1. 1 Escalando la Reducción de la Pobreza Un Programa Educativo Administrado por la Comunidad en las Zonas Rurales de El Salvador Presenter: Ms. Darlyn Meza

2. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS El Salvador is the smallest country of the Central American region (20,800 km2) with the second largest population (6.3 million). After a 12-year civil war and the Peace Accords in 1992, the country has undergone a transition process from war to peace. In a context of social consensus and economic recovery2 over the 90s, public investment in education consistently increased, and innovations were implemented that led to a broad process of educational reform. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 2

3. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS One of the initiatives that gave birth to the education reform process in El Salvador is the Community-Managed Education Program (Educación con Participación de la Comunidad, EDUCO), which begun to develop in 1991 As part of its policies to expand education in the rural areas, the MINED undertook a field research in 1990. A major finding was that, despite de lack of public services, some rural communities had organized themselves and had managed to provide basic education to their children. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 3

4. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS In 1991, the MINED implemented a pilot phase (263 classrooms to enroll 8,416 students). Trough the Asociaciones Comunales para la Educación (ACE), parents became responsible for the administration of schools. This included the management of monthly financial transfers to select and hire teachers, the purchase of educational material and the payment of social security for teachers. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 4

5. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS On the basis of the success achieved, the authorities decided to institutionalize the program, under a scheme that focused on the poorest rural communities of the country. By the end of 2003, the program had 2000 schools and enrolled 350,000 students. The program achieved its goal of expanding coverage. Furthermore, it successfully focused on the poorest departments of the country: enrollment increased more in those departments that have higher levels of poverty. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 5

6. IMPACT ANALYSIS The impact of EDUCO can be seen from two perspectives: efficiency and effectiveness. In terms of efficiency, there are three main aspects: Greater agility in the creation of education services Reduction of the bureaucratic role of MINED´s central offices (education expenditure channeled through the central administration represented only 4% of the total MINED budget in 2003) Reduction in teacher absenteeism and increased learning time for children IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 6

7. IMPACT ANALYSIS In terms of effectiveness, there are also three main aspects: A.EDUCO has had a positive impact by creating better educational opportunities for poor children. In 2002, respectively 50% and 35% of all preschool and basic (grade 1-9) students enrolled in public rural schools were enrolled in EDUCO schools. The net enrollment rate in Grades 1-6 increased from 76% in 1992 to 82% in 2000. The gap between urban and rural areas diminished from 12 to 7 % pts over the same period. In 2002, the rural gross enrollment rate was higher than the urban one. Educational attainment increased faster for the poorest than for the richest income quintile over the 1995-2002 period. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 7

8. IMPACT ANALYSIS Additionally, late entrance to the first grade has decreased in EDUCO schools. 88% of 7-year-old children are enrolled on time in EDUCO communities. The remaining 22% enters by the age of 8. B.The program has strengthened community participation In 2002, the ACE members dedicated 1044 hours annually to various tasks: management training (200 hours), bank account management (16 hours), payment of teacher salaries and Social Security (96 hours), purchase of school consumable materials (72 hours), advisory consultations with school supervisors and district and regional Coordinators (120 hours), community and ACE meeting and assemblies (180 hours), school visits and supervision (360 hours). This indicates the importance of non-monetary contributions of communities to the provision of educational services. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 8

9. IMPACT ANALYSIS IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED C.In spite of poorer communities that attend EDUCO, academic achievement does not differ significantly across EDUCO and non EDUCO schools Accelerated expansion of EDUCO has not affected the academic achievement of students: learning outcomes of EDUCO students, as measured by standardized tests, are similar to and sometimes even higher that those of traditional schools. 9

10. DRIVING FACTORS Commitment and Political Economy for Change New leaders of the Government recognized that it was critical to improve the national economy and to invest in social sectors with emphasis on the poorest. It was necessary to provide educational services to 500 thousand children (aged 7 to 15) that were outside the school. There was a challenge to use scarce resources efficiently and to search for new ones to benefit the educational sector. MINED and the communities had technical and financial support from international agencies such us UNICEF, USAID, and the World Bank. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 10

11. DRIVING FACTORS Institutional Innovation There was openness to new paradigms relating to coverage expansion: ideas and decisions made went beyond the traditionally established framework. There was a rapid institutionalization of financial resources as money coming from international loans was substituted by allocations in the national budget. Organization, training and supervision of the ACE´s became tasks of the existing central offices of the MINED. EDUCO experience and mechanisms were inputs for the design and implementation of the national educational reform launched in 1995 IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 11

12. DRIVING FACTORS Learning and experimentation The initial implementation of EDUCO included intense revisions of criteria and operational mechanisms. The program was not totally defined from the beginning: changes have been made throughout the last 10 years according to the program´s dynamics. EDUCOS´s slogan is meaningful in this respect: “EDUCO: An experience that learns and teaches”. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 12

13. DRIVING FACTORS Based on the experience of EDUCO in El Salvador, the Governments of Guatemala and Honduras created and are successfully implementing similar programs: the Programa Nacional de Auto-Gestión para el Desarrollo Educativo (PRONADE) in Guatemala since 1995, and the Programa Hondureño de Participación Comunitaria (PROHECO) in Honduras since 1999 IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 13

14. LESSONS LEARNED 1.Innovative strategies can be established to develop educational options for the poorest. The EDUCO experience showed agility to provide education with relevance and quality. 2.Sustainability of educational development programs in various aspects at the local level: a)Political b)Financial c)Technical d)Institutional IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 14

15. LESSONS LEARNED 3.The Value Added of the communities. Community participation has represented an important social capital contributing to the development of EDUCO. For instance, there is evidence that, after the 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador, the schools of EDUCO communities rehabilitated their infrastructure and educational services faster than the other schools. 4.The importance of teacher performance in rural schools. 5.A growing demand for educational services (higher grades) in the rural areas. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IMPACT ANALYSIS DRIVING FACTORS LESSONS LEARNED 15