Haiti - Fifth Education Project

Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY STAFF APPRAISAL REPORT HAITI FIFTH EDUCATION PROJECT MAY 16, 1991 Human Resources Division Country Department III Latin America and the Caribbean Region This docurment has a restricted distribution and mav be used bv recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Banli authorization. r~~~~~~~~~~~~  CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit - Gourde (G) G 1 - US$0.20 G 5 = US$1.00 Since 1919, the Gou-de has been pegged to the US dollar at the above rate. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Metric System km = kilometer (1km = 0.62 miles) m = meter (Im = 3.28 feet) m2 = square meter (lm2 = 10.76 ft2) FISCAL YEAR October 1 - September 30 ACADEMIC YEAR October 1 - June 1  FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY ABBUVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ADEPP Association des Directeurs d'Ecoloo Priv&ex de Port-au-Prince (Association of Port-au-Prince Primary School Directors) CEEC Conf6rence Episcopale de 1'Eglise Catholique (Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church) CEFOPAFOP Centre de Formation et do Perfectionnement des Agents de 1. Fonction Publique (Center for Professional Development for Public Administration Personnel in Public Administration) DEF Direction do l'Education Fondamentale (Department of Primary Education) DFP Direction de la Formation Professionnelle (Department of Professional Training) DGS Direction du G4nie Scolaire (Civil Works Department) FEPH F5d6ration des Ecoles Protestantes Haitiennes (Federation of Haitian Protestant Schools) FONHEP Fondation Haitienne de l'Enseignement Priv6 (Haitian Foundation for Private Education) GDP Gross Domestic Product HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus IDA International Development Association INAGHEI Institut National d'Administration, de Gestion et des Hautes Etudes Internationales (National Institute for Management Administration and Higher International Studies) INFP Institut National de Formation Professionnelle (National Institute for Vocational Training) IPN Institut P6dagogique National (National Pedagogical Institute) MEF Ministere de 1'Economie et des Finances (Ministry of Economy and Finance) LSMS Living Standards Measurement Survey MENJS Ministire de l'Education Nationale, de la Jeunesse et des Sports (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports) NGO Non-Governmental Organization PIU Project Implementation Unit PROBED Projet Bilat6ral d'Education (Bilateral Project for Education) SDR Special Drawing Rights UNDP United Nations Development Program UNESCO United Nationo Education, Science, and Culture Organization UPEF Unit6 des Projets d'Education et de Formation (Basic and Vocational Education Project Implementation Unit) USAID United States Agency for International Development This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.  -ii- FIFTH EDUCATION PROJECT STAIF APPRAISAL REPORT Table of Contents Page Number CREDIT AND PROJECT SUMKARY .. . .. .. .. . . ............................ iv I. INTRODUCTION ....................................... ........... ..... o. I II. THE EDUCATION SECTOR ....................... o ............ . 3 Background ... ..- ............ ..oo .. ........... ..o ... ... o. 3 The Public Education Sector .......... . ... ......... .0..-. . 4 The Private Education Sector . ................... 5 Main Issues in Basic Education .o. . ..... ... 7 Government Strategy .... . ........... .o........ ***ooo. 11 IDA Country and Sector Strategy ...... ........ -oo ..... 11 Rationale for IDA Involvement ................. ..... 12 III_ THE PROJECT ... . ..... ..... - ... ........ .....o.. . 13 Project Origin ...... ..... ...... . * . . ....... ... .......... 13 Project Objectives ........ . .. ...... o ..... ........ ... . .e. 13 Project Description .......- ................ ....... . 14 A. Sector Policy and Investment Program Development 14 B. Quality Improvement Componentn........ ....... 18 C. Resource Management Component ..........o .. ....... 21 IV. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ..........o...................... 22 Project Implementation ............. - ........ ....... . .... . 22 Monitoring and Evaluation .. .. ... . .... .oo- ...... ...-.. ...... . . 24 VY PROJECT COSTS AND FINANCING .............. . . .-. ..... .-. . 25 Project Costs- ......... . . 0 .... .... ...... .......... . 25 Basis of Cost Estimatesoioe........ ........ ....... ..s. ..... 26 Contingency Allowances ................... ....... ....... . . 26 Project Financing...... *.. .*. .... .0-. ..... 26 Procurement ... ........ 28 Disbursements - ........ .... .... ....... . .... ... 28 Accounts and Audits utits. . .......... .... ........... .... 30 This report is based on the findings of an appraisal mission consisting of Maryvonne Plessis-Fraissard (Mission Leader), Jean Moisset (Education Specialist CIDA), Uli Locher (Private Sector Management), Jacques Waechter (Architect), who visited Haiti in September 1990. It also incorporates input from an earlier preparation work led by Alain Tobelem. Helen Abadzi contributed substantially to the appraisal after the return of the mission. M. Grosch and A. Tobel-m  -iii- (LATHR) were the peer reviewers of the Staff Appraisal Report. Table of Contents (cont.) VI. BENEFITS AND RISKS .......................................... ...o. 31 Benefits ...................... * ........ o................... 31 Risks . ........ *.,*.. ....... .. ....... 31 VII. AGREEMENTS REACHED AND RECOMMENDATION . .....*....... 31 LIST OF ANNEXES Annex I: Basic Socioeconomic Indicators Annex II: Recent Developments in Haitian Education Annex III: Organizational Charts Figure 1: Organizational Chart of MENJS figure 2: Organizational Chart of FONHEP Annex IV: Public Expenditures in Education Annex V: The Role of the Private Sector in Education Annex VI: Statistical Information on the Education Sector Table 1: Evolution of Primary School Enrollments Table 2: Geographical Distribution of Educational Resources Table 3: Formal Education of Teachers Annex VII: History of IDA Involvement in the Education Sector Annex VIII: Sector Policy and Program Development Annex IX: Policy Letter Annex X: Project Tables Table 1: Project Components by Year Table 2: Summary Accounts Cost Summary Table 3: Summary Accounts by Year Table 4: Summary Accounts by Project Component Table 5: Allocation of Credit Proceeds Table 6: Estimated Schedule of Disbursements Table 7: Implementation Schedule Annex XI: List of Documents in the Project File HAP: IBRD No. 22879  -iv- H A I T I FIFTH EDUCATI0i; PROJECTr Credit and Project Summary Borrower: Republic of Hait. Beneficiaries: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MENJS), Haitian Foundation for Private Education (FONHEP), and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Amount: SDR 9.40 million (US$12.61 million equivalent' Terms: Standard IDA terms vith 40 years maturity Proiect The project would seek to maintain the gains made in public Obiectives and private basic education through the previous four IDA and projects and to prepare for future development. It would Description finance transitional measures to permit resuming long-term improvements in the access, quality, and efficiency of basic education with emphasis on the first four years of schooling, and on the rural and poorest schools. Specifically, the project would seek to: (a) Prepare recommendations and corresponding action plans for a sustainable sector Policy and investment program development in the areas of: primary-level instructional delivery; educational finance; organizational structure; and school construction and maintenance. (b) Consolidate prior invest-nt benefits in primary-level quality improvement in the pt Iand private sectors t!hough: (i) training, and providing Jaans of travel to pedagogical advisors who would render technical support at the school level; (ii) providing inservice training to selected school personnel and administrators; (iii) providing textbooks and teachers' manuals in schools of limited resources serving low income students; (iv) developing and administering end-of-cycle (4th grade) achievement tests; (v) reconstructing or rehabilitating 48 schools with limited resources, and providing the furniture and equipment to those schools and an additional 70 schools; and (vi) continuing and expanding a technical support program to private schools which agree to comply with performance criteria and to be monitored, including teachers' salary supplement. (c) Improve the resource management of the sector by: (i) updating MENJS's personnel management, budgeting, and monitoring systems; (ii) rationalizing the administrative and accounting procedures of MENJS, the National Foundation for Private Education (FONHEP), and the participating schools; and (iii) financing the project administration through the project implementation unit as well as through the FONHEP. The project would also require adequate level of funding for recurrent expenditures in MENJS.  _v Benef ts: The project's main benefits would be consolidation of the gains of the previous education projects with respect to the 1982 education reform, support to the Govarnment's priority to the education sector, the quality improvement and encouragement to the privata sector to participate in an integrated sector development effort. The project would also prepare and carry out the preliminary measures needed to support future lending with far-reaching modernization and efficiency objectives. The leadership of FONHEP and the participation of NGOs which operate private schools would contribute to improve donor coordination, and to alleviate some aspects of poverty. A large number of private- and public-sector personnel would be trained or retrained, including 42 educational advisors as well as 6,400 teachers and administrators. Also, 70,000 students would gain access to textbooks. Female students would benefit from increased access to education, and attention to soil erosion in school. would prevent environmental damage. Risks: The project faces major risks. They are associated with the possibility of continued financial distress, economic instability, and an uncertain sociopolitical environment. These risks have been min-imized in four ways: (a) the transitional character of the project, its small size and short tike-frame would facilitate project execution; (b) the participation and strengthening of the private sector would help ensure continuity and timely project executioni (c) the reorganization of the project unit with fewer, better qualified, and motivated staff would facilitate the management and coordination of the project; and (d) the establishment and maintenance of a coordinating committee would ensure that the project receives adequate support from the relevant partners in the sector and from the donor community.  -vi- Zstimated CostA (a3cluding taxes): Locgl Foreign Totol ----- US$ million----- Policy Development 0.17 0.47 0.64 Quality Improvement 6.58 3.23 9.81 Resource Managem.ut 2.62 0.14 2.76 Base Costs 9.37 3.84 13.21 Physical Contingencies 0.31 O.i9 0.50 Price Contingencies 0.46 0.34 0.80 Total Project Coats 10.14 4.37 14.51 Financing Plan: Local Foreign Total --US$ million---- Government (including UNDP) 1.90 0.00 1.90 IDA 8.24 4.37 12.61 Total 10.14 4.37 1A.51 Estimated Disburements: -US$ million----- IDA Fiscal Year FY92 FY93 FY94 FY95 Annual 1.8 4.3 3.5 2.0 Cumulative 1.8 6.1 10.6 12.6 Rate of Return: N/A  HAITI FIFTH EDUCATION PROJECT I. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Haiti is a small, densely populated, and predominantly rural country with an open economy. Its 6.3 million inhabitants occupy 28,000 square kilometers, the western end of the island of Hispaniola, and are among the poorest in the world, with a per capita GNP of US$400 (1989). Their poverty is unmatched in the western hemisphere: the infant mortality rate is 116 per 1,000 live births, and some 65 percent of adult Haitians are illiterate. Declining rural incomes have led to substantial rural-urban and international migration. The total population is growing at 1.8 percent per annum, net of emigration of 0.5 percent, while the urban population is expanding by four percent (Annex I). Family planning efforts, largely by non- governmental organizations, have yet to show widespread results. About 25 to 30 percent of the labor force is unemployed. 1.2 Three-quarters of the population live in the rural areas, and depend on agriculture, the output of which has increased little since the early 1970s. Physical production per capita has fallen steadily as population pressure has forced peasants to cultivate even more marginal hillside land. A shortage of arable land, coupled with insecurity of tenure and the demand for wood for energy, has generated a relentless process of deforestation and soil erosion. In recent decades, output and employment have shifted toward urban activity. Agriculture now accounts for only one-third of GDP compared with one-half in the early 1950s. 1.3 The economic growth and limited social gains of the 1970s were lost during the 1980s. In the second half of the 1970s, economic growth, averaging 5.3 percent per annum, allowed for some improvement in real per capita income. This was mainly due to increases in public investment supported by foreign aid, and a large expansion in Haiti's export assembly industry. The export base remained narrow, however, and sensitive to world price fluctuations and to hurricanes, with coffee accounting for about 20 percent of all exports. In 1980-85, Haiti pursued policies that increased the inefficiency and inequity of the economic system. Large portions of public revenues and public borrowing were deployed to undertake capital expenditures that were uneconomic or unaccounted for, and tourism also declined. This led to significant erosions of the country's income, living standards and finances. To reform the economic system, policies from March 1986 to November 1987 focused on reform of taxes, public expenditure, public enterprises, monopolies and industrial incentives, trade liberalization, and agricultural pricing. Expenditures were also reallocated and education and health spending were increased by over 20 percent in real terms. The reform measures began to stabilize and restructure the economy during 1986/87, and economic growth resumed. However, the collapse of coffee export volume and prices and, in the latter half of 1987, the disturbances related to the electoral process  - 2 - compounded the effects of the added competition; the upsurge of contraband imports reduced the effectiveness of reforms. The economic conditions from 1988 on, a period of recurrent political crises, have been characterized by work stoppages, investor uncertainty, shortfalls in public revenues, and the suspension of vital external assistance. 1.4 Haiti's per capita GDP is estimated to have declined by more than one percent in the twelve-month period ending September 1989. Investment activities also declined and consumer prices rose by 15 percent. At the same time, the premium on the US dollar in the perallel market rose from about 20 percent in September 1988 to over 35 percent in September 1989. The balance of payments deteriorated further. The value of both exports and imports of goods and services decreased. As a result, the current account deficit of the balance of payments remained at about 5 percent of GDP. The Government adopted an economic program for FY89-90 in an effort to reduce inflationary pressures, strengthen the balance of payments, and help reverse the decline in investment and economic activity. After Haiti cleared its arrears to the IMF, a Stand-by arrangement for SDR 21 million was approved in September 1989 to sustain a stabilization program. However, the program could not be maintained because of weak revenue growth, rising public spending, and increased Central Bank deficit financing. 1.5 Although constant in real terms, the wage bill has used up the growth of operating budgets, and the already limited execution capacity of public entities has been reduced. The wage bill grew from 48 percent of the current expenses of the treasury in 1986 to 61 percent in 1989 and was 70 percent of the budget for the first quarter of 1990. To pay the growing number of civil servants, the Government reduced counterpart funding for the investment program and non-salary recurrent expenditures, including basic maintenance and operating expenditures. Capital outlays declined from 5.8 to 3.9 percent of the GDP after 1987. Streamlining of the payroll is now the only Government option for limited budgetary reallocations. Some entities now lack operating budgets for basic supplies, making field supervision impossible and causing virtual paralysis. Weakened authority lines in all agencies of the public sector hamper corrective actions. 1.6 The GoverDnment of President Aristide assumed power on February 7, 1991, following an overwhelming victory in the first democratic elections ever held in Haiti. Although it has not yet had the time to formulate its economic development policies, the new Government has already given a high priority to human resource development in general and to the education sector in particular. This social orientation renders possible for the first time the implementation of key decisions which had been identified since the initiation of the 1982 educational reform, but which could not be implemented for lack of an appropriate socio-political environmant. In particular, it may now be possible to initiate the organization of communities, be they of teachers, of parents or of school principals which are needed for a more participatory management of the schools, for lucal feed-back, and for the iwplementation of a more modern instructional delivery. It may also be possible to plan some decentralization of accountability which is necessary for improved sectoral management and efficiency. Finally, the call for managerial transparency and  integrity should permit to reorient the activity of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MENJS) towards assuming its full normative role in the entire public and private educational uector (paras. 2.5 and 2.18). II. THE EDUCATION SECTOR Background 2.1 Education for the general population has only recently been developed in Haiti. Traditionally, it was directed to the urban elite, and emphasis on excellence of selected urban schools sometimes prevailed until recently among policy makers over access to education for the poor and rural segments of the population. The French language and traditional pedagogical methods dominate Haitiar. education and reinforce the exclusiveness of the system. Lictle attention and investment have been directed to public education, except for donor aid (e.g. the US-financed construction of rural schools in the 1920s, as well as more recent French and multilateral aid programs). However, the educational needs of the country's general population have gradually come into focus. The principal benchmarks in educational development have been the establishment of the University of Haiti in 1944, a first comprehensive review of the teacher training curricula in 1976, and the merging of the rural and urban systems under the NENJS in 1978. In 1979, a law defined Creole as the language of instruction in basic education and, more significantly, a major educational reform was launched in 1982 (Annex II). Although enrollments nearly doubled to one million students during the 19809, students enrolled in grades one to six represent only 50 percent of the children in the corresponding age group. Public schools are mostly located in well serviced rural centers and develcped urban areas, and are inaccessible from the poorer rural areas. The private sector absorbed the bulk of the new enrollments; public enrollment even decreased by 12 percent between 1986 and 1988 (para. 2.8). 2.2 Secondary education is not developed and still accounts for only 14 percent of all enrollments. It depends mostly on private schools which provide about 83 percent of all secondary schools. Most schools are located in the capital and a small portion of the population has the ability to pay for them. 2.3 Vocational and technical training has been developed mostly as part of the implementation of the 1982 educational reform (para. 2.4). The National Institute for Vocational Training (INFP) has, by law, full jurisdiction on the sub-sector, and a mandate to promote regular contacts with the informal and formal sectors. INFP's vocational centers provide formal programs for youths and non-formal training courses for youths and adults focusing on the informal sector and the starting of new businesses. INFP's technical centers provide technical education and in-service training for technicians already in the labor market. A number of private institutions also provide some technical training of uneven quality, without supervision or coordination. Despite the mostly good record of execution of INP?, the sub- sector failed to adapt to the deteriorating economic conditions of the 1980s.  - 4 - 2.4 Th, 1982 educational reform had a profound impact on the education sector. The reforim program, prepared with the assistance of the United Nations Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO), sought to make education more responsive to the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of Haitian society. The basic education was divided into two cycles of four and two years duration, followed by three years of basic secondary education. After the first cycle students are expected to be functionally literate, especially in Creole. At the end of the second cycle, students are expected to be fluent in French. Other reform innovations weret (a) the use of Creole as the medium of instruction into the seconid cycle; (b) the follow-up of the cohorts cf students by the same teachier during two years, to improve efficiency in the first cycle; (c) the introduction of more application-oriented curricula and syllabi; (d) the modernization of the instructional methodology; and (e) the upgraded and intensified supervision of teachers. A comprehensive evaluation of the reform was made in 1989. It showed that the public vas not made aware of the tenets of the reform, and that its mandatory introduction was highly unpopular among those parents who doubted the efficacy of the proposed use of Creole as a vehicle to French literacy. Furthermore, the reform program was overly centralized and ambitious, and it overwhelmed the sector's financial and administrative capacity. The MENJS was unable to retrain a sufficient number of teachers, school principals and inspectors, or make available the manuals and textbooks required for new cohorts of students entering the system. Although the private sector applied varying aspects of the reform, it did not adopt it fully or systematically (para. 2.13). The Government which came to power in 1986 modified some elements of the reform and allowed both Creole and French to be used in the basic curricula. By 1989, only one-third of all privmary school etudents were in schools that conformed to all provisions of the reform. Tne reform was responsible, however, for improving access to basic education during the first years of its implementation, and for a moderate reduction in repetition (now about 15 percent) and dropout. Furthermore, the use of Creole has gradually become accepted by most educators and by the upper socioeconomic strata. Nonetheless, no significant difference in achievement has leen found between students using the reformed and the traditional curricula (Annex II). The learning achievements, which vary enormously among schools, are related mostly to the quelity of the school management. The Public Education Sector 2.5 The Ministry of Education. Youth, and Sports (MENJS), the main recipient of the country's educational budget, is responsible for all government policies and public activities in education. It is the largest national ministry with 13,700 employees (Annex III). The Minister is supported by a cabinet of advisors and a secretariat and oversees several technical directorates: for planning, basic education (DEF), professional training (DFP), civil works (DGS), administration and personnel. Much of the administrative control of the MENJS is vested in the general directorate to which four regional directorates report. The central administrative structure in Port-au-Prince concentrates the managerial and budgetary functions of MENJS. A Budget Commission, which includes representatives of various directorates and decentralized institutions, prepares the budget. The  effectiveness of MENJS in setting norms, supervising, and administering is limited, and the regional directorates remain almost inoperative. The MENJS has been unable to finalize sector policies needed to sustain the reform and to ensure their efficient implementation. Two decentralized institutions also report directly to the MENJS: the National Pedagogical Institute (IPN), responsible for curricula, textbooks, and teacher training programs, and the INFP. These institutions have been relatively effective executoes of components in previous IDA projects. 2.6 Public expenditures in education, traditionally low in Haiti, increased dramatically in 1987 without yielding tangible benefits. The increase of the current budget of the MENJS was part of the reform program supported by the donor community. Public education expenditure grow from 1.5 to 2.7 percent of the GDP, which is still low compared to the 2-9 percent in other lower-income countries. The share of education expenditures in the national budget since 1987 has been relatively high, however, at 17 percent. In order to attract and keep qualified teachers, salaries were increased by 70 percent and were brought in line with the rest of the civil service; they averaged US$175 per month in 1990. The wage increase has left no budgetary margin for non-salary recurrent expenditures or maintenance: the share of salaries in MENJS expenditures grew from 91 percent in 1985 to 93 percent in 1989 (Annex IV). Instructional delivery, however, has not improved because of a lack of in-service training, supervision, and instructional materials. MENJS allocates 65 percent of its budget to basic education, which is adequate. About eight percent is allocated to unspecified activities in preschool education; about 13 percent to secondary education and vocational and technical training, and five percent to higher education. The student/teacher ratio is around 40 in public schools and 35 in private schools which is acceptable. The average total operating expenditure per primary student per year is about US$100 but it varies greatly between schools. 2.7 Direct household financing of public education amounts to about 25 percent of total costs in the primary, 12 percent in the secondary, and five percent in the tertiary levels. The studonts pay for textbooks, compulsory uniforms, tuition (15 Gourdes per year in public schools) and other fees. Education expenses amount to 8-12 percent of rural family incomes. Although cost recovery is generally considered desirable, such high contributions in basic education reduce the attendance among children in rural areas and in large poor families. Furthermore, the use of tuition and fee revenues is not transparent and the extent to which MENJS receives such revenues is not clear. The resulting inequitable access to public schools has been associated with resentment and political discontent, low sustainability of projects a.nd the destruction, during the tlmes of political upheaval, of rural public schocls and furniture. The Private Education Sector 2.8 The private sector has responded with flexibility and relative efficiency to the demand for education services and to the extreme poverty conditions of the students. It provides cheaper and more accessible schooling to the scattered rural population and urban slum dwellers than the public  - 6 - sector. The large participation of the private sector in basic education (50 percent of all expenditures) in unique to Haiti. Private schools now represent 82 percent of all schools, with 72 percent of the students at primary level (against 40 percent of enrollment in 1973). Growth in private sector enrollments was particularly marked in 1978-EJ and was linkced to the initially poor acceptance of the reform Ca well *a to the breakdown in public services during 1988-90 (Annexes V and VI). 2.9 Private schools are heterogenous and target specific groups of students. The better-endowed urban schools provide high-quality education and are more efficient than public schools. The smaller and poorer schools in isolated communities are less efficient. The average total operating expenses per student per year is about US$50, or half the amount in the public sector. Private schools are divided into the following: (a) The non-profit schools are mainly located in the rural areas and poor urban areas of Port-au-Prince, Cap and Cayes. They are run by missions, dioceses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or, occasionally, by communities. The largest group among them are protestant schools with about 2,317 buildings or 37 percent of all primary schools. They are often cheaper and more accessible than public schools. They require a minimal financial contribution from students, usually less than one dollar a month. These schools have very few resources and sometimes no infrastructure other than the church or a courtyard. They hire mostly unqualified teachers who may be volunteers or may be paid on average about US$50 a month. They provide an uneven quality of instruction, often supplemented by nutrition programs. The non-profit schools are responsible for most of the growth in private-sector enrollments. (b) The profit-oriented schools are small, mostly urban schools ("6coles borlettes"). There are about 1,411 in Haiti, or 22 percent of all schools. They cater to the lower-middle income population and are operated by entrepreneurs, who may not be educators. Since these schools must maximize profits, they tend to have very poor instructional materials, buildings, and staff qualifications. Receiving little supervision, they provide the poorest quality of education. (c) The affluent private schools are in Cap, Cayes, and mostly Port-au- Prince. They include for-profit secular schools as well as religious schools run by various religious orders and are attended by middle- and upper-income students. Usually staffed with well- qualified teachers, these schools provide high-quality education with very high student fees. 2.10 The private sector has been strengthened by substantial foreign assistance. Donor funds have been increasingly channeled to private schools through the Haitian Foundation for private Education (FONHEP). FONHEP, which became operational in August 1986, is a non-profit foundation seeking to  promote coordination among educators in the country as well as improve sector data and educational quality for Haitian children without losing private- sector initiative, versatility and relative efficiency (Annex V). It represents approximately 300 member schools and organizations, including the Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church (CEEC), the Federation of Haitian Protestant Schools (FEPH), and several affluent secular schools represented by the Association of Port-au-Prince School Directors (ADEPP). PONHEP administers a program of instructional support and quality control financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This Bilateral Education Project (PROBED) has shown a positive impact on the student achievement '-n over 300 scattered private schools. FONHEP also manages a program of salary supplements to teachers in selected private schools, with financing from the Swiss Goveruament and IDA, under the Fourth Education Project. Finally, PONHEP has supervised service contracts with some NGOs for the pre- and in-service training of teachers and school principals in disadvantaged areas through the Fourth Education Project. FOUEEP is seeking to diversify its sources of financing and improve its management by setting up local offices outside Port-au-Prince. Main Issues in Basic Education 2.11 The shortcomings of Haitian education are linked to the country's financial and political difficulties and to the poverty of the population. The most salient issues includes (a) the limited enrollments; (b) the low quality of instruction; and (c) the inefficient management of educational resources. 2.12 Limited Enrollments. Only 50 percent of primary school-aged children attend school because of the lack of schools, the poor health of children and the cost of education. Although about 74 percent of Haiti's population lives in rural areas, mostly in dispersed settlements, there is only one primary school for every five square kilometers (5800 primary schools). There are also few roads and no adequate transportation in large portions of the territory. The northeast and central departments are the most disadvantaged (Annex VI). School attendance is difficult for children who have to walk for more than an hour to school and is reduced by the poor health and nutritional status of the children. The direct and indirect costs of schooling and the traditional reliance on child labor also make education inaccessible to many, particularly the children of large and poor families. As a result, there are large rural-urban disparities in school attendance; 34 percent of rural children complete the first four grades as compared to 52 percent of urban students. As in many poor countries, female enrollments lag behind, but the gender gap is mostly seen in Port-au-Prince; equal percentages of 11-year old boys and girls are enrolled in rural areas. 2.13 Low Qualitv of Instructional Delivery. The low quality of instruction is associated with poor teacher training and recruitment practices, limited in-service training and classroom supervision, the uncoordinated development of curricula and instructional material and the lack of books in classrooms, the absence of achievement testing, and the poor physical conditions of schools.  (a) Poor Teacher Trainina and Recruitment Practices. Minimum certification standards for primary-level teachers require ten years of schooling; only 82 percent of teachers meet these standards in the public sector and 48 percent in the private sector (Annex VI). In fact, 15 percent of all private-school teachers have no secondary education. In rural private schools, only 20 percent of teachers meet certification standards. The 10 teacher training colleges ("les ecoles normales") produce about 200 high quality teachers a year. Of these, only a small share (10 percent) and decreasing number are hired by the MENJS. Teacher training colleges attract students who are too highly qualified to remain in rural teaching jobs, even with the relatively attractive salaries of certified teachers. Hiring has been reduced by the large numbers of substitutes engaged during times of instability. (b) Limited In-service Training. The responsibility for in-service training is not clearly defined in the public sector and is shared among the IPN, DFP and DEF. Teacher training colleges and the Association of Haitian Teachers also conduct in-service training. In the private sector, FONHEP, CEEC, FEPH, AND ADEPP have developed low-cost training programs for teachers and school principals. All these entities compete keenly to attract foreign financing and do not coordinate their activities; as a result, in-service training has been poorly linked with the implementation of the reform curricula and the issuance of new textbooks. These institutions lack the executive and logistic capacity to carry out systematic training, and no public buildings are available for that function outside Port-eu-Prince. Finally, except for the Fourth IDA project, which linked training to salary supplements in the private sector, there has been no attempt to link the in-service training with personnel management and career advancement in MENJS; training has been used mostly as a reward without consideration to cost efficiency or effectiveness. The Fourth Education project sought to contract in-service training to private sector institutions which were more efficient than the MENJS. Delivery of in-service training, however, has been hampered by high turnover, the low level of teachers' formal education, and by inadequate facilities. (c) Limited Classroom SuPervision. MENJS has a corps of about 200 primary-school inspectors that mainly carry out administrative functions. Associations of private schools have often employed their own inspectors. A complementary corps of about 80 pedagogical advisors was transferred from IPN to MENJS as part of the Third IDA project to support instruction and transmit curricular guidelines to teachers in private and public schools. These educators have been successful in mitigating the effect of insufficient teacher training, and in disseminating the goals of the reform. Their effect, however, has been limited because they have no conveyance means or financial support to travel to rural and remote schools. Furthermore, approximately 42 additional  - 9 - pedagogical advisors would be necessary to fulfill this function. Their support to teachers should focus on improving the quality of instruction in order to reduce grade repetition the proportion of students overage by at least three years (51 percent), and dropout (30 percent in the first grade, 15 percent annually thereafter). (d) Uncoordinated DeveloDment of Curricula and Instructional Material and the Lack of Books. 3oth the public and private sectors have adopted the reform only partially and are delivering a mixed curriculum, sometimes more traditional and sometimes more reform- oriented. Although IPN was expected to approve and rationalize textbooks and curricula, poor management prevented it from assuming its normative function. Therefore, a multitude of co-mmercially prod-ced textbooks is utilized in the country without official authorization, and FONHEP has taken on an informal role of reviewing textbooks using IPN criteria. As a result, and because of the high cost of books, only one out of four students in rural schools has access to textbooks. The Third IDA project attempted to provide free books in public schools, but the poor implementation and supervisory capacity of MENJS made this objective unattainable (Annex VII). Private schools, however, have fewer organizational constraints and are more likely to utilize resources effectively. Integrated collaboration with the private sector and with the Inter-American Development Bank (who will finance textbooks, mainly for grade 1) may also enable MENJS to distribute textbooks and teachers' manuals in schools of limited resources. (e) Absence of Achievement Testing. No standardized tests are administered at the end of each primary cycle in public schools. The lack of testing prevents valuable recognition of the students' achievements and feedback to improve 'nstructional quality. The responsibility for developing a permanent testing program in the public sector remains unclear and depends on curricular decisions that have yet to be finalized by IPN. FONHEP has developed standardized achievement tests in French, Mathematics, and Creole for the end of the first cycle (4th grade) and needs assistance for improvements in validation, administration, scoring, and school- based feedback. (f) Poor Physical Condition of Schools. The physical condition of public and private schools is poor, in part due to a lack of maintenance and soil erosion. The overall ratio of two teachers per classroom nationwide also illustrates the shortage of infrastructure. Private school facilities are often in a worse condition than public schools. Many private schools function in a church with up to seven classes in the same space, and some have no infrastructure at all ("les 6coles tonnelles"). Many schools lack furniture, and students sit and write on the floor. In MENJS, all responsibility for maintenance planning, execution, supervision,  - 10 - and evaluation rests in the civil works directorate (DGS), leading to inefficiencies and corruption. Although district supervisors represent an asset in civil works supervision, MENJS lacks an incentive policy that would ensure the appropriate maintenance of the infrastructure and furniture. It also lacks construction and maintenance standards congruent with current reduced technical and financial capacity in the public sector. Yet, there is no shortage of private contractors and supervisors to ensure adequate execution of maintenance contracts. Given the unstable conditions that have resulted in destruction in the past, it may be unwise to build a large number of schools until adequate construction standards, building procedures and maintenance policies are developed. Rehabilitation or refurbishment of some public and private schools, however, is necessary now in selected areas. 2.14 Inefficient Management of Educational Resources. The inefficient management of educational resources is due primarily to the lack of a clear national policy on educational priorities and programs, and to the poor management of MENJS's human and financial resources: (a) Lack of a Workable Sector PolicX. Sector policies wEbre developed during the first years of implementation of the reforn. These policies did not take fully into account the sector's institutional constraints, the overly centralized decision making and poor coordination. It did not permit adequate phasirg of the execution. Above all, it ignored the prevalent role played by the private sector. As a result the proposed policies are not directly implementable and more modest and phased objectives need to be defined. The political and institutional instability during the last years makes necessary an updated assessment of the sectoral entities and their institutional capacities. The more open political environment also requires some public debate and information, and some participation of the pedagogical advisors, school principals and teachers who will implement the policy. In addition MENJS has scant updated information on the use of textbooks and the textbook market, the curricular and instructional status of the reform, the characteristics of students, the financial flows in the sector, the actual conditions of schools, and even the location and size of functional schools. The last census was carried out in 1982, and little comprehensive updated data is available. Schooling demand is also poorly understood: a Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) would provide valuable information regarding all aspects of the demand, its patterns and obstacles, and would create a data base to support sector planning and policy updating (Annex II). (b) Poor Management of MENJS's Human and Financial Resources. The inefficient use of human and financial resources is primarily linked to the lack of personnel management in MENJS. Staff records are neither accurate nor updated; only 5,000 of the 13,700 employees are registered on the payroll. The staff turnover rate  - 11 - is unknown, recruitment and relocations are often done on an informal basis, and payroll lists of the Ministry of Finance do not agree with those of MENJS. IDA's Fourth education project provided some resources to update MENJS personnel %nd budgetary functions. However, file management must still be rationalized. Government Strategy 2.15 Following the installation of a ditmocratically elected Government in Haiti, political and economic conditions are expected to stabilize. Although problems are multiple and severe, the priorities of the Government are tot (a) recover full control over the MENJS's personnel costs and ensure that the Ministry assumes its role over the entire sector, including the private sector; (b) take short-term measures to increase the access to basic education in a cost-effective manner, including support to and reliance on the private sector; (c) define a medium-term sectoral policy through a consultative process with all relevant parties in the sector; and (d) prepare a medium- and long-term investment program and corresponding financing plan for the sector in coordination with the donor community in order to improve quality and access to basic education beyond the year 2000. IDA Country and Sector Strategv 2.16 IDA country assistance strategy for Haiti has three main lines of action: (a) technical assistance and dialogue on policies that would support the economic reforms and recovery program th,t was initiated in 1986; (b) alleviation of poverty which has been exacerbated by continued political instability and the decline in external assistance; and (c) selected investments in critical social services (water supply, health, and education) which are directed to the lowest income households with attention to finance, sustainability, and institutional development. A Port-au-Prince Water Supply project, approved in June 1989, helped the water company to become an operationally efficient and financially viable entity, while improving the supply of water and expanding coverage of service. A First Health project, approved in January 1990, seeks to improve the country's health status through selected investments linked to increased efficiency and effectiveness of expenditures in health. An Economic and Social Assistance Fund approved in January 1991 has also been launched to support small, labor-intensive projects prepared by NGUs and communities in the health, education, nutrition, and infrastructure sectors, on a demand basis. 2.17 Since 1976, IDA has financed four operations in the education sector (Annex VII). The first and seco-nd projects (Credit 618-HA, US$5 million, 1976; and Credit 770-HA, US$10 million, 1978) sought to increase the access to the basic and non-formal education. The third and fourth projects (Credit 1305-HA, US$9 million, 1983; and Credit 1592-HA, US$10 million, 1985) supported respectively the first and second stage of the 1982 educational reform with curriculum changes, training of teachers, school principals, and inspectors, management development, and increased access to baRic education. Amendments to the Fourth Education credit agreement allowed resources from the IDA and Swiss co-financing to support private schools with salary subsidies,  - 12 - and provision of textbooks and teaching materials. Because of the chronic staffing instability in MENJS and overall inadequate management, all projects have been implemented through a Basic and Vocational Project Implementation Unit (UPEF). Project completion reports were issued for the first three projects, and project performance reviews (PPR) for the first two projects. They indicated that the quantitative objectives of some projects wore reduced after the civil disturbances of 1987. Though they have been mostly met, with delays of no more than a year, implementation has been severely constrained by mismanagement. Lessons learned from implementation experiences include: (a) coordination among sectoral agencies and in the donor community needs continued support; (b) procurement capacity is limited in the sector; (c) Haiti has many dedicated educators in various public entities and NGOs, whose expertise and organizational capability can be relied on and utilized for project development and implementation; (d) the 1982 reform has provided a sound basis for sectoral development which has not been fully utilized in particular for lack of high level support and because of political instability; and (e) the unabated demand for education even among the poorest rural families has been associated with the development of a responsive and cost-effective private sector. These lessons have been incorporated in the design of the proposed project. Rationale for IDA Involvement 2.18 In order to respond to the difficult macro-conditions of the country and to the great potential and assets for sectoral development, the Fifth Education project would be a transitional proiect with limited scope and duration. The elected Government has the difficult task of resuming the management of public affairs, restoring essential political and social stability and minimum confidence in the public sector, correcting the erosion of discipline among civil servants, arresting the financial and economic deterioration, and promoting policies that will lead towards the resumption of growth. Positive developments in the education sector, however, support IDA's involvement. The Government is emphasizing poverty alleviation and basic education for all: the support which had been lacking since the launching of the reform can now be harnessed for the benefit of the sector; a genuine interest exists for private sector participation in educational development which would permit to enhance the sector's capacity to deliver services; the recent evaluation of the 1982 reform provides well-defined and broadly accepted areas for further sectoral development; the unabated demand for education, even among the poorest rural families has been associated with the development of a responsive and cost-effective private sector; and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and other agencies and donors are committed to supporting the development and implementation of a realistic sector policy. Current IDA goal is to ensure continued sectoral dialogue with the Government, maintain the quality improvement benefits of the previous projects and take advantage of the existing opportunities for sector modernization and integration. During the proposed transition project, the sectoral gains would be consolidated, technical preparation would be made and policy conditions would be set for resuming growth and qualitative improvements in basic education, through the launching of possible future projects that would have an integrated public/private financing and management framework.  - 13 - III. THE PROJECT Proiect Origin 3.1 The proposed project, initially prepared during 1989, intended to continue at a faster pace the efforts of the Fourth project towards the improvement of educational access and quality. The project scope and objectives were revised during 1990 in view of the deterioration of financi&l and institutional conditions and to take into account the commitment of the Government to basic education and the potential for resuming sectoral developLent. The project was appraised in September 1990. Project negotiations were concluded in May 1991. Proiect Objectives 3.2 The project would seek to maintain the gains made in basic education to date, and to prepare for future progress. It would finance transitional measures to support long-term improvements in the access, quality, and efficiency of basic education with emphasis on the first four years of schooling, and on the rural and poorest schools. Specifically, the project would seek to: (a) Prepare recommendations for a sustainable sector policy and investment program development; (b) Consolidate the benefits of investments in quality improvement in the primary-level public and private sectors; and (c) Improve the resource manaeement caDacity of MENJS and of resource- poor private schools associated with FONHEP and servirp low-income students. Project Description 3.3 The project would include three components: (a) A sector policv and investment pro&ram develoRment component, consisting of diagnostic studies and policy recommendations in the four priority areas of: instructional delivery; educational finance; organizational structure; and school construction and maintenance. (b) A qualitv improvement component including: (i) training, and providing travel means to pedagogical advisors who would provide instructional support to primary schools; (ii) providing in-service training to selected primary school personnel and administrators; (iii) providing textbooks and teachers' manuals for a total of about 70,000 primary-level students in priority areas; (iv) developing and administering end-of-cycle (4th grade) achievement tests; (v) reconstructing or rehabilitating a total of about 48 primary schools in high-priority areas of the country; (vi) providing furniture, equipment, and instructional materials to newly rehabilitated primary schools as well as to other schools in high-priority areas; (vii) continuing and expanding a technical support program including teachers'  - 14 - salary supplements in private primary schools which agree to comply with FONHEP's performance criteria and to be monitored. (c) A resource management component including: (i) technical assistance for updating the personnel management, budgeting, and monitoring systems of MENJS; (ii) improving the administrative and accounting procedures of FONHEP and of participating private primary schools; and (iii) financing project administration through the Project Implementation Unit (PIU), as well as through FONHEP. A. Sector Policy and Investment Program Development 3.4 The component (US$0.69 million including contingencies) would finance brief, well-targeted diagnostic studies and corresponding policy recommendations in four priority areas identified by Haitian public, NGO and private sector educators (Annex VIII). The recommendations would focus on: (i) policies/procedures that can realistically be instituted given current financial and institutional conditions and (ii) identification of removable technical and institutional obstacles to policy implementation, as shown in the Table 3.1. The four diagnosis and recommendations would be carried out in the first year of implementation by public and private sector entities which would be supported by international consultants according to a work plan. This work plan would include in particular the contracting of consultants by October 30, 1991, according to the criteria set below (paras. 3.5-3.8) and the presentation to IDA of the policy recommendations by December 31, 1992 (Annex VIII). During negotiations the Government agreed to follow the agreed work plan for the execution of this component (para. 7.1(a)). A Coordinating Co ittee with members with qualifications acceptable to IDA from inter alia MENJS, FONHEP and UNDP/UNESCO would be formed under terms and conditions satisfactory to IDA as a condition of effectiveness (paras. 4.3 and 7.3 (a)). It would ensure the technical supervision of the studies and the coordination and consistency between recommendations. Through these recommendations, the Government intends to define feasible medium-term policies for sector planning and financing. This intention is outlined in a policy letter to be signed by the Minister of Education, Youth, and Sports (Annex IX). Signing of the Policy Letter would be a condition of Board presentation (para 7.2). Based on the findings of the four studies, it is expected that the Government would discuss proposed plans and investments in a donors' conference to be organized by IDA in March 1993. 3.5 The first study would focus on primary-school curricula and instructional delivery. It would include an evaluation of the degree of implementation of the reform. It would design the procedure to finalize curricula over a two-year period. It would recommend the official approval of a set of educational materials and the procedures for review and official approval of textbooks. It would assess selected issues related to the quality of instructional delivery and make the corresponding recommendations for action: these issues include the high proportion of overage students, the high dropout rate, the lack of achievement testing and the special problem of in-service training, retraining and supervision of teachers and school principals. Although the study would not address the low enrollment issue, its recommendations regarding the overage students and the causes for dropout should help increase enrollment. The study would make specific  -1 5- Table 3.1: AREAS OF SECTOR P<LICY DEVELOPMENT FOUCY AREA ISSUES STUDY THE FEASABILITY OFt CURRCU * No stndardization of cutricuha * Finalizing reftned curicula * No review and Tproval procedures * Fializi a curricula preview and approval procedure INSIRUCllONAL DELIVERY AT PRMARY LEVEL * Low school enrolnents * 50% of students are overage * Diminishing rpetition * Facilitatir age-roup atendn * Developing adul/accelerted education aleusves e Dropout rates are over 15% per year * Identifying major obxcks to schoolJ trgh Living Standards Mcaurement Survey * Pmschool education * Students attending preshool may be * Sending ovengo studets to primary school ovcrage * Developing effective curricula * End-of-cycle (4th grade) * Student achievement is not consistently * Dcveloping k culturally and geographically feble tesg achievement tsting asessed prorm * School sffing * High attrition: ahout 15% of primary- * Reducing turover level tchers kave each year * Creating cost-effective incentives for potential eaches - Tbe effectivene of private-school management could improve * Improvtng school-based mngcmt * Teacher training colleges have low * Consoidaing the approxitely 10 coleges estput * nservice teacher traning * Many teacrs have litle formal or * Developing a workebl insvice progrm nonformal education * Eabling tchers to obtain forml ademic traig * Rationalizaion of textbooks * Many Nt of textboks a used * Selecting the mod ue set and disseminatin it * Stata of the 1982 reform * Reform has not been accepted by all * Rtornmendmg fuher revisi that would be acceptable by mt schools * Work on revisions ha boew hampered by insability * Obtaining agreement on a single cwTicultm MDUCA1TONAL FINANCE * Financial flow in the sector * 50% of funds flow to private schools, * Financial planing of dIe ector which receive 70% of the tudets at primy kvel * Rchig an dquate prporbin of ulay/tol buret * HoW do Government finda flow to primary and oder schools? * Educationa coeb per category * Cost per gradukte are high * Identification of relistic opporinities fcr savings  -16- Table 3.1: AREAS OF SECTOR POLICY DIIVI!I,OPMPNT (cont'd.) IPOUCY AREA ISSUES STUDY TJIX FEASABIUT OF- * Impact of subdidies to prinury * Do subsidies enhance the effectiveness * Pligibility criterix of privakte scbooh for subsidies schools of primary private schools? * Enabling rnore privdte schools to adopt FONHRP stan,- Do salary subsidies attact quality dards and receive subsidies techers? * Cost reovery * Tuition fees in the primury public nd * D)eveloping scakls of affordable tuition private aectois nsay be excessive for the poor * Usirng tuition for school and MENIS budgets * Enabling MENIS to take over private-sector teacher subsi- dies * Prmary teacher salaries * There are inequities in the slary * Developing a realitic salary structure structure * School supplies marketing, * Textbooks are not always available