INTERNATIONALBANK FOR WORLD BANK R E T C N O E N STRUCTION PM AND DEVELO June 2004 No. 51 A regular series of notes highlighting recent lessons emerging from the operational and analytical program of the World Bank`s Latin America and Caribbean Region EDUCO: A COMMUNITY-MANAGED EDUCATION PROGRAM IN RURAL EL SALVADOR (1991-2003) Darlyn Meza, José L. Guzmán and Lorena De Varela Background · provide basic educational materials; El Salvador's Education with Community Participation Program · eliminate all requirements for uniforms and financial contribu- (EDUCO) began in 1991, from State and local communities'efforts tions from families; and to create pre-school and basic education services in rural areas. · promote school feeding programs. EDUCO became a key strategy against education crises and This vision, genuine MINED challenges after the 12-year civil commitment, active community war. During the 1980s, the con- involvement and financial and flict generated violence, ideo- technical support from the United logical polarization, severe infra- Nations Children´s Fund structure damage and tremen- (UNICEF), World Bank and dous population migration United States Agency for Inter- within and outside the country. national Development helped Between 1978 and 1988, aver- create EDUCO. age real incomes decreased 37 percent, 67 percent for the poor- EDUCO is based on creation, est 20 percent of the population legalization and provision of sup- (Reimers 1995). port to local organizations involv- ing parents (Asociaciones Well before the 1992 Peace Ac- Comunales para la Educación ­ cords, the El Salvador Govern- ACE), which help develop new ment1 recognized the importance education services in their com- ofexpandingbasiceducationespeciallyinruralareas,decentralizing munities. MINED transfers financing toACEs to hire teachers and educational services and reducing public sector education ineffi- purchase goods and services for their schools. In 1991, 263 ACEs ciency (MINED, 1994). In the context of increasing social consen- participated, each hired a teacher, and 8,416 students benefited. In sus and economic recovery, public investment in education grew 2003, the program included over 2,000 ACEs and rural schools, from 1.5 percent of GDP in 1992 to 3.0 percent in 2000 and 7,000 teachers and 362,000 students. ACEs administered about innovative initiatives led to a nation-wide Educational Reform US$50 million dollars (approximately 12 percent of the national Process (MINED, 1995). education budget). Fieldwork by the Ministry of Education (MINED) in 1990 found that many rural communities had taken the initiative and organized 1 themselves to provide basic education to their children during the Since 1989, the ARENA Party (Alianza Republicana conflict. The research generated several recommendations: Nacionalista) has led three administrations: 1989-1994; 1994-1999 and 1999-2004. After being an armed group, the FMLN became a · promote linkages between schools and communities; political party in 1992. Its presence has grown in local govern- · train teachers whether or not a school building exists; ments and the National Congress. 1 Results and Impact 1.35 school days/month of traditional school teachers. The program's effectiveness comes from its ability to promote In El Salvador, as in many developing countries, rural areas have community participation and impact educational achievement and low access to services, high poverty levels and persistent problems social development. enrolling and keeping children in school (Centro ALFA 2002; PREAL 2001). EDUCO's efficiency and effectiveness can be 1. Community participation increased. ACE members dedicate analyzed against the goal of adequate educational opportunities for 1044 hours annually to their schools: "management training rural children. (200 hours), bank account management (16 hours), payment of teacher salaries and Social Security (96 hours), purchase of Three main aspects of EDUCO's efficiency are considered: school consumable materials (72 hours), advisory consulta- tions with school supervisors and district and regional Coordi- 1. EDUCOisfastandagileincreatingeducationservices.Akey nators (120 hours), community andACE meeting and assem- challenge for education authorities was to expand pre-school blies (180 hours), school visits and supervision (360 hours)" and basic education services in rural areas. The inefficient (MINED 2001). traditional strategy for opening new public schools took 3-4 years to find and secure land, build a school, appoint teachers Communities have given and received value added in various in a centralized manner, and finally enroll children. aspects of local development: (a) Transparent management of funds at the community EDUCO used a completely new strategy: organizing, legaliz- level; ingandtrainingcommunitiesandtransferringresourcestohire (b) Improved teacher and students attendance (as noted); teachers, always within just three months. Communities used (c) Supportive relations between teachers and parents; existing local infrastructure (schools, community houses, or (d) Parental presence in classrooms; properties belonging to a community member); sometimes (e) Support in preparing educational materials; EDUCO has provided support for building new classrooms (f) Time after school and homework support for children; with community participation. (g) Community activities to improve school environ- ments; 2. EDUCO changed MINED central office roles from bureaucratic (h) Increased motivation of community members to to normative, ensuring financial resources, providing technical benefitfromliteracyprograms,parenteducationand assistance and support, and supervising resource use through other adult education activities; selective audits. Responsibility and public resources were (i) New alliances with NGOs and municipalities; transferred to communities for to hire, purchase, acquire (j) Collaboration with existing development programs in professional services and materials, and pay for basic services. health, water supply and other sectors (Reyes, 2002 and Lindo, 2001). Centralized procurement and payments can deliver scale economies, but the EDUCO model avoids centralized storage, 2. EDUCO has accelerated expansion-- especially in the poor- distribution and personnel costs, and increases the probability est rural areas--and increased attendance by rural children of inputs reaching schools in an appropriate and timely without compromising academic achievement. Between 1992 manner. and2000,netenrollmentingrades1-6increasedfrom76to82 percentinruralareas,andfrom88to89percentinurbanareas, 3. EDUCO has decreased teacher absenteeism and increased decreasing the urban-rural gap from twelve to seven percent learning time. Historically, rural teachers attended school an (MINED, 2002). This can be attributed to EDUCO: in 2002, average of three days/week or less. ACE supervision practi- 37percentofallruralpublicschoolchildrenattendedEDUCO cally eliminated absenteeism. Parents have been very effective schools (50% for pre-school and 35% for basic education: in linking teacher hiring and performance: being in school and 40% for grades 1-3; 25% for grades 4-6 and 22% for grades 7- focusing on teaching and learning. 9). MINED has supported and trained teachers and supplied EDUCO's original design focused on coverage, not quality. dynamicdidacticmaterials,helpingincreaseteachers'motiva- However, greater community participation and improved tion. EDUCO data show that decentralization allows better provision of educational inputs should improve outcomes. monitoringofteachers,andwithteachers'constantattendance, motivates parents to send children to school. The existing analytical evidence finds that, after holding constant for EDUCO students' backgrounds and taking into These facts are also confirmed by analytical evidence (see Sawada account possible selection biases, the average performance of andJimenez(1998)andSawada(1999))whichfindsthatstudentsin EDUCO and traditional students in achievement tests is, in EDUCO schools miss less school days due to teacher absences than fact, the same (Jiménez y Sawada, 1998). Academic achieve- traditional school students. In particular, teachers are absent from ments in some EDUCO schools even exceed those of children EDUCO schools on average for 1.09 days per month, compared to attending traditional public schools. 2 EDUCO's Driving Factors transferred from the central level, purchasing educational materials, equipment, maintenance and teacher training. These include: leadership and commitment of government authori- Learning and Experimentation ties and communities; legal, administrative and curriculum innova- EDUCO's pedagogical strategy incorporated innovations: multi- tions; flexibility to make adjustments during implementation to grade classrooms and accelerated education for grades two to six. overcome obstacles; and technical and financial support from The program flexibly added grades in response to demand, contrib- international agencies, particularly World Bank loans. uting to increased enrollment and retention and making efficient use of teachers. The (recently incorporated) accelerated education Commitment and Political Economy for Change program caters to overage children (two or more years over the In 1990, MINED was bureaucratic, politicized and inefficient, ill- official age for schooling), allowing students to complete basic placed to meet the challenges of providing education for more than educationsooner.Bothprogramshavespecializedcurricula,instruc- 500,000 children aged 7 to 15 who were not in school. Resources tional materials, teacher training strategies and classroom evaluation were scarce, so new funding was needed and existing sources had to practices. be used more efficiently. Finally, there was clear acknowledgement that incentives to motivate teachers to work in isolated rural or Countries worldwide have learned from EDUCO. The program has distant areas were lacking, which had weakened educational ser- been presented in numerous ministerial meetings, and received vices. study tours from Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Chile, Nicara- gua, Panamá, Dominican Re- The 1992 Peace Accords pro- public, México, Brasil, Paraguay, moted social consensus that fa- Bolivia, Ghana, Mauritious Is- vored institutionalization of lands, Madagascar, Chad, Mo- EDUCO and the broad education rocco, Senegal and Mauritania reform process. The Education (MINED, 1999). Minister was able to achieve great consensus within the education Lessons Learned sector. The technical team that led EDUCO identified with the teach- ers, parents and children involved Innovative strategies to develop in the program. Complementary education options for the poor- dialogue and agreements occurred est. EDUCO demonstrates that between MINED and the teachers education services can be pro- unions and opposition leaders. vided for poor rural children in This helped overcome fears and an agile and relevant way, main- negative perceptions about the taining quality. With teachers, program (Córdova 1999). children and communities at the center of the program, educa- Institutional Innovation tional services were provided Institutionally, there was openness where needed, meeting program to new "outside the traditional objectives ­ unprecedented in box" paradigms and mechanisms. EDUCO's legal framework for education history in El Salvador. Many believed that EDUCO ACEs used existing laws, and transferred funds through regular service quality would be lower than traditional schools, EDUCO accounts in a private bank, which was highly innovative. MINED children performed as well as similar children in traditional schools developed a financial administration program to ensure that legal on standardized achievement tests in mathematics and language, requirements for use of public funds are met. The program rapidly and better where community participation is effective. included activities to promote, organize, legalize, train and monitor theACE´s and train and support teachers. Sustainability of local development education programs. It would have been difficult to begin without certain key inputs, including EDUCO was also a catalyst for institutional change in MINED funding to hire teachers. Timely World Bank loans and technical (MINED 1999). With World Bank and Inter-American Develop- assistance ensured this initially. MINED successfully institutional- ment Bank funding, MINED modernized, including: (i) reviewing ized the program, incorporating the total cost of EDUCO in its the legal framework, (ii) reducing administrative staff; (iii) trans- budget from 1997. Organized communities are key for program forming three regional offices (little Ministries) into 14 Departmen- sustainability. Parents'organizations enjoy credibility and a strong tal Offices with operational responsibilities, and (iv) creating School interest in ensuring that the services remain over time. AdministrationBoards(ConsejosDirectivosEscolares-CDE)inall public schools in the country (backed by the Teachers´ Law of Value added of communities. Initially, program opponents mistak- 1997). The CDEs integrate school directors, teachers, parents and enlybelievedthattheobjectivewastoshiftStateresponsibilitiesand students. Since 1997 CDEs have managed financial resources the financing burden to families. MINED never intended this, and 3 provided support to communities. Data and participant testimonies References indicate that community participation built social capital that ben- efited the program and communities. One example is that EDUCO Centro ALFA. 2002. Informe de Progreso Educativo: El Salva- communities recovered more rapidly from the 2001 earthquakes. dor 2002. San Salvador: Centro ALFA y Programa de Promoción de la Reforma Educativa en América Latina, Renewing Teachers´ Commitment. Teachers' unions tried to block PREAL. EDUCO, opposing a link between teachers' job stability and performance. Fortunately, the program pressed ahead. EDUCO Córdova, R. 1999. El proceso de gestación de la Reforma teachers have developed a commitment that had been lost in rural Educativa. San Salvador: Fundación Dr. Guillermo Manuel schools.Teachersandparentshaveestablishedconstructive,positive Ungo, FUNDAUNGO. relationships centered on ensuring better education for children. Dos Santos, M. 2000. El Salvador Education Reform Program. The increasing demand for education. The program offered Sound Planning, Steady Advances. Washington D.C.: World services for first grade only the first year, then added pre-school and Bank (brochure). grades 2 and 3. Studies indicated that adding higher grades would improve retention, so grades 4-6 were added. The initial design did Jiménez, E. & Sawada, Y. 1999. Do Community-Managed not contemplate going beyond grade 6, but high demand from Schools Work? An Evaluation of El Salvador's EDUCO Pro- communities sparked reassessment. Later, grades 7 - 9, and even gram. The World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 13, No. 3: 415- secondary grades were added. 41. Lindo, H. 2001. Comunidad, participación y escuelas en El Summary Salvador. San Salvador: Ministerio de Educación. MINED. 1994. Memoria de Labores 1989-1994. San Salvador: World Bank financing and technical assistance has supported long- Ministerio de Educación. term, broad education reform in El Salvador, including EDUCO.3 The Bank project team won the 1997 World Bank Achievement _______. 1995. Reforma Educativa en Marcha. Lineamientos Award for Excellence. EDUCO's accomplishments were celebrated del Plan Decenal, 1995-2005. San Salvador: Ministerio de by the Presidents of El Salvador and the Bank, with over 1000ACE Educación. members. _______. 1999. En el Camino de la Transformación Educativa BasedonElSalvador'sexperience,GuatemalaandHondurasbegan (1989-1999). San Salvador: Ministerio de Educación. similar programs: Programa Nacional de Auto-Gestión para el Desarrollo Educativo (PRONADE) in Guatemala in 1995, and _______. 2001. EDUCO 2001. San Salvador: Ministerio de Programa Hondureño de Participación Comunitaria (PROHECO) Educación. in Honduras in 1999. In 2003, the three programs enrolled over 800,000 children in 8,000 schools, with 22,000 teachers hired by _______. 2002. El Salvador 2000. Logros y desafíos de la communities and over 50,000 parents participating in associations. educación. San Salvador: Ministerio de Educación. About the Authors PREAL. 2001. Lagging Behind. A Report Card on Education in Latin America. A Report of the Task Force on Education, Darlyn Meza was Vice-Minister of Education of El Salvador, Equity, and Economic Competitiveness in the Americas. Wash- currently she is a consultant with the World Bank Human ington D.C.: Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Development Department for Latin America and the Americas (PREAL). Caribbean Region. José L. Guzmán and Lorena de Varela are also consultants with the same team. PREAL. 2003. Time to Act. A Report Card on Education in Central America and Dominican Republic. Washington D.C.: PREAL. About "en breve" Reyes, J. 2002. The Case of a Successful Community-Managed Subscribe to "en breve" by sending an email to Education Program: EDUCO. Washington DC: World Bank en_breve@worldbank.org (Draft). __________ Reimers, F. 1995. La educación en El Salvador de cara al siglo 3 Bank commitments for education in El Salvador will total XXI: Desafíos y oportunidades. San Salvador: UCA Editores. US$271 million (1991-2005), supporting the whole reform process - curriculum, educational materials, teacher training, University of Columbia´s Team (2002). Análisis de Impacto de evaluation, school transfers and institutional modernization. The PROHECO. Honduras: Ministerio de Educación (Draft). allocation is approximately 12% (Dos Santos, 2000). 4