Announcement of Twenty-Four Million US Dollars Loan to Peru for an Educational Project on November 15, 1973

··:: 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Bank Press Release No. 73/74 Subject: $24 milli,on loan to Peru November 15, 1973 for an educatiCll project A World Bank loan of $24 million will assist the Government of Peru in implementing its education reform, aimed at shifting emphasis from traditional to modern curricula geared to the needs of the country's labor market. The Bank loan will help to finance construction of schools that will serve as forerunners of the reform in each of the regions established in the education program, and will provide technical assistance for education plan- ning, curricullDD development, establishment of a tracer system for upper secondary school graduates, overseas training fellowships for local educators and administrators, and to help design and supervise the educational institu- • tions in the project • The present education and training system in Peru is similar in many respects to that in other Latin American countries. It consists of six years of primary and five years of general secondary education followed by higher education and training, which is offered in courses of varying duration in universities, teacher training colleges and technical institutes. Sub- professional technical and conmercial training is provided for those who fail to qualify for general secondary education and for adults. Salient among the weaknesses of Peru's current education system are the geographical imbalances of educational opportunities, its academic orientation and the system's low efficiency. An Education Reform Co1I1I1ission appointed by the Government in 1969 recommended clll overhaul of the educational system to give more emphasis to non-formal education and training outside the schools, improve the quality of teacher training programs, provide m,ore teaching and learning aids, and integrate practical and academic courses in an upper secondary school system. The reform will be carried out by the Ministry of ~ducation in three • phases. The first phase, now in its initial stages of implementation, is concentrating upon institutional changes, reforms in ed.ucational administration and primary education. The second phase will cover the transformation of the Note: Money figures are expressed in US dollar equivalents. hnore Bank P.R. No. 73/74 -- Peru -- education - ?. - secondary education into a system of Upper Secondary Schools for Professional Training, in certain key areas of the country, and the third will extend the • reform system countrywide by 1985-1990. In its first stage, the reform will be particularly responsive to the needs of students unable to proceed to higher levels of education and to workers who want to continue their education by providing a labor market oriented program sufficiently flexible to give students an opport\lllity to develop their skills as their capabilities allow. The project has been designed to contribute to alleviating the short- ages of education facilities where the needs are more acute, in the provinces, in particular. Under the project being assisted by the World Bank, 33 new lower secondary schools will be built and located in medium size cities, one in each of the 33school zones created by the administrative reform. Pro- vision of furniture and equipment for these schools is included. In all, • 21,000 additional student places will be provided by the 33 schools. The project also includes construction of, and provision of equipment for, 16 new Escuelas Superiores de Educacion Profesional (ESEP), schools that will provide training in major occupational fields -- agriculture, industry training service and teacher training. These schools will hav~ a total capacity of 11,500 new student places, including 1,400 boarding p,laces. In addition, technical assistance will be provided to support project institutions in executing the project and introducing the new program, in particular to develop the teacher training programs and curricula for the first: two phases of the reform. The project is based on the recommendations of a Unesco Project Identification Mission that visited Peru in March 1972. The project was subsequently prepared with assistance from Unesco. It will be executed by a project unit that will be established within the Building Department of the Ministry of Education. The total cost of the project is estimated at $40 million of which $20.2 million is the foreign exchange component. The loan will finance this • component and $3.8 million of local expenditures. The loan. is being made to the Republic of Peru for a term of 25 years f including 10 years of grace, with an interest rate of 7!.r;X per annum. - 0 - • November 15, 1973 TECHNICAL DATA PROJECT: Education COUNTRY: Peru TOTAL COST: $40 million equivalent BANK FINANCING: $2 4 million loan, 25 years, including 10 years of grace, interest at 7~% per annum. O'l'HER FINANCING: Republic of Peru, $15 .4 million; Canadian Intematimal Development Agency, $600,000. IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: The project will be carried out by the Ministry of Education, Lima, Peru; a project unit, reporting to the Directo~ • Superior, who will supervise and coordinate the implementation ~f the project. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Construction of, and furniture and equipment for, 33 new lower secondary schools of which 10 will have primary school,faci- lities, 16 new upper secondary schools (Escuelas Superiores de Educacion Profesional), and related technical assistance for furthering the education reform in critical areas such as planning, curricullDD design, teachers' training and the execuUon of the project. PROCUREMENT: International competitive bidding for all contracts above $25,000, with local manufacturers having a 15% margin of preference, or customs duty, whichever is lower. Procurement of furniture will be locally advertised. CONSULTANTS: To be retained by the Ministry of Education to design the buildjngs and facilities for the educational institutions included in the project and to supe~vise the construction thereof; to assist the Government in edu~ation planning, curriculum development and surveying graduates of the education reform system. ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: December 31, 1978. Note: ', Money figures are expressed in US dollar equivalents • • - 0 -