Announcement of The World Bank's Loan to Improve Primary Education in Mexico's Poorest States on March 31, 1994

UOR IMMUDIAT I RH IASI < World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington. D.C. 20433, U.S.A. * Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 94/76LAC Contact Ciro Gamarra (202) 473-8721 WORLD BANK APrE)S $412 MILLION LOAN TO IMOVE PRIM EDUCA-TON IN MEXCO'S POOREST STTES WASHINGTON, March 31, 1994 - The World Bank has approved a $412 million loan to Mexico to assist the government in improving the quality and efficiency of primary education in ten poorest states, benefitting approximately 1.5 million children. With a total cost of $616.7 million, the second primary education project will help reduce education deficiencies in the states of Campeche, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacan, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatan. The project will also reinforce management capacity in four other poorest states (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero and Eidalgo), covered by an earlier project that is being assistid by a $250 million World Bank loan approved in September 1991. The second primary education project will improve primary school studer.:;' academic achievement levels and reduce the high repetition and dropout rates. It will also :antributc to raising the human capital level, redressing some of the country's social and economic imbalances as part of the government's social compensatory program. The project will provide training and assistance to upgrade the skills of primary school teachers, principals and supervisors; educational materials, library and reference books, and bilingual textbooks and reading materials for indigenous schools. Mexico has the largest indigenous population in Latin America, approximately 8.7 million, or 10.4 percent of total population. Indigenous schools suffer from the absence of appropriate textbooks and educational materials and 90 percent of indigenous teahhers do not possess the officially required qualifications. The project will devote $125 million, or over one fifth of total cost, to support the education of indigenous children by providing for teacher training and incentives, textbooks, didactic materials, and school construction, rehabilitation and maintenance. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents. MAR-31-'94 THU 15:06 ID:LACUP-LACCE-LACSA FAX N: 20-:96-9271 4015 P02 -2- Textbooks and reading materials will be developed in the 17 main native languages spoken in the project areas: Chol, Chontal, Huasteco, Huichol, Maya, Mazahua, Mexicanero, Nahuntl, Purepecha, Tepehuano, Totonaco, three variants of Nahuatl, and one each of Huasteco, Maya, and Totonaco, covering about 90 percent of all ethnic groups in the project states. The World Bank is the single most important source of external financing for the primary education sector in Mexico. In addition yo the frst primary education project fir .ced in September 1991, the World Bank has approved an S80 million loan in September 1992 to help finance an initial education project in ten of the poorest states. By focusing on the poorest states, the current project will also complement a series of World Bank-Inanced projects aiming at poverty alleviation, covering the areas of basic health, low-income housing, technical training, decentralization and regional development, wa-er supply and sanitation, and labor market and productivity enhancement In addition to 1.5 million children, the project will benefit 53,000 teachers znd 1,140 administrators. Additional benefits are expected for women, particularly from the indigenous population, as research has demonstrated that increasing their level of education has a significant positive effect on the health status and educational attainment of their children and contributes to lower fertility. The Government of Mexico will provide $204.7 million to cover the balance of project cost. The World Bank loan will be disbursed over six years, period of implementation of the project. - The $412 million World Bank loan was made to Nacional Financiera (NAFN , with the guarantee of the United Mexican States. It is for 15 years, including five years of I' :ace, with a variable interest rate, currently at 7.27 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank's bctrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbused balance. -0- dr -3- BASIC DAITA SHEET Mexico Year A. General Country Data GNP Per Capita (USS) 3,030 1991 Area (Thousand Square Kilometers) 1,958 1993 Population Estimate (Millions) 83.3 1991 Urban Population (% of Total) 73 1991 Population Projection, Year 2000 (xillions) 99.0 1992 B. Social Indicators Crude death rate 5.4 1990 Average Annual Rate of Population Growth (%) 1.9 1990 Total Fertility Rate 3.2 1991 Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) 36.0 1991 Life Expectancy at Birth (years) 70.0 1991 Adult Illiteracy Rate (% of persons 15 and over) 11.8 1991 C. Education Statistics Primary (Net)(Grades 1-6)(%) 98.0 1991 Lower Secondary (Grades 7-9)(%) 58.0 1991 Total Primary Enrollment (millions) 14.4 1991 Federal (%) 71.1 1991 State (%) 22.5 1991 Private (%) 6.4 1991 Primary School and Efficiency Data Number of Teachers (thousands) 479.6 1991 Student/Teacher Ratio 30.0 1991 Incomplete Schools (% of all primary schools) 14.9 1991 Unitary Schools (% of all primary schools) 22.7 1991 Repetition Rate (%) 9.8 1992 Dropout Rate (%) 4.6 1991 Completion Rare (%) 58.1 1991 Education Expenditure Data Total Public Education Spending (% of GDP) 4.3 1991 Federal Education Spending (% of Total Public Education Expenditures) 82.8 1991 Federal Education Spending (% of Total Federal Expenditures) 9.4 1991 Federal Primary Education Spending (% of Federal Education Expenditures Among Levels) 39.8 1991 Sources: Social Indicators of Development, 1991-92; INEGI Conso dc 1990; World Dcvelopment Report. 1993: SEP and Bank staff estimates, 1993.