percent o f the to ta l rura l enro l lment for the

country, even though NOA and NEA represent only about 20 percent o f Argentina’s populat ion. The f i r s t

ma p shows the geographical area o f provinces, that appears similar in shape to the famil iar geographical

map o f Argentina. The second map shows the distr ibut ion o f he populat io n across provinces, with th e

c i ty o f Buenos Ai res and the Prov ince o f Buenos Ai res d is tor t ing the geographica l map ow ing to the i r

huge populations. Th e third ma p shows the rur al students in school , w hic h indicates the inf luent ial weig ht

of the NOA an d NEA provinces. In the last map, showing gaps in rural coverage, the distortion i s

completely towards the NOA an d NEA provinces.

4 This problem does not appear as serious when the provincial distr ibut ion o f teachers in the NOA and NEA

provinces i s considered. The n ational average o f students pe r teacher i s 16 at the EGBl and 2 levels, which i s l o w

compared to international standards. However, a number o f those classified as teachers are in fact ad ministrat ive

staff rather than teachers, and al l he NOA and NEA provin ces are above t h i s nat ion al average, with the exception of

Catamarca, that comes in with 15.8 students per teacher.

27



Annex 2: Major Related Projects Financed by the Bank and/or other Agencies


Sector Project Last supervision ranking (ISR)

Other Agencies’ Proj

3. Impr oving he

Educatio n SystemProgram

World Bank financed Projects

1.Energy and Renewal Energy and

Mining Sector Rur al Markets

2. Hea lth Sector

3. Educ ation Sector Prodymes IIIA

(P006043)

Maternal and ChildHe alt h (P006959)

(Province o f Bu en os (PO646 14)

Aires)

4. Equity in

Education Integral

Project

Implementation Development Objective

Progress (IP) P O )

S S

S S

S S

cts

M E C y T - IDB L o a n

1345/0C AR

MECyT-European

Commission

The P rogram supports provinces in th e

improvement o f qual i ty, equi ty an d eff ic iency

in he education system and the development o f

an active citizenship, thus contr ibuting to

diminishing social inequal i ty through an

increase in enrollmen t rates, hel ping youth-at-

risk t o fulfill their educational needs. These

objectives are orien ted towards reach ing full

secondary school coverage, increasing average

years o f schooling, im pro ving academic

performance and eff ic iency regarding

pro vin cial education spending.Target populat ion: publ ic middle schools o f

urban a nd marg inal areas.

Duration: 5 years.; Amount US$ l ,OOO m i l l i o n

The Equity in Education Integral Project (PIIE)

i s a national program t o strengthen pr im ary

urban educational institutions with chi ldren in a

social vulnerable situat ion in he country. T h i s

Progr am has formulated a series o f goals and

actions that are part o f he MECyT’s overal l

strategy including: inc lusion and rights, th e

right to education and the pr inciple o f equalopportuni t ies for al l .

Duration: 5 vears: Am ount USs12.5 m i l l io n

30



Annex 3: Results Framework and Monitoring


PDO

To support the Natio nal

Educat ional Pol ic y in t seffor ts to imp rove the a)

coverage; b) efficiency; c)

quality; and d) governance o f

the Argent ine Educat ion

System.

Outcome Indicators

Coverage [ Imp roving

coverage o f Pre-SchoolEducat ion and EG B3 in rura l

areas o f Argentina]

0 Eff ic iency [ Improve

Promo tion Rate and reduce

Overage Enrol lment an d

Drop-O ut Rate at the EGB1and EG B2 levels in Rura l

Areas]

Percentage o f Students inRu ra l Schools achieving

Prof ic iency on NAP]Governance[Bilateral

Agreements between

Nat ional and Prov inc ia l

Governments in Satisfactory

Execution; A nnua l Plans

regarding Educat ional

Statistics and Impac t

Evalua t ion Studies* insatisfactory execution]

Qual i ty[ Improve the

* Impact Evaluat ion Studies refers

project.

to the studies o f esults obtainec

Use of Outcome Information

Info rmat ion fr om the successes

and fa ilures o f nd iv idualprojec t interventions will be

fed back i n to ongo ing

implementat ion o f he pro jec t

and in other areas o f nat ional

educational policy.

An impor tant in tervent ion o f

this pro jec t i s hat information

about the progress o n

implementat ion or lack o f t

needs to b e fe d back at var ious

implementat ion evels. Thus,

wherever feasible, indicatorswo uld b e made available at

var ious levels o f

disaggregation - chools,

clusters, districts and

provinces.

The l ack o f imely in format ion

o n nd i ca to rs in the process o f

Ban k Superv i si on wou ld

immediate ly result in an

unsatisfactory implementation

f lag being ra ised. A s ong assuch a f lag i s noted, the Ban k

wou ld no t p rov ide any no-

objec t ions that may be

required, regardless o f he

par t i cu lar mer i ts o f each case.

ko m he i nte rven ti ons o f he

31



Component A: Improving(

Results

1, Scho ol coverage at the

Preschool leve l fo r 5 year

olds in ru ra l areas.2. Sch ool coverage in E G B 3

leve l in rur al areas

3 . Improvement o f n te rna l

enrol lment flux between

EGB 1 and 2 and within

EGB 2

4. Improvement in Student

Achievement

~

iality and Coverage o f Rural Edul

Results Indicators

Enrol lment o f 5 year old chi ldre n

in ru ral areas.

Pro mo tion Rates for Grades 7 t o

Grade 8 in ura l areas

Promo tion Rates in Grades 1

through 3

Extre me Overage (2 o r mor e years

Overage) Enro llme nt Rate and

Overage Enrol lmen t Rate fo r

EGB2 [Measured in Percentage

o f overage children over tota l

enro l lment for EG B21

Prof ic iency in he NAP (Pr ior i ty

Lea rnin g Core) measured in Grade

3 and Grade 6

dion

Use o f Results Monitoring

The resul ts wou ld fo rm par t o f

the Prov inc ia l and Nat ional

agreements, with annualfo l low-up.

32



Component B: Enhancing Ste

Intermediate Results

1. Improvement in the timely

avai lab i l ity o f educationalstatistics that wouldbe used for

pro jec t moni tor ing.

2. Standardized Nationa l

Assessment Tests (ONEs)sample extended an d special ly

designed student achievement

tests (in alternate years)

regard ing the meet ing o f NAPin rural schools in Grade 3 and

in Grade 6.

zrdship Capacity o f National Govern

Results Indicators

statistics to schools.

4. Capacity buildingo f

Provinc ial Jur isdict ionsregarding comp i lat ion and use

o f educa tional statistics.

5 . Imp lementa t ion o f mpac t

(Output) Eva luation studies

and dissemination throug h

seminars.

6. Strengthened capacity o f ine

units at the nation al and

prov incia l levels.

Database with indicato rs established

and onlin e access pro vide d to el igibleusers.

~~ ~

Test instrum ent needs to b e

developed, pi lo t tested, and applie d inalternate years. During i fe o f his

project, test should be impleme nted at

least twice; once at the beginn ing o f

the project; and a gain near the end o f

the project with compat ib i l i ty

between the two applications.

Sample Size should be sufficie nt for

inferences to b e draw n regarding

schools and rura l schools by Province

Complementary instruments to the

ONEs wo uld inc lude addi t ional

modules fo r Rura l Schools.

Implementat ion o f school- level

projects fo r the use and dissemination

o f educational information; and

impac t evaluation study at project

comdet i on .

Ins titut iona l Capacity Assessments to

be carr ied out and TechnicalAssistance provided .

Number o f mpac t Eva lua t i on S tudies

car r ied out and number o f seminars

held (nat ional and provincial ) .

Qua lity Standards rega rding different

adm inistrativ e procedures connected

with f idu ciar y matters (Procurement,

Financial Management, includin g

audits) t o be set up and mon i to r i ng o f

those standards t o be pe rform ed at

least tw ic e a year.

lent

Use of Results

Monitoring

This comp onen t seeks to

ensure that a) monitoringand evaluation o f he

core intervent ions o f

Project Component A are

work ing ef fec t ive ly and

eff ic ient ly; b) progress i s

achieved in educ ing

par allel structures due to

existence o f a Bank-

financed project, and to

ensure that the projec t s

mainstre amed as an

integra l par t o f the

Nat ional and Prov inc ia ladm inistrativ e setup.

33



0

LC

E

a.F

c.F

i$

(E

E

c

II:

-L

II:

6h5aLid

3

200-

w00

hl00

300

x ,F

mF

3



IAm



Annex 4: Detailed Project Description


Component A: Improving Oualitv and Coverage o f Rural Education (US$234.85 million;


Objective: The objec tive of this component i s to support improvements in qual i ty and coverage

o f ura l educat ional serv ices in he country.

This component would support improvement in rural educational services through the National

Program for Rura l Educat ion approved by t he Nat iona l Counc i l o f Educa t ion Mini s ter s o f

Argent ina in 2004. T he component woul d f inance the development and appl icat ion o f

pedagogical and organizational models that are appropriately tai lored for the particular social,

cul tural and economic context o f rural households. Act iv i t ies in the prov inces would be

imbedded in the p rovincial educat ion pol ic y formulated around speci fied coverage and q ual i ty

targets, The Nat ional Program for R ura l Educat ion (NPRE) w o u l d be executed throug h signed

Co nv en io s- or bi lateral agreements-between the nat ional and provinc ial Governments.

The NPRE assigns resources to all provinces, with priority to those where the coverage andqual i ty gaps are the greatest. T he distr ibut ion o f esources amon g the provinces wo uld b e based

o n he percentage o f rural popu lat ion and the percentage o f households with unm et basic needs in

the province; detai led cr i ter ia would be def ined in the Project Operat ions Manual . The main

purpose o f his approach i s to use a m ore equi table mecha nism to link the federal resources to the

needs o f provinces, and contr ibute to redress the high l eve l o f d i spar it y in educational spending

across Argen tine regions.

Component activities: This component has three broad sets o f act iv i t ie s-e ac h support ing a

different objective. The f i r s t set o f act iv it ies (A1 below) covers activit ies directed at rural basic

education in general, with out a specification o f he part icular educat ion leve l that wo uld be nefi t ,

The second set o f act iv i ties (A2 below) includes activit ies that are aimed at specific education

levels, ran ging fro m pre-school through to lower secondary or EGB 3. The third set o f ac t iv i ties(A3 below) would provide technical assistance for strengthening l ine departments at the

prov incia l level and capacity buildingo f prov inc ia l u r isd ic t ions in the use o f nfor matio n systems

throug h speci f ic ‘ informatio n projects ’ in each province to m oni t or the per formance indicators o f

ru ra l schools.

Implementation arrangements: This component would use a two-pronged implementat ion

strategy: (i)he f i r s t par t o f he s t rategy refers to the implementat ion o f ac tiv it ies that wou ld be

pa rt of the convenios to be signed by the provinces, but f o r economy o f scale w ou ld be purchased

at the nat ional level and distr ibuted to the prov ince accordingly. This categ ory includes: (a) the

prov is ion o f didact ic materials, t raining mater ials and learning modules, (b) equipment--

television , compu ters, an d also transpo rtation costs; an d (ii)he second par t o f he s t rategy wo uld

include act iv it ies that wo uld b e executed di rect ly by the provinces and schools with resources

transferred by the nat ional level . Each prov inc ia l p lan wo uld inc lude a l l the Pro jec t ac t iv it ies that

wo uld benefi t the educat ion in the province, even those directly developed by the nat ional level .

Investments directly operated by the provinces w ou ld const i tute Provincia l Sub-projects.

Financing: This component w ou ld finance: textbooks, workb ooks , student and teacher guides,

reference books, a udio-visual material, science an d technolo gy equipment and material, sports

and didactic games. The act iv i ty would also include technical assistance to ensure that the

36



mater ials work together with training and other inputs so that the mater ials would be used

effect ive ly and eff ic ient ly.

Sub-component A l : Improving Operating Conditions of Rural Schools (US$117.79 million;

US$106.01 Bank financing)

This sub-component covers four act iv i ties that are com mon to al l levels o f compulsory

education-Pre-School, EGB1, EG B2 and EG B3 and special support for indigenous educat ion:

Provision of basic didactic materials and teaching equipment: Didact ic mater ials would

inclu de textbooks, workbooks, student and teacher guides, l ibra ry books, reference books, schoo l

supplies, audio-visual materials, science and technology equipment (computers and televisions)

and software; and sports and didactic games. Each year, the qu antity an d type o f didactic

mater ials fo r the di f ferent levels and modal i t ies o f education levels wou ld be ind icated through

the bi lateral agreements. The didactic materials would be selected takmg into consideration the

NAP (Nzicleos de Aprendizaje Prioritarios).

Minimum School infrastructure standards: This act iv i ty would target schools located inregions where the proble m o f di lapidated infrastructure an d lack o f water and electr ic i ty supply

are greatest. This act iv i ty w ou ld f inance: (a) construct ion o f c lassrooms to absorb addi t ional

enrollment; (b) replacement o f di lapidated schools and rehabi l i tat ion o f school faci li t ies; (c)

furniture; and (d) and school maintenance costs. A basic standard for school infrastructure has

been developed by t he MECyT , wh i ch i s also car ry ing out a survey o f ac tual condi t ions o f a l l

rur al schools in the country. T h i s acti vity has already been impleme nted fo r some 1,000 schools

using project preparat ion funds fkom a PH R D grant. The survey methodology includes the use o f

Geo-Posi t ioning Satell i te o r GPS locators and digi tal images o f bot h the inside and outside o f

buildings. The minimum infrastructure standard assumes that as prerequisites o f schooling, a

school should have a set o f nputs (materials, fu rn i tu re and equipments). Thus, a school operating

at minimum infrastructure standards i s one that i s considered min imal ly capable o f prov id ing

satisfactory condi t ions fo r student learning. Ano ther i te m to be addressed by this act iv i ty i s the

prov is ion o f e lec t ri c ity in the schools. The p rovis ion o f electr ic i ty in school bui lding s in manyrural areas in Argentina has been made possible through PE RM ER, a federal program o f

alternative energy sources fo r ru ra l areas. Depend ing on the specific situation, this pro jec t ac t iv i ty

wo uld support the provis ion o f electr ic i ty to schools no t attended by th e PERMER program. To

preserve the qual i ty o f he school infrastructure in the ru ra l areas, school m aintenance activit ies

wou ld be implemented through the es tablishment o f a R ura l School Maintenance Program, w hich

wo ul d finance the schools’ maintenance costs.

Establishment of Clusters of Rural Schools: T o faci l i tate loca l organizat ion and management,

this activ ity wo ul d support the establishment o f school clusters. These clusters wou ld operate as a

support system for teachers in isolated areas and w ou ld increase the exchange o f experiences inthe r ura l areas. A cluster o f rur al schools wou ld group, m ore o r less, ten schools. The cluster

would provide space for deal ing with a commo n set o f problems wh i le at the same t ime

generating economies o f scale in core fimctions such as educational planning, training and

management o f didactic materials, tea ching equipments, and fin anc ial resources. This act iv i ty

wo ul d finance: (a) techn ical assistance; and (b) operat ional resources for the formation and

funct ion ing o f clusters. Implementat ion arrangements for the c luster act iv i t ies The prov incia l

jurisdictions would assign coordination functions for the cluster to selected supervisors. This

supervisor w ou ld ensure coherence and cont in ui ty o f act iv i t ies amo ng the schools that belon g to a

cluster. The supervisor selected, who should have prior experience as a rural school teacher

and/or school princip al, wo ul d be responsible for (a) resource management, (b) i dent i fy ing

37



teacher pro fessio nal development needs in consultation with each school princ ipal and teachers,

and (c) org aniz ing the cluster meetings.

Distance education through the Education TV Channel: This act iv i ty would support the

supply o f technological tools to p ermit schools and students to receive the TV programs

developed by the natio nal Edu cation channel. The component wou ld finance: (a) technical toolsto connect the school TVs with the satellite; and (b) operational costs related to this act iv i ty. In

order to execute this activity, a specific agreement o n technical issues i s required, which the

M E C y T wou ld p resent to the Bank .

Indigenous Education: T h i s act iv i ty w ou ld support the development o f act ions t o increase

awareness o f the cul tural diversi ty e xist ing in the rura l communi t ies and knowledge o f the

tradi t ional language and cul ture o f the indigenous populat ion. This act iv i ty wo ul d f inance: (a)

techn ical assistance an d consultant services for the preparation o f school development plans; (b)

t ra in ing o f the members o f the com muni ty wh o wou ld suppor t the development o f l iteracy

programs and development o f nst i tut ional projects, (c) training programs for schools developing

indigenous education programs; and (d) school development plans. The school development

plans would be designed and evaluated by the school members and other members o f the

communi ty .

Sub-component A2: Expanding Coverage and Improving Student Promotion Flow

(US$106.46 million; US$29.17 Bank financing)

This sub-component wou ld support the development o f our act iv it ies, each o f wh ich corresponds

to a particular ed ucation leve l @re-school, EGB1, EG B2 and EGB3):

Expanding coverage for pre-school education: This act iv i ty wou ld support the ex tens ion o f

pre-school programs in the rural areas through the development and application o f mult i -grade

pre-school models. Several alternative models have been adopted by the provinces in the

prov is ion o f pre-school services to chi ldren in the rura l areas. The expansion o f the pre-school

program wo ul d be made through the: (a) opening o f classrooms for pre scho ol level, where there astrong demand fo r this l e ve l o f education services, or the adop tion o f “plurisalas,” in w h i c h 4 and

5 year olds would attend together; (b) i ncorporat ion o f 5 year o ld ch i ldren in an integrated

“plurigrado” in th e f i r s t cyc le o f EGB; and (c) establishment o f pre-school activit ies by special ly

trained community agents. The extension o f the mo del in the rural areas would include the

fol lowing: (a) provis ion o f eacher guides on act iv i t ies for pre-school children; and (b) technical

assistance and train ing programs fo r teachers. Th e did actic materials fo r pre-schools models

wo uld b e developed under component A1

Reducing repetition in EGBl This act iv i ty would promote organizat ional and pedagogical

act ions to prevent dropout and repet i t ion in th e f i r s t years o f schooling, through a three-pronged

strategy, w hi ch includes: (a) the development o f act ions to increase the reading abi l i ty o f students

in the in iti al grades, inc ludi ng preparatory activit ies at the pre-school level; (b) t he adop ti on o f a

three-year learning cycle, as the fram ewo rk fo r lea rnin g and students’ p romo tion; and (c)

upgrading the curr iculum methodologies for teaching math and other school subjects. T h i s

activity would finance teacher training programs and technical assistance to ensure appropriate

use o f selected educational teaching-learning materials. These teaching-learning m ateria ls wou ld

be financed by sub-component A1 (Para. 7.i).

Acceleration program for increasing students’ attainment in EGB2: In mos t rur a l areas inArgentina, at least, 30 percent o f students 11 or 12 years o f age are over-age in re lat ion to the

38



grade, due to repetit ion, dropout and reentry problems. This activity aims to h elp these students

catch up academically, and thereby reduce the serious age grade distortion in EGB2, and would

support the impleme ntat ion o f an accelerated learning program to reduce the impa ct o f previous

repetit ions and to stimulate the capacity for continuing studies. This act iv i ty wo uld f inance:

teacher training, teaching-learning materials, school supervision visits, and technical assistance.

In addit ion, t o he lp with the schooling attainment o f children and adolescents with special needs,the program would f inance the contracting o f specialists w ho w ou ld develop local- lev el models

fo r ear ly detect ion of special education needs and develop mi cr o plann ing with special ized health

services. In order to better attend chi ldren with special needs and learning gaps, a systematic

support system would be developed for basic education teachers. In order to implement thisact iv i ty, fou r operat ions wo uld be considered: (a) Developmen t o f earning modules focusing on

knowledge o f he cent ra l areas o f he Core o f Pr ior i ty Learning. This mater ial should al low each

student to gain know ledge o f he curr iculu m content autonomously and progressively, according

t o h i s h e r ow n pace and learning ski l ls; (b) Teacher training for the app l icat ion o f a pedagogical

and didactic accelerat ion mod el to fo l lo w students’ progress. Teachers would be t ra ined in h o w t o

(i)rganize the learn ing sequences for each student,(i i) organize classroom team w o rk ; and (iii)

prepare Complementary didactic sequences, as needed; (c) Pedagogical support fo r the i n i t ia l

s tage o f implementat ion to make roo m for the necessary adjustments and complementary

act iv i t ies during th e f i rs t three years o f the a ppl icat ion o f the accelerat ion program; and (d)Defini t ion of a normative amendment at the jur isdict iona l level for recog niz ing and encouraging

the accelerat ion mod el and an indicat ion o f he administrat ive requis ites for i t s implementat ion.

Lo we r secondary education (EGB3): Schools that belon ged o the earlier 7-year prim ary school

system wo uld be extended to the 9-year EGB system. The problem o f ensur ing com plet ion o f a l l

nine grades o f compulsory educat ion i s larger than merely ensur ing that a l l ch i ldren in the 8th

grade be enrol led in 9th grade. The statistics on rur al schools fo r the year 2003 reve al that while

there were 67,000 students in the 7 th grade, there were 48,000 students in the 8 th grade and only

42,000 students in the 9 th grade; a net gap o f 44,000 within the same cycle. I f we consider that

there are about 264,000 students in EGB2, the supply gap for offer ing compulsory school ing at

the EGB3 level i s approximately 100,000. T o ex tend mul t i-grade school ing to E GB3, this act iv i ty

wo ul d support: (a) learnin g modules fo r students to be able to w o r k o n t he ir own pace withregu lar guidance; (b) textbooks, workbooks/ma nuals with act iv i t ies adapted to the ru ral context;

(c) audio-visual materia l specifical ly developed for the ru ra l context; (d) school development

plans; (e) train ing fo r teachers to act as tutors for the self-g uided activit ies o f E G B 3 students, an d

(9 t raining o f secondary school teachers wh o wo uld be i t inerant teachers o r placed at nodes o f

rur al school clusters, or ut i l ize distance learning methods (depending o n spec ific rur al context).

School Development Plans: The School Development P lans wo uld consis t o f a set o f

pedagogical and organizat ional act iv i t ies to b e selected and d eveloped by the school communi ty

(teachers, students and parents) that would contr ibute to improve the school and the students’

per formance. The School Development Plan wo uld be deve loped by the local communi ty, with

technical assistance fr om the pro vinc ial jur isdict ion and the MECyT. A wide range o f poss ib le

activities i s contemplated, with t he budgetar y r es t ri c t ion o f a m ax im um o f US$900 per schoo l

over the length of the program. Examples o f ac t iv it ies wou ld inc lude product ive ac t ivi t ies (such

as a vegetable garden), cu ltu ral activit ies (such as mus ic and dance groups), sports, p ub lic hea lth

awareness campaigns and care o f com mun ity resources.

39



Sub-component A3: Strengthening Line Departments at the Provincial Levels (US$10.60

million; US$9.61 million Bank financing)

Strengthening Line Departments at the Provincial Level: This subcomponent w ou ld support

the establishment and consol idat ion o f the management capaci ty o f the provinces in the

impleme ntat ion o f the project and sustainabi l ity o f the educat ion pol ic ies and act iv i t ies afterpro jec t complet ion. The main objec tive i s to increase the provincial ministries’ capacity in th e

fol lowing dimensions: planning/information, pedagogical and administrative areas and

moni tor ing. The l i n e departments at the pro vinc ial leve l wou ld also be strengthened to support

project impleme ntat ion and operat ion o f he education system at that level. T o achieve these goals

this sub-component would f inance: (i) echnical assistance and consultancy services for

supp orting the pedagogical, administrative and inform atio n areas o f each province; (b) t ravel

expenses; (c) school supervision services; (d) inf orm at ion system costs; and (e) other opera tion

costs.

Each province would develop a Provincial Plan of Rural Education. This Plan wou ld be

developed with the techn ical assistance o f the MECyT. In addition, this act iv i ty would des ign

capacity building processes/procedures/ instruments and trainin g program s at the pro vin cia l leve l

to train staff members o n the new instruments and procedures fo r increasingrnanagem enthnforrnat iod mon i tor ing and evaluat ion o f education pol ic ies and service del ivery.

These instruments would be def ined through agreed protocols with the national authorit ies

regarding data col lect ion and formatt ing o f reports t o b e made avai lable across d i f ferent

hierarchical levels o f prov incial administrat ion, inclu ding the schools. The output o f these

informat ion pro jec ts wou ld consti tu te an impor tant too l fo r m oni tor ing the national-provincial

bi lateral agreements, and wo uld include provis ions for an independent audi t .

Comuonent B: Enhancinp Stewardshiu Cauacitv o f National Government (US$5.35 million;


The Project ’s support fo r the National Program for Ru ral Educat ion uses an organizational mode l

that does no t rel y o n paral lel inst i tut ional structures and functions that wo uld owe their existenceon ly to a Bank-f inanced project. Project implementat ion rel ies o n the exist ing Government

s t ruc tures-ex is t ing units at the MECyT, at the nat ional level , a nd at the Provincial ministr ies o f

educat ion. The Project wo uld f inance a large number o f inputs (as provided in Component A

above) under the framew ork o f he nat ional-provincial Convenio wh ich wou ld es tablish a broad

accountabi l i ty framew ork for the Project. Fo r the accountabi l i ty framew ork to funct ion as

planned, the Proje ct wo ul d provid e assistance for strengthening the pertinent l ine departments in

t he M E C y T .

This component would f inance: (i)onsultant services and technical assistance to increase the

ins t itu t ional capac ity o f l in e departments o f the Ministry o f Educa t ion deal ing with r u r a l

educat ion and information, as we l l as mon i tor in g and evaluat ion act iv it ies; (ii)quipment; (iii)

travel expenses f or supervising the prov inces and schools, and other ope ration costs.

Sub-component B1: Strengthening Line Departments at National Level (US$2.37 million;


The inst i tut ional assessment o f he MECyT has resulte d in he ide nt i f icat ion o f specif ic areas that

require inst i tut ional building activit ies for supporting successful project implementation. Since

the Project would support nat ional programs integral ly, the requirements at the nat ional level

would be aimed at strengthening the planning, normative, moni tor ing and evaluat ion and

40



implementation support activit ies, with th e bulk o f he support being provide d to the departments

at the MECyT, Le., the area o f Rural E ducat ion that i s placed within the D i rec torate o f Cur r icu lar

Manage ment and Teacher Training (DNGCyFD); and the area o f Eva luation and Statistics, in th e

Di rectorate o f n format ion and Evaluat ion o f School Qual i ty (DNlECE) .

Sub-component B2: Monitoring and Evaluation (US$2.99 million; U S $ 2.69 Bankfinancing)

This sub-component w ou ld support the development and implementat ion o f a system o f data

collection, analysis, dissemination and use o f info rma tion for p oli cy decisions at the national,

province and school levels. I t s expected that the inform ation system wo uld also pro vide inputs

for future expansion o f Project intervent ions a nd for der iv ing lessons learned for appl icat ion o f

educat ional p ol i cy areas no t covered by the Project. T h i s sub-component would finance technical

assistance, an d equipme nt (computers an d software).

This sub-component w ou ld develop the fo l lo win g act iv i ties:-

(i)urveys and Impact Evaluation Studies.Financ ing would be prov ided for a per iod ic

survey on the funct ioning condi t ions o f rural schools and fo r ini t iat in g a longi tudina l

survey o f graduates o f technical schools. Surveys wo uld include those at nat iona l and

provincial levels that would evaluate processes and outputs in the course o f Pro jec t

implementation, and an impact evaluat ion o f a general nature to p rovide insights into the

effectiveness o f pub l ic investments in education;

(ii)tudent learning assessments. The proposed Project wou ld f inance the extension o f

a sample o f standardized nation al student assessments (Operat ivo Nacional de

Evaluacihn or ONE) to ensure representation o f ural schools by province. This act iv i ty

wo uld a lso inc lude the moni tor ing o f progress in the achievement o f he core pr ior i t ies o f

learning (NAP) and diagnost ic information from this assessment to be provided to

indiv idual schools . The moni tor ing o f progress in NAP wou ld be per fo rmed in two ways

- one includes the impleme ntatio n o f standardized assessment tools for r ur al schools inthe alternative years when the ONESare no t conducted; the second i s the implementat ion

of testing at the school and classroom level.

41



Appendix-Annex 4

The fo l lo w in g tables prov ide an ind icat ion o f (i)he magnitude of he system o f ura l educat ion

in Argentina, and a comparison between urban and rur al education; and (ii) n indicat ive

calculat ion of he distr ibut ion o f pro jec t resources across provinces, using an index co mbin ing the

rural enrol lment, the number o f rural schools, the flow bottlenecks and the children outside ofschool in ru ra l areas.

Table 1: Representationo f Rural Schools within Argentine Education System

Source; MECy T, F ro m Relevamiento Annual 2001 and 2002 and ONE 2000': Percent o f students who do n ot enroll in subsequent year. The high percentage for r ura l schools at the EGBl/2 level

reflects migration between schools rather than complete drop-out from the education system, which can be obtained

fr om Household Surveys;- indicates that data were no t available.

Table 2: Distribution o f Rural Component Spending and Al l Public Education Expenditures

Source; Ow n calculations fo r Project expenditures; MECyT for Public Education Expenditures 2003

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The above table shows the distr ibution o f pub lic educational expenditures across the Provinces, as

compared to the distr ibution o f resources for Component A. The calculation i s based o n the

distribution o f the student population across urban and rural areas (index o f urality) and on thePercentage o f households with unmet basic needs (NEI). The Operations Manual for the Project

specifies the me th od used for calculating the dist ribu tion o f esources across Provinces.

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Annex 5: Project Costs


Project Cost by Component

A. Improving Quality and Coverage in Rural Education

A 1 mpr ov in g Operat ing Condi tions o f Rura l Schools

A2. Expan ding Coverage and Improv ing Student

P r o m o ti o n F l o w

A3, Strengthening Li ne Departments at the Prov incial

Indicative % o f Bank % o f Bank

cost Total financing financing

(US$)

234.85 98% 144.79 62%

117.79 49% 106.01 90%

106.46 44% 29.17 27%

10.60 4% 9.61 91%

B. Enhancing Stewardship Capacity o f National

Government

I

5.35 2% 4.83 90%

B1. Strengthening Li ne Departments at the Nat ional level

B2. Mon i to r i ng and Eva lua ti on

44

2.37 1Yo 2.14 91%

2.99 1Yo 2.69 90%

Front -end Fee

Tota l F inanc ing Requi red

0.38 0% 0.38 100%

240.58 100% 150.00 62%



Annex 6: Implementation Arrangements


Introduction

The im plem enta tion arrangements fo r this Project closely fo l low the pr inciple o f partnership withthe Government in the del ivery o f the national programs o f rural education. The implementing

agency wou ld be he Nat iona l Ministry o f Education, Science and Tec hno logy (MECyT), through

i t s Directorate General for the Unit o f International Finance (DGUFI). The DGUFI would be

responsible fo r c oordinating the various activities o f the Project with the other agencies of

M E C y T as we ll as other Federal and Prov incia l Government Agencies. Th e DGUFIalso manages

an Inter-American Development Bank-f inanced (IDB) Operation (see An nex 2) and has

substantial experience with the international standards o f inan cial management and procurement,

The DGUFI s not expected to develop technical expertise that already exists in li ne departments

o f national and pro vincia l education ministries. Th e Rur al Education area i s under the Directorate

General o f Curr iculum Management and Teacher Training (D NGCyF D). The area o f monitor ingand evaluation falls under the National Directorate o f nform ation and Evaluation o f the Qual i ty

of Education (DNIECE). Other units such as the Infrastruc ture Unit o f he MECyT wo uld also beinvolved in the implemen tation o f he program. The project implem entation arrangements w ou ld

build on the experience o f these national programs. The three ke y MECyT units receive a

substantial budget for managing their respective national programs. There w ou ld n ot be any need

to set up Project Coordination Units (PCUs) either at the National or at the Provincial levels.

Where there i s a particular need to build provincial implementation capacity, this wou ld be done

by strengthening existing l ine departments at prov inci al Ministr ies o f Education, rather than

through pa rallel administrative units.

Project execu tion wou ld b e based on the signed agreements betw een the Federal and Provinc ial

min istri es o f education. These agreements, also terme d as Convenios would approve Provincial

Rur al Educa tion Plans and the operational mechanisms f or the ex ecution o f actions. The

agreements wo uld lay out the assignment o f responsibi l i t ies between the tw o levels o fGovernment, descr ibe the m onitor in g mechanism to be used and the re-programming o f the

activities in case o f non-compl iance o f the goals, contain articles that w ou ld be in effect for al l

five years o f project implementation, a nd include annual progra m covenants (Actas deProgramacidn Anual) for a ctiv ities complementary t o the agreement.

At least two provinces must have signed bilateral agreements for the project to be declared

effective, and a particular provin ce can only enter the projec t with th e signing o f a b i la tera l

agreement.

Content o f Bilateral agreements

The agreements wou ld include the fo l low ing duties and facult ies for each o f he involv ed enti ties:

I Duties-Facult ies o f he Na tio n (Ministry o f Education):

0 Appr ove the actions plans for each sub-project (specific activities contemplated).

0 Supervise execution o f he sub-projects and the ful f i l lme nt o f he results indicators.

45



0 Finance the subproject with loan proceeds and according to annually established

implem entat ion needs.

0 Contr ibu te counterpart funds.

0 Pro vide goods fr om centralized procurement (computer, texts and printouts) according tothe agreed programming.

0 M a k e payments to suppliers and contractors “por cuenta y orden” o f he prov ince in th e

case that i t s so established.

0 Keep a r egi s tr y o f und transfers to the Ru ral School Clusters (that wo ul d serve as a basis

fo r disbursement).

0 Procurement for centra ll y procured items w ould no t be bo und by signing o f b i la te ra l

agreements, but the nat ion w ould ensure that central ly procure d i tems are used only in

elig ible provinces, ie, provinces that have entered int o signed bi lateral agreements.

I1 Dut i es o f he Prov ince :

0 Deve lop the prov incia l leve l sub-project.

0 Execute the act iv i ties o f the sub-project fo l lowin g the requirements o f the Lo an

Agreement and the provis ions o f he Operat ional Ma nu al regarding sub-projects.

0 Us e the transferred funds to execute sub-project activit ies.

0 Kee p f inancial and accounting regist ies and documentation o f expenses incu rred

fol lowing procedures in he Lo an Agreement and the Ope rat ional Manua l .

0 Develop an annual P lan o f Act iv it ies (POA) and a Procurement P lan (PP) for goods,

works [i f compatible] and services, p rovid e annual adjustments, and acc omp lish the POA

and PP arrangements.

0 Keep the registry an d requ ired documentation f or disbursement as established in h e L o a n

Agreement (fol lowing the established procedures in the Bi lateral Agreement and the

Operational Manual).

0 Sign a specific agreement about indicators, baseline and goals no lo nge r than six months

after the in iti al bi lateral agreement;

0 Carry out the activit ies established in the Indigenou s Peoples Developmen t Plan (IPDP)

and the enviro nme ntal safeguards.

0 Sig n agreements with Rura l Schools Clusters, School Pr incipals o f provincial schools, or

parent associations o f agr icul tural schools o r other m ixe d type o f school, i f eligible, for

financing expenditures for works, school materials an d other inputs for the clusters’

functioning condi t ions and inst itut ional and pedagogical act ivi t ies. T he signature o f his

agreement with the author it ies wou ld be a prerequ is i te for fund transfers.

46



0 Present the supporting execution and fiduciary documents (needed fo r fin ancia l aud iting

o f he project’s accounts fol low ing the Loa n Agreement) to the Nat ion.

0 Specify school regulations (school organization, curr icular adjustment, promotion) in

accordance with the project’s objectives.

0 Ap po int school teachers fo r the expansion o f EGB3 as st ipulated in the prov inc ia l

development plan.

0 Take par t in annual meetings t o revie w imp lementat ion progress.

DiagnosticToo l

The bi late ral agreement w ould include an act iv i ty by each province to undertake the diagnostic

wo rk req uired to def ine the gaps o f coverage and in the eff ic iency indicators fo r ru ra l education,

using a standardized method ology developed by th e MECyT for that purpose. Fo r this purpose, a

Complementary Agreement o f Goals and Indicators (Acta Complementar ia de Metas e

Indicadores) w o u l d be signed within six months fr om the signature o f the Bi lat eral Agreement.

The diagnost ic w or k wo uld include an analysis at disaggregated levels, f r o m provincia l

departments and regional un i t s to the level o f school communit ies and schools. The diagnost ic

w o r k w o u l d b e a k e y input into determining the annual goals to be agreed upon, and wo uld be

used as a tool to define progress in adhering to the annual plan, as well as an input for the

ident i f icat ion o f rescheduled act ions. The protoco l for the diagnost ic to ol wo ul d be inclu ded in

the Operat iona l Man ual fo r the project.

Phased Approach

The bi lateral agreement w ou ld recognize that some t im e w ou ld be required before the project

intervent ion results in measurable outcomes fo r proje ct beneficiaries. Th e agreement wou ld also

recognize that events outside o f the con t ro l o f the nat ional Government or the prov inc ia l

Government could in f luence the pace o f execut ion o f the program. Accord ing ly tw o measuresw o u l d be incorporated in he b ilatera l agreement.

First, there would be a phased approach regarding expected results. In the f i r s t tw o years o f

execut ion o f he program, the resul ts expected wo ul d be those that deal with processes, an d in he

final three years o f he program, the annual progra mm ing agreements wo ul d also inclu de results

pertaining to outcomes. Process indicators wou ld consist o f the var ious in st i tut iona l and

methodological inputs for execut ion. Thus, for rural educat ion, the resul ts would include the

def in i t ion o f the rura l school c lus ters and the ident i f i cat ion and in i t ia l execut ion o f school

construction activit ies where such activit ies are deemed to b e necessary f or m eet ing the progra m

goals, Results indicators in he next phase wou ld deal with outcome measures such as enrollme nt

rates and intern al efficiency indicators.

Second, throughout the f i r s t and second phase o f the program, there w ou ld be a n inst i tut ional

mechanism to evaluate compl iance with the Annua l Programm ing Agreements. This mechanism

wo uld include an annual meeting between prov incia l and Fede ral Governmen t representat ives inthe months o f October and November t o a l low for suf f ic ient t ime to prepare for the beginning o f

the school year in M a r c h o f he subsequent year.

47



I f a provinc e i s n o t in compliance with the annual progra mmin g Agreements, the province w ou ld

submit a repor t to the Federal Government d etai l ing the corrective measures be ing taken by the

provin ce. These corrective measures cou ld include, where appropriate, the assignment o f urther

resources f or techn ical assistance fr om the Federal Government. The acceptance o f the report

based o n the correct ive act ion wou ld include a cont inuation o f program act iv i t ies in the

subsequent year. I f compl iance proves to be a problem for a second year in succession, theFederal Governme nt wo uld b e empowered under the terms o f he agreement fo r a par t ial or total

suspension o f pro ject act iv i t ies in the non-performing province. In this case, the Federal

Government wo ul d be empowe red to reassign resources to other provinces with a satisfactory

track reco rd o f me etin g the agreed goals.

Levels o f Program Execution

Three management and execut ion levels have been ident i f ied: Le ve l 1 or central level; Level 2 or

prov inc ia l eve l and Leve l 3 or lo cal ev el (rural school clusters).

Leve l 1- or cent ra l level - wou ld consist o f DGUFI, D N G C y F D , D N I E C E , DPC (Directorate o f

Compensatory Programs) an d the DI Directorate o f nfrastructure). DGUFIwo uld be responsible

for general administrat ive execut ion o f he ent i re project, channeling the requirements f ro m the

other Directorates..

Leve l 2 -or prov incia l leve l wou ld consist o f a speci f ic department designated by the prov inc ia l

educat ion author i ty (Provincial Sub-secretary for Admin istrat ion and Finance o r equivalent). The

requirements for contract ing and payments would be ini t iated by the corresponding technical

areas o f rura l educat ion (Provincial EGB Directo rate or equivalent), and evaluation a nd statistics

(Statistics Directo rate o r equivalent).

Leve l 3- or local level wou ld consist o f ura l school c lus ters .

48



Annex 7: Financial Management and Disbursement Arrangements


Executive summary

The overal l conclusion of the Financial Management Team was that, under the management o fth e MECyT, the Project would be able to maintain financial management arrangements

compatible with Ba nk requirements. Agreement was reached on an action pl an o n the standards

to b e m e t by th e financial statements and the time frame fo r their submission to the Ba nk after

being cert i f ied by the auditors, and on the Financia l Management Rep ort (FMR) format. Specific

recommendations were made regarding the organizational arrangements, the strengthe ning o f

hum an resources and the operational manual, and includ ed in the action plan. The conclusions of

the Financial Management (FM) assessment are that: (i) he financial management riskassessment sh ows a moderate to high risk for the pro ject imple mentatio n based o n he weaknesses

at the provincial level, (ii) M design i s ta i lored to support the mainstreaming o f project

management to the DGUFI to strengthen their financial management capacity; (iii)he DGUFI

wo uld be responsible for the preparation o f proje ct consolidated finan cial management statements

and supervision o f prov incia l level, and (iv) the provinces wou ld require addit ional investments t o

improve their financial management institutional capacity. The provinces’ capacity has to be

complemented by an additional accountant to h elp manage project fin ancial affairs, and the use o f

infor matio n systems capable o f operating using the intranet accessible vi a the We b.

The financial management risk assessment concluded that the inherent and control r isks for the

projec t are moderate.

Country Issues

The Country Financial Accountabi l i ty Assessment (CFA A) prepared by the Ban k in 2003 -2004

states that at the central level, the Government o f Argentina has a fully integrated budget,accounting, treasury, and publi c debt financi al management system. These systems contr ol the

funds received by the central Government f ro m any source and provide suff ic ient informat ion to

determine i f he funds were ut iliz ed as planned.

This CFAA covered the Federal Government central system and did no t cover the assessment o f

public financial systems at the sub-national level (Provinces). A CFAA update o f the Federa l

system in Argentina i s planned for F Y200 6 whi le the eva luation o f Prov incial systems i s planned

fo r FY2007 .

A FM issue raised in the Coun try Assistance Strategy (CAS) document (January 2004) was the

chronic problem related to the t imely submission o f audi t reports t o the Bank. However, since

2003, there has been some improvem ent o n country audit repor t compliance. The audit

compl iance issue i s be ing addressed by the Bank at the portfo l io level and through an Insti tut ional

Development Fund (IDF) grant to strengthen the inst i tut ional capacity o f he Auditor ia Generalde la Nacidn (Borrower’s Aud itor General Office, AGN). The 2006-2008 C AS for Argentina that

i s currently under preparation develops a fiduc iary actio n pla n that seeks to i mp rov e the

timeliness and effectiveness o f he external audit func tion in the country.

The International Monetary Fund issued an experimental Re port o n the Observance o f Standards

and Codes (ROSC) for A rgentina in April 1999, wh ic h includes a section on Fiscal Transparency.

This report noted that based on the descr ipt ion o f practices provide d by the authorities and

49



summarized in the report, Arg entin a has achieved a high degree o f fiscal transparency. This i s a

ref lect ion o f the s ignif icant progress that has been made since the implem entat ion o f andmark

legis lat ion o n f inancial administration and control in 1992.

Financial Management Assessment

As requi red by OP/BP 10.02, a Senior Fina ncia l Manageme nt Specialist carr ied out a financ ial

mana geme nt assessment during the Project’s pre-appraisal phase. A Senior Finance Off ic er fr om

Bank Headquarters also provided guidance regarding the Project’s financing and disbursement

arrangements.

The Financial Management Assessment (FMA) indicates that an adequate fina ncia l management

system to keep records and report on the use o f funds o f the project i s in place. However some

further steps nee d to be take n as described in he A c t i on P lan be low .

The FMA took into account a prel iminary assessment o f provinces selected by th e DGUFI and

MECyT.This assessment involved ensur ing that project design al lows fo r an appropr iate lev el o f

transparency, faci l i tatin g oversight and contr ol while also supporting sm ooth implementation.

The assessment included discussions with the f inancial team, a review o f he f inancia l systems tobe used fo r project accounting, f inancial administrat ion, contro l l ing and report ing and the inte rnal

controls and administration procedures to be implemented to con trol and mo ni tor the project ’s

exec uting an d au diting arrangements.

Implementing Entity

The DGUFIo f he bor rower’ s M in i s t r y o f Educat ion (MECyT) wou ld be the coord inat ing unit f o r

the proposed project. The DGUFI would be responsible for project accounting, report ing

inclu ding preparation o f FMRs, internal control, disbursements and the external audit. The

DGUFIFM staff ing wou ld be speci f ied in he Operat ional Manual .

Financial Management Arrangements

At the Central and the Provincial Government

0 The MECyT financial management responsibilities. The MECyT wou ld be the Bank ’s

direct counterpart responsible for financial management issues. I t s responsibi l i t ies

includ e the preparation o f consolidated financ ial statements; disbursement arrangements

with the Government a nd Ba nk financ ial authorit ies; external audit arrangements; and

supervis ion o f provin cial le vel f inancia l management and disbursement arrangements;

amo ng others.

0 Institutional Arrangements. Imp lementa t ion o f he p ro jec t in genera l woul d be car r ied

ou t using the same financial manag ement and au dit arrangements that are in place at the

MECyT. Addi t ional arrangements regarding Project Component A w o u l d b eimplemented at bot h the system and the inst i tut ional level to strengthen the DGUFI and

i t s relationship with the provincia l level .

At th e central Government level, th e MECyT wo uld b e respons ib le for car ry ing out f inanc ia l

management, procurement and disbursement activit ies at the central level, as well as for

mon i tor ing and supervis ing the f iduciary arrangements at the provin cial level . Th e DGUFI ha s

the exper ience and capaci ty f i o m other Wo r l d Bank-f inanced projects: (Lo an 397 1-AR PO06057

50



amoun t US $11 5.0 mi l l ion , approval December 21, 1995; clos ing date April 30, 2004 - Loan3794-AR PO05992 amount US$190.0 mil l ion, approval September 15, 1994; closing date June

30, 2001) and Inter-American Development Bank ( IDB)-f inanced projects to manage large

projects, implement their fiduciary procedures, monitor implementation and provide technical

assistance t o bene ficiaries.

At th e pro vin cia l Government level, institutions wo uld use their planning, financial management

systems, and internal control arrangements (e.g. M&E, fiduciary management and inte rnal

arrangements) t o achieve the bil ater al technical agreements with rural schools clusters. An

assessment o f the Provincial Tr ibunales de Cuenta (PTCs) wo uld no t be carr ied as part o f the

Project. However, the Government o f Argentina i s responsible f or p eriodic assessments o f hese

insti tut ions.

A number o f options were considered during project preparation to address the inherent

complex i t ies o f f iduc iary oversight fo r this decentralized operation inc luding : (i)he financing

scheme fo r the project, in wh ich a substantia l port ion o f Project expenditures w ou ld be paid at the

national Government level through the DGUFI; (ii)he strengthening o f the DGUFI to ensurecontinuity and adequate coordination with the provinces; and (iii)he strengthening o f the

fiduciary capacity o f some o f he weakest provinces that wo ul d participate in the Project.

The minimum f inancial management requirements provinces wou ld have to comp ly with, in order

to be elig ible t o receive resources from the project are summarized as fo llows :

1. Contract an accountant or business administration specialist with experience in project

management finance d by internationa l cooperation.

2. Consultant contract arrangements. Based on the existing lega l framework, contracts for pro ject

coordination units personnel have to b e at least for one year.3. Project coordination units have to be built-in to the organizational structure o f he provincial

Ministry of Education or the Educational Counci l . No parallel structure to the central

administrat ion s acceptable.

0

0

Project coordination unit budget i s ntegrated into the pro vince budget,The ir fina ncial management and control systems respond to the needs o f the provinc e

authorities. The accounting, the budget, the fl ow o f funds and the internal control wou ld

have to be defined according to pr ovinc e financial management arrangements,

Processes and procedures are developed an d moni tor ed by the provi ncia l authorities, and

Project coordination unit hum an resources arrangements are an integra l part o f he central

administration.

4. The project coordination unit in the Pro vince receive d technical assistance and init ial basic

t ra in ing f r om the DGUFI.

0

0

Disbursement Arrangements

0 N ew EZigibiZity Policy. The pro ject incorporates the Bank’s n ew p o l icy o n e l ig ib i l i ty fo r Ban k

financing.’ T o impleme nt the policy, the Country Finan cing Parameters for Argentina were

approved by the LCR Regiona l V ice President o n M a y 11,2005.

The Ban k would f inance up to 90 percent o f he project total expenditures effect ively made by the

project. Lo an proceeds w ou ld be disbursed based o n expenditure in curre d at a rate o f up to 90

5 See OP 6.00, Bank Financing.

5 1



percent o f he variable advances made by the Borro wer to provinces to cover the cost o f goods,

works, services and flat recurrent costs requ ired to im plem ent the bilater al agreement. T he terms

and conditions fo r the advance o f funds to provinces w ou ld be agreed in each bilateral technical

agreement. Th e Ban k woul d monitor the DGUFI’s assessment o f institution al performance of

provinces interested in participating in the project.

0 Execution accounts. As i t i s customary in Argentina, the Government wo ul d open a Special

Account (SA), as a revolving bank account to finance project expenditures for all components

and wo ul d request replenishment for the Bank’s share o f the financing. Requests for

reimbursement wo uld be submitted to the Ban k on the basis o f Statements o f Expenditure

(SOEs).

Resources wo ul d be transferred from the Wo rld Ban k to a special account opened at the Banco de

la Nac ion A rgen t ina in dollars. An operative bank account in pesos wo ul d be also open at “Banco

de la Naci6n” in he name o f he DGUFWECyT to manage resources transferred fr om the S A.

0 Disbursement Mechanisms and Documentation. The Bank would disburse to the

Gov ernm ent based o n transaction-based disbursement requests sent by th e DGUFI. Advances to

provinces for a 60 day p er iod o f el ig ib le expenditures will be a llowe d based on the presentationof an acceptable action plan presentedby the provinces to the DGUFI.Prior to approving further

advances, provinces will have to present full documentation p rov ing that the advances were use d

for eligible expenditures. The following describes the disbursement approach for the main

activities:

0 Flow of Funds and Information. A number o f enti ties w ould be invo lved in project

impleme ntation, oversight, and financial management. For Com ponent B, al l expenditures wo uld

be made by the MEC yT , through the DGUFI , for activities carried out at the central level, and

for preparing the inform ation required by the Financial Moni tor ing Reports.

The DGUFIprovides administrative and financial management support to the project and wo ul d

be responsible fo r al l payments made directly or upon request by the provinces to providers,contractors and consultants for Components A or B, for contracts and expenditures over

US$lOO,OOO. In addition, f or Component A, advances for a 60 day per iod o f eligibl e expenditures

could be made to the provincial level to be executed by the province. The var ious provincial

Governments could be responsible for payments to contractors and consultants contracted by

them under US$ 100,000. The DGUFIwou ld have the ma in funct ion in this case o f consol idating

the financ ial management info rmat ion and supervising the use o f projec t resources according to

the projec t objectives and the fina ncial planning.

52



Disbursement Categories and Allocations

ProjectFlow of Funds

e Reporting between prov incia l level and the MECyT:

1. The DGUFI proceeds to assess comple t ion o f technical requirements and ver i f ies that

contracts and agreements co nditio ns were fulfi l led;

53



2. Prov incia l lev el pays providers or contractors di rect ly and wou ld in fo rm the DGUFI that

3. The FMRs and disbursement documentation wo uld be prepared by th e DGUFI, based o n

the p aym ent process has been completed on a mo nth ly basis.

consol idated nformat ion prov ided by the prov inc ia l level and the M E C yT tse l f.

T h e B a n k w o u l d m o n i to r th e f l o w o f funds, especially to ensure that undisbursed funds don o t s i t in he p rov inc ia l l eve l fo r a l on g peri od o f ime.

In-kind Contributions. In-kind contributions w ou ld be an integral par t o f project execution,

j o i n t l y with cash resources pro vide d by the central and provinc ial governments. Ho wever, in-kind

contr ibut ions will not be inc luded in the local counterpart hnding. The concept o f in-kind

con t ri bu t ion wou ld be used to p romote i nvo l vement o f p rov inces and m a l school s in project

execut ion with materials, work, and other non-cash investments that otherwise would be not

accounted for.

A table for conversion o f n-kindcontribut ions into monetary measurements wou ld b e developed

by th e DGUFI and distr ibuted to the provinces. The respo nsibi l i ty for the preparat ion o f the

reports, in clud ing in-kindcontr ibut ions and reporting, w ou ld b e under the provinc e coordinator .

The DGUFI f ina ncia l team wou ld register these contr ibutions using the project chart o f accounts

unde r “cuentas de orden”. These in-kindcontributions w ou ld no t need to be audi ted.

Information Systems. The project wo uld no t require a new in form ation system. There i s a basic

system in place implemented by th e DGUFI for the IDB- f inan ced PROM SE Projec t, to m oni tor

subproject im ple men tatio n and resource transfer. This system wo ul d also be used to produce the

requisite financial statements for this project. Eve n though, the system i s n o t linked with th e

natio nal Government’s integrated financial management system, i t provides a comprehensive too l

for pro ject moni tor ing and can wo rk in para l le l with the central Governmen t budget informa tion

system.

Written Procedures. Project f inancial procedures would be documented in an OperationalManual , w hic h wo uld define the ro les and respons ib i l it ies o f a l l enti ties involved in Project

implementat ion. The Operat ional Ma nu al woul d include, among other f inancial procedures: (i)

accounting pol ic ies and procedures, including basis o f accounting and chart o f accounts; (ii)he

rep ortin g requirements fi-om the pro vin cia l level; (iii)ormats o f the consol idated F inanc ia l

Mo ni to r ing Reports fo r the program; (iv) internal controls inclu ding cr i ter ia and procedures for

processing payments and advances; (v) records management; (vi) audit arrangements; and (vii)

format and content o f he f inancial statements

Financial Reporting. The DGUFI would prepare semiannual F inanc ia l Moni tor ing Repor ts

(FMRs) in accordance with Ba nk procedures, wh ich specif ies accounting and report formats f or

a l l Bank- f inanced pro jec ts. F inanc ia l Mon i tor in g Repor ts (FMRs) wo ul d comprise at least:

A f inancial section stating for the pe rio d and cum ula tivel y (project l i fe ) cash receipts by sourcesand applications by ma in expenditures c lassi f icat ion as we l l as beginn ing a nd ending cash

balances o f he project an d a statement o f accumulated investments by project component with a

comparison between a ctual and plann ed expenditures.

An outp ut mo nit ori ng section that: (a) sets for th physic al progress in pro ject implementation, and

(b) explains variances between the actual and previo usly forecast imple men tatio n target.

54



A procurem ent section describing the status o f procurement under the project, as o f he en d of he

period covered by the report.

The FMR’ s formats w oul d be agreed with the DGUFI and included in the Operational Manual,

The Operational Manu al prepared by the DGUFIand acceptable to the Ba nk s p a rt o f the Act ion

Plan. The DGUFI would be responsible for the project financial management, includingaccounting, an d tim ely submission o f the Financial Management Reports, annual audits and

disbursements and would record all transactions in i t s own system. The physical progress

indicators and the timing o f he FMRs wou ld be consulted with the B an k to ensure the usefulness

o f the FMRs in the overall project supervision. The preparation o f these reports w oul d re ly

heavi ly o n the in format ion prov ided by the provincial level . The DGUFI finan cial management

team agreed o n the format o f reporting and the preparation o f consolidated reports for project

management an d distribution to the various stakeholders, inc ludi ng national contro l entities and

the Bank.

Fina ncial statements wo ul d be prepared on the basis o f accrual accounting and shall be in l i ne

with the Ba nk requirements.

Audit. The financial statements of the project would be audited annually by the Comptrol lerGeneral (AGN). The project financial statements audits would be conducted following national

audit standards compatible with the International Organization o f Supreme Audit Inst i tut ions

(INT OSA I). Th e project wou ld have external audit arrangements under the responsibi l ity o f

AGN, for the central Government and al l provinces, w hic h wo uld jo in the project. This

arrangement requires that external auditors would carry out a traditional independent audit,

j o i n t l y with the support o f the ME Cy T inte rna l aud it unit, and the auditors would provide

technical assistance during each fiscal year. There are several objectives o f this addit ional

requirement:

Ensure external auditors wo uld have close follow -up on interna l control, accounting and

budgeting processes and procedures, based on the understanding this would not a f fect

their independence and objectivity .

Exte rnal auditors wo ul d have the opportunity to assist or gu ide the project to correct anydeviations fr om the procedures to a void any possible problems during the fisca l year.

Ensure a better understanding o f project execution that wo uld contr ibute t o carrying out

the external audit.

There i s no need to wa i t until the end o f he f iscal year to per form an ex-post audi t review where

the possible outcomes wo ul d have only a retroactive e ffect o n project execution.

0

0

0

Detai led Financial Managemen t Arrangements

In order to contribute to a better understanding o f proje ct fin ancia l management arrangements, a

matr ix was developed to descr ibe the di f ferent activi t ies and responsibil i t ies o f the di f ferent

entities involved in projec t execution.

55



Table 1: Project FM Issues General Understanding and Financial Management

Arrangements

Financial Management

Arrangements

GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

ARRANGEMENTS IN GENERAL

Wo uld be cond i ti oned by two m a i n

instruments:

0 Provinc ial Capacity

Assessment

0 Bilat eral technical agreement

PROVINCES CAPACITY

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND

METHODOLOGY ONFMAND

BILATERAL AGREEMENT

ADMINISTRATIVE

ARRANGEMENTS

DISBURSEMENT

FUNDS

Disbursements wou ld b e based o n the

use o f a SA to pre-f inance expenditures

incurred and SOEs

ARRANGEMENTS - FLOW OF

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

BUDGETING, TREASURY AND

ACCOUNTING

Internal Control

, BY COMPONENT

Component A

Improving Quality andCoverage o f Rural Education

Tradit io nal approach

The DGUFIo f he MECyT

has main responsibi l i ty f or

project oversight and

implementat ion

(already in place)

Would be prepared j o i n t l y with

the counterpart team and include d

in he Operat ional Manua l

Preparat ion o f consolidated

fina nci al statements, centralized

at the MECyTDGUFI

Provincial leve l execut ion -decentralized at each provin ce

Tradi t ional Approach

The Government spends and

requests reimbursement throug h

tradi t ional SOEs

An S A s needed as a rev olvin g

fund

Lump sums w o u l d be advanced

in ranches to the provinces

MECyTDGUFI responsible fo r

payments whe n acquisi t ion

process i s perfo rme d at the

central level .

The DGUFI exist ing informat ion

system to be shared with

provinces

The DGUFI exist ing informat ion

system

MECyT and Provinces

Component B

Enhancing StewardshipCapacity o f National

Government

r radi t ional approach

The DGUFI o f he MECyT

has ma in responsibi l ity for

project oversight andimplementat ion

(already in place)

Would be prepared j o i n t l y with

the counterpart team and inc luded

in he Operat ional Manu al

Preparat ion o f FM nformation,

Central ized at the

MECyTDGUFI

Tradi t ional Approach

The G overn ment spends and

requests reimbursement throug h

tradi t ion al SOEs

Comme rcial bank account at

“Banco de la Nacion” .

MECyTDGUFI responsible fo r

payments at the complet ion o f theprocure ment process at the

provincial level.

The DGUFI exist ing information

system

The DGUFI exist ing information

system

MECyT

56



External Audit

Reporting - Financial Monitoring

Reports

Bilateral Technical Agreement

Technical Assistance and Training

Arranger

Provincial Plans

SA1- AGN SA1-AGN, or

Private Audit Firms at the

provincial level for recurrent

audit arrangements

M E C y T / D G U F I MECyTiDGUFI

Responsible for bi latera l Responsible for bi latera l

technical agreement prepa ration technica l agreement prepara tion

and signing with provinces and signing with rural schools

clusters

Responsible for technical

assistance and training to

I provinces

mts by National and Provincial Levels

Nat iona l Leve l 1 Prov inc ia l Leve l

Approves provincial p lans

Approves advance reports for

disbursement purposes

Di rect payment to providers andcontractors hired by the centralWorks

Prepares pro vinc ial plans

Prepares advance rep orts

Requests ca sh advances

Di rect payment to providers andcontractors hired by the

Goods and Materials

Approves catalogs, selects

material, acquires materials and

books,

Assigns quantit ies for distr ib ut ion

to r ural schools, and

Responsible for procurement

process at the centra l Governmen t

Responsible for approval o f

prov incia l draft documents

Terms of Reference

Direct payment to providers and

constructors hired by the central

Government

Prepares terms o f reference for

central Government

Assist and supports the

preparat ion o f erms o f reference

at the provinc ial level

Advances for a 60 day pe r i od o f

el igible expenditures wou ld be

made f ro m the S A to the

provinces bank accounts at the

"Banco de la Naci6n "The provincial coordinator wo uld

approve the content o f

expenditures as reported by the

provinces

Cluster activities

Dire ct payment to providers and

constructors hired by the central

Government

Prepares terms o f reference for

central Government

Advances would be managed at

separate bank accounts for each

grant per cluster at the "Banco de

l aN ac i 6n "

A table would be prepared by

each c luster inc luding al l

expenditures o f project resources

throug h the grants

Government 1 provincial Government

Responsible for educational I Prepares procurement process

57



Table 1 Project FM Issues General Understanding and Financial Management

Arrangements

Financial

Management

Arrangements

Central Budget

Information

System

Provinces Capacity

Assessment

Cri ter ia and

Methodo logy o n FMand Performance

Agreement

Disbursement

Arrangements -Flow of Funds

Disbursements

wou ld be based on

S A advances and

expenditures

incurred

Information

Systems

Accounting

Internal Control

External Audit

Reporting-Financial

Monitoring

Reports

Technical

Assistance and

Training

B. BY EP

Ministry of Economy

Developed and

Implemented by the

Ministry o f Economy

GOA pends and

Requests Reimbursemen tthrough Tradi t ional

SOEs by the TreasuryS A s needed as a

revo lv ing fund

S I D I F

‘ITIES

MECyTLDGUFI

Implements the centralPubl ic Financial

Management system

Provides inputs to the

Bank ’s FM S fo r the

preparation o f FM

Capacity Assessment

and supervises prov inces

per formance

Lump sums w o u l d b e

transferred in trenches

DGUFI nformat ion

System

DGUFI nformat ion

System

MECyT

Internal Audit

arrangement

SA1 - AGN

FMRs consol idation o f

pro ject in format ion

Responsible for service

provis ion to provinces

Provinces

Ar e subject to FMCapacity

Assessment

Separate project

accountsmanagement

Provinces are

required to use the

DGUFI nformat ion

System

Provinces are

required to use the

DGUFI nformat ion

System

Provinces Internal

Audit arrangement

S A 1-AGN, o r

pr ivaterecurrent externa l

audit

Prepares inputs fo r

th e FMRs

Responsible for

service pr ovision t o

rur al schools

clusters

58



Financial Management Risk Assessment

Letters.

2.3.3 Internal A udit arrangementsAssesses quality o f he internal audit arrangements o f he implementing enti ty.

The overal l project f inancial management risk i s moderate based on the consolidated financial

managemen t assessment, perfo rmed at the federal and prov incia l level.

MODERATE

2. CONTROL R I

Risks that the project’s accounting and internal control framework are inadequate to ensure project

ff in the implementing agency. The FM capacity i s defined by the

HIGH

o f audit wor k performed, and audit results delivered: (i) ua l it y o ftions/ disclaimedadverse opinions; (ii) ontent o f Management

59



Risk Mit iga t ion Measures

Delays o n audi t repor ts and

qual i ty of audi t work

performed, an d audit resul ts

del ivered

Poor qua l i ty o f i n terna l

audit arrangements o f

provinces and the MECyTinterna l audit.

The mitigation measures will be financed using loa n proceeds. In order to mitigate the project

f iduciary high risk areas assessed during the appraisal mission, the Operational Manual would

incl ude several actions that are described in he fol low ing table:

Implementing concurrent external

audit by AGN, with the support oi

the provincial external audit

inst i tut ions “Tribunal de Cuentas

Provincial” and “Contaduria

Provincial”, for al l participa ting

provinces during the f iscal year

Strengthen the MECyT interna l audil

unit operat ional capaci ty

Concentrate payments at the DGUFI

fo r cont racts ov er US$lOO,OOO, and

central ized procuremenl

arrangements for specific contracts

and purchases

Table 3: Risk Mitigation Measures

Risk Description

2.1. FM Arrangements

Budgeting and Financial

Planning, FM Staff

capacity

2.1.2 Internal Controlsrtimeliness

arrangements

Risk Level

MODERATE

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

Weaknesses

Week capacity o f FM staf f

in he implem enting agency.

Th e FM capacity at the

provincial Government is

also weak; the number and

qual i f i cat ion o f the

accountants, disbursement

specialist an d other FM staf f

employed on the project

needs to be mainstreamed

into the provincial FMstructure.

Poor internal cont rol

measures in place, lack o fprocesses and procedures at

the federal and provincial

levels designed to support

and ensure effectiveness an d

eff iciency o f operat ions,

re l iab i l it y o f f i nanc ia l

report ing and compl iancewith appl icable

lawsiregulat ions during the

project ’s implementat ion.

Mitigation Measures

Strengthening the DGUFI f inancial

and procurement management team.

Concentrate the project accounting,

budgeting and report ing system in

the DGUFIusing an int ranet network

to connect al l provinces to pe r for m

data entry under one software

Strengthen the MECyT internal audi t

unit operatio nal capacity.

Str ict implementat ion o f internal

control procedures at the provincial

level according to the Operat ional

Manual .

Technical assistance and training to

provincial s taf f on internal cont roland f inancia l management

60



Financial Management Action Plan

A Fina ncial Manag ement action plan was agreed with the Government. The priori ty item s are the

strengthen ing o f he DGUFIand the provinces financial management arrangements, wh ic h wo ul d

inc lude the incorporat ion o f additional staff.

Table 4: Financial Management Action Plan

ACTIVITIES

Strengthen the DGUFI

financial management

team

The Operational Manual,Financial Management

component in place

The DGUFI f inancial

management groupprovided technical

assistance and tra ini ng tothe provinces including

in the first stage o f the

project

Establish a separate

budgetary l ine in th e

MECyT annual budget to

keep t rack o f pro jectexecution

The provinces comply

with th e minimum FM

requirements described

above.

Review DGUFI FMStaff ing

FINAL PRODUCT

The DGUFI has incorporated

a professional with experience

in financial management, and

the intranet connection with

the provinces i s functioningeffectively

The operational manual FMcomponent i s completed and

approved by the Bank, andincludes a ll n ew arrangements

and procedures for the

implementation o f the

financial information system,

and terms o f reference for

external audit ( including

FMRs), format and contentso f he financial statements.

The DGUFI provided at leastone workshop including al l

the provinces enrolled in the

project, and technicalassistance t o each o f hem.

The .separate l ine would be

ensured by the Ministry o f

Economy

The financial system i s

operating effectively using th e

intranet, and staff i s trained.

The provinces are able to

connect to the intra net

C V s o f a ll DGUFI’s FM sta f fpresented and reviewed by a

B a n k F M S

RESPONSIBLE

DGUFI

DGUFI

DGUFI

DGUFI

Provinces

WB -FMS

COMPLETION

DATE

Assurance

received fromDGUFI that thisactivi ty i s in th e

process o f be ing

completed.

Completed

Part o f b i l a te ra l

agreement and

Financial

ManagementAssessments

Completed

Part of bilateral

agreement and

Financial

Management

Assessments

Assurancereceived fro m

DGUFI ha t this

activi ty i s in he

process o f be ingcompleted.

61



TypeVisit

F M R R e v i e w

Audit

Review

62

Timing Mechanism Objective

General Integratin g supervision Rev iew FM system.

Supervision: missions at least one tim e each Supervise Special Ac cou nt

Tw ic e a year semester. Recon cil iation. Us e o f funds.fo r f i r s t year, Follow up on Externa l Aud i tors

once a year for

the fol low ing Revie w staff ing.

years.

With each The FMR submitted to the Review FMR information

report Bank. consistency.

Once a Year

recomm endations/ raised issues.

Raise issues disclosed in FMR.

The Audit Report submitted to Revie w Audit Report.

the Ba nk Raise issues disclosed in Audit

Report



Annex 8: Procurement Arrangements


A. General

Procurement would be carr ied out in accordance with provisions stipulated in the LegalAgreement a nd the Wo rl d Bank 's "Guidelines: Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits"

dated Ma y 2004 for the supply o f goods and ci vi l works; and "Guidelines: Selection and

Employment o f Consultants by Wo rld Ban k Borrowers" dated M a y 2004 for technical assistance

and other consultant assignments. The various items under different expenditure categories are

described and summ arized below . Fo r each contract whic h wo ul d be financed by the Loan, theapplicable procurement methods or consultant selection methods, the need f or pre-qualification,

whe n necessary, estimated costs, p rio r revie w requirements, and tim e frame are agreed between

the Borrower and the Ba nk in the Procurement Plan that i s described in the Operational Manual,

The Procurement Plan would be updated at least annually or as required to reflect the actual

project's imple men tatio n needs and improvements in institutiona l capacity. The Bank' s Standard

BiddingDoc ume nts (SBD) and Standard Request for Proposals wou ld gove rn the procurement o f

Bank-financed Inte rnat iona l Com peti tive Bidding (ICB) goods and c iv i l works and consultant

services respectively. The same rules wou ld apply to ICB procurement and to large contractswith consultant f i r m s as identifie d in the procurement plan o f he part icipating Provinces. For the

Nat iona l Compet i t ive Bidding (NCB) and Shopping or Three Quotations proc uremen t o f goods

and ci vi l works, the DGUFIwo uld use National S BD agreed with or satisfactory to the Bank. All

SBDs wo ul d b e used for each procurement method, as we ll as mo de l contracts for works, goods

and consultants procured, and should be included in he Operational Manu al (OM).

Procurement o f Works: Civil works procured under this project wou ld include infrastructure fo r

rural and vocational schools. This m a y imply repair ing and expanding exist ing buildings or

through the replacement o f exist ing buildingswhere rehabil i tation i s not feasible and only min or

maintenance o f school buildings. The B an k evaluated one Province and the rest o f the

part icipating Provinces wo uld be evaluated by th e DGUFI, fo l low ing the Bank's standard format.

The in i t ia l risk grading o f the part icipating Provinces wo uld b e subject to review (upgrade ordowngrade) depending upon their performance as monitored by the DGUFI. Al l c i v i l wo rks

contracts estimated to cost over US$5 O mi l l ion equiva lent wo uld be procured using InternationalCompeti t ive Bidding (ICB) procedures and the Bank's SBD . Civil work s contracts estimated to

cost less than US$5.0 mi l l i on equ iva lent m ay be procured using Nat iona l Compet i t ive Bidding

(NCB) procedures. Wo rks estimated to cost less than US$350,000 equivalent, m ay be procured

on the basis o f at least three quotations fr om qu alified contractors. The procure ment under N C Band three quotations wo ul d be done usingnational SB D acceptable to the Bank. Fo r small -scale

rehabil i tation or maintenance o f existing schools, the partic ipatin g schools wou ld subcontract

directly to contractors when the ind ividual contracts do n ot exceed US$20,000. Wh en no suchcontractors are available in the participating school area, the schools w ou ld select a contractor

from outside the loca l area o n the basis o f acceptable administra tive procedures under national

regulations. This type o f nvestment w ould be speci f ied in the procurem ent plans contained in he

sub-project plans presented by the participating Province s duringProject 's implementation.

Procurement of Goods: Goods to be procured wou ld include: equipment prov ision especial ly for

drinking water and fo r the supply o f electricity f or ru ra l schools; textbooks, didactic materials,

printouts, furniture, videotapes, computer an d audi ovis ual equipment. All goods estimated to cost

over US$500,000 may be p rocu red using International Competi t ive Bidding (ICB) procedures

and the Bank's SBD. Goods estimated to cost less than US$500,000 may be procured in

accordance with the Nation al Competi t ive Bidding (NCB). Books, l ibraries and didactic materials

63



ma y be procured under Community Part icipation in Procurement (para. 3.17 o f he Guidelines).

Th is process requires that representatives o f al l levels o f the Education Co mmu nity including

M E C y T ’ s will participate in the evaluation o f samples o f books, l ibra ries and didactic materials

prov ided by the Education industry. The terms o f eference o f he evaluation committee should

be satisfactory to the Bank. The industry will be asked t o submit samples to be assessed by th e

Educ ation Co mm unit y based on their technical, pedagogic, curricular, and graphic factors,com petit ive aspects, and on price reasonabil i ty. The technical competition i s the resu lt o f an

open request o f expression o f nterest. The outcome o f his technical assessment will be included

in the catalogue o f books and didactic materials which will be rev iewed by the Ban k before the

MECyT proceeds with the direct purchase. Det ails arrangements and criteri a fo r evalu ation are

included in the technical section o f he Operational Manual. Contracts for goods that cannot be

grouped into larger bidding packages and estimated to cost less than US$lOO,OOO per contract

may b e p rocu red using Shopping (National/International). The procurement wo uld b e done using

Na tion al S B D and a mod el request for quotations agreed on or satisfactory to the Ba nk.

Advertisement: All procurement notices shall be advertised in the National Contracting Off ice

(Oficina Nacional de Contrataciones, ONC) web page or in at least one loca l newspaper o f

national c i rculat ion. The I C B procurement notices and contract award information shall be

advertised in th e UN Development Business online (UNDB online) an d in th e DevelopmentGateway’s dgMarket . The O N C shal l also be used to publish nform ation o n awarded contracts

in accordance with provis ions o f paragraphs 2.60 o f he Procurement Guidelines and as mandated

by local legislat ion.

Procurement o f non-consulting services: Non-consulting services under this pro ject would

include contracts fo r logis tics services to support training.

Procurement o f Consultants’ Services:

(i) irms: it s expected that the project wo ul d finance technica l assistance for the implemen tation

of the components (a) Impro ving Qual i ty and Coverage o f Ru ral Education and (b) Enhancing

Stewardship Capacity o f he National Level . At the national level, Con sulting Services through

f i r m s wo ul d include technical assistance for the development and applicat ion o f pedagogical and

institutional models, for the design o f teaching materials and didactic models for student

throughput, and fo r o rganizing school clusters and training. At a prov incial level , this w o u l d

include technical assistance fo r organizing teacher trai ning and provi ding support in the f ie ld. All

contracts fo r f i r m s wou ld be procured using Qua lity- and Cost-Based Selection (QCBS), except

for small contracts for assignments o f standard or outin g nature and estimated to cost less than

US$lOO,OOO equivalent, which would be procured using other methods such as Least-Cost

Selection (LCS) or Consultants’ Qualifications (CQ). Single-source selection (SSS) procedure

m ay be used only in exceptional cases, with pri or agreement o f the Bank, in accordance with

provis ions o f paragraph 3.10 o f he Consultant Guidelines, for assignments wh en on ly one firm i s

qualif ied or has experience o f exceptional worth, and i t has been confirmed by a request o f

expressions o f interest. Consultants’ services to organize worksho ps wo ul d be selected using

LCS. Universi t ies for tra ining purposes wo uld be selected in accordance with provis ions o fparagraph 1.11(b) an d (c).

Short l i s t s o f consultants for services estimated to cost less than US$300,000 equivalen t per

contract may be composed entirely o f national consultants in accordance with the provis ions o f

paragraph 2.7 o f he Consultant Guidelines.

64



(ii)ndividual Consultants:Mo st o f he consult ing services to be contracted wo uld b e related to

supervision, tr ain ing and technical assistance. Th e consulting services men tion ed above w ou ld be

provided by indi vid ual consultants selected by comparison o f qual i f icat ions o f at least three

candidates and hire d in accordance with the provisions o f Section V o f he Consultant Guidelines.

Individual consultants for services with an expected duration o f six months or m ore would be

selected as a resu lt o f a request o f expressions o f interest advertised in a national newspaperand/or ONC, and contracts wou ld be signed for the expected duration o f he assignment, subject

to annual revie ws for performance. Contracts with individuals ma y only be terminated for poor

per formance or fo r non-comple tion o f he work with Bank’s pr ior agreement. The Ba nk wo uld

no t agree to the replacement o f individu al consultants terminated f or other than the

aforementioned reasons.

Advertisement: The ONC or a national newspaper shall also be used to advertise a request o f

expression o f nterest for consult ing f i rms or individuals, and to publish nformat ion on awarded

contracts in accordance with provisions o f paragraphs 2.28 o f he Consultants Guidel ines and as

mandated by local legislation. Contracts expected to cost more than US$200,000 shall be

advertised in UNDB onl ine and in dgMarket.

Operating Costs: The loan wou ld f inance operating costs that w oul d be procured using B a n kSho ppin g procedures, if he conditions o f Clause 3.5 o f he Procurement Guidelines are met. The

operating costs inc lude cost o f maintenance o f computer, offic e and aud iovisual equipment,

transportation fares, travel expenses and per diem, either related to t rain ing or supervisionactivities and other operational costs o f he Program.

Others: Didactic materials and book fairs (FERIAS). An innovative procurement procedure

k now n as the D idactic Support and School Books F air (Feria de Apoyos Did kct icos y Libros

Escolares, FERIA), wo ul d be conducted under special procurement arrangements in the project.

The strategy o f he FERIA seeks to resolv e a supply-side procureme nt issue fo r these educational

inputs vi a a participa tory scheme in the educational chain o f the MECyT. All books, materials

and other education items in the catalogue are then shown during a FERIA Wee k to a l l schoo l

com muni ty teams, in vite d ex-profeso by th e MECyT. The MECyT m ay again use the services o f

a specialized logistics firm to provide support during the FERIA events and later to d istribute toschools the books del ivered by all publishers or editorial homes that were awarded purchase

orders/contracts at time o f FERIA. With the f inancing provided by th e MECyT to schools,

according t o specific school/student quotas, school teams can decide to buy the books andmaterials that their schools want and need, w itho ut any interventio n at this stage f ro m the MECyT

central areas. Schools place direc t purchase orders with each editorial home representative

attending th e FERIA. W he n these purchase orders and contracts are finalized, t he ed ito rial homes

are made responsible fo r ma kin g arrangements to deliver a ll materials and books, either direct ly

to each school or to the designated warehouse, depending on the optio n selected by th e MECyT

for distr ibution. Detai ls on he FERIA arrangements and criteria fo r eva luation are inclu ded in the

technical section of the Operational Manu al.

B. Assessment of the agency’s capacity to implement procurement

Procurement activities would be carried out at the national level by the Ministry o f Education,

Science and Technology (MECyT) through i t s Directorate General fo r the Unit o f In ternationa l

Finance (DGUFI). The DGUFIwou ld have techn ica l support f ro m the area o f Rura l Educat ionunder the Directorate General o f Curr ic ulum Management and Teacher Training (DNGCyFD).

The DGUFI s staffed with a General Coo rdinator and various technical experts.

65



Procurement Responsibil ity. There wo uld be three levels o f impleme nting agencies. At thecentral level, the Directorate General for the Unit o f International Finance (DGUFI) o f the

Ministry o f Education Science and Technology (MECyT ) wo uld hire an addit ional consultant to

complete the procurem ent unit fo r the project. The unit would procure larger packages o f goods

and consultants services. As an option, the MECyT cou ld contract UNOPS to fac i l i ta te

procurement processes; the fee related to the services would be paid with loca l funds. TheUNOPS would carry out procurement activi t ies using the methods established in the Loan

Agreement (LA) and in the OM and would be subject to the same prior and ex-post review

procedures. Th e Provinces participating in the subprojects would also carry out procurement

activities using the methods established in the LA. The third level, schools, w ou ld contract small

contractors t o carry out the maintenance o f the buildings and procure small goods using

administrative procedures defined in the OM. The DGUFI would be responsible for overal l

procurement activity under the Project, including compliance with procedures and timetables

agreed with the Bank.

Fo r f inancing c iv i l works and goods related to them, each jur isdict ion must submit technical

documentation of each project to the Infrastructure Department o f the M E C y T for i t s approval.

Once the projec t i s approved, funds wo uld be transferred. The responsibi l i ty o f he area and t ime

frame f or the review o f the documents wou ld be indicated in th e OM, to avoid delays in theprocess.

An assessment o f he capacity o f he Implem enting Agency to implement procurement actions for

the project was carr ied out by the Directorate General for the Unit o f In ternat iona l F inance

(DGUFI) with the resources o f a PHRD grant during project preparation between April a nd M a y

2005 and by the B a n k during the pre-appraisal mission. The assessment also reviewed the

organizational structure o f the Province o f Misiones for implementing the pro ject and the

interaction between the project’s staff responsible f or pro cureme nt and the relevant central unit

for administ ration and finance.

The capacity assessment o f he DGUFI and the unit in Posadas (Province o f Misione s) as w el l as

the action plan for improving their procurement capacity includes providing office space, hiringspecialized staff, and main tainin g an inform ation system.

The k ey issues and r isks concerning procurement for implementat ion o f the project have been

identi f ied and include: (i)bsolete regulatory framework for the procurement o f goods and work sand lack o f egal framework for the selection o f consult ing services, (ii)nadequate office space

and equipment, and (iii)ack o f an in format ion system for moni tor ing pro ject and procurement

progress.

The corrective measures that have been agreed to m itigat e each o f he above-mentioned r isks are:

(i)he Lo an Agreement w ou ld include Special Provisions and the DGUFIwo uld adopt a Project

OM satisfactory to the Bank before implementation begins, (ii) dequate office space and

equipment would b e prov ided by the MECyT ;(iii)n Excel-based informat ion system to mon itor

project and procurement progress. The Project OM ncludes the agreed NCB documents.

The overal l project risk fo r procurement i s AVERAGE.

A r i s k leve l woul d b e established for each participatin g Prov ince based on a self-assessment by

the Province and a rev iew by qual i f ied staff at the DGUFI. The Ban k woul d con f i rm the resu lt ing

estimate o f risk in each case. Bas ed o n this approach, the DGUFI wo uld prepare a capacity

assessment for each part icipa ting Province b efore a ny disbursement i s made under Subprojects,

66



The DGUFI wil l use the Bank’s toolkit for determining the procurement implem entin g capacity

and assessing ri sk . The DGUFIwou ld be using the same questionnaire a nd method ology used by

the Ban k in classi fying the risk o f he part icipating Provinces.

C. Procurement Plan

The Borrowe r, at appraisal, prepared an overall Procurement Plan fo r the tasks to be ca rried out

during the Project’s implementation. This mode l procurement pla n i s included in th e OM.Procedures fo r i nstit ution al procurement plann ing are specified in th e OM.

The pl an has been agreed between the Borrower and the Project Team. I t i s also to be made

available in the project’s database and in the Bank’s external website. The Procurement Plan

would be updated in agreement with the Project Team. The Ban k wo uld review the project

procurem ent pl an annually, includ ing the pla n for selecting consultants, and con fi rm t s approval

of the procurement risk classification o f each participating Provinces. Befo re presenting the

consolidated pla n to the Bank, the DGUFIwo uld re view the plan o f each part icipating Province.

The qual it y o f he p lan and i t s tim ely presentation to the DGUFIand the Bank w ould he lp both to

ide ntif y weaknesses in the units. An action plan wo uld be prepared to correct and fol low-up on

these issues.

In the case of ICB for works and goods and consultant contracts expected to cost more than

US$300,000 a General Procurement Not ice (GNP) i s required. The Ban k wo uld arrange for i t s

publ ication in UNDB online and in dgMarket.

D. Frequency o f Procurement Supervision

The Bank would carry out ex-post reviews through an annual supervision mission on

procurement. The DGUFI and the Bank, in clud ing procurement and financ ial management staff,

wo uld m eet biannual ly to discuss the classi f icat ion o f Provinces, to re view th eir procurement and

action plans and to carry out the ex-post review. The Bank ’s project supervision wo uld revie w

procurement reports and wo uld carry out procurement reviews in he partic ipating Provinces.

Independent Procurement Reviews; For investments under the school activities, the DGUFI

wo uld provide the Bank, n o later than six months after the end o f each year, the reports o f he

independent procurement review s audited by proc urem ent experts, acceptable to the Bank .

E. Details o f the Procurement Arrangements Involving International Competition

A descriptio n o f the detailed procurement arrangement in vo lv in g international arrangements,

fol low ing the format of the tw o tables described below i s par t o f he Procurement P lan hat wouldbe made available in he project’s database and in he Bank’s external website.

67



1. Goods, Works, and Non Consulting Services

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ref. Contract Estimated Procurement P-Q Domestic Review

No , (Descriptio Cost Method Preference by Bank

n) (yedno) (Prior/

Post)

(a) List o f contract packages to be procured foll owi ng ICB and direct contracting:

8 9

Expected Comments

Bid-Opening

Date

Review

by Bank

(Prior /Post)

(b) ICB contracts estimated to cost above US$5.0 mil l ion for works and US$300,000 for goods

and non-consulting services per contract and all direct contracting would be subject to prior

rev iew by the Bank.

Expected Comments

Proposals

Submission

Date

2. Consulting Services

(a) L i s t o f con sult ing assignments with short- list o f nternational f i rms.

Method

5 1 6 1 7

(b) Consultancy services estimated to cost above US$200,000 per contract and single source

selection o f consultants ( f i rms) woul d be sub ject to pr io r rev iew by the Bank.

(c) Short l i s t s composed entirely o f national consultants: Short l i s t s o f consultants fo r services

estimated to cost less than US$300,000 equivalent per contract ma y be composed entirely o f

national consultants in accordance with the provisions o f paragraph 2.7 o f the Consultant

Guidelines.

F. Special Procurement Conditions

The fo l low ing Special Procurement Condit ions wo uld b e included in the Lo an Agreement (LA)

and shall apply to procurement under the project:

General0 Forei gn and loca l contractors, service providers, consultants and suppliers s hall not be

requ ired to: (a) register or (b) establish residence in Argentina or in a Province or (c)enter into association with other nation al or internation al bidders as a conditio n for

submittingbids or proposals.

0

International Arbi tra t ion shal l be included as a condit ion o f confl ict resolut ionmechanism in contracts with foreign contractors, service providers, consultants and

suppliers.

Invi tat ions to bid, biddingdocuments, minute s o f bid opening, requests f or expressions o finterest, and modif ications o f award o f al l goods, works and services, includin g

consultants’ shall be publishe d in the web page o f he ONC in a manne r acceptable t o the

Bank.

Witness prices shall no t be used as a parameter fo r a bid evaluation or contract award.

0

0

68



W o r k s , Goods and Non-Consultant services

0

0

A two-envelope system for procurement would not be used for procurement o f goods,services (other than consultant services) and works.

Af te r the pub l ic open ing o f bids, inform ation relating to the examination, clarification

and evaluation of bids, and recommendations concerning awards shall no t be disclosed tobidders or other persons not off icia lly concerned with th e biddingprocess until the award

i s publ ished. Bidders shall not be al lowed to review or make copies o f others bidders’

bids.

For contracts for goods, services, other than consulting services, and works, “the most

convenient” bid shall be the one that has been determined to be substantially responsive

and has been determined to be the lowest evaluated bid, provided that the bidder i s

determ ined to be q ualifie d to perfo rm the contract satisfactori ly.

The lowest evaluated bidder shal l not be required to reduce i t s bid as a condit ion o f

contract award.

Pr ice Adjustment for Civil Works Contracts should fol low the Pr ice Adjustment

Metho dology agreed between the Government o f Argentina and the Bank .

The NCB procedures wo uld be m odif ied t o make them ide ntical to the ICB procedures,except fo r the fo llo wi ng features: (a) advertisement m ay be l i mi te d to th e national press

or o ff ic ial gazette, or the O N C website, (b) the currency o f he country o f he Borrower

ma y be used for the purposes o f bidding and payment, (c) the bidding period ( from the

date of publ ication o f he invi tat ion to bid or the date that the documents are available,

whichever i s later to the date o f bid opening) may be reduced to 30 days, (d) the

INCOTERM clause DDP m a y b e used for the procurement o f goods and (e) the priceadjustment mechanism applicable to NC Bs, as stipulated in the above-mentioned Price

Adjustment Methodology.

0

0

Consultant services

0 Consultants shal l not be required bid or performance securities.

Procurement records . Deta iled procurement records, re flect ing the Project’s supply o f goods,civ i l works construction / rehabil i tation and consultant services, inc lud ing records o f time taken

to complete key steps in he process and procurement activ ities related to supervision, review, and

audits, w ou ld be maintained by the DGUFI. These records wou ld be maintaine d for at least tw o

years after the Project’s closi ng date. The records for ci v i l works an d goods wo ul d include public

notices, bidding documents and addenda, bid opening information, bid evaluatio n reports, for mal

appeals by bidders an d outcomes, signed contracts with relat ed addenda and amendments, records

on claims and dispute resolutions, and any other useful inform ation . The records fo r consultant

services wo ul d include pub lic notices fo r expression o f interest, request for proposals and

addenda, technical and financial reports, formal appeals by consultants and outcomes, signed

contracts, addenda and amendments, records on claims and dispute resolution and any other

useful information. The participa ting Provinces wo uld retain all invoices, pr ice comparisons,

bids received, bid evaluation reports, and al l o f the documentation required under the l aw andensure tha t i t s readil y available. The filing, reco rd keeping, auditing, reporting, post-review, andmonitor ing o f he smal ler procurement activi t ies are crucial f or the successful appl ication o f the

funds fo r ensuring economy, eff icie ncy , and transparency.

69



Annex 9 : Economic and Financial Analysis


The economic and f inancial analysis o f he “Rural Educat ion Improvement Project - PROMER’

(hereafter, the project) i s carried out in tw o parts:

The Annex beg ins by presenting the findings f ro m a recent ly conducted rural household survey

(RHS) cond ucted for a study on ru ra l pover ty in Argentina. The survey o f dispersed rural areasin Argent ina i s smal l in scale (with 414 households sampled in the prov inces o f Chaco, Santa Fe,

Santiago del Estero, and Mendoza) in compar ison to the widely used Permanent Household

Survey (Encuesta Permanente de Hogares, EPH) that covers u rban areas in Argentina. Howe ver,

wage earnings regressions reported in he study prov ide impor tant insights regarding the potent ial

benefi ts o f this project. Fo l lowin g the presentat ion o f data fro m the rura l household survey, a

cost-benefit analysis o f Component A o f he project (rural education) i s presented that indicates

an in ternal ra te o f etu rn o f 14.3 percent under conservative assumptions. The second part o f this

Ann ex ident i f ies the f iscal impact o f he investment, w hic h appears to be mi no r consider ing the

magni tude o f he educat ional expendi ture in Argentina.

Part I : Economic Benefits for Rural Education in Argentina

Rura l pover ty i s extensive in Argentina, especial ly in the Nor thwest and Nor theast regions o f he

country, The Rural Poverty Study shows that Extreme Poverty i s higher in rural areas (39

percent) than in urba n areas (28 percent). Analysis o f available e mpi rical data indicates highpotent ial benef i ts from improving educat ional attainment in rural areas. At average values o f

other var iables, the Ru ral Poverty Study reports that having completed pr ima ry educat ion raises

the p robab il i ty o f emp loyment in high-return jobs to 18 percent. R ais ing one’s educat ion to the

secondary leve l shows that those with a secondary education are more than twice as l ik el y to be

employed in the high-return non agr icul tural employment as workers with only a pr imary school

education.

The R ura l Poverty Study fur ther reports that more educated indiv iduals in rura l Argentina earnhigher incomes than their less-educated counterparts. Interestingly, the findings indicate that

workers with completed p r imary educat ion in the lo w end o f he income dis t r ibut ion receive far

lowe r returns t o educat ion than their peers in the mid dle and high end. Work ers in t he l o w end

(25th quint i le) receive a 10 percent return o n comple t ing pr imary educat ion, as compared to

median workers w ho earn a 27 percent return. Th e var iat ion in the par t ial correlat ion between

education an d earnings indicates the very high heterogenei ty o f pr ima ry education qual i ty in rura l

areas. T h i s prob lem o f heterogeneity has a qua nti tat ive and a qual i tat ive dimension.

Quantitat ively, the coverage o f ear ly chi ldhood educat ion i s v e r y l o w in rural areas, as i s th e

coverage o f secondary education. In the absence o f eaching and lea rning methods and associated

materials tai lored to the special circumstances o f ru ra l schools (such as the presence o f multi-

grade classrooms), the qua lity o f the education experience varies wid ely across schools. The

findings fkom the earnings funct io n regression are repo rted belo w as Table 1.

The ex t remely high returns reported in the table fo r levels other than pr imary educat ion indicate

the presence o f elat ively few indiv idu als in he sample with these levels o f education, rather than

tremendously high rates o f etu m to educat ion for these levels. O f he 5 14 indiv idua ls whose data

was used for the regression analysis reported below, 35.7 percent ha d ess than p r ima ry educat ion

completed; 52.7 percent ha d prim ary education completed; 7.6 percen t ha d secondary education

6 Verner, Dorte, June 2005. Rur al Poverty and Labor Markets in Argentina, Working Paper, World Bank.

70



completed, and 3.9 percent had highe r education completed. With signi f icant out-migrat ion o f

more educated indiv iduals fkom ru ral areas, the smal l sample o f higher educated workers cannot

be taken as representative, and the coefficients for levels beyo nd pri ma ry ed ucatio n completed

should not be considered as representative o f the earnings benefits that would accrue from an

expans ion o f access to secondary or higher educat ion in dispersed rura l areas of Argentina.

75"

Return

% P>JtJ

0.80 0.00

-34.56 0.00

Table 1:Determinants o f Labor Income in Dispersed Rural Areas o f Argentina,

OLS and Quantile Regressions,2003

90"

Return

% P>Jt l

1.11 0.00

-17.06 0.00

Dependent var iable: L og abor income

Return

% P>JtJ

0.30 0.00

-53.51 0.00

7.79 0.00

Return Return

% P>JtJ % P>Jtl

0.30 0.00 1.21 0.00

-43.33 0.00 -35.21 0.00

9.75 0.00 27.12 0.00

O LS 1 25" 1 50th

A g eFemale

EducationPrima ry education complete

Secondary education complete

Univ ersi ty education complete

Lab or status

Has a permanent o b

Has a fo rmal ob

Self-employed

Wage worker

Commerce and Services

Agr icul ture and Livestock

Other sectorPubl ic Administ rat ion

Santiago d el Estero

Chaco

Mendoza

Sector

Province

Constant

I I

0.00

0.000.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.000.00

15.60 0.00

88.89 0.0052.50 0.00

0.00 0.00

54.19 0.00

16.53 0.OC

24.23 0.OC

-7.96 0.OC

0.00 0.0C

-9.06 0.OC

-13.24 0.OC

-9.43 0.oc-12.89 0.0C

144.49 0.00353.13 0.00

0.00 0.00

121.00 0.00

149.93 0.00

-23.43 0.00

-16.14 0.00

72.12 0.00135.84 0.00

0.00 0.00

42.19 0.00

59.84 0.00

-26.36 0.00

-3.34 0.00

58.57 0.00192.41 0.00

0.00 0.00

138.69 0.00

66.36 0.00

-35.60 0.00

-5.45 0.00

0.00 0.00

-72.11 0.00

-71.75 0.00

-13.93 0.00-81.33 0.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

-43.62 0.00 -22.59 0.00

-35.92 0.00 -27.67 0.00

2.74 0.00 -15.72 0.00-36.87 0.00 -31.55 0.00

25.99

55.8992.13

0.00

34.72

40.07

4.50

12.30

0.00

-21.96

-21.26

-15.21-27.82

-32.23 0.00

-36.43 0.00

-33.77 0.00

62705.68 0.00

0.103

-46.74 0.00

-55.34 0.00

-48.93 0.00

436673.57 0.00

0.136.13 0.085 0.097djusted R2 (OLS) and Pseudo R2

uantile Regression)

province. T he percentage return s calculate d as (exp (c oefficient estimate) - 1) * 100. N um ber o f observations: 5 14(weighted: 209,984) Source: R ura l Household Survey, 2003; This table replicates Tab le 7.8 in Rura l Pover t y and

Labor Markets in Argentina, by Dorte Verner, Wo rk ing Paper, Wo r l d Bank, June, 2005

Results o f Part 11: Cost-benefit Analysis

This section presents a cost-be nefit an alysis o f Component A (rural education) o f he project.

Project Interventions and Direct and Indirect Beneficiaries. The project seeks to increase

educational attainment among the you th populat ion res id ing in rural areas, particularly in those

71



regions with the lowest education indicators. The project includes the follo win g interventions: (i)

Expans ion o f Pre-School and Low er Secondary Coverage in Rural Areas; (i)mprovingFunctioning Condit ions o f Rural Schools; (iii) i rected Programs for Improving Student

throughput in Ru ral P r imary Education; (iv) Rura l School cluster.

D i r ec t Ta r ge t P opu l a t i on

Assumptions for Economic Analysis o f Equity and Education Project. The fo l lowingparameters are con sidered relevant in estimating the economic benefits o f he proposed project:

(i)he length o f the project horizon, (ii)he t ime o f impact o f the pro ject o n the student

population, (iii)he size o f the target population, (iv) the existing patterns o f repetition and

dropout rates o f he rur al population, (v) the comple tion rate for EG 3,

Rura l populat ion at school age

(age: 5 to 14). Al l rur al areas.68,540

Given the medium-to-long-term effect o f he changes, the estimates presen ted in erms o f educed

repetition and drop out rates and increased the EG B3 complet ion rates, wh ic h assume a project

horiz on o f onl y five years, are conservative. Therefore, this analysis assumes a longer horizon.

The analysis o f the Project uses the following assumptions to measure the direct and indirect

benefits (Table 2).

Pre-school(5 year old chi ldren)

EGB3

Internal E ficiency (I)

Reduced Repeti t io n Rates EGB 1 and 2

Reduced Repeti t io n Rates EGB 3

Reduced Dropou t Rates EGB 1 and 2

Table 2: Beneficiaries and Targets

89% Assume 95% enrol lment after f iv e years.

66% Assume 85% enrol lment after f ive years.

Assume 30% reduct ion in epeti t io n rates after f ive



10.1% years

5*6% years

O% years

Reduced Dropo ut Rates EGB 3Assume 30% reduct ion in repet i t io n rates after f iv e

25.9%

Table 3: Unit Costs and Cost o f Intervention

Total Cost o f he Project (Component A)*

Unit Cost of a student (Year 2003)

Estimate average incre mental earning o f owe rsecondary ed ucation graduates o ver non-graduates

(EPH, 2003)

US$244 .6 m i l l i o n

US$413/year

US$468/year

Additionally , the fol lo wi ng parameters were assumed:

(i) Discount ra te o f 10 percent;

72



(ii)

(iii) T i me hor izon : 10 years.

Project ions of enrol led students are based on annual growth rate estimations o f heenr ollm ent statistics during 200 1-2003; and

Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). The CBA i s a powe rful tool avai lable to pol icymakers that are

deciding between alternative project structures, or the“with

and wi thout” scenar io o f projectanalysis. Th e cr i te r ia used to evaluate the economic eff ic iency o f he project includ ed Ne t Present

Va lue (NPV) and the Eco nomic (or internal) Rate o f Return (IRR). The abi l i ty o f the CBA to

convert outcomes into a comm on unit o f value, ty pica lly expressed in dollars, provides a useful

summary o f overa l l benef its . In the case o f education projects, costs are easily iden tif ie d but

ben efits are harder to measure.

Summary o f Costs and Benefits. The p rel iminary estimations considered two sources o f di rect

benefits. The f i rst one i s associated with the savings to the educat ion system fr om the re duct ion o f

repetit ion rates in rural areas. (The latest survey conducted by the Ministry o f Educa t ion shows

that the repet i t ion rate for EGB 1 and 2 i s 9.8 percent for the rura l populat ion whi le 6.1 percent

fo r the whole cou ntry). The second bene fit considers the reduction in dropout rates that im pl ies an

amount o f mone tary resources saved to the system. Drop out rates among the r ura l populat ion are

considerably higher than for the urban populat ion: 9.95 percent for EGB 1 and 2, and 26 percentfor EGB 3 in he rural areas, compared with 2.2 percent and 8 percent respectively fo r the wh ole

country.

The unit costs per student in EGB are assumed to be US $ 413 per year. (This f igure actual ly

corresponds to the urba n population, but data f or the r ur al sector i s no t available). I t s important

to project the project ’s benefi ts der ived fro m the reduct ion in rep etit i on and drop out rates.’ The

other source o f di rect benefits i s the increased future earnings o f EG B 3 graduates as opposed to

non-graduates in rural areas. A 5 percent marginal re turn per addi t ional year o f school ing i s

assumed, a conse rvative figure, in light o f he earnings regression reported in Table 1 above (OLScoeff ic ient for Pr imary Edu cat ion completed was 7.8 percent).

Th e direct invest men t costs are distr ibuted ov er a five-year pe rio d and i t i s assumed that theGovernmen t wou ld have an addi t ional recurrent cost to cont inue the benefi ts achieved after the

f inal year o f he project. This recurrent cost was assumed to be s imilar t o the rec urrent cost during

the project (around US$20 mi l lion lyear ) . F ro m this perspective, the tw o cr i t ical indicators that are

evaluated inc lude the net present value (NPV) o f a l l benef i t and investment f lows and the in ternal

r at e o f e t u rn (IRR).

The direct costs are the U S 3 5 0 mi ll io n investment costs associated with a l l components o f he

project (the real costs to be incurred during the f i ve years o f the pro jec t are US$250 mil l ion) .

Give n the expected disbursement prof i le, the present value o f the future investment i s US$235mi l l ion w hen d iscounted with a ten percent discount rate.

In the absence o f the project, a total o f 670,000 students would repeat a course and 400,000

wou ld dropout of school during the 10 year per io d (assuming that the re pet i t ion rate and thedropout rate among the rural populat ion observed in 2003 remain constant during the t ime

7 High repet i t ion and dropout rates imply that enrollment rates in hig her grades are progres sively reduced,

wh ic h ndicates a def iciency in he ef f ic iency o f expenditures. See “Enfoques sobre l a Ef iciencia d el Gasto

en Educaci6n BBsica en l a Argent ina” Wo rki ng Paper N.6/03, W or ld Ba nk Reg iona l O f f ice fo r A rgent ina ,

Chile, Paraguay y Uruguay. June 2003.

73



hor iz on o f he project). F inal ly, considering a marginal return to schooling equal to 7 percent, i t s

estimated that in the absence o f he project, annual income wou ld be US$46 8 lower.

The expected benefi ts o f successful p roject implementat ion wo uld be:

The num ber o f epet it ions wo uld be reduced to an est imated 370,000 students. I t s thisreduct ion o f an es timated 300,000 repet it ions that consti tutes one o f he ma in benefi ts o f

the project. This reduct ion in the number o f epeti tions wo uld a l low for the reallocat ion

o f US$124 m i l li on ;

Pote ntial dropouts reduced by the projec t wo ul d be about 40,000 students;

An increment o f 20 percent o f he student popu lat ion graduating fro m EGB3 with

incremental year ly earnings o f US$468.

The rat io o f benefi ts to costs, consider ing the full cost o f he pro jec t, w ould y ie ld near ly

1.8 dol lars o f benefits for each dol lar invested. The project wou ld y ie ld a NPV, after

investments , o f US$195.5 mi l l i on over ten years and produce an in ternal ra te o f re turn

(IRR) o f 14.3 percent.

30,727,273

44,462,810

47,032,307

41,254,013

24,464,300

11,289.479

10,263,1629,330,148

8,48 1,952

0

0

0

34,073,246

65,215,248

70,783,264

69,582,97566,784,423

64,03 1,167

-30,727,273

-44,462,810

-47,032,307

-7,180,767

40,750,948

59,493,785

59,319,81357,454,275

55,549,2 15

Table 4: Summary o f Cost-Benefit Analysis

Year Investments Total Benefits Net Benefits

1

2

3

4

5

6

78

9

10 7,710,866 60,061,705 52,350,840

Tota l 235,016,309 430,532,028 195,515,720

IRR 14.3

Source: ow n calculations based o n data f rom MCEyT

Results o f Part 111: Fiscal Impact

This third sections analyzes the f iscal impact o f he project, based on the calculat ion o f

counterpart costs an d the im pl i c i t addi t ional f iscal costs to sustain project investments an d

outcomes (for example highe r enrollments generated by the project; maintenance o f

infrastructure, equipment and materials; other recurrent costs).

The f i r s t step in he analysis fo r the sustainabi li ty o f he project was to establ ish the base level

expendi tures pr io r to the implementat ion o f he pro jec t.

The total costs o f he project, in clu din g investments and recurrent costs, represents less than 9

percent o f he Educat ion Ministry Expenditures, w hic h indicates that the implem entat io n o f he

project i s viable.

74



Also, the highe r provin cial expenditure associated with the project i s m i n o r with respect to the

actual level o f tota l pro vinc ial resources al located to the educational sector.

Table 5: Summary o f Fiscal Impa ct

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Education Ministry Expenditurewithout Higher Education (EME) 695 702 710 742 775 810 846 884 924 966(millions o f US$)

33.8 53.9 62.6 60.4 39.4 20.0 20.0 20.0 20.0 20.0ural Education mprovement

Project - PROMER

Investments

Goods and services

Recurrent Costs

7.0 14.0 21.0 21.0 7.0

13.0 25.0 25.0 19.0 13.0 6.8 6.3 6.1 6.1 6.1

13.8 14.9 16.6 20.4 19.4 13.2 13.7 13.9 13.9 13.9

EME increase as a 'Onsequence Of 4.9% 7.7% 8.8% 8.1% 5.1% 2.5% 2.4% 2.3% 2.2% 2.1%Project

Provincialducation 5,119 5,171 5,229 5,465 5,711 5,968 6,236 6,517 6,810 7,117(millions o f US%)

Provincial Education Expenditure

Expansion (Pre-school and EGB3)

Increase by Rural Enrollment 0.27% 0.29% 0.32% 0.37% 0.34% 0.22% 0.22% 0.21% 0.20% 0.19%

Source: own calculations basedon data fromMCEyT

75



Annex 10: Safeguard Policy Issues


This Annex presents the details regarding the Safeguard Policies triggered by the Project and the

criteria and instruments to im plemen t them, includ ing: (i)nvironmental (OP/BP 4.01) and (ii)Indigenou s Peoples OP 4.10.

Environmental

The project has been classified as Category B. Al though i t would not support the massive

construction o f ne w schools, i t would f inance smal l c iv i l works activit ies for the repair and

rehabi l i tat ion o f existing schools. Given that i t i s not clear what specific infrastructureinterventions would be supported, an Environm ental Management Framew ork (EMF) has been

prepared, which ncludes:

a.

b.

Existing mechanisms for school infrastructure programs financed by the MECyT.

Participating bodies, including the N ational Ministry o f Education, the P rovincial

Coordinating Unit (UCP) and the Loc al Executing Unit (U.E.L.), and the responsibilitiesand funct ions o f he different bodies.Operational Guidel ines for M in or and Maj or Works, approved by the M EC y T Regula ti on

N o . 1120/02.Basic services provision and emergency w or k execution.

Basic Crite ria and regulations f or school architecture.Environmenta l Impact and Risk Template. Procedures and verifica tion l i s t .

c.

d.

e.

f.

The above environmental guidelines would be used by contractors fo r al l rehabi l i tat ion works

under the project

Social

Desk Review and Informed Consultations

The social assessment was carried out by loca l teams in two parts: (a) A nationwide qualitative

assessment t i t led “Study o f Social Demands” was carr ied out f rom Novembe r 2004 to February

2005 to p rov ide inputs int o the project design on aspects related to rural, technical and vocationa l

schools in project areas. A purposef ul sample selected by the Ministry o f Educa t ion i ncluded

provinces located in th e six ma jor regions o f he country: Mendoza, R i o Negro, Salta, Misiones,

Catamarca and Ro sar ioE ant a Fe. Teachers, parents, students, social comm unicators, education

specialists, secondary school authorities, potent ial employers and representatives o f he indus trial

sector shared their perceptions, vie ws an d expectations o f he current educationa l system, and the

constraints and challenges o f the labo r market for high school graduates. The methods used to

collect info rma tion were focus groups and interviews. T o com plement the above assessment, a

desk review o f secondary sources carried out between April and June 2005 analyzed institutio naland poli tica l issues o f supply and demand o f education in Argentina.

(b) A desk review o f exist ing informat ion on the status o f education among indigenous peopleswas carried out in June 2005. I t was based o n the 2 001 Census, documents an d studies by the

Ministry o f Education, Science and Techno logy MECyT (1997-2005), the Center fo r Lega l and

Social Studies (CELS), the Internation al Federat ion o f Hu ma n Rights (CAREF ), and other

sources. The desk review was complemented by consultations with Government off ic ia ls and

76



stakeholders at the central level ( INDEC; the National Inst itute of Indigenous Af fairs- IN AI; the

MECyT) and at the provincial level. The assessment concentrated on the Northeastern (NEA),

and Northwestern (NOA) regions, wh ich include some o f he poorest provinces in the country,

with the high est student dropout, re peti tion and over-age rates, a nd therefore, the highest demand

o f support. C oincidently , these provinces are home to the largest majorit y o f ndigenous students.

(i)ssues in RuralE ducat i on

The poor qua l i ty o f education in disadvantaged rur al areas in Argentina affects over 12 percent o f

the tota l school-age popu lation. Some reasons cited are: (a) Th e appli cati on o f univ ers al urba n

education norm s and curricu lum to rura l settings; and (b) Poor p lann ing and lack o f cont inu ity o f

teachers and school adm inistrators in rura l areas w hich results in disruptive turnover, ro tatio n and

insta bil i ty o f educators and administrators. T he ru ral indigenous peoples are even m ore affected

for being rural, poor and indigenous, with subsequent problems o f identity, dis crim inatio n and

exclusion. The need for intercultura l education surfaced over the years wh ile seeking solutions to

rural education problems. For example, the "Program for the Strengthening o f Rur al Education

and Teacher Training " in ndigenous regions, i s a result o f hat effort.

I l l i teracy. There i s a high cor re la tion o f i l l ite racy with poverty, living in a rural location and

bei ng indigenous. The i l l i terac y rate for the country i s 2.6 percent. However, the NEA an d NOA

regions have an average i l l i teracy rate o f 6.77 and 4.33 percent respectively. T he situation i s

worse in indigenous communit ies o f the provinces o f Formosa, Salta and Chaco. F or example,

although Form osa has an average i l l i terac y rate o f 5.98 percent, some communities, such as

Ram 6n List a have a rate o f 22.7 percent. There i s a similar situation in Salta wh ere the average

rate i s 4.66 percent, but Santa Vic tori a has a rate o f 21.17 percent and Rivadav ia has a rate o f

16.67 percent.

Access to pr imary and secondary schools. Acco rding t o the 20 01 Census, in the three age

ranges (6 to 11, 12 to 14, and 15 to 17 years), the provinces o f Misiones, Chaco, Santiago del

Estero, Tucuman, Corrientes and Formosa register the lowest percentage o f egistration in school:

94 to 97 percent; 9 2 to 86 percent; and 72 t o 59 percent f or the three respective ranges, comparedto 99 percent for Patagonia and Cordoba.

Access to Pre-school.

Accord ing to the M EC yT data , a lmost one mi l l io n ch i ld ren in the country are not in pre-school.The pre-school level consists o f wo cycles: one with childr en fi-om 45 days to 2 years ol d and

another one with chi ldren between 3 t o 5 years old.

There i s correspondence between school success during th e f i r s t years o f pr ima ry education(EGB) and enrollment in pre-school. At pre- sch ool level, valuable intellectual, physical,

emotional and social learning takes place. In addition, it i s important to consider that the pre-

school leve l for 5 year olds i s compulsory as established by the Federa l La w o f Educ ation (1993)

and therefore, i t s also a right.

Also, there are inequalities betwee n the diffe rent regions o f the country that are hidden in these

numbers. T he center a nd southern regions hav e the highest enrollmen t rates, wh ile the NOA and

NEA have the most worry ing coverage indicators.

Inequal i ty s deepened in poo r rura l areas and worse in ndigenous comm unities.

77



There have been some diverse experiences in offering educational services by the Government

an d by non-Gov ernment al organizations where i t has been diff icul t to achieve coverage. Onesuch experience i s the “Madres cuidadoras” (Mother Caregivers) in the Quebrada a nd Puna areas

o f the provinces o f Salta and Jujuy, where the ma in objective i s that mothers help children to

learn how to read and write. The important thing about these experiences i s that they include

direct part icipation o f he comm unit ies involved, the fami l ies and the respect for cul tural patternsand the values. Tha t i s why regulations and research about i t s development are needed. Besides,

trained h uma n resources and phys ical resources in context are needed.

Primary school attendance. Abo ut 3.7 percent o f the total pop ulatio n has never attended a

school. The NOA and NEA province s exhibit the lowest indicators o f school attendance. About

8.65 percent o f Chaco, 7.1 percent o f Formosa, 6.7 percent o f Corrientes, 6.3 percent o f Misiones,

6.1 percent o f Estero and 5.5 percent o f Salta has never attended a s chool

Population with maximum educational attainment of sixth grade. Fo r 27.98 percent o f

Argentineans, the m ax im um educational attainment i s only sixth grade, as compared with Buenos

Aires (18 percent). However, in the poor er provinces, such as Formosa, Corrientes, Chaco,

NeuquCn, Salta and Jujuy, between 20 and 26 percent o f populat ion have on ly a ma xim um

educational attainment o f sixth grade.

(ii)ndigenous Peoples in Argentina

The exact number o f ndigenous peoples in Argentina i s no t known. The 2001 Census included a

question o n ‘self-identification,’ wh ic h created resistance fr om the indigen ous organizations. A

general estimate i s between 1.5 and 2.7 percent o f he total populatio n (see Tab le 1). There are 20

different groups and the most numerous are the Colla, Diaguita, Mapuche, Wichi and Toba.

According to the Census, there are 281,959 homes with at least one memb er self- identified as

indigenous. One third o f those homes are located in the Province o f Buenos Aires. A

complementary Househo ld Survey mod ule tracing the 2001 households inhabite d by one or more

indigenous person i s expected to be available in ate 2005.

78



Ethnic group

Colla

Mapuche

Table 1: Indigenous Pop ulation in Argen tina, by ethnic group and estimate source

Provinces Nat ional IndigenousIndigenous AffairsCensus Service

1968 1974Jujuy, Salta, 1,012 35,340Catamarca;Slums o f Bs.As

and Cordoba

Neuquen, R io 27,214 21,637Negro, Chubut,L a Pampa,

Guil lennoMagrassi1986

180,000

60,000

20,000

36,000

25,000

E NDE P A I NCUP O1987 2003*

138,000 170,000

60,000 90,000

60,000 80,000

50,000 60,000

21,000 22,400

Wichi

Toba

ChaneMocovi Santa Fe, 2,876 8,945

Bs.As.

Salta, Formosa, 10,022 21,884Chaco

Chaco, Salta, 17,062 32,639

Chaco

Di ag ui a Tucuman, d d d d

Chiringuano-

Formosa, StaFe, Slums

Bs.As.Rosario

Salta, Ju juy 14,506 24,680

;ource: ME Cy T. Social Education Plan. “Compensatory Policy and Intercultural Bil ing ua l

Education”. 1998“Compliance Report o f he Argentine Government with L O Agreement 169,2003.

According to the 2001 Census, 58.4 percent o f ndigenous peoples live in urbanized areas, such asth e Pampeana Reg ion (Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Cordoba, Entre Rios and L a Pampa) and GranBuenos Aires. The other 41.6 percent live mostly in ru ra l areas, distributed among the N O A

reg ion (15.1), P atagonia (13.5), NEA (7.3) and Cuyo (5.7). Nevertheless, as can be seen in Table2, the largest number o f ndigenous communities i s found in the NOA (451) and the NEA (275)

regions respectively.

Mapping of Indigenou s Peoples and Unsa tisfied Basic Needs

The largest number of households with unsatisfied basic needs (UBN) corresponds to th e NEA

and the N O A , including Formosa (28 percent); Salta (27.5 percent); Chaco (27.5 percent);Santiago de l Estero (26.2 percent); Jujuy (26/1 percent); y Corrientes (24 percent), compared tothe Buenos Aires Provinc e (1 3 percent) or Cordoba (1 1 percent). The provinces with the highest

79



indigenous population also have the highest UBN, such as Formosa, Salta and Chaco, where

some o f he departments may reach up to 79.3 percent o f UBN.

Province

Buenos Aires

Chubut

MendozaJu juy

Accord ing to the National Registrat ion o f Indigenous Communit ies (RENACI), about 867

indigenous com munities are legally constituted at the national and pro vinc ial levels, and ma ny

others in the process o f acquiring egal personality.

Number o f Province Number o f

Communities Communities

14 Chaco 89

24 Formosa 103

13 NeuquCn 5 1

162 L a Pampa 2

Table 2: Indigenous Communities registered in RENACI per province

R i o N e g r o 13 Santiago del 13

Santa F eSalta

Tierra del Fuego

Indigenous Languages

Estero

18 San Juan 228 1 Tucuman 8

1 Misiones 83

TOTAL 867

There are thirt een indigenous languages: Quechua-Aymara, Quichua-Santiagueiio, M apu zun gun

(Mapuche), M byC Guar ani, W ichi, Pilaga, Qo m (Toba), Guarani-Yopara, MOCOV~,hanC,

Chorote and Chulupi. None o f hese languages has an offici al grammar or dictionary . Language

coverage ma y go b eyon d race, as i s the case o f Corrientes, where Gua rani i s spoken by non-

indigenous people. In addition, some indigenous groups are bil ingual and in process o f

recuperating thei r indigenous language, such as the case o f he Huarpes (Milcayac-Spanish) and

Diaguitas (Kakan-Spanish),

The hom ogeniza tion o f the popu lation through the “castellanizaci6n” (Spanish enforced and

indigenous languages shunned) has been the norm in the education system. That, together with

the gradual loss o f ancestral territories, has contributed to the loss o f dentity.

There are ten live languages: Map uzun gun (Mapuche), Mb yi-G uar ani, Wichi , Pilaga, Qo m

(Toba), Guarani-Yopara, Moc ov i, ChanC, Cho rote and Chulupi. Neither language has an off ic i a l

grammar and dictionary. Language coverage ma y go beyo nd race, as i s the case o f Corrientes y

Santiago del Estero, where G uara ni y el quichua santiaguefio i s spoken by non-indigenous. On the

other hand, some indigenous groups are bilingual and in process o f recuperat ion o f the i r

indigenous language, such i s the case o f he Huarpes (Milcayac-Spanish) and Diaguitas (Kakan-Spanish). Quechua and Ay ma ra language are no t spoken by indigenous communities but i t s s t i l l

spoken in some areas o f he Province o f Jujuy.

Legal Framework

The National Consti tut ion as wel l as legislat ion at the provincial level protects the right o f

indigenous peoples to education.

80



The Na tio nal Constitution, Art 75, paragraph 17 states: “To recognize the ethnic and

cultu ral pre-existence o f Argentinean indigenous peoples. Guarantee respect for their

identi ty and their right to an inte rcultural bil ing ual education.. .”In tegra ted La w of the Abor ig ines o f he Province o f Formosa No . 426/84, fo l lowed by

Na ti on al La w 23.302/85 that grants indigenous comm unities statutory rights to

part icipate in socio-economic and cult ural processes. The same la w decrees that t he firstthree years o f education should be in mother tongue, and the years thereafter should be

b i l ingua l .

In 1992, Nat iona l L a w No . 24.071 ra t if ied IL O Agreement 169 on “Indigenous Peoples

and Tr ib a l Groups in ndependent Countries.”

Federal Edu cation L a w 24.195/93 recognizes “...the right o f ndigenous communit ies to

preserve cultural traits, the right to learning and teaching in their language, with th e

part icipation o f the elders o f each community in this process. Chapter VII, Art 34

establishes: “ .. the Nationa l Government wou ld promote programs to rescue the cultural

heri tage and strengthen indigenous languages an d cultures. ..”In 1996, the National Registry fo r Indigenous Commu nities (RENACI) was created under

the Ministry o f Social Development.

Resolut ion 107/99 o f he CFC yE created the t i t le o f “ Intercul tural Bi l i ngu al Teacher” forEGB1, EGB2, EG B3 and ‘Pol imodal’ .

The presentation before the Racial Disc r imination Comm ittee (CERD), Jul y 2004, reads:

“Indigenous peoples receive mi ni ma l education assistance and the Governm ent has no t

been able to implement an educational policy which takes into account the culturaliden tity and educational and l inguistic characteristics o f ndigenous peoples at the Federal

level . I t has also failed t o imp leme nt the urgent necessary ref orms t o the contents o f the

Edu cat ion Plans addressed to a ll the society at large”.

Arge ntina has also ratifi ed the UN Declara t ion o f he Rights o f he Indigenous Peoples,

Resolut ion 1994/45, and the OA S Declaration o f he Rights o f Indigenous Peoples, A ct

1333, Art E,wh ic h states: “(1) Indigenous Peoples w ou ld have the right to: (a) defineand apply their ow n programs, institutions an d educational facil i t ies; (b) prepare and

apply their own plans, programs, curricula and learnin g materials; (c) trai n and accredit

their teachers and administrators. (2) When indigenous peoples so desire, education

programs shou ld be carried out in the indigenous languages. Tr aini ng f or ma stering o f heindigenous language and of fi ci al languages. (3) Th e States wo ul d guarantee that theeducational systems fo r indigenous are the same in quality, effic iency and access to those

offered to the main stream population . (4) The States shall include in their education

systems, contents that refl ect the plu ri-cult ural nature o f their societies. And, (5) The

States w ou ld pr ovide the financial assistance to set fort h those provisio ns

The National Intercultural Bilingual Education Program (PNEIB)

The National Intercul tural Bi l ing ual Education Program (PNEIB) was launched in 2003 and i s

just starting to be implemented. The PNEIB i s located at the MECyT, under the National

Directorate o f Compensatory Programs.

The experimental phase o f PNEIB in i t iated in 1997, when the MECyT launched “Project 4”

within the framework o f compensatory pol ic y o f he Social Education Plan, “ to respond to the

needs of schools with indigenous students”. Some o f he init ia l actions included:

e

e

The identi f icat ion o f 800 schools that registered indig eno us students;

Salient initiatives were ident ified and a net wo rk was formed;

8 1



0

0

0

0

0

Gui del ine s and pedagogical strategies were applied in five schools in f i ve prov inces with

fiv e dif feren t language groups;

Support was provided for the production o f teaching materia ls: b i l in gual sets with ten

titles in Toba and Wi ch i anguages;

PNEIB tra ini ng f or education staff, teachers and auxiliaries;

Inter natio nal Integration agreement o f PNEIB to PROEIB-Andes;Leg al framework for the generation o f EIB norms. Resolution 107/99 regulates ED3 and

teacher training.

In 2000, this progra m was renamed the “Project for the Improvement o f Educational Qual i ty for

Indigenou s Peoples” and expanded to more schools. In 2001, an agreement bet wee n the MECyT

and PROEIB-Andes was made off ic ia l a l lowing f or the expansion o f he EIBnet wor k to sensitize

the education comm unity to the special needs o f PNEIB.

The Nation al Intercul tural Bi l ingua l Program (PNEIB) at the M E C y T began operations in mid-

2004, with the objective to provide an Intercul tural Bi l ingual Program to al l the indigenous

students wh o ma y demand such program. The P NE IB plans include:

(a) The inclusion o f EIB Unitsin the

structure o f provincial MECyT offices;(b) The prom otion and cooperation for the making EIB norms of f ic ia l and inc lud ing i t in the

(c) The defin i t io n o f a teacher pro fi le for schools with indigenous population;

(d) The design o f basic pedagogical strategies b eyo nd the typic al Identity-Language-Culture

(e) Strengthening statistics and data on the education status o f indigenous students, an d

(0 The systematization o f national EIB experiences and learning from international

(g) The p romotion o f socio-linguistic research;

(h) The creation o f mo nito ring and evaluation mechanisms that isolate the ethnic variable t o

trace progress o f vulnerable e thnic groups;

(i) he inclusion o f ndigenous part icipation in he decision-making processes o f educationalpol icy; and

(‘j)T o contr ibute to the cul tural and inguist ic enr ichment o f ndigenous society at large.

sch ool year;

scheme present in he current curriculum ;

reinforc ing the links with data sources;

experiences in La tin America;

Issues in Intercultural and Bilingual Education

Despite i t s conceptual framework and sound legal basis, the PNEIB i s not pedagogical ly

regulated, fully developed an d operational yet, but soun d steps are bein g taken.

Education Census.The ethnic variable was incorporated in the educa tion census by the Min is t r y

of Education’s N ationa l Directorate o f Data and Evaluation o f Education Qual ity (RA-DINIECE)

in 2005, and the results are expected soon. In 2004, th e PNEIB began to col lect data on

enrollmen t o f indigenous students, and languages spoken. Apa rt fr o m that, the cr iterion toidentify indigenous people i s no t un i fo rm in the country. Consequently, data on enrollment,

retention, achievement, or over-age status o f ndig enou s students i s scarce or un reliable.

According to the 1998 Survey to D etect the Needs o f Abor iginal Populat ion and theSystematization o f EIB Experiences, there were approxim ately 2,7 11 schools serv ing indigenous

students in 2001. The current estimate i s 3,000 schools.

82



Pedagogical Framew ork. Alt ho ug h valuable pedagogical experiences have been systematized in

the past fe w years, there i s no t a specific pedagogical EIB model. Fo r example, there i s no o f f i c ia l

intercul tural or bi l ingual curr iculum. Loc al programs have developed their ow n E ducation Plans

based o n heir loca l context and needs.

Indigenous Teachers. The intercultural team formed by “a regular teacher and an Auxil iaryindigenou s teacher (MEMA, ADA, non-official)” was a breakthrough in the system, which

recognize d the n eed for intercultura l exchange and teacher complementarity in the classroom.

How ever , un offi cia l indigenous educators that have been in the system as Aux il i ar y teachers f or

the past 20 years are demanding professionalization and regularization. The intercultural teacher

team i s found in some schools mostly in grades 1 through 3, but n o t in al l schools. A common

scenario encountered in schools visite d in indigenous communities showed a one-teacher multi-

grade school where the teacher has n ot receiv ed intercultural education an d i s unable to

understand and respond to socio-cultural and socio-l inguistic complexities.

Teacher Training to teach in Indigenous Schools, and to teach under the PNEIB. Al though

the Reso lut ion 107/99 o f the Federal Counci l o f Education created the t i t le o f “ Intercul tural

Bi l i ngu al Teacher” for EGB1, 2, 3 and Polimodal, such a Training Program does no t exist. T w o

efforts are note wor thy. In Form osa (1997), the f i r s t 195 MEMAs were traine d to teach pre-school

and EGBl in Indigenous Schools and were incorporated in the system. In Chaco, there are

Aborigin al A ux i l ia ry Teachers (ADAs) and the unof fic ial teachers (‘maestros id he os ’), but th e

number i s uncertain. In general, there are at least 500 aboriginalhon-aboriginal teachers

demanding professionalization and o ff i c ia l recognit ion.

There i s neither an inst itutionalized moda lity to prepare teachers to teach in rur al schools in

indigenous communities, nor a professionalization program for Auxil iary indigenous teachers

work ing in schools with indigenous student population. How ever, there i s an Indigeno us Teacher

Tra in ing Program run by the Center for Research and Aboriginal Teacher Training (CIFMA) inthe Chaco Province.

A series o f hree workshops were conducted in 2004-2005 o n “Teacher Training, Intercultu re andBi l ingua l ism in Education” by the PNEIB in coordination with the Teacher Training Unit o f he

Nat iona l Directorate o f Curr ic ulum and Teacher Training. The objective o f hese workshops was

to formulate a Proposal for Teacher Training in Intercul tural Education and Intercul tural

B i l ing ua l Education, to b e submi t ted to the Federal C ounci l o f Education for the d iscussion o f a

Federal Pol icy for Intercul tural and Bi l ing ual Education. The workshops too k place in Bari loche

(for Patagonia region, Central Argentina, Men doza an d Federal Capital), Form osa (for NEA and

Federal Capital), and San M ig u el de Tucum hn (for NOA and Federa l Capital). The results are

reflected in he recommendations o f his Annex.

Educational and reading materials in indigenous languages. With some exceptions, many

materials used in the PN EI B are translat ions o f mater ia ls used in regular schools with

mo nol ing ual Spanish-speaking students.

Grammars, dictionaries and reading materials in indigenous languages. The only exist ing

grammar i s Guarani. Other grammars in plannin g stage are Wichi , Qo m (Toba), M ap uz un gh ,

Mo co vi and Quechua.

Scholarships fo r indigenous students. In coordination with INAI, according to the MECyT, th e

Natio nal Scholarship P lan assigned 8,000 scholarships to indigenous students in 2005 in 1,286

schools (6,000 from th e MECyT, 1,300 from Social Development Plan and 700 f rom other

83



sources) for E G B3 and Pol imodal. According to INAI two problems remain: (a) la ck o f data to

identi fy ethnic background o f ecipients; and (b) l ack o f racing studies to m onit or results. There

i s n o data o n scholarships fo r indigenous students f or pre-school, EGB1 and EGB2 .

Recommendationso f the Social Assessment

F o r Rural Education

1. Regional ization and diversif icat ion o f the curr iculum. The curr iculum for rur al schools

should b e adapted to the learning needs o f rural areas, based, however, o n the nationa l

curr iculum, so that indigenous students can compete at the nationa l level.

2. Acc eler ated learnin g for over-age students. Support the accelerated lear ning programs f or

over-age students in rural areas, with the help o f tinerant teachers and extra-curricular

activities. Community-based efforts are vital to support students going f ro m 6th to EGB 3

level, and through high school.

3. Teacher Training. Specialized training to teach in rural areas should be provided to

teachers. A Mod ule on In tercu ltural Educat ion i s recommended for all teachers working

in ur al areas.

4. Strengthen Parents’ Asso ciations and other community-based organizations s upporting the

schools.

F o r the National ntercultural Bilingual Education (PNEIB)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5 .

Diagnosis. Carry o ut a diagnosis o f supply and demand o f schools’

infi-astructure/conditions, and educational resources in indigenous regions (urban and

rural). The diagnosis should determine the demand for strengthening existing EIB Units

at the Central and Prov incia l level, and the creation o f ne w ones in provinces lacking an

EIB Unit. Staff ing those units with Educatio n Anthropologists, cur ricu lum designers andEIB materials design specialists wou ld be a ke y to the development o f a sustainable EIB

Program. EIB Units in Provinces should provide technical assistance to schools in

pedagogical and administrative matters.

Data collection. Ensure proper data collection in the E duca tion Census (Relevamiento

annual) i ncl udi ng the ethnic variable and language spoken at home.

Homogenize cr iter ia for the defin i t ion o f a “school with indigenous populat ion” in order

to classify them as those needing a full EIB, or classes t o strengthen the lo cal indigenous

language.

Teacher profi les . Def ine profi le s o f (a) rura l teachers capable o f teaching intercultural

students, an d (b) “rura l El l3 teachers.”

EIB Curr iculum. Develop an Intercul tural and Bi l ingual Curr iculum (based on the

Regional ized Curr ic ulum for rural schools), but l i ke ly to be adapted to respond to theneeds o f rura l indigenous schools, w hi ch enables students to cross-over fr om 6 th to 7t h

grade and to complete high school, wh i le prepar ing them ei ther for the workforce or

tertiary education. This curr iculum should include f luent reading and writing ski l ls ,

pr imar i ly in Spanish.

84



6. Teacher Training Programs. Three programs are needed: (a) A professionalizationp r o g r a m fo r 500 current ‘auxi l iary’ teachers ME M A S who wish to specialize in EIB

(Post Diploma); (b) An on-the- job training program on “ Intercul tural and bi l ingualeducation ” for ru ral teachers currently teaching in rura l schools with indigenous students;

and (c) the incorporation o f a Module o n “ Intercultural and bi l ingua l education” for

regu lar teacher tr aining programs in general. Also, training o n “Intercultural and bil ing ualeducation” to academic staff in rural schools with indigenous students and to

administ rative sta ff o f hose schools.

7. Institutional Pedagogical Plans. Support the Institutional Pedagogical Plans submitted

annual ly by schools to the MECyT fo r funding.

8. Inter cultu ral Teaching-learning materials. Carr y out an in vent ory o f teachingAearningmater ia ls in schools with indigenous population. Provid e support to the development o f

grammars, dictionaries and educational materials for the teaching o f EIB in rur al schools.Support the production and reproduction o f eaching mater ials for EIB schools.

9. Sch ool Networks. Support the formation o f ‘school networks’, to share facili t ies,

materials and experiences and to im prov e monit orin g o f hose schools.

10. The concept o f “ intercultural education” in Argentina should permeate all subjects:

technical, social an d arts sciences in education. This concept should guide research with

pedagogical purposes to capture valuable traditional knowledge and cultural identity

(Bariloche, Formosa, Tucu mhn Workshops).

11. Form ulate a set o f administrative norm s to: (a) flex the school calendar to accommodate

seasonal needs in rural areas; and (b) re fo rm teacher statutes t o in clude considerations for

ru ral teachers in ndigenous schools.

12. Systematize best pedagogical practices in EIB and intercultural education in rur al areas o f

Argentina . Support best practices an d initiatives in different regions o f he country.

13. M&E programs should include variables to id ent ify coverage o f schools in indigenous

regions.

Goals and Action Plan of the National InterculturalBilingual Program (PNEIB) at the

MECyT.

Seven l ines o f action are inclu ded in he PNEIB 2005 Plan:

1. Teacher Training. PNEIB seeks to incorpora te EIB in al l Teacher Trai ning Programs fo r

pre-school, EGB1, 2, and 3 and to promote the professional ization o f al l indigenousauxil i ary teachers (MEMAs, ADAs, informal, etc.) and to promote consultations and

part icipation o f formal and informal educators presently wo rki ng with aboriginalstudents.

2. Product ion o f Teaching Mater ia ls. The introduction o f ntercul tural concepts into exist ingmaterials being used in mult i-cultu ral and multi- l ing ual contexts, as we ll as the

development o f ne w materia ls.

85



3.

4.

5.

6.

7 .

Inst itutio nal Pedagogical Projects. Respond to the particu lar needs o f schools and

jurisdictions serving indigenous peoples by supporting their institutional pedagogical

plans, Also, in coordination with the jurisdictio nal level, p rovid e technical assistance to

schools for the prom otion and strengthening o f significant EIB experiences.

Scholarships fo r indigenous students in EG B3 and Pol imodal. In coordination with INAI,provide 10,000 scholarships per year to students in EGB3 and Pol imodal. L ikewise,

coordinate with the Scholarship Program for T ertiary Ed ucation (under the Secretariat o fTert iary Education Pol icy) to provide scholarship support for students wishing to

continue their studies at the univers ity.

Format ion o f a Federa l EIB Network. PNEIB seeks to support the creation o f a

permanent federal n etwo rk that facil i tates the commun ication among pro vin cial teams fo r

a co ordinated participatory d ecision-m aking process with regard to EIB pol icy. I t also

aims at participating in the PROEIB-Andes program with the purpose o f strengthening

the articulation among the provincial M inistr ies o f Education, the universi t ies and the

indigenous peoples in he country.

Systematization o f data and inform atio n on education o f ndigenous peoples, and proper

Mon i tor ing and Eva luat ion o f EIB experiences. PNEIB seeks to generate an accuratediagnosis and baseline capable o f reflectin g the education reality o f ndigenou s students,

and adequate instruments to mon itor changes in each urisdiction.

Educational research and participation in regional research projects. Also, the

incorporation in the network o f Document Centers o f PROEIB-Andes through the

Nat iona l Teachers' Library, wh ic h allows access to EIB materials produced in other

countries.

The Indigenous Peoples Plan

Gi ve n the presence of indigenous peoples in Argentina, and consistent with the Bank Po l i cy 4.10on Indigenous Peoples, the proposed project would include an Indigenous Peoples Plan (PP)wh ich w oul d support ongoing Government o f Argentina programs addressed to improve the

education conditions of rural schools attended by indigenous students. The GOA counterparts

have proposed he IPP below t o support the action plan o f PNEIB for (2005-2010).

Table 3: Indigenous Peoples Plan

ProjectComponent

A. Improv ingQuality and

Coverage o f

RuralEducation

I Activit ies to be f inanced fro m L oan Proceeds I CostUS$

Professionalizationo f Auxi l iaryAboriginal

Teachers(MEMAs an d ADAs)

(a) Workshops with technical teams in ou rcountry regions t o discuss elements o f Plan;

(b) EIB Teacher P rofessionalization Pla n

(Curriculum);(c) Produc tion and distribution o f Teaching

Manuals to support professionalization;

604,700

I I I

86



Support forInsti tutional

PedagogicalProjects in3,000 schoolsserving

indigenousstudents in our years

Inventory, revision,

elaboration,production,

reproduct ion o fteachingllearning

interculturaland bi l ingualmaterials

Informat ioddataSystematization.

Moni tor in g and

Evaluat ion o f EIB infour years

Strengthening o f heFederal Net wor k for

Intercultural andBi l ingual Education

I

Total

(d) Promotion o f projects in schools; and

(e) Tra ining workshops on EIB and participationo f school community in the formulat ion o fthe institutional pedagogical project t orespond to specific needs.

(a) Inv ento ry o f existing resourceslmaterials;

(b) Quality review and assessment o f uti l ization

(c) Reproduction o f approved materials; and(d) Development of new teachingllearning

materials(e) Production o f materials.

o f materials;

Diagnosis/mapping/censuso f s ta te o f educationamong indigenous and non-indigenous peoplesresiding in ndigenous regions in Argentina (rural

and urban) whic h indicate the f ol low ingquantitative and qualitative information, asfollows:

(a) Demographics : students: number o f school-age indigenous ch ildre n and youth, number o f

those matriculated and those with ou t access

to a school;

(b) Infrastructure: Physical con ditio n o f schoolsin ndigenous regions (as part o f the AnnualCensus under DINIECE-MECyT) ;

(c) Studies o f rates and perceptions in education:access, repetition, over-age, drop-out,

completion in pre-school, EGB1, EGB2,EGB3, number o f eachers wit h different

types o f specialization trained to teachintercultural education; number o f eachersspeaking indigenous languages and lev el o f

education. R easons fo r the above rates.Peoples’ perceptions and preferences;

(d) Language(s) o f nstruction;

(e) Pedagogical materials and too ls used:universal Spanish, intercultural, biling ual;

(9 School organization, participation: School

Council, decision-making schemes;opportunit ies for participation o f parents’,

business community, c iv il society; and

evaluation. Standardized and non-

standardized tests. (ii)Teachers’ evaluations.Strengthen existing p rovinc ial EIB teams;Instal lEIB teams in provinces where they do not

exist yet; andAnnu al workshops to train provin cial and regionalteams in our years.

(g) Mo nitor ing and Evaluation: (i)tudents’

!,507,460

1,083,000

116.200

68 8,640

5,000,000

87



Annex 11: Project Preparation and Supervision


Planned Actual

P C N e v ie w 02/08/2005 08/08/2005

I n i t i a l P I D t o P I C 0211412005 02114l2005I n i t ia l ISDS to P IC 02/14/2005 02/24/2005Appraisal 09/15/2005 10/28/2005Negotiat ions 11/7/2005 11/16/2005

Planned date o f effectiveness

Planned date o f mid- term rev iew

B o a r d R V P a p p ro v al 1211512005

Planned closin g date 10/31/2011

0311 120060111 512008

K e y institutions responsible for preparation of the project:

Nat ional Ministry o f Economy and Product ion; Na t ional Ministry o f Education, Science and

Technology (MECyT) ; and Prov inc ia l Min is t r ies o f Educat ion

Bank staff and consultants who worked on the project included:

NameSuzana Campo s August0

Daniela Pena de L i m a

LuisM. Schwarz

Gaston Ma r iano B lanco

Antonio Leonard0 Blasco

Cec il ia Ma r i a Ba l chun

Mar ta E lena Molares-Halberg

Sergio Espaiia

M a r i a L u c y G i ra l doTania Gomez

Jesko Hentsch el

Febe Mackey

Claudia Nin

Rober t O’Leary

Suhas Parandeka r

Reynaldo Pastor

Mar i ana Mon t i e l

L u z Meza-Bar!x ina

Nata l ia Moncada

Mar tha P. Vargas

Gabr iela Falcon iSusana Ferrar i

Irene KitCeci l ia L ’Av ena

Feder ico Meje r

Lucas Ronco ni

Juan Sanguinetti

X imena B. Traa-Valarezo

TitleLe ad Operations Special ist

Operations Analys t

Sr. Fin. Management Special ist

Operat ions Off ic er

Fina ncia l Manageme nt Special ist

Finance A nalyst

Lead Counsel

ET/ Education Consultant

Sr. Procurement SpecialistLanguage Te am Assistant

Cou ntry Sector Leader

Program Assistant

Tea m Assistant

Sr. Finance Offic er

Sr. Edu cat ion Economist (TTL)

Sr. Counsel

Sr. Counsel

Sr. Counsel

Sr. Progra m Assistant

ETTIProgram Assistant

Language Pro gram AssistantConsultant

Consultant

Consultant

Consultant

Consultant

Consultant

Consultant

UnitL C S H D

L C S H D

LCOAA

L C S H S

LCOAA

LOAGl

LEGLA

L C S H D

LCOPRL C S H D

L C S H D

L C S H D

L C C 7 C

LOAGl

L C S H E

LEGLA

LEGLA

LEGLA

L C S H D

L C S H D

L C S H DL C S H E

L C S H E

L C S H E

L C S H E

L C S H E

L C S H E

L C S H E



Peer reviewers: Madalena dos Santos (LCSHD); Barbara Bruns, Paul Gertler (HDNVP); and

Elizabeth K in g (DECRG).

Bank funds expended to date on project preparation:

1. Ba nk resources: U S $ 299,302.57

2. Trust funds: U S $ 472,178.963. Total: U S $ 771,481.53

Estimated Approval and Supervision costs:

1. Rem ain ing costs to approval: U S $ 30,000.002. Estima ted annual supervision cost: US$87,880.

89



Annex 12: Documents in the Project File


Documents Submitted by Government

Min is te r i o de Educac ih , C ienc ia y Tecnologia. Info rme de l a Rep6blic a Argentina.Seminar io “Educaci6n de la Pob la c i h Rura l en AmCrica Lat ina: ALI M EN T AC IO N Y

E D U C A C I O N PARA TODOS”. UNESCO- FA0 Santiago de Chile, 3, 4 y 5 de Agosto

de 2004.

Ministerio de Educacion, Ciencia y Tecnologia. Programa EMER. 1992. Infor me f inal .

Evaluacion ex - post. Programa de expansi6n y mejoramiento de la educaci6n rural.

Torno I.

Ministerio de Educacidn, Ciencia y Tecnologia. S/f. Programa EMETA. Informe sobre

10s alcances nacionales.

Ministerio de Educaci6n, Ciencia y Tecnologia. DGUFI. Junio de 2005. Estudio de

Demandas Sociales. Documento Prelimina r.

Ministerio de Educacion, Ciencia y Tecnologia. DGUFI. Junio 2005. Capacidades

Institucio nales Relevadas de las urisdicciones: Doc umento Preliminar.

0

0

0

Other Reference Documents

Pro vin cia l Fa ct Sheets: Contents: Geographic characteristics, pop ula tio n characteristics,

infi-astructure conditions, social conditions (NE31 and pover ty indicators), agriculture

acti vity , man ufa ctur ing sector, service sector, labo r force, m acro eco nom ic indicators,

pol itic al situation, in stitutional context, technical education and rur al education.

Ministerio de Educacibn, Ciencia y Tecnologia. 2004. DINIECE.M ap a educativo.

“Aqui se cuenta”. Revista inform ativa del Censo 2001, Minis teri o de Economia. INDEC.

N6mero 11. Enero 2004.

“Aqui se cuenta”. Rev ista inf orm ativ a de l Censo 2001. Ministerio de Economia. INDEC.

N6m ero 10. Diciembre 2003.

“Aqui se cuenta”. Rev ista inf orm ativ a de l Censo 2001. Minister io de Economia. IND EC .

N6mero 7. Septiembre 2003.

Blanco, Marie la y Jimenez, Dora . “L a insercion ocupacional de jovenes rurales”. Trabajo

(s). Publicac ion t rimestra l de l CEI1-PIETTE CO NIC ET. N ro 3- inv ierno 2001,

Cao, H Rubins, R Vaca, J (2003) “Clasificaciones y agrupamientos de Provincias y

Terr i tor ios de l a Rep6bl ica Argentina” - Cuadernos de Investigacibn CEPAS No 14,Centro de Estudios en Pol i tica, Ad mi nis tr ac ih y Sociedad, B ueno s Aire s.

Cao, H y Vaca, J (2004) “Divisi6n regional de l trabajo: Nue vos elementos y tradicionales

desequilibrios” en: Revista Realidad Econ6m ica No202 - Inst i tuto Argentino para el

Desarrol lo Econ6mico (IADE), Buenos Aires febrero - marzo 2004.

CP PE C. Centro de Implernentacion de Pol i t icas Publ icas para la Equ idad y e l

Crecimiento. Pro yec to “Las pro vinc ias educativas”. Est udio comparado sobre e l Estado,

el poder y la Educacion en las 24 provincias argentinas. Director: Axel Rivas. 2003.Informe de 24 urisdicciones.

Hu, S. (April 29, 2003). Educ ation al aspirations and postsecondary access and choice:

Students in urban, suburban and rural schools compared. Educational Policy AnalysisArchives, 11 (14). Retr ieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/vl ln14/.

Ministerio de Economia. Secretaria de Politica Econ6mica. Subsecretaria deProgramaci6n Econ6mica. Monitoreo Sector ia l . Ma yo 2003.

90



Ministerio de Educacibn, Ciencia y Tecno logia. D i r ec c i h de Informaci6n y E v a l u a c i h

de la C alidad Educativa. Sistema Naci onal de Indicadores Educativos.

Ministerio de Educacion, Ciencia y Tecnolog ia . Di recc i6n de In fo rm ac ih y E v a l u a c i h

de la Cal idad Educativa. Informes Anal i t icos. Irene Oiberman y Ma ria Ester Arrieta. Lo s

cam bios en el sistema educativo argentino entre 1990 -2000.

Min is ter io de Educ acih , Ciencia y Tecno logia. D i r ec c i h de Informacion y E v a l u a c i hde la Cal idad Educativa. Informes Anal i t icos. Documento de Sistematizacih de

Informacion Basica del M6dulo de Educaci6n de la EPH 1998. Diferenciales por

regiones. Docum ento N"10. 1999.

Min is ter io de Edu cac ih , Ciencia y Tecnologia. Direcc i6n de Informacion y Evaluaci6n

de l a Cal idad Educativa. Informes Anal i t icos. PERUS IA, Juan Cruz. EVOLUCIONDELOS R E S U L T A D O S DE L O S O P E R A T N O S DE EVALUACION DE LA CALIDAD

EDUCATNA. 1995 - 1999. Puntuaciones equiparadas de las pruebas de lengua y de

matemhtica. Documento No 3.

Min is ter io de Edu cac ih , Ciencia y Tecnologia. Direcc i6n de Informacion y Evaluaci6n

de l a Cal idad Educativa. Informe s Anal i t icos. TURULL, Francisco. LA MATRkULA

DE ED U C AC IO N CO-: Anal isis de su evoluci6n en 10s primeros afios de la

imp lem ent acih de la Le y Federa l. 1996- 2000. D ocumento N"14.Ministerio de Educacibn, Ciencia y Tecnologia. Direcc i6n de Informaci6n y E v a l u a c i h

de la Cal idad Educativa. Informes Anal i t icos. Roggi, Car los. Nivel EGB 1 y 2 -

Primario. Cohorte Te6rica 1997/98 - 1998/99. Rendimiento cuantitativo del sistema

educativo de Argentina. Docum ento N"16. 2001,

Min is ter io de Educ acih , Ciencia y Tecnolog ia . Di recc i6n de In fo rm ac ih y Evaluaci6n

de la C al idad Educativa. Informes Anal i t icos. Roggi, Car los. N iv el EGB 3 y Pol imodal.

Cohorte Te6 rica 1998/99. Rendimiento cuant itativo del sistema educativo de Argentina.

Documento No 7.200 1.

Ministerio de Educacihn, Ciencia y Tecnolog ia . Di recc i6n de In fo rm ac ih y Evaluacidn

de la Cal idad Educativa. Informes Anal i t icos. Roggi, Car los. N iv el Pr imario y Medio.

Cohorte Te6rica 1998/99. Rendimiento cuantitativo del sistema educativo de Argentina.

Documento N"18.2001.

Minister io de Cultura y Educaci6n de la Naci6n. Secretaria de Pr og ra ma ci h y

Ev a l ua c ih Educa ti va . D i re cc ih de In fo rmac ibn y Ev al ua ci h de la Cal idad Educativa .

Informes Anal i t icos. Cervini, Ruben (Coordinador). Factores asociados a1 l o g o escolar 1.

El Alu mn o de l f i l t imo ai io de Ni ve l Medio : Caracterist icas, context0 y rendimiento. 2"

Censo Naciona l de F in a l iz ac ih de l Niv e l Secundario (V/ V I afio, Nov. 1998).

Minister io de Cultura y Ed uc ac ih de la Naci6n. Secretar ia de Prog ram acih y

Ev al ua ci h Educat iva . Di recc ion de In formacion y Evaluaci6n de l a Cal idad Educativa.

Informes Anal i t icos. Cervini, Ruben (Coordinador) . FA CT OR ES ASO CIA DO S AL

LOGROE S C O L A R / 2. Caracteristicas del alumno y rendimiento escolar en Matemhtica.

Alum nos de 7" afio - Escuela urbana - 1995/1997.

Minister io de Cultura y Ed uc ac ih de la Naci6n. Secretar ia de Prog ram acih y

Evaluacidn Educativa. Direcci6n de Info rmac i6n y Ev a l ua c i h de l a Ca l idad Educa ti va .

Informes Anal i t icos. Cervini, Ruben (Coordinador) . FA CT OR ES ASO CIA DO S ALL O G R O E S C O L A R / 3. Caracteristicas institucionales y rendimiento escolar en

Matem btica Alum nos de 7" afio - Escuela urbana. Operativo Nacional de Evaluacih

Minister io de Cultura y Educacibn de la Na c i h . Secretar ia de Pro gram acih y

Ev a lu ac ih Educat iva. D i recc i6n de In f o r ma c i h y Evaluaci6n de la C al idad Educativa.

Informes Anal i t icos. Cervini, Ruben (Coord inador). FAC TO RE S ASO CIA DO S AL

1995-1997.

91



LOGRO E S C O L A R / 4. L a Ins ti tuc i6n Educa t iva de N i ve l M ed io y el Rendimiento en

Matemhtica . Directores de l N iv e l M edi o - 1997/1998.

M in i s te r i o de Cultura y Educaci6n de l a N ac ih . Secretaria de Programacih y

Ev a l ua c i h Educat iva. D i re cc ih de In fo rmac i6n y Ev al ua ci h de l a Cal idad Educat iva .

Inform es Anali t icos. Ce nin i , Rubtn (Coordinador) . FAC TOR ES ASO CIA DO S AL

LOGRO E S C O L A R / 5. Cal idad y equidad en la E du ca ci h Bhsica de Argent inaAlumnos de 7" afio - Escuela urbana Rendimiento en Matemhtica Operativo N acional de

E v a l u a c i h 1997.

Min is ter io de Educacih , Ciencia y Tecnologia. Secretaria de Educaci6n. Subsecretaria

de Cal idad y Equidad. Direcc i6n Naciona l de In f or m ac ih y E v a l u a c i h d e l a C a li da d

Educat iva. Informe s Analiticos. Judengloben, Mir ta; Arrieta, Ma ri a Ester y Falcone,

J u l i h n . B R E C H A S E D U C A T IV A S Y SOCIALES: UN PROBLEMA V I E J O Y

VIGENTE. 2003.

Ministerio de Educacibn, Ciencia y Tecnologia. Secretaria de Educaci6n. Subsecretaria

de Cal idad y Equidad. Direcci6n Naciona l de I n f o r m a c i h y E v a l u a c i h d e l a C al id ad

Educativ a. Informes Analiticos. Relevamiento de la Normat iva en materia de Evaluacion,

A c r e d i t a c i h y Promocion para 10s Niveles Ini cia l y EGB. Diciembre de 2003.

Min is ter io de Educacih , Ciencia y Tecnologia. Secretaria de Educaci6n. Subsecretaria

de Cal idad y Equidad. D i r e c c ih Naciona l de In formacion y E v a l u a c i h d e l a C a li da d

Educativa. Informes Anal i t icos. L a Evaluaci6n de la Cal idad Educativa en Argentina.

Experiencias Provinciales.

Ministerio de Educacibn, Ciencia y Tecnologia. Secretaria de Educaci6n. Subsecretaria

de Cal idad y Equidad. Direcc idn Nacional de Informaci6n y E v a l u a c i h d e l a C a l id a d

Educativa. Informes Analiticos. Monseur, Christian. 2000. ACER. A U S T R A L I A N

COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL R E S E A R C H T R E N D S I N D I C A T O R S OF

S T U D E N T ACHIEVEMENT ITEM RESPONSE THEORY S C A L I N G OF LITERACY

AND M A T H E M A T I C S A C H I E V E M E N T DATA. FROM 1995 TO 1999 IN FIVE

GRA DES . Documento N"12.

Min ister io de Educa c ih , C ienc ia y Tecnologia. Secretaria de E d uc a ci h. Subsecretaria

de Cal idad y Equidad. Direcci6n Nacional de Informaci6n y Evaluaci6n de l a Cal idad

Educativa. Informes Analiticos. PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL S T U D E N TASSESSMENT. INFORMENACIONAL. REPbLICA ARGENTINA. JUNlO 2004.

Ministerio de Educacibn, Ciencia y Tecnolog ia . Di recc i6n de In fo rm ac ih y Evaluacidn

de la Calidad Educativa. Informe s de Investiga cibn. Min iste rio de Educacibn, C iencia y

Tecno logia. D i r ec c i h Nac iona l de In fo rm ac ih y Ev al ua ci h de la Cal idad Educativa .

Grustchesky, Mariano y Serra, Juan Carlos. 2003. U ni da d de Investigaciones Educativas .

Estado del arte sobre la mp lem en ta ci h del Tercer Cic lo de la Educaci6n General Bhsica.

Min is ter io de Educacih , Ciencia y T ec no lo gia . D i r e c c i h de I n f o r m a c i h y Evaluaci6n

de la Calidad Educativa. Inf orme s de Investigacibn. Galarza, Dani el. INFORME DE

C I C L O DELA EGB EN OCHO JURISDICC IONES. 1999.

Min is ter io de Educa c ih , C ienc ia y Tecnologia. Direc ci6n de Inform aci6n y Evaluacion

de la Cal idad Educativa. Informes de Inve sti gac ih. Estado de si tuaci6n de laTran sform acih Curricu lar e Insti tuc iona l. In vest igacih . In form e de 10s pr imeros

resultados para el afio 1998. 1999.

Min is ter io de Edu cac ih , Ciencia y T ec no lo gi a. D i r e c c i h de I n fo r m a c i h y Evaluaci6n

de la Cal idad Educativa. Informes de In ves tig aci h. Estudios y documentos 1.Educaci6n

General Bhsica. Investigaciones sobre e l Tercer Cic lo. D icie mb re de 2000.

Minist er io de Educacidn, Cien cia y Tecno log ia . D i recc i6n de In fo rm ac ih y Evaluacibn

de la C al idad Educativa. Informes de Investigacibn. IMPLEMENTACION Y

INVESTIGACI~N. LA ESTRUCTURA CURRICULAR BASICA DEL TERCER

92



L O C A L I Z A C I O N DEL T E R C ER C IC L O DE EGB. Las prescripciones y s u impact0 en

10s actores institucionales. R EP- LIC A ARGENTINA. 2000.

Ministerio de Educacibn, Ciencia y Tecno logia . D i re cc ih de In f o rm ac ih y E v a l u a c i h

de la Calidad Educativa. Informes de Invest igacih . EL TERCER C I C L O D E S D E LA

MIRADA DOCENTE: avances y desafios fiente a la extensi6n de la obligatoriedad

escolar. 2000.M in i s te r i o de E ducac ih , C ienc ia y Tecnologia. Direcci6n de Inform acion y Evaluaci6n

de l a Ca l idad Educativa. UNTREF. In formes de Invest igacibn. L A S DIF IC UL TA DE S

EN L A S T R A Y E C T O R I A S E S CO L AR E S DE L O S A L U M N O S . Un estu dio e n escuelas

de nuest ro pais. 2004.

Romhn, Marcela . Lo s j6venes rurales en Argentina. Elementos para una estrategia de

desarrollo rural. Min iste rio de la Pr od uc ci h. Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganaderia, Pesca

y Al imentos. D i r e c c ih de Desarro llo Agropecuario PROINDER.

SITEAL. Sistema de Informacion de Tendencias educativas en America Latina. Del

trabajo a l a escuela: E quid ad y exclu sion entre 10s adolescentes urbano s de c uatro paises

de Amer ica lat ina. Bolet in Nr o 1.

Verner, Dorte. 2004. Alleviating Poverty and Increasing Incomes in Rural Argentina;

L i ke Shoot ing Fish in a Barrel? Wo rld Bank. D raf t version.Ward, James. 1994. “Looking at rura l schools and comm unities in the 21st century: The

impa ct o f changing demographics and economics”. In:To wa rd the 21st century: A rura l

education anthology. Rural School Development Outreach Project. Vol um e 1. ED 401

074.

0

0

0

0

0

0

93



Annex 13: Statement of Loans and Credits


Original Amount in US$ Mil l ions

Difference betweenexpected and actualdisbursements

Project ID FY Purpose IBRD ID A SF GEF Cancel. Undisb. Ong. Frm. Rev'd

PO88032 2005

PO71025 2004

PO72637 2004

PO78143 2004

PO83982 2004

PO88153 2004

PO73578 2003

PO70374 2002

PO69913 2002

PO68344 2001

PO64614 2001

PO44447 2001

PO57473 2001

PO49012 2001

PO55482 2000

PO57449 1999

PO45048 1999

PO06043 1999PO06046 1999

PO06058 1999

PO52590 1998

PO50713 1998

PO39787 1998

PO06041 1998

PO05980 1997

PO06010 1997

PO06052 1997

PO06059 1997

PO40808 1997

PO39584 1997

PO37049 1996

PO06040 1996

PO06060 1995

PO06018 1995

AR(CRL1)Buenos Aires InfrastrSIDP(1 AP L)

AR-Provincial Maternal-Child H lth Inv

Ln

AR-Prov. Maternal-Chi ld Hl th A dj

PMCHSA L

GEF A R En abl ing Act. Conv. Cl imateCha

A R E C O N O M I C R E C O V E RYSUPPORT S A L

A R Na tional High way Asset Management

Social Protect VI (AR-Jefes de Hogar)

A R P R O FA M LIL

A R Santa Fe Provincial Reform

A R Cordoba PRL5

AR - Second Secondary Education Project

A R Catamarca Provincial Reform

A R I N DI G EN O U S C O M M U N I T YDEVELOPMENT LIL

GEF AR-Mam.Poll.Prevention

AR-Pub. Hlth. Sum. & Disease Control

A R State Modernization

GEF AR-RENEWABLE ENERGY INRURAL M A R K E T S

AR RENEW.ENERGY R.MKTS

A R W A T E R S C T R RFRM

AR-So cial Protection 4

A R N A T H W Y R E H AB & MA I NT

A R M O D E L C O UR T D E V .

GEF AR-B IODIVERSITYCONSERVATION

A R S M A L L F A R M ER DV.

A R P R O V R O AD S

A R P R O V A G D E V T I

A R F LO O D P R O TE C T IO N

AR-Maternal & Child Hlth &Nut r i t ion 2

AR N.FOREST/PROTC

AR B.A.URB.TSP

AR PUB. NV.STRENGTHG

AR FORESTRYIDV

A R M U N I C D E V T I 1

AR PROV DEVT I1

200.00

135.80

750.00

0.00

500.00

200.00

600.00

5.00

330.00

303.00

56.99

70.70

5.00

0.00

52.50

30.30

0.00

30.00

30.00

90.80

450.00

5.00

0.00

75.00

300.00

125.00

200.00

100.00

19.50

200.00

16.00

16.00

210.00

225.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.14

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

8.35

0.00

0.00

10.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

10.10

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.80

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.70

0.00

4.08

0.00

200.00

132.08

150.00

0.84

500.00

200.00

5.23

2.92

126.70

75.00

18.00

24.30

3.46

8.44

10.41

18.17

9.67

26.19

18.34

10.82

53.42

0.75

7.08

21.99

60.18

57.38

29.30

11.95

8.91

51.02

0.93

3.16

1 1.82

2.93

0.00

3.03

150.00

0.42

250.00

40.00

5.23

2.92

126.70

75.00

-38.99

25.00

3.46

4.81

10.41

18.17

8.93

26.19

18.34

10.82

53.42

1.55

5.61

21.99

60.18

57.38

29.30

11.95

8.71

51.02

6.63

3.16

15.90

2.93

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.92

126.70

0.00

0.00

25.00

0.00

4.46

-24.77

0.00

3.61

8.35

18.34

4.16

53.42

1.55

2.47

3.83

60.18

8.24

-12.19

0.00

0.00

37.52

1.13

3.16

11.82

2.93

Total: 5,331.59 0.00 0.00 29.59 10.58 1,861.39 1,070.17 342.8 3

94



ARGENTINA

STATEMENT OF IFC'sHeld and Disbursed Portfolio

In Millions of U S Dollars

Committed Disbursed

IFC IFC

FY Approval Company Loan Equity Quasi Partic. Loan Equity Quasi Partic.

2000

1998

2002104

1995197199

1994195

1999

2000

1999104

2000

1996

1997

1996

1999

1995

2000

1994

1998

2000

1996

1998

1992

2004

1992

1997

1993194103

1995

1996199

1993

1998

1998

1999

1995

1995

1998

1997

1997

1995

1995100

1995

1996

ASF

A U T C L

Aceitera General

Acindar

Aguas

Ame rican Plast

BACS

Banco Ga licia

Bco Hipotecano

Brahma - AR G

Bunge-Ceval

CAPSA

CCI

CEPA

Cefas

EDENOR

F.V. S.A.

FAF'LAC

Grunbaum

Grupo Ga licia

Hosp ital Privado

Huantraico

Jumbo Argentina

Malteria Pampa

Milkaut

Molinos

Nahuelsat

Neuquen Basin

Nuevo Central

Patagonia

Patagonia Fund

S.A. San Miguel

SanCor

Socma

Suquia

T6I

Terminal 6

Terminales Port.

Tower Fund

Tower Fund Mgr

Transconor

20.00

3.64

50.00

22.02

18.82

2.00

5.58

7.50

1 oo

0.000.00

3.04

0.00

3.00

6.1 1

3.75

4.50

8.98

2.50

0.00

8.48

0.00

0.00

2.00

0.00

30.00

2.05

0.00

0.00

1.76

0.00

5.75

9.10

6.26

0.00

5.00

5.00

2.00

0.00

0.00

20.29

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

12.50

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.06

0.00

27.00

40.00

0.00

5.03

0.00

0.00

5.00

3.00

0.00

14.97

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.00

0.05

0.00

0.00 20.50

0.00 0.00

20.00 30.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 44.63

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

14.54 26.10

8.50 0.00

5.00 0.00

2.79 7.49

0.00 0.00

0.00 1.20

0.00 0.00

15.00 0.00

4.00 0.00

5.00 0.00

0.00 3.33

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

1 oo 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

20.79 0.00

0.00 15.00

10.50 0.00

5.00 9.38

0.00 4.06

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00

17.87 157.58

20.00

3.64

42.00

22.02

18.82

2.00

5 .58

3.75

1 oo

0.000.00

3.04

0.00

3.00

6.1 1

3.75

4.50

8.98

2.50

0.00

8.48

0.000.00

2.00

0.00

0.00

2.05

0.00

0.00

1.76

0.00

5.75

9.10

6.26

0.00

5.00

5.00

2.00

0.00

0.00

20.29

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

12.50

0.00

0.00

0.000.00

0.00

5.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.06

0.00

0.007.50

0.00

3.80

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.00

0.00

8.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.15

0.05

0.00

0.00

0.00

20.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

14.54

8.50

5.00

2.79

0.00

0.00

0.00

15.00

4.00

5.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1 oo

0.00

0.00

20.79

0.00

10.50

5.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

17.87

20.50

0.00

18.00

0.00

44.63

0.00

0.00

0.00

26.10

0.000.00

7.49

0.00

1.20

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.33

0.00

0.00

0.000.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

15.00

0.00

9.38

4.06

0.00

0.00

0.00

157.58



2001 USAL 10.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 8.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1997103 Vicentin 30.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1993 Yacylec 0.75 5.04 0.00 0.00 0.75 5.04 0.00 0.00

Total portfolio: 300.88 125.65 129.99 319.27 227.13 52.10 129.99 307.27

Approvals Pending Commitment

FY Approval Company Loan Equity Quasi Partic.

1999 American Plast 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

2004 Banco Ri o TFF 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.05

2004 FIDEX 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.00

2001 Gasnor 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.02

2001 ITBA 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00

Total pending commitment: 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.07

96



Annex 14: Country at a Glance


P O V E R T Y a n d S O C I A L

L a t i n U p p e r -A m e r i c a m l d d l e -

A r g e n t i n a & C a r i b . I n c o m e

2 0 0 3P o pu at o n m d-yea r (m illio ns )

GNi per cap i ta (A t las method, US$)

GNI (A tlas method , US $ bil l ions)

38.43,650

140.1

A v e r a g e a n n u a l g r o w t h, 1 9 9 7 - 0 3

Popula t ion (%)

Labo r f o rc e (%)

M o s t r e c e n t e s t i m a t e ( l a t e st y e a r a va i la b le , 1 9 9 7 - 0 3 )

1.62.2

P ov e r t y (%o f popula t ion be low nat lona lpover ty ine)

Urban popula t ion (% of to ta lpopu la t ion)

Li fe expectan cyat bi rth (years)

Infant mortal i ty (per 1.000 l ive births)Chi ld malnut r i t ion (% ofch i id renunder5)Acces s to an improved water source (%ofpopula t ion)

Illiteracy (% o f popu la t ion age 759Gross pr imaryen ro l lment (% of schoo l -age popu la tion)

M a l eFema l e

55

907416

594

3120

220119

K E Y E C O N O M I C R A T I O S an d LO N G - T E R M T R E N D S

1 9 8 3 1 9 9 3

G DP (US$ bil l ions) 104.0 236.5

Gross domes t i c inves tment /GDP 20.9 l9.1Exports o f go ods and serv ices iGDP 9.2 6.9

Gross domes t i c sav ings iGDP 24.2 16.7

Gross national savings/GDP .. 15.6

Current account balance/GDP

interest paymentslGDPTo ta l deb t /G DP

Total debt serv icelexports

Present va lue o f debt /GDP

Present va lue o f debt iexpor ts

-8.0 -3.5

6.2 1.5

44.2 30.6

73.3 35.9

1 9 8 3 - 9 3 1 9 9 3 - 0 3 2 0 0 2

(average annu al gro wthlG D P 2.5 1.4 -10.9

GDP DercaDita 1.2 0.1 -12.1

534

3,260

1,741

1.5

2.1

77

7128

86

I1129

131226

2 0 0 2

m2.0

12.027.7

26.9

2 1.0

9.49.8

144.1

18.4

237.0

439.2

335

5,3401,788

1.2

1.8

76

73?a

69

9

m4

n 4n 4

2 0 0 3

129.6

15.125.0

25.920.7

6.1

7.4

113.5

51.3

2 0 0 3 2 0 0 3 - 0 7

8.8 5.2

7.6 4 O. .

S T R U C T U R E O f t h e E C O N O M Y

( % o f G D P )

Agricul ture

Industry

Services

P r i v a te c ons ump t i onGenera l government consump t ion

Imports o f goods and serv ices

Manufac tur ing

(average annualgrowth)Agricul tureIndustry

Services

P r i v a tec ons ump t i onGenera l government cons ump t ionGross dome s t i c inves tmentImports o f goo ds and serv ices

Manufac tur ing

1 9 8 3 1 9 9 3

8.7 5.5

41.6 29.230.7 19.5

49.8 65.3

.. 69.8

.. 13.5

5.8 9.3

1 9 8 3 - 9 3 1 9 9 3 - 0 3

1.4 3.02.0 1.12.1 0.52.5 1.6

0.5

0.73.7 1.323.4 3.7

1 e v e l o p m e n t d i am o n d '

Life expectancy

T

;N I G ros s

)er primarynrol lmentapita

1

Access to improved water source

-A rgentlna- pper-middle-income group

E c o n o m i c r a t io s '

Trade

T

indebtedness

-Argentina

URRer-m ddla-inc o ine or0 UR

2 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 1 G r o w t h o f i n v e s t m e n t a n d G D P ( O h ) I10.7

32.0

2 1.3

57.3

60.9

12.212.8

2 0 0 2

-2.343.8

-11.0-9.2

-15.0

-5.1-36.4-50.1

110

34.7

23.954.3

62.7

11.4

14.2

2 0 0 3

6.916.5

16.0

4.2

0. 0

1.538.237.6

-GO1 -GDP

G r o w t h o f e x p o r t s a n d i m p o r t s (Oh)

00

40

20

0

.20

.4 0

.B O

I

97



Araent ina

P R I C E S a n d G O V E R N M E N T F I N A N C E

D o m e s t i c p r i c e s

(%change)Consumer prices 343.8

implicit GDP d eflator 382.4G o v e r n m e n t f i n a n c e

(%of G D P , ncludes current grants)Current revenue 20.4

Current budget balance -3.1

Overall surpiusideficit -5.7

1983

T R A D E

(US$ millions)

Tota lexports ( fob)

F o o d

Me a tManufactures

Total impo rts (cif)

F o o dFuel and energy

Capital goods

Export price index(1995:X)O)

import price index(995-X)O)

Terms o f trade (1995=X)O)

1983

B A L A N C E o f P A Y M E N T S1983

(US$ millions)Exports of goo ds and services 9,288

Imports of go ods and services 5,829

Resource balance 3,469

Net incomeNet current transfers

-5,921

-5,905

Current account balance -8,357

Financing items (net)

Changes in net reserves

6,051

2,306

M e m o :Reserves including goid (US$ millions) 1,l72

Conve rsion rate (DEC, ocal/US$) 1.05E-6

E X T E R N A L D E B T a n d R E S O U R CE F L O W S

(US$ millions)

1983

45,920

IB RD 533

IDA 0

Tota l debt outstanding and disbursed

Total debt service

iB RD

IDA

Com posit ion of net resource lowsOfficial grants

Official creditorsPrivate creditors

Foreign direct investme ntPortfol io equity

World Bank programCommitmentsDisbursements

P rincipai repayments

6,805

98

0

2

3311,134

185

0

a0

70

40

1993

m.6

-1.5

18.9

2.6

16

1993

13,269

1,454

748

8,603

16,783

461

7,773

m0

m0x) O

1993

16,339

22,026

-5,688

-2,997

522

-8,163

3,913

4,250

13,791

10

1993

72,425

3,739

0

5,860

567

0

32

2,6724,397

2,793

4,979

1,590

1,507

334

2002

25.9

30.6

7. 6

-0.8

-1.5

2002

25,709

2,273

913

23,429

8,990

482

1,293

91

87

a 5

2002

28,684

13,135

25,548

-6,498

576

9,627

-5,111

-4.516

%3,489

3.1

2002

135,681

8,513

0

5,291

1,870

0

-1850-3,253

1741

-27

250

424

1353

2003

13.4

m.7

20.5

1.3

0.5

2003

29,376

2,597

1,043

15,185

13,813

544

2,500

99

87

113

2003

33,231

18,485

14,746

-7,425

620

7,941

-P,493

4,552

14,253

2.9

2003

146,955

7,508

0

l7,042

3,350

0

1.277-1,883

456

250

1,850

1,963

2,988

I n f l a t i o n ( % )

I 40 T I

1 -GDPdsflator -CPI I

E x p o r t a n d i m p o r t l e v e l s ( U S $ mi l l . )

I30,000

20,000

10,000

0

Exports in lrrports2 O3 I7 98 99 00 01

C u r r e n t a c c o u n t b a l a n c e t o G D P ( %)

e

1-10 1

C o m p o s i t i o n o f 2003 d e b t (US $ mi l l . )

I A: 7,508

C 14,752

F 40,785

9.824

E 4 , 8 6 0

A - IBRD E - BilateralB - IDA D - Other nultilateral F - PrivateC - I M F G - Short-term

98



MAP SECTION



A

n n

d d

e e

s s

i

a

A

n

d

e

s

P

a

m

p a

s

JUJUY U J U Y

S A L A L TA

TUCUMUCUM ÁN SANTIAGO ANTIAGO

DEL ESTERO EL ESTERO

LAA

RIOJAIOJA

CAAT AMARCAMARCA

FORMOSAORMOSA

CHACO HACO

S A N T A N T AF E E

CORRIENTES ORRIENTES

M I S I O

N E S

MISIONES

E N T R E N T R ER Í O S S

B U E N O S U E N O S A I R E S I R E S

CORDOBAO R D O B A

SAN AN JUAN UA N

SAN AN

LUIS UIS

MENDOZAE N D O Z A

L AAP A M P M P A

RIO NEGRO I O N E G R O

NEUQUEN EUQUEN

C H U B U T H U B U T

Cerro erro Aconcagua concagua(6960 m) 6960 m)

Mar del Plataar del Plata

Bahah ía BlancaBlanca

Rosarioosario

Santa Rosaanta Rosa

Neuqueuquén

Viedmaedma

Rawsonawson

MendozaendozaSan Luisan Luis

San Juanan JuanCordobaordoba

ParanaranáSanta Feanta Fe

La Riojaa Rioja

Catamarcaatamarca

San Miguel De Tan Miguel De Tucumcum án

Santiago Del Esteroantiago Del Estero

Saltaalta

San Salvador De Jujuyan Salvador De Jujuy

Forormosaosa

ResistenciaesistenciaCorrientesorrientes

Posadasosadas

BUENOS AIRESUENOS AIRES

Laguna agunaMar Chiquita ar Chiquita

P a r a n

Paran á

C o l o r a d o Colorado

P a r a n

Paran á

P a r a g u a

y

Paragua

y

P i l c o m a y o

Pilcomayo

S a

l a ad d o o

N e g

r o

C h i c

o

C h u

b u

t

D De es a

g gu ua ad de er r

U r u g

u a y

S a l a ad d oo

JUJUY

S A L T A

TUCUMÁN SANTIAGO

DEL ESTERO

LA

RIOJA

CATAMARCA

FORMOSA

CHACO

S A N T AF E

CORRIENTES

M I S I O

N E S

E N T R E R Í O S

B U E N O S A I R E S

CORDOBA

SAN JUAN

SAN

LUIS

MENDOZA

L AP A M P A

RIO NEGRO

NEUQUEN

C H U B U T

Mar del Plata

Bahía Blanca

Rosario

Santa Rosa

Neuquén

Viedma

Rawson

MendozaSan Luis

San JuanCordoba

ParanáSanta Fe

La Rioja

Catamarca

San Miguel De Tucumán

Santiago Del Estero

Salta

San Salvador De Jujuy

Formosa

ResistenciaCorrientes

Posadas

BUENOS AIRES

PARAGUAY

B R A Z I L

URUGUAY

CHILE

BOLIVIA

Laguna Mar Chiquita

P a r a n á

C o l o r a d o

P a r a n á

P a r a g u a

y

P i l c o m a y o

S a

l a d o

N e g

r o

C h i c

o

C h u

b u

t

D e

s a

g u a d e r

U r u g

u a y

S a l a d o

ATLANTIC OCEAN

PACIFIC OCEAN

A

n

d

e

s

i

a

A

n

d

e

s

P

a

m

p a

s

Cerro Aconcagua (6960 m)

To Puerto Montt

To Los Ángeles

To Talca

To Valparaíso

To La Serena

To Copiapó

To Calama

To Tarija

To San Pedro

To Cascavel

To Santa Rosa

To Santa Maria

To Artigas

To Tacuarembó

To Montevideo

70° W 60° W 50° W

4 0 ° S

3 0 ° S

3 0 ° S

4 0 ° S

ARGENTINA

0 100 200 300 Miles

0 100 200 300 400 500 Kilometers

IBRD 33362

PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT ON A PROPOSED LOAN IN THE AMOUNT OF US$l50.00 MILLION TO THE ARGENTINE...

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Transcript of PROJECT APPRAISAL DOCUMENT ON A PROPOSED LOAN IN THE AMOUNT OF US$l50.00 MILLION TO THE ARGENTINE...