Announcement of World Bank Lends Eighty Million US Dollars to Improve Education in Mexico on September 8, 1992

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 93/15LAC Contact: Ciro Gamarra Tel: (202) 473-8721 WORLD BANK LENDS $80 MILLION TO IMPROVE EDUCATION IN MEXICO WASHINGTON, D.C., September 8, 1992 -- Mexico's efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of the non-formal initial education program in the ten poorest states will be assisted by a World Bank loan of $80 million. The project will benefit about 1.2 million poor children who will be better prepared for further education and for a more productive labor force participation. The $115 million project represents an integral part of the Mexican Government's human capital formation and poverty reduction program, and aims to strengthen a non-formal initial education program for young children of up to 3 years of age, to be managed by the Public Education Secretariat and the state-level Public Education Secretariate. The project will cover urban and rural marginal areas of chiapas, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Mexico, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, and Veracruz. The Initial Education project will prepare young children of low-income families for timely school entry and their improved primary school attendance and performance. In addition, the project will educate parents, especially mothers, in home-based child-rearing practices, and will strengthen the Government's institutional Capacity to formulate sectoral policies and plan, expand, monitor, and evaluate the education programs. The project will center on the training of parents through periodic group meetings and home visits, with the help of comprehensive illustrated guidebooks and other educational materials, to teach them skills for caring and stimulating children for cognitive, psychological, and social development. Basic health and nutrition education and guidance will also be provided. Project benefits will be reflected primarily in an enhanced quality of life for participating children and parents, who would acquire better child development skills. In addition, vince most parents and children are from poor families, economic and social benefits will be more equally distributed, and a more cohesive society will be developed. In addition for preparing 1.2 million children, the project will provide training opportunities for 900,000 parents (especially mothers) and 45,000 community educators (mostly women) in poor rural and urban marginal areas. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents. -2- The World Bank loan will be disbursed over six years. The balance of costs will be provided by the Mexican Government ($34 million) and by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization (UNEsCO) ($1 million). The World Bank loan was made to Nacional Financiera, S.N.C. (NAFIN), with the guarantee of the United Mexican States. It is for 15 years, inoluding five years of grace, with a variable interest rate, currently 7.60 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank'a borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbursed balance. -0-