Solomon Islands - Primary Education Project

Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No. 3670a SOL STAFF APPRAISAL REPORT SOLOMON ISLANDS PRIMARY EDUCATION PROJECT January 24, 1982 Projects Department East Asia & Pacific Regional Office This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their offlicial duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.  CTJRRENCY EOU1IVALENTS Currency Unit - Solomon Islands Dollars (SI$) SI$1.00 = IS$1.15 IJS$1.00 = S I$0.87 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES SYMBOLS _ zzero n.a. - not available ABBREVIATIONS GLOSSARY ADAB - Australian Development Assistance Bureau DAD - Development Administration Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs and National Development MET - Ministry of Education, Training and Cultural Affairs SITC - Solomon Islands Teachers' CoLlege FISCAL YEAR/SCHOOL YEAR January 1 - December 31  FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY SOLOMON ISLANDS PRIMARY EDUCATION PROJECT Table of Contents Page No. GLOSSARY BASIC DATA 1. INTRODUCTION ........... I Development Issues ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Human Resource Development ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Project Generation ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. ISSUES IN PRIMARY EDUCATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Education Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 - National Level Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 - Provincial Level Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 - Local Level Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Education Quality ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 = Instructional Programs and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . 5 - Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 - Textbooks and Teaching Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 - Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 - Teacher Qualifications and Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Enrollment Stagnation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 - Dimensions of the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 - Equality of Opportunity ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Education Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Government Plans.. . ............ 14 Association Assistance Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3.THE PROJECT.15 3. T E P OE T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Project Strategy. . . ......... 15 Project Components. . . ......... 15 - Education Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 - Inservice Teacher Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, - Education Materials ................... 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 - Page No. - Primary Education Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 - Preservice Teacher Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 - Project Management and Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 - Future Investments . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4. MANAGEMENT & IMPLEMENTATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Management ..21 Procurement Procedures. . . . . . .. . 23 - Civil Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 - Equipment, Materials and Textbooks. . . . . . . . . . . . 24 - Specialist Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 State of Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5. PROJECT COSTS AND FINANCING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Project Costs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 - Bases of Cost Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 - Contingency Allowances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 - Foreign Exchange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 - Duties and Taxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 - Recurrent Costs ....... .......... 28 Project Financing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Disbursements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Documentation, Accounts and Audits.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 6. BENEFITS AND RISKS . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 7. AGREEMENTS REACHED AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32  - iii - Page No. TABLES IN TEXT 2.1 Education Management Cadre (1980-86) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.2 Time Distribution of Primary School Subjects . . . . . . . . . 6 2.3 Numbers and Training of Primary Teachers, 1976-80 . . . . . . 8 2.4 Projected Primary Teacher Requirements by Qualification and Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.5 Numbers of Primary Schools and Enrollment by Agency of Control, 1971-80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.6 Enrollment Ratios by Province 1976 and 1980 . . . . . . . . . 11 2.7 Graded Primary School Enrollment 1976-80 . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.8 Age Disparity in Primary Education, 1979 . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.9 Primary School Enrollment by Sex (1971-80) . . . . . . . . . . 13 3.1 Projected Primary Enrollment by Grade, 1980-1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.2 Enrollment and Classroom Requirements by Province (1981) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 5.1 Project Costs by Project Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 5.2 Project Costs by Type of Expenditure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5.3 Comparison of Unit Areas and Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 5.4 Financial Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 5.5 Schedule of Expenditures and Disbursements . . . . . . . . . . 31 CHART A. Staff in Line Agencies Responsible for Project Implementation 21 ANNEXES 1. Comparative Education Indicators 2. Implementation Schedule 3. Estimated Project Costs 4. Selected Documents and Data in Project File MAP Location of Project Institutions and Primary Enrollment by Province (To be inserted in buff colored edition)   SOLOMON ISLANDS PRIMARY EDUCATION PROJECT Basic Data (1980) General Population (thousands) 230.0 Annual Growth (%) 3.4% GNP per capita (US$) 460.0 Education Data Estimated net enroll- Enrollment ment ratio (1,000) (M) Primary schools (grades 1-6) 28.9 60% Provincial Secondary schools (grades 7-9) 1.5 25% /a National Secondary schools (grades 7-11) 2.0 7% 7b Grade 12 Enrollment 0.1 Honiara Technical Institute 0.2 Solomon Islands Teachers' College (grades 10-11) 0.2 Overseas students (grades 12+) 0.2 /a Refers to grades 7-9 in both provincial and national schools. /b Grades 10-11 only. Public Education Expenditure (1979) Total public expenditure SI$42.2 million Expenditure on education SI$4.2 million As % of total public exp. 10.0% As % of GDP 4.2% Share of Recurrent Education Expenditure by Level Primary education 41 Secondary education 34 Tertiary 20 Administration 5 Total 100   1. INTRODUCTION 1.01 The Solomon Islands are a scattered archipelago extending over 1,400 km between Bougainville in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides). Total land area is about 29,000 sq. km. About 90% of the total population of about 230,000 are rural dwellers, residing in small, widely dispersed settlements located along the coasts. The most common form of settlement is a group of families, or clan, rarely exceeding 50 people. 1.02 Having been a British Protectorate since 1893, the Solomon Islands attained internal self-government in 1976 and full independence in 1978. The economy is based primarily on agriculture, including forestry, livestock and fisheries. The 1980 per capita GNP is estimated at about US$460. Sub- sistence (nonmonetary) production is important, contributing 40% to the GDP. As is typical in the islands in the Pacific, the basic needs of the popula- tion for food and shelter are reasonably well met from subsistence activity. Nine out of ten households are engaged in subsistence food production to some extent. A large proportion of rural households also earns some cash from crop production and intermittent wage employment. 1.03 As economic development of the Solomon Islands has progressed, a very uneven distribution of the benefits of development among the various parts of the country has emerged. Wide regional disparities have resulted from a combination of the following factors: (a) differences in resource endowments, including the availability of agricultural land per household; (b) the concentration of large-scale agricultural investments in a few provinces; and (c) the lack of sustained efforts by the Government to foster balanced regional development. Development Issues 1.04 The main developmental challenges facing the Solomon Islands are the need for: (a) human resource development at all levels; and (b) a regionally balanced expansion of employment opportunities and the exchange economy, with particular emphasis on smallholder agriculture. 1.05 Human Resource Development. The low educational development of the Solomon Islanders is not only a serious constraint to economic development but also limits the extent to which the benefits of economic growth can be cap- tured for the citizens. Due to an acute shortage of skilled local manpower, a heavy reliance has been placed on foreign skills. A high proportion of middle- and high-level administrative, managerial and technical posts in both the public and private sectors is held by expatriates./l Noncitizens domi- nate large commercial and industrial enterprises and trade. /1 About 10% of all established public service posts are staffed by expatri- ates. Most of these posts are at middle- and high-levels.  - 2 - 1.06 In 1975, almost one-half of the adult population had not received any formal schooling and only 5.5% had received education above the primary level. Currently only 60% of the relevant age groups are enrolled at the primary level, 25% at the lower secondary level, 7% at the upper secondary level and 1% at the tertiary level. These proportions vary significantly between regions. The Association's experience has shown that the rate of return on the expansion of primary education is strikingly high in countries with low educational attainment, such as the Solomon Islands. Increased agricultural productivity, lower infant mortality and decreased fertility all have a strong correlation with the attainment of education. The Solomon Islands score particularly low in twco of these areas. Infant mortality is high at 60/1,000 live births /1 (compared to the regional average of 44/1,000), and the crude birth rate is among the highest in the world at 49/1,000./2 As a first step in developing human resources, enrollments at the primary level need to be increased. 1.07 There is a strong case for increasing substantially the coverage of primary education in the Solomon Islands, but the quality of primary education must also be improved. Many primary school leavers will have no further education, and education at this level should prepare most students for life in the communities. It should also provide others with a sound basis for studies at the secondary level, because ultimately the country's ability to produce sufficient middle- and high-level manpower will depend on the quality of primary education. The importance the Government attaches to basic education reflects its desire that the country's own people be trained for national service, as, for example, in agricultural and health extension. Project Generation 1.08 The proposed project was identified by an Association mission in May 1980, prepared by the Government with the Association's assistance from August 1980-March 1981 and appraisted in April 1981./3 This project would be the first lending operation in the SoLomons with the Association in the lead role. In an attempt to adapt Association operations to the small size of the country's economy, the project originally included two sectors - education and transportation. The transport component was deleted after appraisal because of available financing from other sources. /1 World Development Report, 1980, p. 48. /2 Source: Solomon Islands National Development Plan, 1980-84 (draft), para. 1.54. /3 Identification mission members were F. Farner (general educator) and R. Burns (transport economist). Appraisal members were S. Sigurdsson (architect and mission leader), M. Matheson (general educator, consultant) and R. Burns.  - 3 - 2. ISSUES IN PRIMARY EDUCATION Overview 2.01 Primary education in the Solomon Islands is of six years duration and is provided by 289 public and 55 private schools, with a total enroll- ment of 28,900 (1980). Until 1974, church related agencies, chiefly the Seventh Day Adventists, provided most of primary education. While some of these groups are still active, they are generally phasing out their assist- ance and, therefore, responsibility for providing primary education rests increasingly with the Government. The same is true with secondary educa- tion, which is offered at eight Provincial and seven National Secondary Schools. About 35% of primary school graduates enter secondary school. Drawing students from their respective provinces, the Provincial Secondary Schools have a total enrollment of 1,500 and conduct three year programs (grades 7 to 9) that are predominantly vocational in nature. The National Secondary Schools have a total enrollment of 2,000 students selected from all provinces for a five-year academic course (grade 7 to 11). An addi- tional 12th year of training (Form 6) is given to a small number of students (65 in 1980) to prepare them for tertiary training. Some of this tertiaLry training is given by the Honiara Technical Institute which provides basic courses in technical and commercial subjects to about 600 students a year; and by the Solomon Islands Teachers College, with an enrollment of 160 students. which trains primary and secondary school teachers. A large part of the tertiary education takes place abroad, mainly in Papua New Guinea and Fiji. 2.02 The primary education subsector suffers from five main types of problems: (a) deficiencies in management, (b) poor quality of education (c) enrollment stagnation; (d) financial constraints; and (e) imbalances in the equality of opportunity for primary education. Education Management 2.03 Weaknesses in education management in the Solomon Islands are largely due to the lack of training of management staff at various leveLs. The current and projected future education management cadre number as follows:  - 4 - Table 2.1: EDUCATION MANAGEMENT CADRE 1980-86 Estimated 1980 1986 National education officers /a 20 25 Provincial education officers 40 80 Secondary school principals 15 25 Primary school headmasters 370 400 /a Including SITC and Honiara Technical Institute staff. 2.04 National Level Administration. The Ministry of Education Training and Cultural Affairs (MET) is responsible for carrying out Government policy for all aspects of education and training. MET's responsibilities include registraltion of schools, setting of student intake policies, payment of teachers' salaries, and the setting of policies on deployment of teachers. Its Curr:Lcu]Lum Coordinating Committee has the mandate to approve the outputs of various MET curriculum subject panels and subcommittees including that of the Curriculum Development Unit of the Solomon Islands Teachers' College (SITC). MET-s management of many of its activities tends to be weak, largely due to the lack of training of its professional staff. These weaknesses in management are particularly pronounced with regard to its dealings with the SITC. There are several cases in which SITC actions have been in contradiction to the MET's policies, but the MET has failed to react. For example, in 1981 the SITC accepted only 41 students for primary teacher training out of 500 applicants, which was less than 50% of the MET's target figure of 90 entrants. SITC felt emphasis should be placed on training secondary level teachers. MET and SITC views alsc, often differ over the printing and distribution of primary teaching mtaterials, but the MET offers little resistance to SITC actions in this area. MET's weaknesses also show up in its dealings with the provincial education authorities. Contrary to MET regulations, untrained teachers are frequently assigned to grade 1, and schools accept pupils at irregular intervals to avoid the multi-class teaching that is encouraged by the MET. 2.05 Provincial Level Administration. The country is divided into eight provinces. Malaita, Western and Guadalcanal, the most densely inhabited provinces, contain two-thirds of the total population. The capital city of Honiara, on the north coast of Guadalcanal, is itself designated as a province. The administration of primary education within these eight provinces is the responsibility of Provincial Education Boards. They consist of elected members of provincial governments who are advised by the Provincial Education Secretary and his staff. In accordance with a  - 5 - quota set by the MET, the Boards employ teachers and then deploy them among the province's primary schools. A 1980 school survey showed serious shortcomings in the efficiency of the Boards- deployment practices. For example, Western Province was found to have one school with only one teacher and a total enrollment of 51 pupils, while another school in that province had 2 teachers and 12 pupils. Instances were also found where a province had some schools that employed only trained teachers and other schools that had very few or even no trained teachers. Once the provinces have assigned teachers to their schools, there is little follow-up by the Boards to assess performance or advise on improvements. Some field supervisors are used, but they are few in number, often have trouble reaching remote schools and do not assume an advisory role. 2.06 Local Level Administration. At the local level, community school committees are responsible for providing and maintaining public school facilities and teacher housing. They also provide guidance to teachers and headmasters on the preservation of local cultural values. Active participa- tion in these committees by community members is encouraged by the Govern- ment. The day-to-day running of the public and private schools is the responsibility of headmasters, whose effectiveness is limited by a general lack of administrative training and marginal knowledge of government policies and procedures. Education Quality 2.07 In general the quality of primary education in the Solomon Islands is inadequate. While instructional programs seem to be well balanced and improvements in curriculum have been made, drawbacks exist in terms of language problems, weak instructional methods, scarcity of textbooks and teaching materials, and poorly trained teachers. 2.08 Instructional Programs and Methods. In the Solomon Islands set- ting, where more than 80 local dialects are spoken, language problems hamper teaching programs. English is the official medium of instruction, and all textbooks are in English, but only a small fraction of the school children have mastered that language upon entry. Consequently, some teaching is carried out in Pidgin, which is widely used as a lingua franca. Other teachers instruct in the local language, especially in the lower grades, but this is only possible when the teacher originates from the area of his or her deployment. Though there is no easy solution to the language problems, a large proportion of the primary instructional program is appropriately devoted to language studies. The time distribution of subjects of the 140 day (5 day a week) school-year is shown in Table 2.2.  - 6 - Table 2.2: TIME DISTRIBUTION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL SUBJECTS Grade 1 Grade 2 Grades 3, 4 Grades 5, 6 Broad subject areas Min. % Min. % Min. % Min. % Language Arts 450 29 550 35 585 34 555 31 Numeracy 225 14 225 14 250 15 275 16 Science 100 6 100 6 140 8 160 9 Social Studies 165 11 165 11 195 11 215 12 Religion /a 150 10 150 10 150 9 150 8 Arts/Crafts/Music 100 6 100 6 105 6 110 6 Physical Education 160/b 10 60 4 75 4 90 5 Assembly and Breaks 225 14 225 14 225 13 225 13 Total School Week 1,575 100 1,575 100 1,725 100 1,780 100 /a Much of religious studies consist of reading. /b Includes 100 minutes of developmental activities. 2.09 Instructional methods vary, depending upon the quality, training and experience of teachers, but the n)st widely used methods are teacher centered lectures and rote learning. The generally small and scattered nature of the schools makes multi-grade teaching a necessity in most cases. However, little weight has been given in the past to training teachers in effective multigrade teaching. Also, there is virtually no attempt made to group children according to their abi:Lities. Gifted students are slowed down while poor students are left behind and indirectly encouraged to drop out. 2.10 Curriculum. The curricuLum has been developed with the assistance of the University of the South Pacific which also prepares textbooks for the South Pacific Islands. The preseni: curriculum is suitable for use in the Solomon Islands and for the presenit project. Continuing development of curriculum and materials is conducited by the Curriculum Development Unit in the Solomon Islands Teachers College (SITC). This combination of teacher training with curricula reinforces the linkage between subject matter and its presentation through the schoo:L curriculum. The Curriculum Development Unit has recently started a one year course for 25 experienced teachers in the field of curriculum development. On return to their schools, they are provided with a guide for testing the materials. A few selected teachers are also trained overseas in curriculum methods. As this operation is in its early stages, it is still premature to assess its impact on the schools, but the outlook is favorable. New facilities for the Curriculum Development Unit are currently under construction with British aid.  - 7 - 2.11 Textbooks and Teaching Materials. Although great strides are being made in developing relevant curricula, there has been much less success in effectively distributing textbooks and teaching materials to the schools. Rural primary schools generally possess only a few tattered textbooks while urban schools are somewhat better equipped. Most schools have little in the way of materials, such as poster board, glue and paints, with which to produce classroom aids. A printing unit has recently been equipped within the SITC for trial runs of materials developed there, and the Government Printer has the capacity to do longer runs of soft-cover books. However, the chronic shortage of textbooks and teaching materials persists, due partly to the lack of funds for producing or purchasing materials on a large scale, and considerable logistical problems in distribution to the widely dispersed schools. In addition, there does not seem to be a firm government policy towards supplying educational materials, resulting in the late supply of course books each year and ineffective management of their distribution. It will be necessary for the Government to develop a textbook policy, including frequency of book replacement, conditions of use, and whether any charges should be made to students. 2.12 Facilities. In general, the existing primary school facilities are impoverished, reflecting the economic conditions of the communities which are responsible for providing them. There is considerable variation between urban and rural schools. Urban schools are usually built of semi- permanent wooden frames with corrugated iron roofs. A typical rural school is a poorly lit leaf hut with crude benches and cracked blackboards. Pro- vision of building materials has been a problem in rural areas as suitable leaf material is often not easily available within the vicinity of a school. Also, maintenance of the leaf hut schools is labor intensive and many are in disrepair due to a growing reluctance of parents to contribute at short intervals both time and funds for school construction. Storage for teaching materials and textbooks rarely exists at either urban or rural schools. 2.13 Teacher Qualifications and Supply. Trained primary teachers have chronically been in short supply in the Solomon Islands due to a combination of insufficient training facilities and a shortage of suitable trainees. To help reduce teacher shortages, untrained or partly trained teachers have been recruited. Table 2.3 shows the numbers of primary teachers and their levels of training for the period 1976-80.  - 8 - Table 2.3: NUMBERS AND TRAINING OF PRIMARY TEACHERS, 1976-80 Trained Part--trained Untrained Year Number % Number % Number % Total number 1976 405 47 168 20 280 33 853 1977 416 46 170 19 316 35 902 1978 551 54 180 18 279 28 1,010 1979 596 56 217 20 252 24 1,065 1980 616 53 281 24 275 23 1,172 Source: Central Planning Office Honiara. 2.14 All primary teacher training is carried out at the Solomon Islands Teachers' College (SITC) on the outskirts of the capital, Honiara. The college offers courses in primary teaching at the certificate and diploma levels. The certificate course consists of two years of training at the college followed by one year's probationary service in primary schools. The Diploma of Education course consists of three years training at the college and prepares teachers for work in either primary or lower secondary schools. The diploma course is run in collaboration with the University of the Sotth Pacific in Fiji. The SITC also carries out in-service training for untrained primary teachers. This consists of vacation period training each year for two years, after which an untrained teacher is upgraded to part- trained teacher status. Additional in-service training is provided at nine teacher's resource centers spread throughout the country which were estab- lished between 1976-79. These centers conduct short courses for provincial teachers with emphasis on coping with the problems of composite class teaching and to help in preparation of teaching aids. 2.15 At present, SITC's facilities allow an enrollment of 160 students, about 75% of which are in primary teaching programs. With an average output of only 55 new primary teachers per year between 1976 and 1980, no signi- ficant progress has been made in increasing the number of trained teachers as a proportion of total primary teachers. (Table 2.3). Table 2.4 shows estimates of teacher requirements between 1981 and 1985, based on the Govern- ment's plan to increase primary enrollments by 7% per annum and to raise the teacher:pupil ratio from the current: 1:26 to a more efficient target of 1:28 in 1985./1 At the current rate of output of trained teachers from SITC, there would be little change in the proportion of trained teachers over the next five years. Large scale expansion of SITC's facilities is clearly needed if the demand for trained primary teachers is to be met. /1 By 1990 the Government plans to raise the teacher:pupil ratio to 1:30.  - 9 - Table 2.4: PROJECTED PRIMARY TEACHER REQUIREMENTS BY QUALIFICATIONS AND YEAR 1981-85 No. of teachers of which fully trained Year Total Number % 1981 1,186 630 53 1982 1,222 650 53 1983 1,260 675 /a 53 1984 1,350 700 52 1985 1,450 725 50 /a A minor increase in teacher output in 1983, made possible by British aid-financed hostels, will marginally increase teacher availability in the near term. Source: Draft National Development Plan 1981-85 and mission estimates based on availa- bility of facilities and estimated 5% teacher attrition/year. 2.16 In the past, the pressure on SITC to increase enrollments has not been great, due to the shortage of suitable entrants. Normal entry require- ment for primary teacher training is now grade 10 training, but in earlier times SITC accepted many entrants with only six or seven years of primary education, to fill student places. This constraint is expected to be alle- viated in the near future due to a doubling of secondary level enrollments from 1,550 in 1975 to 3,220 in 1979. Also, teaching careers were made much more attractive to school leavers in 1975 through Government action to create the National Teaching Service and a subsequent policy declaration by Parliament in 1980 on improving career advancement opportunities and salaries. Expansion of pre-service teacher training alone would not solve the problem of poor teacher quality. A large number of untrained or partly trained teachers would most likely stay in the system, and their skills would need to be improved through increased in-service training programs. Enrollment Stagnation 2.17 Dimensions of the system. Primary school enrollments in the Solomon Islands have shown little growth over the past decades, and enroll- ment rates actually deteriorated in recent years. Enrollment increased marginally in absolute numbers from about 25,100 in 1971 to 28,900 in 1980 (Table 2.5). The stagnation of enrollments between 1976 and 1980 was partly  - 10 - due to the reduction in the number of grades from seven to six, but finan- cial constraints on the part of Provincial Governments have prevented the number of classrooms from keeping pace with the estimated 3.4% annual increase in population growth. DiLminishing support by the churches for primary education has also been a factor. As shown in Table 2.6, the enrollment ratio for primary education in the country declined between 1976-80 at an average annual rate of 1.2%. Table 2.5: NUMBERS OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND ENROLLMENT BY AGENCY OF CONTROL: 1971-80 Government Non-Government Total Number Enroll- NtLmber Enroll- Number Enroll- of ment of ment of ment Year Schools ('000) Schools ('000) Schools ('000) 1971 5 0.8 394 24.4 399 25.1 1972 5 0.8 375 24.8 380 25.6 1973 5 0.8 379 24.6 384 25.4 1974 192 21.0 131 5.2 323 26.1 1975 266 24.0 78 4.2 344 28.2 1976 261 23.5 77 3.5 338 27.0 1977 265 22.7 64 3.7 329 26.4 1978 264 23.2 57 3.6 321 26.8 1979 289 24.0 55 3.0 344 27.0 1980 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 370 28.9 Source: Government of Solomon Islands, 1980 Statistical Yearbook (Table 13.2) and Central Planning Office data for 1980.  - 11 - Table 2.6: ENROLLMENT RATIOS BY PROVINCE, 1976 and 1980 >nrollment ratio (%) /a Province 1976 1980 Honiara 61 73 Guadalcanal 58 53 Central Islands 70 71 Santa Isabel 75 62 Western 79 64 Malaita 53 48 Makira/Ulawa 81 64 Eastern Islands 88 56 Solomon Islands 66 60 /a The number of enrolled 7-14 year olds as a propor- tion of total number of 7-14 year old children. Source: Solomon Islands National Development Plan 1981-85 (draft). 2.18 In addition to limiting enrollments, the lack of school facilities within reasonable commuting distance has been cited as a cause of absen- teeism and eventual dropout from a grade. About 25% of the students who enter grade 1 drop out before grade 6 as shown in Table 2.7. Physical immaturity of the younger students at entry age (6-9 years) often makes it difficult for them to travel the distance to school. Many schools uni- laterally decide to accept only students of 8 years or older for this reason. Thus, lack of accessible schools is a contributing factor to an undesirable age disparity within each class cohort, as shown in Table 2.8.  - 12 - Table 2.7: GRADED PRIMALRY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, 1976-80 Grade _ N O. of Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total schools 1976 5,569 4,982 4,387 4,446 3,770 3,867 27,021 338 1977 5,168 4,835 5,043 3,967 3,726 3,651 26,390 329 1978 5,263 4,659 4,503 4,474 3,931 3,919 26,749 321 1979 5,110 4,859 4,623 4,358 4,165 3,858 26,973 344 1980 6,772 4,724 4,760 4,416 4,204 4,044 28,920 370 Note: In 1976 the primary education course was reduced from seven years to six years. Source: Central Planning Office, Draft National Development Plan 1981-85. Table 2.8: AGE DISPARITY IN PRIMARY EDUCATION - 1979 Enrollment: by grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 Num- Num- Num- Num- Num- Nur- Age ber (%) ber (%) ber (%) ber (%) ber (%) ber (%) 6 or less 272 (5) 60 (1) 2 12- 7 1,817 (36) 285 (6) 53 (1) 2 - - - _ _ 8 1,864 (37) 1,956 (40) 348 (8) 76 (2) - - - - 9 856 (17) 1,581 (33) 1,710 (37) 429 (10) - - - - 10 200 (4) 711 (15) 1,339 (29) 1,584 (36) 346 (8) 28 (1) 11 62 (1) 198 (4) 727 (16) 1,237 (28) 1,349 (32) 367 (10) 12 22 - 44 (1) 284 (6) 640 (15) 1,264 (30) 1,272 (33) 13 9 - 18 - 115 (2) 293 (7) 787 (19) 1,262 (33) 14 8 - 6 - 37 (1) 81 (2) 310 (8) 637 (16) 15 - - - 8 - 15 - 81 (2) 208 (5) 16 or more - - - - - - - - 28 (1) 84 5,110 (100) 4,859 (100) 4,623 (100) 4,358 (100) 4,165 (100) 3,858 (100) Source: Solomon Island, Statistical Yearbook 1980.  - 13 - An additional factor contributing to this undesirable age disparity is teacher opposition to multi-grade teaching (para. 2.09). A government sur- vey in 1981 showed that many schools in rural areas will only admit students at two, three or even four-year intervals. 2.19 Equality of Opportunity. As evidenced by the enrollment ratios shown in Table 2.6, some provinces are much more advantaged than others in the amount of school facilities available within their region. This is also true in terms of the quality of education given. School equipment and teaching aids are not equitably distributed throughout the country, and some provinces have a disproportionately high number of untrained teachers. 2.20 There is also an imbalance between the number of girls and boys enrolled in primary schools. Although the situation has steadily improved during the past ten years, girls constituted only 41% of total enrollments in 1980, as shown in Table 2.9. Further progress is necessary in this respect, especially given the context of the Solomon Islands economy where women contribute at least 50% of labor to the agricultural work force. In many of the outlying areas, tribal men devote a large part of their time to ceremonial activities while the women perform gardening chores. Their role in the economy of the country strongly indicates the need for increasing the enrollment ratio of girls in primary schools. Table 2.9: PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT BY SEX, 1971-80 Year Male Female Total % Female