Colombia - Antioquia Education Project

Report No. PIC5048 Project Name Colombia-Antioquia Education Project Region Latin America and Caribbean Sector Education Project ID COPA6891 Implementing Agencies Department of Antioquia Secretaria de Educacion Departamental (SEDUCA) Environment Category C Contacts Mrs. Marta Lucia Villegas Secretary of Education, Secretaria de Educacion Date Prepared April 1997 Board Approval Date July 1997 Peer Reviewers Juan Prawda, Ward Heneveld 1. Project development objectives. The Project development objectives are to (i) improve the capacity of schools/communities, municipalities and the department to effectively provide their respective education services; and (ii) contribute to the Department's goal of improving student learning and attitudes in rural, urban, poor and at-risk-of-violence communities. 2. Project description: The Project will achieve the above mentioned objectives by: (i) providing grants to schools and communities to develop and implement their own school improvement projects; (ii) co-financing Municipal plans to improve their education management capacity and to plan and implement strategies to improve education access and municipal level education resources; (iii) financing the development and implementation of a plan to strengthen, through training and technical assistance, the non-managerial functions of SEDUCA, including consulting, communication and ex-post evaluation; (iv) consolidating and integrating the various systems for evaluation of the education system existing in the Department; (v) providing a communication network between the Department, Municipalities and Jefes de Nucleo (School Supervisors) under the most appropriate technology for each municipality (electronic mail, faxes, telephone, etc.); and (vi) financing a Department-wide communications strategy to support the proposed educational and behavior changes. 3. Project Implementation: The project will be executed through a learning cycle: experimentation, demonstration and generalization. The SEDUCA will be responsible for documenting the lessons learned through implementation and providing appropriate adjustments and policy guidance. The project expects to intervene in 80 municipalities gradually during its implementation life, which will serve as models for a national strategy to strengthen municipal education management and investments. The SEDUCA would be responsible for overall project coordination as well as the promotion, appraisal, co-financing and ex-post evaluation of  municipal investment subprojects; daily management of project implementation will be delegated to the municipal and school/community levels through the implementation of their own subprojects, and; the municipal equivalent of SEDUCA, through an agreement with SEDUCA, will directly manage and monitor municipal investments and would be responsible for the promotion, appraisal, co-financing and ex-post evaluation of school/community strengthening subprojects. 4. Project Cost and Financing: Project cost and the financing plan are to be determined. Current estimates are for a total project cost of US$80 million, US$40 million financed by the Department and the other US$40 million through an IBRD Loan. Over 80% of project funds target investments demanded directly by schools and municipalities. 5. Environmental Aspects: Because of the small size and characteristics of the school, community and municipal subprojects, project implementation is not expected to have negative environmental effects. Contact Point: Mr. Joel Reyes, Task Manager The World Bank 1818 H Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone No.: (202) 458-5454 Fax No.: (202) 522-1500 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 May 2, 1997. - 2 -