Moldova - General Education

Report No. PIC3119 Project Name Moldova-General Education Region Europe and Central Asia Sector Education Project ID MDPA8558 Borrower Republic of Moldova Implementing Agency Ministry of Education 1 Marii Adunari Nationale Square 277033 Chisinau, Moldova Mr. Simion Musteata First Deputy Minister of Education Tel. No.: (373-2) 233 519 Ms. Ludmila Stepan Project Director Tel. No.: (373-2) 232 464 Fax No.: (373-2) 233 474 Date This PID Prepared November 19, 1996 Date Initial PID Prepared December 12, 1995 Appraisal Date October 15, 1996 Projected Board Date March 27, 1997 Environmental Category C A. Country and Sector Background 1. Moldova has been pursuing quite successful structural reform and stabilization policies since 1993. Despite a massive terms of trade shock, ethnic conflict and a series of natural disasters, this small and densely populated rural country has made significant strides towards a market economy. Restructuring was associated with a sharp drop in real wages and fall in employment in the formal sector. Between July 1993 and July 1994, the number of paid workers fell by 6.4w in the economy as a whole, and by 14t in industry. Although registered open unemployment remains low, labor hoarding has increased significantly. 2. The Bank's country assistance strategy initially focused on a response to the drought of 1992 (a loan of US$ 26 million), followed by a Rehabilitation Loan (US$60 million) and a Structural Adjustment Loan (US$60 million) in the period 1993-95. Now, that the framework for structural reforms is largely in place, the focus of Bank lending is shifting to priority investment operations with approval of the Pre- Export Guarantee Facility (US$30 million), Agriculture Project (US$10 million), Private Sector Development Project (US$35 million), and Energy Project (US$10 million). The Government has also indicated its interest in proceeding with other projects in the social sectors. 3. Although reforms are planned in all social sectors, the degree to which these changes are embedded in a well-defined long-term strategy  varies. Strategic reform plans are furthest advanced in the education sector. The recently adopted education law provides a good framework for sectoral reforms and detailed programs to help operationalize this framework are already under preparation. There has also been progress in managing labor market policies which now include some active measures such as job counseling and retraining programs, often with the involvement of private providers. In the health sector, the new law is an ambitious attempt to accelerate reforms, but it has not yet been followed by any specific reform action plans which are needed to increase efficiency and put financing on a sounder basis. In the social security area, specific reform plans which would aim at combining a targeted social safety net with mobilization of private savings through supplementary pensions are under development. 4. There is a substantial need for external assistance in all of these areas. Taking into account the degree of preparation of reform plans and foreign assistance already in place in various parts of the social sectors, the education sector appears to be the most suitable choice for Bank-support at this stage. Government has specifically requested Bank assistance in the sector and the proposed approach, outlined below, is consistent with Government objectives and with the Bank's Country Assistance Strategy (CAS). In the health sector, putting in place technical assistance which would help formulate specific reform programs will be a first priority, while in the social security and labor market sectors the Bank's role is likely to remain limited, in the short run, to a dialogue in key policy areas supported under the second Structural Adjustment Loan. 5. Expenditures in social sectors are under pressure due to the fiscal crisis. In the education sector, there has been a significant decline in educational investment and other non-salary expenditures. Every year, budget negotiations are conducted in the form of heavy bargaining, budget line by budget line. While there is a need to increase investments in education so as to avoid substantial deterioration of the sector's achievements, the Public Expenditure Review has also pointed to areas where efficiency improvements and cost savings are in order. The Government is aiming to tackle these issues through efficiency enhancing measures such as a gradual increase of the student-teacher ratio and a reduction in the large number of vocational training schools. 6. The education reform strategy is based on the new Education Law, adopted in 1995. The main objective of the law is to make the system more compatible with Western countries' educational systems. Two key elements of this change are: (i) reform of the education system structure towards a mandatory one-year preschool, four-year primary schooling, five-year gymnasium, followed by an optional upper secondary lyceum track of 3 years or a flexible 1.5 - 5 year vocational education track with three completion levels or exit points and; (ii) a major overhaul of the education program (curricula, teaching materials, textbooks, and teaching methodology) at all levels with respect to contents and the increased role of Romanian as the language of instruction. B. Objective -2-  7. The proposed project aims at supporting the first phase of the Government's efforts to develop, test and introduce new curricula, teaching materials, teaching methodologies, learning standards and associated teacher training reforms. The proposed project focus emerged as a priority during discussions with the Government in October 1995, when a Bank identification mission examined priorities in social sectors. The project's main focus will be implementation of reforms in general education, where needs and potential social returns are highest. The project will have the following components: (i) Curriculum development to help change general education curricula; (ii) teacher retraining to improve teaching skills in support of the new general education curricula; (iii) development of a learning assessment system to measure learning outcome and effectiveness of the educational system; and (iv) textbooks and teaching materials production to support implementation of the revised general education curricula. C. Description 8. The proposed project is the first World Bank operation in Moldova's Education Sector. The operation is, therefore, deliberately simple and limited to supporting reforms in mandatory general education (grades 1- 9). The choice of supporting reforms in general education is motivated by three main factors: (a) curriculum reforms have been initiated but slowed down due to fiscal constraints; (b) economic returns from investment in general education have always been significantly higher than in the other education levels; and (c) general education reform is necessary to support Moldova's transition to a market economy. 9. Component 1: Curriculum Development. The Institute of Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences (IPPS) of the Ministry of Education has started to develop and test some new curricula - methodologically improved and based on Moldovan culture and tradition - for general education. There is, however, a need to introduce greater consistency in the new curricula and to assure increased stakeholder participation. The project would support full development of the entire curricula for mandatory general education and help establish the institutional structures and processes required to upgrade regularly the curriculum with feedback from key stakeholders. This component would finance costs directly associated with curriculum development (including broad based consultation and thorough review by expert groups before final approval), materials, equipment, technical assistance and training necessary to develop and test the new curricula. It would also finance printing and distribution of the new curricula. 10. Component 2: Teacher Retraining. Under this component, teachers would be retrained to prepare them for the introduction of the new curriculum and teaching materials. Since curriculum development is a continuous process, this component envisions the development of teacher retraining on an institutional basis which would allow regular upgrading -3 -  of the teaching staff's subject knowledge and teaching pedagogy. The in-service teacher training capability would be built up through a system which would centrally train rayon-based (district level) trainers who would subsequently extend training to teachers in their region. The project would provide for technical assistance, training costs, materials and equipment for training centers and trial schools. 11. Component 3: Development of a Learning Assessment System. This component intends to upgrade the country's student learning evaluation and assessment capabilities in order to monitor and evaluate learning outcome. The first task under this component is to integrate a learning assessment function into the newly developed curricula. Only by developing a monitoring system of student achievement will Moldova be able to assess the achievements of the revised curricula, teaching materials and new teaching methodologies. The system will eventually also allow the Ministry of Education to compare the sector's achievements with those in the rest of the world. The project would provide for technical assistance, training, materials, equipment and other direct costs incurred by the development and testing of the learning assessment system. 12. Component 4: Textbooks and Teaching Materials Production. To implement the new curricula developed under component 1, this component would provide for new textbooks and teaching materials in line with the new curricula. The mechanism of selecting textbook authors and textbook publishers would be competitive, in accordance with World Bank procurement guidelines. The component would finance a total of close to 100 new titles. D. Financing 13. The proposed project is at the final stage of preparation. The project cost is estimated at approximately US$ 20.0 (net of taxes) million including a proposed loan amount estimated at about US$ 16.8 million. The Government contribution is estimated at about US$ 3.2 million. Grant financing for technical assistance approximately US$ 1.5 million is sought from cofinanciers and other interested donors. E. Implementation 14. The proposed project would be coordinated and managed by a Project Management Unit (PMU) which would be established in the Ministry of Education. Implementation of the different components would be carried out by the General Education Department and relevant associated institutions of the Ministry of Education. Because this would be the first World Bank-financed project in the education sector and implemented by the Ministry of Education, and because of potentially difficult problems of the inter-ministerial collaboration (Ministries of Finance, Economy, and other governmental agencies), provisions would be made in the project for support by a project implementation advisor who would be recruited to assist the Project Manager during the first two years of project implementation. F. Sustainability -4-  15. Institutional changes and new processes that would accompany the education system reform introduced under the project are expected to have a lasting impact on education policy and management. They should initiate a process which would enable the Government to think about the education system in terms of efficiency. The project will be designed to minimize permanent additional recurrent expenditures. G. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector 16. The proposed project would be the first such operation in Moldova. The Bank's only previous subsector experience was limited to analytical sector work completed in 1993. Operations in other sectors have so far been limited to adjustment loans and economic and sector work, and, therefore, the counterparts may underestimate the amount of detailed work necessary in project preparation. To reduce this risk, and based on past experience in other transition economies, special attention will be paid to ensuring beneficiary participation in project design and preparation. The Bank has supported education projects in other transition economies, such as Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. The lesson learned is that when there is government-wide involvement from the early stages of the project, and when the project is a part of the government strategy, as opposed to a ministry strategy, the preparation proceeds faster and smoother. Also, implementation difficulties increase more than in proportion to the complexity of the project. Both lessons will be taken into account during the design of the Moldova project. H. Poverty Category 17. This project does not focus directly on poverty alleviation. However, it is expected that the education reforms would increase and improve the quality of human capital stock in the country for sustainable long-term growth in the future. Education investments could also accelerate labor adjustments to a market driven economy. I. Environmental Aspects 18. The proposed project includes no major construction nor use of disposable chemicals. Its focus will be mainly on curriculum and instructional materials development and on teacher retraining. It is therefore judged to fall under Environmental Category C. J. Women's Impact 19. Education access in Moldova is equitable. The reform would enhance equitable educational access for women. New curricula are expected to promote equality of rights. K. Participation 20. The project preparation process would fully involve a wide range of stakeholders, including relevant staff of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy and other agencies through working groups for all the components, as well as teachers and parents groups. During project preparation and implementation, participatory - 5 -  workshops and stakeholder consultations are envisaged, particularly for curriculum development. L. Project Benefits 21. By establishing the framework for a new and improved approach in educational programming and curriculum and teaching materials development, the project is expected to ultimately benefit the education system and the labor market. The direct and immediate beneficiaries of the project would be the general education students. It is expected that the project would not only improve education and training for the students but that teachers would become more committed to their tasks and therefore more effective in their teaching roles. Over time, the coverage of project benefits is expected to expand far beyond the general education subsector as project activities are subsequently extended to other parts of the educational system and as external effects of the project benefit the economy at large. M. Project Risks 22. There are three major risks in this project. First, due to the country's fiscal crisis, the Government may be unable to provide the necessary resources to support project activities. This risk seems small in light of the commitment to education reforms and the fact that macroeconomic projections envisage Moldova entering a growth path by 1996. Second, changes in the political and administrative leadership in the education sector can hamper future actions necessary to complete project implementation. This risk will be minimized by ensuring that project design and preparation of implementation plans will involve significant participation from working level persons of the Ministry of Education and educational institutions. Furthermore, to ensure and maintain a sense of project ownership, the preparation team would agree on a detailed project implementation plan with monitorable indicators. The third risk is that the Ministry of Education's inexperience with project management in general, and Bank-assisted projects in particular, could hamper smooth project implementation. Simplicity of project design and close involvement of key Ministry of Education staff at all stages of project development will help minimize this risk. In addition, a project implementation advisor would be included in the technical assistance program to assist the Project Management Unit in assuring effective project implementation. Contact Person: Monika Huppi, Task Manager The World Bank 1818 H Street N.W. Washington D.C. 20433 Tel. No.: (202) 473-5040 Fax No.: (202) 522-3641 Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not necessarily be included in the final project. Processed by The Public Information Center week ending November 22, 1996. - 6 -