Announcement of Colombia to Expand and Improve Primary Schools in Rural Areas on July 29, 1982

fOR IMMEDIATE . RELE'\SE. ~ • world Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 83./ 3 Contact: Ciro Gamarra July 2 9, 1982 ( 202) 477-8034 COLOMBIA TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN RURAL AREAS Colombia will expand and improve primary schools in three rural areas with the assistance of a $15 million World Bank loan for education. The $43.1 million project is the first phase of a ten-year Subsector Program for Rural Basic Education. The first phase covered under the project (1982-84) consists of thirty local and six national subprojects, all implementing policy changes. This phase will be carried out in the Departments of Narino, Cauca, and Norte de Santander. A key change crucial to the success of the project is decentralizing educational administration, delegating responsibility to local administrators. Teachers will be offered salary incentives for rural service by double-counting the time of service ln rural schools. An academic supervisory service will be established. New but tested educational programs, adapted to the rural setting, will be expanded. • The thirty local subprojects are individual investment plans, each focusing on the aggregate educational needs of two to five districts comprising some 20-70 rural primary schools and 1,800 to 7,200 pupils. Overall, the subprojects will provide training for 6,100 teachers and administrators, educational materials, and textbooks to 112,000 students, and equipment or repairs for 1,600 schools. The six national subprojects, to be carried out directly under the Ministry of Education, will support local subprojects. They will develop and produce textbooks and educational materials, acquire the furniture and equipment for the schools, and train administrators and planners. They will also develop a computerized management information system and expand applied research on.education. At present, over 43% of Colombia's rural primary schools do not offer the full five years of primary education. In 1980, fewer than one fifth of rural children completed the five-year cycle. The corresponding rate in the urban areas was about three times as high. Incomplete schools, lack of teachers and textbooks, and unsuitable curricula, are among the reasons for the high dropout and repetition rates in the rural primary schools. As a consequence of the project, the enrollment rate in participating areas is expected to increase from 78% to 90%. Costs to the government in educating each primary school graduate will decrease from $1,700 to about $700. The World Bank loan to the Fund of the Ministry of Education is guaranteed by the Government of Colombia, which is providing $28. 3 million for the project. The • loan is for 17 years, including four years of grace, with the interest at 11.6% a year. It also carries an annual comrn.i tment charge of O. 7 5% on undisbursed balances and includes a front-end fee of 1.5% on the amount of the loan. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.