Guinea - Education Sector Adjustment Credit

 Education sector adjustment credit Report No: ; Type: Report/Evaluation Memorandum ; Country: Guinea; Region: Africa; Sector: Education Adjustment; Major Sector: Education; ProjectID: P001046 December 29, 1995 Guinea: Education Sector Adjustment Credit (Credit 2155- GUI) The Guinea Education Sector Adjustment Credit project (Credit 2155-GUI for US$20 million) was approved in FY91. The Implementation Completion Report (ICR) was prepared by the Africa Regional Office. The ICR is good and follows the structure prescribed in the new guidelines and provides a plan for future operations. Comments by the borrower are included in Appendix B. A follow-up project, expected to reinforce the goals of the completed project, was approved in May 1995. The project aimed to support the first phases of the Government's education sector adjustment program. Its objectives were to establish a policy framework for the sector, and, through that, to improve management in the education sector, expand access to basic education, and enhance school quality. Despite some delays in procurement and construction, these objectives were largely accomplished. A clear policy framework was established. Accountability for student learning was substantially shifted to schools; budgeting and personnel management procedures were revised for greater efficiency; gross enrollments increased from 28 percent to 40 percent, and girls' enrollment increased by 70 percent during the project period; 2,032 classrooms were constructed or rehabilitated; following substantial instructional reform, 520,000 textbooks were distributed to primary-school students; and 1,847 employees of secondary schools were redeployed to teach in primary classrooms. The development of a coherent sectoral strategy attracted financial support from about 20 donors, three of whom covered the Government's share of this project's costs. Sector adjustment operations are often difficult, but this project presents an example of a motivated government and a highly effective Bank team. As in the ICR, the sustainability of the project is rated by the Operations Evaluation Department (OED) as likely, given the Government's commitment to cost efficiency in the education sector and the widespread support for reform in the country. The ICR rates institutional development as modest because, despite substantial improvements, the large-scale teacher and administrator training that was envisaged was not carried out; OED agrees with this rating. The outcome of the project was rated by the ICR as highly satisfactory. OED agrees with this rating and rates Bank performance as satisfactory. The ICR shows that in a country with a highly motivated government a successful sector adjustment is possible and that the need for important changes can be effectively communicated to the populace. It also shows, however, that large-scale institutional change is hard to achieve when a project is implemented rapidly and in difficult macroeconomic conditions. An audit is planned.