Announcement of IDA Approves Fifteen Million Dollars Credit for a Second Education Project in Burundi on May 1, 1980

FOR .IMMEDIATE RELEASE .Alarid Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE N0.80/58 May 1, 1980 IDA APPROVES.$15 MILLION CREDIT FOR A SECOND EDUCATION PROJECT IN BURUNDI The lnternati.onal Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's affiliate for concessionary lending, has approved a $15 million credit to the Government of Burundi for a second education project. The $17.3 million project will be carried out over·a five-year period and will assist the government in training middle-level technicians and skilled workers in industrial trades and secretarial/administrative skills. A construction trade training school will enroll 380 students and will have 100 graduates a year following a three-year course in masonry/ concrete construction, plumbing, electrical installation and general • mechanics . The !DA-supported project will also finance a new Public Works School in Gitega, the second largest town in Burundi. The s~hool will provide a three-year course in surveying, construction supervision, drafting and rural engineering/hydraulics for about 270 middle-level technicians, and training in heavy-duty equipment operation and maintenance for about 60 skilled workers. About 95 students are expected to graduate annually. The project will finance the const~uction of a new Mechanics Department in Kamenge, which will offer a three-year course to 90 students. The course will produce each year 25 middle-level technicians specialized in general mechanics and industrial drawing. A new department will be added to the existing commercial secondary school in Kamenge to train typists and bookkeepers. It will provide 280 places, of which half will be for girls, for its two-year course. About 130 students are expected to graduate annually. The pr9ject, which will provide training for about 360 graduates a year, will assist in reducing the shortage of skilled staff--a major constraint to the economic development of Burundi. The IDA credit will be for 50 years, including 10 years of grace. It will carry no interest but will bear a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum • to cover administrative expenses . NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents. FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T E C HN I CA L D A T A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Second Education Burundi $ l 7 . 3 mi 11 Ion • IDA FINANCING: $15 million, standard IDA terms OTHER FINANCING: Government of Burundi, $2.3 million IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Ministry of Education B.P. 1990, Bujumbura, Burundi Cable: MINEDUC BUJUMBURA Telex: BPE BDI 70 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project will be carried out over a five-year period and will assist the government in: (1) training middle-level technicians and skilled workers in industrial trades and secretarial/administrative skills; (2) implementing and evaluating the reform of the education system; and (3) strengthening the planning, supervision and project implementation capacity of the Ministry of Education. The project will ~ provide for 1,080 technical secondary student places, 990 student dormitory places and the equipping of major ministerial services. Specifically, the project will comprise: (a) constructiqn, furnishing and equipping of (i) two new boarding technical secondary schools (including staff housing); (ii) a Mechanics Department in an existing technical secondary school; and (iii) a Tvoist and Pookkeeper Training Department in an existing commercial secondary school (including boarding and staff housing); (b) provision of equipment, materials and vehicles to the Planning Unit, the inspectorate, and the Technical and General Education Bureaus of the Ministry of Education, and the Project Implementation Unit; and (c) technical assistance and preinvestment studies. PROCUREMENT: Civil works contracts will be awarded as follows: (a) civil works contracts for the academic and boarding facilities of the Construction Trade Training School and the Public Works School (about $7.2 million including contingencies) will be awarded on the bas ls of international competitive bidding In accordance with IDA guide- lines; (b) construction of staff housing, the Mechanics Department and the Typing and Bookkeeping Department (about $3.9 million including contingencies) will be carried out by the construction force of the Project Implementation Unit and/or local sub-contractors selected on the basis of local competitive bidding; and (c) contracts for furniture, equipment and vehicles (about $4.3 million including contingencies) wlll be awarded following lnteinatlonal competitive bidding in accordance with the IDA guidelines for procurement, except for contracts costing less than $50,000 (within a total limit of $600,000) • which will be awarded following competitive bidding in accordance with local procedures satisfactory to the Association.  -2- • CONSULTANTS: Two expatriate engineers will be hired for three and a half years each to assist the Mechanics Department of the Secondary Technical School and the Public Works School in monitoring and con- trolling delivery and installation of equipment, preparing the plans of operations, coordinate the completion of syllabi, supervise vocational instruction and manage workshops operations. The Project Implementation Unit established during the First Education Project will be strengthened by an additional full time architect, two additional construction supervisors and a procurement specialist. The exec~tion of the basic education and technical education studies will require about 12 man months of specialist's services. All specialists will have adequate qualifications and experience and be employed under terms and conditions satisfactory to the Association. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: n.a. ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1985 • 1, I: •