El Salvador - Second Education Project

Report No. 380a-ES Appraisal of a Second Education Project El Salvador FILE COPY May 16, 1974 Education Projects Division Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office Not for Public Use Document of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Development Association This report was prepared for official use only by the Bank Group. It may not be published, quoted or cited without Bank Group authorization. The Bank Group does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the report.  Currency Equivalents Currency Unit: Colon (0) US$ 1.00 = 0 2.50 0 1.00 = Us$o.40 Measures 1 m2 10.76 sq.ft. 1 km 0.62 mi. 1 km2 0.38 sq.mi. 1 hectare 2.47 acres Fiscal Year January 1 - December 31  EL SALVADOR BASIC DATA 1971 Area 20,900 km2 Population - in towns with over 20,000 0.71 million (19%) - in smaller towns 0.74 million (20%) - rural 2.23 million (61%) Total 3.68 millign (100%) Density 448 per km of arable land Growth 3.6% p.a. GNP (at market prices) US$1,062 million GNP per capita (Bankc Atlas) US$320 Annual Growth of GNP in Real Terms (1960-1970) 5.7% Literacy_Rate 58% Enrollment Ratios (including over-aged) Basic Education, first and second cycles (grades 1-6) 91% - in urban areas (132%) - in rural areas (62%) Basic Education, third cycle (grades 7-9) 21% Secondary Education (grades 10-12) 10% Higher Education 5% Education Finance Share of Education in Central Government Budget 26.6% Education Expenditures as Proportion of GDP - public 3.2% - private 0.3% Total 4.0%   EL SALVADOR APPRAISAL OF A SECOND EDUCATION PROJECT Table of Contents Page No. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . ............. . . . . ............... i-v I. INTRODUCTION ............................................ ...... 1 II* BACKGROUND ....... ... ....... .. .. . ........ 2 III. EDUCATION AND TRAINING ...................... ........ 3 General .... .. . ... ... *.... *..*.**.*....... * - ........... 3 The Education Reform: An Overview ............ 4 Education Development Strategy ....".. 0 .............. 4 Basic Education ............................ .......... . . . 5 Teacher Training .... ..... ... .. ...... ........ .. ... 8 Nonformal Education and Training ................. 9 IV. EDUCATION FINANCE .................. . .. .. . . .... . ........ * ...... . 10 V. THE PROJECT ....................................... ... ...... 12 G>eneral ............... ............................ 12 Basic Education .............................. .... 13 Teacher Training . ........... ......... .. ........ . 15 Nonformal Rural Training ......................... 15 Possible Third Education Project ................. 16 Cost of the Project .............................. 17 VI. IMPLEMENTATION AND DISBURSEMENT ........................ 19 Project Implementation ....... . .................... 19 Disbursement ........ 00 - 0*.............................. 21 VII. AGREEMENTS REACHED AND RECOMMENDATION .................. 21 This report is based on the findings of an appraisal mission which visited El Salvador in September/October 1973. The mission members were Messrs. B.A. Thoolen, A.A. Freire, R.J. Hemingway and A. Stam of the Bank, and A. Wilches of ILO.  Table of Contents (Cont'd) APPENDICES A. The Formal Education System B. Planning the School Network C. Rates of Return of School Replacement ANNEXES 1. Comparative Education Indicators 2. Enrollments and Teachers, 1971 3. Population and Enrollment, 1971 and 1981 4. Enrollments in Basic Education, 1971-1981 5. Investment Needs for Basic Education, 1971-1981 6. Teacher Needs, 1973-1981 7. Teacher Supply, 1973-1981 8. Teacher Training: Enrollments and Graduates, 1973-1981 9. Education Expenditures, 1966-1981 10. School Types in Basic Education 11. Summary of Project Cost 12. Contingency Allowances 13. Project Implementation Schedule 14. Estimated Disbursement Schedule CHARTS 1. Structure of the Education System 2. Education Pyramid, 1973 MAP  EL SALVADOR APPRAISAL OF A SECOND EDUCATION PROJECT SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS i. This report appraises a project for the expansion of basic education and training opportunities in rural areas, and for the improvement of quality and efficiency of basic education in El Salvador. A Bank loan of US$17.0 million equivalent to the Government is proposed. Education development in El Salvador was supported at the secondary level by Bank Loan 609-ES for US$4.5 million in 1969. Implementation of this first education project, which is expected to be completed by mid-1974, has been satisfactory. ii. In 1967, the Government initiated a dynamic and far-reaching Education Reform based on the premise that El Salvador's lack of natural resources calls for an active policy of human resources development and that only a well-organized education system can fulfill this task. Implementation of the Reform has been successful thus far, but several problems remain. The most serious problem is the lack of adequate education and training opportuni- ties in the rural areas; this is part of the general phenomenon of persistent underdevelopment in these areas. Many rural schools do not offer the first four grades of basic education--the minimum schooling required to establish literacy on a permanent basis. Furthermore, some 40% of the school capacity in public basic education is rented or in poor condition. The schools in poor condition not only impose low pedagogical standards, but also are often unsafe and unhealthy. Many of the classrooms are too small, leading to un- economically low pupil/teacher ratios. Under the Reform, the curriculum of basic education has improved substantially in quality and relevance, but it is still too much oriented toward preparation for the next higher stage of learning and not adequately balanced to prepare school leavers for adaptation to adult life. Nonformal education/training is limited to regular evening courses, literacy training and vocational training oriented toward the modern sector, and does not meet the urgent training needs of the sizable rural population. iii. In line with the Government's policy of uplifting rural life, the 1973-1977 Education Development Plan gives highest priority to the expansion of education and training opportunities for both youth and adults in the rural areas. This will be implemented through the establishment of community schools offering a range of opportunities in formal basic education (grades 1-4 or 1-6) for rural youth and in nonformal education and training for out-of-school youth and adults. The basic education curriculum will be modified by strength- ening the teaching of practical subjects and science so as to provide a more balanced curriculum, better suited to the needs of the rural children in particular. Teacher training for basic and secondary education will be strengthened and basic education teachers upgraded to enable them to teach competently on the basis of the revised curriculum. Instructional television (ITV), which is used effectively in grades 7-9 of basic education and is being introduced in the lower grades, will be expanded to strengthen nonformal  - ii - education programs. The Government's rural education and training strategy is aimed primarily at overcoming the peasants' resistance to change, diversify- ing the village economy and help promote rural socioeconomic development. The strategy will be implemented by the Ministry of Education through an innova- tive program of work-oriented courses for rural out-of-school youth and adults, with training and development action centered on the rural community schools. To improve efficiency in education and reduce unit costs, a number of measures are now being taken, including rationalization of the school infrastructure by replacing schools which are rented or in poor condition. Although all these Plan targets represent a major expansion and quality improvement of education and training, they have been set realistically in order to keep total education expenditures at a manageable level. iv. The proposed project would help the Government achieve these main policy objectives. It would consist of: (i) Basic Education. Establishment of 143 rural community schools, replacement of 299 unsuitable schools, extension of 121 existing schools, and equipping of 146 workshops. (ii) Teacher Training. Extension of the Government's teacher- training school by classrooms, workshops and laboratories, and a provision to cover the cost of a special in-service teacher training program. (iii) Nonformal Rural Training. Equipment for a country-wide, mobile training scheme, and a provision to cover operational costs during the scheme's three-year pilot stage. (iv) Technical Assistance. 15-1/2 man-years of expert services and 11-1/2 man-years of fellowships. The project schools and extensions would provide a total of 56,500 student places, of which 56,000 would be in basic education and 500 in teacher training. In basic education, 22,300 student places would be replaced and 33,700 student places added, thereby meeting 28% of the 1971-1981 investment nee,ds in rural areas and 8% of those in urban areas. Most of the enrollment expansion made possible by the project would take place in the first four grades of basic education and only 17% would be in grades 7-9; hence, it is not expected to create undue pressures for the expansion of secondary education. v. Basic Education. All 143 new schools, 283 of the replaced schools, and 60 of the extended schools would be located in rural areas. Another 16 schools would be replaced in urban areas, with six of these schools located on the sites of the proposed Bank Group financed site and services project, and 61 existing schools in urban areas would be extended with a workshop and a laboratory for grades 7-9. Further, 66 rural and 80 urban schools, which contain already a laboratory, would be provided with equipment for a workshop to be constructed by the Government.  - iil - vi. In the Salvadorean concept of rural development, the school in eacl community is considered the focal point of all developmental action. Thus, in addition to their role as community learning centers, the rural schools would function as gathering points for community action and as centers for essential rural services provided by other governmental agencies. A total of 324 rural schools in the smaller communities would have two classrooms, offering the first four grades of basic education, and a covered multipurpose area for community activities. Access to higher grades of basic education would be provided in centrally-located schools where grades 5-6 or 5-9 would also be offered; the project would provide 118 of these schools. vii. The proposed replacement of 299 schools which are now rented or in poor condition would be a sound investment in view of the savings in recurrent expenditures for teacher salaries and rent. The financial rate of return to the Government would be 13.0% over a 30-year period. However, the quality improvements this replacement would bring about are the major benefits, and the economic rate of return, taking into account some of these non-monetary benefits, would be about 30% over the same period. viii. To hilp implement the modified, more balanced curriculum in basic education, the proposed project includes equipment and an initial supply of materials for practical subjects and science in all nine grades. In the first six grades, these subjects would be closely related to subject matter and taught by the regular teacher in the classroom and the multipurpose area. For grades 7-9, however, specialized facilities (workshops and labora- tories) would be provided to 26 of the new schools and to 245 existing schools. This would be the first phase of the implementation of this well-rounded curriculum, from which by 1980 60% of the students in grades 7-9 would benefit. ITV programs would be modified in connection with the revised curriculum, and TV sets for the project schools would be provided from a current USAID loan. ix. Teacher Training. The proposed project provides for an extension of the Government's teacher-training school with classrooms, laboratories and workshops to increase its capacity by 500 places and improve the quality of training. The capacity increase would help ensure an adequate output of trained teachers for basic education and the academic streams of secondary education, and would facilitate implementation of the planned in-service training program. Quality improvement would come about through: (a) improved science teaching; (b) the training of teachers for grades 1-6 to deal competent- ly with the new practical subjects; and (c) the orientation of these teachers for their role in community development in the rural schools. The project also includes a provision of US$270,000 to cover the cost of a special in-service training program in practical subjects for teachers and supervisors of the project schools. x. Nonformal Rural Training. The project includes equipment, vehicles and a provision to cover the development cost of the nonformal rural training program. Under this program, instructors would circulate from community to  - iv - community, giving a variety of short courses in such general fields as small- scale agriculture, cottage industry, rural construction, home economics and rural economy, and assistance would be given the villagers in the formation of cooperatives, use of credit and establishment of new enterprises. The Directorate of Permanent Education, recently established within the Ministry of Education, would administer the program. Coordination with other entities concerned with rural development would be through the Community Development Organization (FOCCO) and a commission at the national level comprising all Ministries and agencies involved in rural development. Development of the scheme would take place in two phases. In the pilot phase of three years' duration, action would be limited to the two Departments of San Miguel and Mcrazan, where FOCCO is developing an intensive Coordinated Project of Com- munity Development. The proposed project would include the program's esti- mated development cost of US$270,000 during its pilot stage, which would be closely evaluated. On the basis of the evaluation results, changes would be introduced and in the second phase the program would be expanded gradually to cover the entire country. When in full operation the program would offer 4,000 courses per year, serving the needs of some 80,000 peasants. xi. Technical Assistance. To ensure proper implementation of the re- vised basic education curriculum and the nonformal rural training scheme, 15-1/2 man-years of expert services and 11-1/2 man-years of fellowships are included in the proposed project. The experts would train their counterparts and assist the Government in the teaching of science and practical subjects in basic education (7 man-years); organization and techniques of nonformal rural training (8 man-years); and evaluation techniques (1/2 man-year). A total of 33 counterparts would receive fellowships for training abroad. xii. The total project cost is estimated at US$24.2 million, with a foreign exchange component of US$11.8 million or 49% of the total cost. The proposed loan of US$17.0 million would be equivalent to 70% of total project costs, and finance all foreign exchange costs and 42% of local costs. Base- line cost estimates are in prices of January 1974, to which a contingency allowance of 33% has been added. xiii. The Office of Planning and Organization (ODEPOR) of the Ministry of Education would be responsible for overall coordination of project implementation, and the Ministry's Architectural Department (DAE) would be the implementing agency for construction, equipment and furniture under the project. The per- formance of DAE, which has been responsible for implementing the first educa- tion project has been generally satisfactory. Through the implementation of the first project and a USAID-financed school construction project, both of which are virtually completed, adequate capacity has been built up to implement a project of this size. The possibility of community participation in works such as site development is being explored and promoted. Savings achieved through community participation would accrue to the particular community to finance additional, related works such as teacher housing and equipment and furniture for related community activities. Procurement would be based on international competitive bidding in accordance with Bank guidelines. Since  v foreign contractors are unlikely to participate, invitations for civil works bids would be advertised locally, with notification to embassies. Further, equipment and furniture items that cannot be grouped in packages of at least US$5,000 would be procured in accordance with the Borrower's regular procure- ment procedures; this would not in the aggregate exceed the equivalent of US$300,000 or 5% of the total cost of equipment and furniture. In accordance with the Central American Agreement, suppliers from Central American Common Market (CACM) countries would receive a margin of preference of 15% of the c.i.f. base price or 50% of the tariff payable by non-CACM manufacturers, whichever is lower. xiv. The proposed loan would be disbursed over a period of four years, as follows: (i) the c.i.f. costs of directly imported furniture and equipment and 85% of the local costs of furniture and equipment; (ii) 62% of the total costs of civil works, special programs and project administration; and (iii) 85% of the total costs of technical assistance. Up to US$200,000 would be disbursed retroactively to finance equipment and technical assistance for the pilot stage of the nonformal rural training program. xv. Subject to the conditions in Chapter VI of this report, the project constitutes a suitable basis for a Bank Loan of US$17.0 million equivalent to the Government of El Salvador, for a period of 30 years, including a grace period of ten years.   I. INTRODUCTION 1.01 The Government of El Salvador has requested that the Bank help finance a project for meeting its highest priority in the education sector: equalization of education and training opportunities between urban and rural areas and quality improvement of basic education. The cost of the project, for which a Bank loan of US$17.0 million equivalent is proposed, is estimated at US$24.2 million; the foreign exchange component would be about US$11.8 million. 1.02 This would be the second project through which the Bank would assist the Government of El Salvador in meeting high-priority needs in the education sector. The first Bank loan (609-ES), for US$4.9 million, was made in 1969 for the quality improvement and expansion of secondary education to meet urgent manpower requirements. After some initial delays, which were partly made up later, the first project is now almost completed. Its imple- mentation has been satisfactory: construction, equipment and furniture are of good quality, and costs within appraisal estimates. Curricula are well designed, and existing weaknesses in their implementation are being overcome. A full evaluation of the project is not yet possible, since the project institutions are just beginning to be utilized. Meanwhile, the project imple- mentation agency has built up sufficient capacity to implement a larger project. 1.03 The Government's request for Bank assistance comprised the construc- tion of 115,000 student places in basic education, a teacher-upgrading program and a scheme for nonformal rural training. During appraisal, the size of the construction program was reduced by about one half, since the availability of counterpart funds was not assured for a larger project. Also, the teacher- training component was slightly increased to ensure a sufficient number of teachers for the project schools. The project as appraised would provide for the expansion of education and training opportunities in rural areas by establishing rural community schools offering a variety of education/training activities for youth and adults, supported by a mobile, nonformal rural training scheme. Quality improvement of basic education would be brought about through the provision of facilities for practical subjects and science teaching and for teacher training, and through the replacement of unsuitable school capacity, leading also to reduced unit costs. 1.04 Initial sector work in connection with the proposed project was carried out by a UNESCO mission in February 1972. The project was prepared by the Ministry of Education, with occasional assistance by Bank staff, and appraised in September/October 1973 by a mission consisting of Messrs. B.A. Thoolen (economist), A.A. Freire (general educator), R.J. Hemingway (techni- cal educator) and A. Stam (architect) of the Bank, and A. Wilches (vocational training expert) of ILO.  - 2 - II. BACKGROUNI) 2.01 El Salvador, smallest of the Central American countries, has an extreme scarcity of cultivable land and a population density which is one of the highest in the Americas. Apart from a strong concentration in the capital district, San Salvador, the population is evenly distributed through- out the country, facilitating the spread of social services. The population has a homogeneous composition without sizable ethnical minorities and with Spanish as the common language. In the last ten years the rural population increased in absolute terms and its proportion remained a high 61%. However, the definition of rural areas in El Salvador is somewhat ambiguous: many smaller towns, classified as urban, have essentially a rural character. Family planning programs are being carried out by various official and private institutions, but in the absence of a national program their impact has thus far been limited. Consequently, school-age youths (7 to 15 year-olds) comprise 23% of the total population and their numbers are growing by 3.9% per year. 2.02 El Salvador's economy is characterized by the existence of a number of dynamic modern activities and a large subsistence sector, with a wide gap between the two. In the last ten years the growth of national income originated almost entirely in the modern sector, where the employment increase was insufficient to compensate for the stagnation in subsistence agriculture. As a result, open unemployment reached about 13% in 1971. Moreover, the agricultural labor force, constituting more than 50% of the working population, is probably employed only half the time on average, due to the seasonal character of a large part of farm work. 2.03 Extreme poverty is widely spread in El Salvador's rural areas. More than 90% of the rural population has a total annual income of less than US$50 per capita. Scarcity of land is a main constraint to development, with an average of six hectares of cultivable land per farm family. Moreover, agri- cultural techniques in the smallholdings are primitive and productivity is low. Although there is need for some land redistribution, a more pressing need is for an increase in output of foodstuffs and agricultural raw materials by the smallholders and the creation of alternative employment opportunities for the mass of underemployed peasants. There is also an urgent need to improve the rural standard of living through health and education services, access to public utilities, and better housing. A basic requirement for development is a change in attitude on the part of the rural masses, presently inhibited by innate traditionalism and low literacy rates. 2.04 Recently, the Government initiated several actions geared toward meeting the above needs of the rural population, and also strengthened the institutional framework for rural development. The newly created Agricultural Development Bank will improve the availability of credit for small farmers; the Rural Colonization Institute has been strengthened to support the settle- ment of landless farmers; and the autonomous Community Development Organization (FOCCO) now receives direct Presidential support for its community development  -3- activities. In addition, the health and education services will be improved through the establishment of rural health centers and rural community schools. Education is a key element of El Salvador's rural development strategy, with the school in each community serving as the focal point of all developmental action. 2.05 Overall planning for rural development was lacking until recently and developmental actions still tend to be uncoordinated. A first step toward integrated rural development is the Coordinated Project of Community Develop- ment. This project, which commenced in 1973, is being carried out in the Departments of San Miguel and Morazan under management of FOCCO, with inputs from and in close cooperation with all Ministries concerned; it is aimed at accelerating integration of the peasants into the national economy and secur- ing their active participation in decision-making and community development. As a result of studies and field research, 52 communities were selected for intensive development. The project is being closely evaluated to serve as a model for rural development throughout the country. III. EDUCATION AND TRAINING General 3.01 The Structure. The formal education system comprises nine years of basic education, three years of secondary education, and higher education with courses of two to six years in universities and specialized post-secondary institutions (Annex 2 and Charts 1 and 2). Basic education starts at age seven and is organized in three cycles of three years each. The first two cycles, comprising grades 1-6, are equivalent to primary education, while the third cycle, with grades 7-9, is equivalent to the lower-secondary level. Students follow a common program in basic education and select one of eleven specialties when they enter secondary education (grades 10-12). Analytical information on secondary and higher education is in Appendix A. 3.02 Administration. Central administration, planning and supervision of the education system have been reorganized with USAID assistance, leading to greatly improved effectiveness. The organization of the Ministry of Education has been consolidated, accompanied by a training program for admin- istrative personnel. Within the Ministry, the Office of Planning and Organi- zation (ODEPOR) is responsible for planning, programming, budgeting and coordinating the main activities and for keeping the organizational structure in line with the current needs of the education system. School supervision is organized in ten zones of ten school circuits each and is effectively carried out by school supervisors based in every circuit.  -4- The Education Reform: An Overview 3.03 In 1967, the Government undertook a dynamic and far-reaching Education Reform aimed at improving the education system, including its structure, staffing, administration and technology, to enhance its responsive- ness to the country's overall development needs. The Reform was based on the premise that El Salvador's lack of natural resources requires an active policy of human resources development, and that only a modern, well-organized edu- cation system can fulfill this task. Accordingly, the Reform was conceived as a first step in a series of continuous improvements in accordance with the country's evolving needs. The first phase of the Reform was implemented through the 1968-1972 Education Development Plan. Most of the Plan targets have been achieved; specifically, basic education has been expanded as planned, the curriculum has been revised, the proportion of qualified teachers has increased to 95%, and quality has improved substantially. An instructional television (ITV) program has been adopted and fully implemented in grades 7-9 and has led to significant improvements in the quality and efficiency of teaching at this level. With the help of the first Bank-financed education project, secondary education has been expanded and improved, and its curriculum modified to provide a more vocational orientation, facilitating access to both the labor market and further studies. Teacher training has been consolidated and an intensive program of in-service teacher training implemented. 3.04 Despite these achievements, several problems remain to be solved, the main one being the persistence of inequality in education opportunities between the urban and rural areas. Schools are unevenly distributed and many rural schools offer only the first two grades of basic education. Furthermore, the curriculum of basic education is still too much oriented toward prepa- ration for the next-higher stage of learning and is not adequately adapted to the basic needs of rural youth. Although ITV is used in a more compre- hensive way than in other countries, its coverage has not been sufficiently extended to make it cost effective. Nonformal education/training is offered on only a limited scale and does not meet the urgent training needs of the sizable rural population. With a high proportion of the Central Government budget being expended for education, it is essential to improve efficiency and reduce per-student costs of the education system. Education Development Strategy 3.05 After evaluating the 1968-1972 planning period, the Government concluded that the 1973-1977 Education Development Plan should give highest priority to the remaining problems mentioned above (para 3.04), and in particular to the expansion of education and training opportunities in rural areas. This will come about through the expansion of rural school capacity, the use of rural schools as community learning centers, and the strengthening and expansion of nonformal education/training and teacher training. The Plan also stresses the need for further quality improvements, but proposes several cost-reduction measures to compensate for the resulting increase of per-student costs. A main concern of the Government is the need to make more  -5- efficient use of the infrastructure of school facilities; in basic education schools this is coming about through full implementation of the double-shift system and their use for nonformal education purposes after regular school hours. Furthermore, the Government intends to rationalize systematically the existing infrastructure through the replacement of classrooms which are rented or in poor condition. All proposals in the Plan have been quantified and a careful selection among priorities has been made so as to keep education expenditures at a manageable level. A sector study is underway, with USAID assistance, and is expected to improve the statistical and analytical basis for education planning and programming and to identify possible further improvements in the education system. Basic Education 3.06 Problems and Needs. In 1971, total enrollments in formal basic education were 70% of the school-age population--91% for the first two cycles (grades 1-6) and 21% for the third cycle (grades 7-9)-but about one-fourth of the students were over-aged (Annex 3). Participation in the first two cycles had reached 132% in the cities but only 62% in the rural areas. Rural participation rates have improved in the last few years as a result of the introduction of the double shift and the construction of new schools. However, education opportunities in rural areas are still far behind the national average. Although the population distribution is fairly even, school facil- ities are highly concentrated in the cities and many rural communities have either insufficient access to schooling or none at all. 3.07 End-year examinations have traditionally been a purely selective procedure, leading to low internal efficiency. This was particularly the case in the first two cycles of basic education, where until recently re- petition rates averaged some 18%. To improve this situation, new promotion practices were introduced in 1971 and are being gradually implemented. Ex- aminations at the end of each grade have been replaced by a continuous, systematic evaluation of all learning activities, whereby promotion from one grade to the next is virtually automatic. Teachers and supervisors have been trained in these new techniques, particularly through ITV, and an evaluation manual was recently distributed to all teachers. Repetition rates were halved during the first year of the system's operation, and further reduction is expected when the new promotion practices become fully Implemented in the coming years. As a result, students will complete their education in a shorter period and the cost per graduate will therefore be greatly reduced. 3.08 Early dropout from the first six grades of basic education is a serious problem, particularly in the rural areas. Only 23% of the rural students, compared with 65% in urban areas, complete the first four grades, which are considered the minimum amount of schooling to establish literacy on a permanent basis. Consequently, the education inputs in rural areas are not only comparatively small, but a substantial portion are virtually wasted. A main cause for this high dropout is the inadequacy of school capacity: many of the rural schools consist of only one classroom where  - 6- only the first two grades are offered so that these rural children are locked out of further education. Moreover, distances to the rural schools are long and, because of the prevailing malnutrition, often prohibitive for the poorer children. Thus, there is clearly a need for rural schools that offer at least the first four grades of basic education, and for a better dispersion of school capacity. 3.09 Basic education is conceived as the common preparatory basis for further learning and productive life. Curricular revisions, introduced under the Reform, have led to substantial improvements in both quality and relevance. However, the programs are stlll too much oriented toward preparation for the next-higher stage of learning and are not adequately balanced to prepare school leavers for adaptation to adult life. A further shift toward a more balanced curriculum is particularly urgent to meet the basic needs of the majority of the rural children, for whom basic education is in fact terminal education. A more relevant program would also help to increase community interest in the school and thereby strengthen its role in community develop- ment. 3.10 ITV is being used on a full scale in day and evening courses for grades 7-9 of basic education, and on an experimental basis in the fourth grade. In grades 7-9, ITV has brought about major quality improvements, partly through the program itself and partly through related actions such as the provision of textbooks and teacher manuals, and in-service training for teachers. ITV has caused an equalization of standards throughout the country and has considerably improved the quality of education in the rural areas. A related improvement was that repetition and dropout have been virtually eliminated in grades 7-9. However, ITV has proved to be an expensive venture, in 1971 absorbing