India - Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Project

Docuuxm of The World Bank FOR OMCLAL USE OMlY Rpst N. P6042-IN IEIORINDWM ANlD REOHENDAION CT THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONL DE VELOPMENT ASSOCIATION TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ON A PROPOSED CREDIT OF SDR 116.5 IMILLION TO :UWT FOR AN UTTAR PRADESE BASIC EDUCATION PROJECT NAY 20, 1993 ' iZ tC fn'T ' 4''-~ P r i. ;i < . ,i'$~; ' ' ; ''"< - ' Iia'''!i ,e..:,i-.1, ,,_,; A~ u This document has a restricted distribudon and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its co0tents may not otberwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.  BCOMM E-UALE (as of January 1, 1992) Currency Unit = Rupee Rupee 29.40 = US$ 1.00 Rupee 1.00 = US$ 0.034 WEIGH1S AND MEASURES 1 Meter (m) = 3.28 Feet (ft) 1 Klometer (kIn) = 0.62 Miles FISCAL YEAR April 1 - March 31 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS DEPC Disttict Education Project Committee DIET Distict Inttute of Education and Training ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education EFAPB Education Por All Project Board NFE Non-formal Education NGO Non-Govenment Orgamization SC Scheduled Caste SCERT Stat Council of Educational Research and Training SIEMT State Institute of Educational Managemt and Training ST Scheduled Tribe VEC Village Education Conmmittee  FOR o0MCL USE ONLY RM BRAD=S BASI EDUCATION PROJEC CREW1 ANN PROJ.ECT SJMR India, acting by its President. Beneficaries: Government of Uttar Pradesh and the Uttar Pradesh Sabhee Ke Liye Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad (Education for All Project Board - EFAPB). Amoun: SDR 116.5 million (US$165.0 million equivalent). Tems: Standard with 35 years maturity. On-Lendin Te=: Government of India to Uttar Pradesh as additional central assistance to the State in accordance with standard arrangements for developmental assistance to the State of India and the State of Uttar Pradesh to the EFAPB as a grant. rF ning P-lan: Loal Foreign Total - US$ mmion- IDA 140.02 24.98 165.00 Uttar Pradesh 28.86 - 28.86 TOTAL 168.88 24.98 193.86 Economk Rate of Return: Not Applicable. Staff Apprausal jR ort: 11746-IN This document has a restricted distribution atid may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.  MEMORANDUM AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPN.JENT ASSOCIATION TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ON A PROPOSED CREDIT TO INDIA FOR AN UTrAR PRADESH BASIC EDUCATION PROJECT 1. The fellowing memorandum and recommendation on a proposed credit to India is submitted for approval. The credit, for SDR 116.5 million (US$165 million equivalent), would be on standard IDA terms with 35 years maturity. The credit would help finance a Basic Education Project in Uttar Pradesh. The proceeds of the credit would be passed by the Government of India (GO) to Uttar Pradesh State in accordance with the Borrower's standard arrangements for developmental assistance to the States of India. 2. Country/etor Background. In India, low levels of literacy (male - 64%; female - 39%) reduce labor productivity and eonstrain health, nutrition 3nd the use of family planning services. Although all children reportedly begin primary schooling, at least 40% of boys and 50% of girls dropout before acquiring basic literacy skills. In Uttar Pradesh and five other large states, enrollments are below and dropout rates above nation2l averages. In half of the districts ot these states, 70% or more of girl students leave school without having learned to read and write. 3. Low literacy in Uttar Pradesh is the result of extremely weak state basic education programs that have not been able to deliver services of sufficient quality to offset private costs and the indifference of illiterate parents, or to provide access to basic education for all children. Strengthening basic education in Uttar Pradesh will require improved financing and sustained efforts to overcome fundamental institutional constraints. Although recent trends show that elementary education is receiving a larger share of a growing State Plan budget, per capita expenditures on elementary education in 1989-90 were only 60 percent of the national average. Institutional capacity at the state-level for policy development and implementation, for teacher training and supervision, for curriculum and textbook development, for school and system management, and for monitoring and research remains undeveloped relative to the task of improving the quality and equity of the system over the medium term. Management and planning capacity at the district and community level, while adequate for routine program administration, is not yet sufficient to address the system factors that contribute to high dropout and low levels of learning: inadequate community participation, weak school management, undeveloped in-service training, poor teacher attendance, and inappropriate methods of instruction. 4. The Government of India (GOI) and the states have agreed on policy changes that would enhance the cost-effectiveness of basic education: (a) targeting basic education resources on low-literacy districts; (b) decentralizing responsibility for planning and management to districts to facilitate identification of and attack on local constraints; and (c) increasing substantially state and GOI investment resources for basic education development. Girls and minorities would be priority beneficiaries. 5. The Government of Uttar Pradesh (GOUP) began to expedite the development of Basic Education in 1987. It now hopes to move toward a 10-15 year program for the development of basic education that features, in addition to national policy elements, substantial attention to state-level institutional development. The GOI has thus requested IDA assistance for an education project that would be a key step in increasing investment in basic education, and which would help develop the State, district and community-level institutional capacity needed to sustain the development of basic education in the State over the longer term. 6. Lessons of Experience. This first IDA investment in basic education in India incorporates lessons learned from past and ongoing IDA social sector investments. These include the crucial importance of (a) building institutional capacity, (b) detailed preparation of civil works, procurement and  -2 - disbursement procedures, (c) Bank supervision, and (d) the importance of working at both the State and the district levels. Lessons incorporated from IDA basic education investments in other South Asian countries, from other donor assisted projects in India, and from the State's own experience include the importance of community mobilization and participation, the viability of community school constructdon if properly supervised, the value of early childhood education, the need for increasing ihe proportion of female teachers and providing scholarships for poor girls, the need to improve learning materials and teacher performance, and the importance of achieving at least an acceptable minimum level of learning from students. 7. IDA Strategy and Rationale for Involvement. Pronmting economic reform, speeding economic growth and alleviating poverty are central to IDA's country strategy for India. Human resource development is a key element of this oveWl strategy, and education development central for strengthening human resources. IDA's human r *sources strategy aims to improve the access of the poor to investments in human resource development and to improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of those investments. The recently approved Structural Adjustment Credit for a Social Safety Net (SSN, establishes an improved policy framework and enhanced financial allocations for the human resource sectors. This will be complemented by specific investment projects in health, nutrition, family welfare and basic education. IDA's strategy for education is to focus medium-term assistance exclusively on basic education, given its underdeveloped status in India, its higbi returns, and its importance to the poor. Over the last several years IDA has advanced the analytic underpinnings of its education work through analyses of education finance, policy development, trends in enrollment, education for women and girls, and factors that determine student learning achievement in primary schools. The analytical base has been strengthened by studies undertaken by national institutions. Based on this work, and on both national and statespecific seminars and workshops, IDA has entered into a dialogue leading to the development of a series of specific investment operations to support basic education, of which the proposed project in Uttar Pradesh is the first. Preparation for additional basic education projects targeted to districts with below average femnale literacy is underway in six additional states. IDA assistance to basic education in Uttar Pradesh would provide t'e financing needed for accelerated development in India's largest and one of India's poorest states, generating lessons to guide subsequent investments in UP and other states. Without IDA involvement, the pace of development would be considerably slower. In addition, less attention would be paid to building institutional capacity, to the disadvantaged, to the quality of education, and to educational outcomes. 8. Priect Objectve. The proposed project aims to develop the institutional capacity needed to plan, manage and evaluate basic education development in the state of UP. In addition, the project seeks in ten project districts to reduce female dropout rates by 50 percent, increase learning achievement by 50 percent, and provide access to basic education for 600,000 currently unserved students. 9. Scope and Appoah. The project would support the development of institutional capacity, at the state, district and local levels. In addition, it would support quality Improvement, higher rates of completion, and expanded access in 10 of the State's 63 districts. Project districts have been chosen to represent a range of initial conditions for implementation in keeping with the strategic objective of generating lessons for wider replication. The average female literacy rate for eight of the districts is 17 percent, well below the state average (26 percent); the two relatively more advanced districts have female literacy rates of 27 percent. The project would also support project preparation activities in an additional ten districts, all with .female literacy rates below 15 percent. Resources in UP are highly constrained. Therefore, the project would focus only on lower and upper primary and non-formal primary education for the 6-14 age cohort. It would also work extensively to reduce costs through community management of school construction and rehabilitation.  - 3 - 10. Proect Dg