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Document of

The World Bank

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Report No. 11571-LA

STAFF APPRAISAL REPORT

LAO PEOPLE' S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

MARCH 26, 1993

Population and Human Resources DivisionCountry Department IEast Asia and Pacific Regional Office

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance oftheir official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.

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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS(as of March 1993)

Currency Unit - KipUS$1 - 715 Kip

1 Kip - US$0.0014

Currency Unit - Swiss Franc (SwF)US$1 SwF 1.53SwF 1 - US$o.654

Currency Unit - Norwegian Krone (NOK)US$1 - NOK 7.00NOK 1 - US$0.143

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ADB - Asian Development BankDGE - Department of General EducationDOP - Department of Organization and PersonnelDPF - Department of Planning and FinanceGDP - Gross Domestic ProductGDP p.c. - GDP per capitaICB - International Competitive BiddingIDA - International Development AssociationIMU - Instructional Materials UnitIUP - Institute of PedagogyLao PDR - Lao People's Democratic RepublicLCB - Local Competitive BiddingMOES - Ministry of Education and SportsMOF - Ministry of FinanceNPI - National Polytechnic InstitutePCR - Project Completion ReportPPAR - Project Performance Audit ReportPSU - Project Support UnitPUCA - Provincial Unit for Construction AssistanceRIES - Research Institute for Educational SciencesSAC2 - Second Structural Adjustment CreditSCS - School Construction Service UnitSDC - Swiss Development CooperationSOE - Statement of ExpenditureUNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural OrganizationUNICEF - United Nations Children's FundUNDP - United Nations Development Programme

FISCAL YEAR

October - September

SCHOOL YEAR

September - June

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC


Table of Contents

Page No.

CREDIT AND PROJECT SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

I. BACKGROUND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II. THE EDUCATION SECTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2A. Organization and Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2B. Main Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Poor Quality of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Institutional Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

C. Strategy for Sector Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Government Priorities and Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . 8IDA Experience and Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

III. THE PROJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11A. Objectives and Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11B. Description . . . . . . . . . . . . i . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Curriculum Development and Pedagogical Support . . . . . . 12School Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Sector Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation . . . . . . . . 20Educational Administration and Management . . . . . . . . . 21

C. Status of Project Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

IV. COSTS AND FINANCING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23A. Cost Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23B. Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

This report is based on the findings of the project appraisal mission to theLao People's Democratic Republic in November 1991, of technical discussionsconducted in March 1992, and of a post-appraisal/pre-negotiations missionin December 1992. The appraisal mission was led by A. Salmon and includedM. Dalupan, consultants N. Baumgart, M. Botti and J. Waechter, FrenchGovernment representatives Y. Cottereau and J.L. P4rillier, and SwissDevelopment Cooperation (SDC) consultant U.P. Trier. The technicaldiscussions were conducted by M. Dalupan, B. Babson and D. Conrad. Thepost-appraisal/pre-negotiations mission was led by M. Dalupan and includedA. Salmon and H. Go, SDC representatives J.R. Moret and L. Lavizzari, SDCconsultant U.P. Trier and Norwegian Government consultant T. Hernes. Thecontributions of the following consultants funded under a Japanese Grant forProject Preparation are also acknowledged: M. Botti, J. Carol, T. Chewprecha,A. Claisse, S. Coussement, A. Meesing, G. Martel and J. de Spiegeleer. Peerreviewers for the project were H. Martinez (ESP), E. Nkwanga (AF4PH) andR. Cambridge (SA2PH). This report was cleared by J. Shivakumar (Chief, EA1PH)and C. E. Madavo (Director, EA1).

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performanceof their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.

Page No.

V. MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27A. Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27B. Procurement .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27C. Disbursements .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31D. Accounts and Audits ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32E. Monitoring, Reporting and Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

VI. PROJECT BENEFITS, RISKS AND IMPACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

VII. AGREEMENTS AND RECOMMENDATION ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

TEXT TABLES

Table 4.1: Summary of Project Costs by Component . . . . . . . . 24Table 4.2: Summary of Project costs by Category of Expenditure . 25Table 4.3: Financing Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Table 5.1: Project Costs by Procurement Arrangements . . . . . . 30Table 5.2: Disbursement Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

ANNEXES

Annex 1: Text of the Government's Letter of Education Policy 39Annex 2: Basic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Annex 3: Structure of the Education System . . . . . . . . . . 46Annex 4: Primary and Secondary Education Pyramid . . . . . . . 47Annex 5: Structure of the Ministry of Education and Sports . . 48Annex 6: Projections of Enrollments and Teacher Requirements . 49Annex 7: Education Recurrent Expenditures . . . . . . . . . . 54Annex 8: Project Costs by Component, Category of Expenditure

and Project Year .... . . ...... . . . . . . . 58Annex 9: Disbursement Schedule and Profile . . . . . . . . . . . 64Annex 10: Curriculum Implementation Schedule . . . . . . . . . . 65Annex 11: Instructional Materials Printing and Distribution . .66Annex 12: Civil Works Implementation Schedule . . . . . . . . . 71Annex 13: Technical Assistance Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Annex 14: Overseas Training Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Annex 15: Local Training Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Annex 16: Project Management and Implementation Chart . . . . . 77Annex 17: Supervision Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Annex 18: Selected Documents Available in the Project File . . 80

MAP

IBRD No. 24632



CREDIT AND PROJECT SUMMARY

Borrower: Lao People's Democratic Republic

Implementing Agency: Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES)

Amount: SDR 13.7 million (US$19.0 million equivalent)

Terms: Standard IDA, with 40 years of maturity

Cofinancing: Grant from the Government of the Swiss Confederationthrough the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC)of SwF 15.0 million (US$9.8 million equivalent)

Grant from the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairsof the Kingdom of Norway of NOK 21 million(US$3.0 million equivalent)

Proiect Description: The project would aim to address immediate needs forquality improvement in basic education, and to establishthe policy and institutional frameworks for longer-termsector development. Specifically, the project would:(a) develop and implement new curricula, instructionalmaterials and pedagogical support systems in primary andlower secondary education; (b) lay the foundation for asustainable construction program for primary and lowersecondary schools; (c) establish systems of datacollection and analysis to support sector managementand strategic planning; and (d) strengthen institutionalcapacities in educational administration and managementat the central and local levels. To carry out theseactivities, the project would finance civil works,furniture, equipment, instructional materials, training,technical assistance, and project management andoperations.

Benefits: The project would help ensure that sector development isgrounded on a solid foundation of quality basic education,and would realize long-term benefits by developing theinstitutional capacities needed for greater self-reliancein the design and management of educational development.Quality improvements would result from better-trained andmore motivated teachers, new instructional materials andteaching strategies, and upgraded school facilities.Expanded access is expected as the system is able toaccommodate more students in places formerly occupied byrepeaters, accompanied by improved equity since problemsof repetition and dropout generally affect poorer children.Equity would also be enhanced through a more balanceddistribution of resources among provinces and districts.

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Risks: Project implementation would involve a diverse set of activities inprovinces and districts throughout the country, and would requireextensive coordination by an executing agency that has limited managementcapacities and experience with IDA procedures. The project would also beimplemented during a period of transition as the Government endeavors toput in place major reforms in public financing and administration.To reduce these risks, analysis of institutional development needs andtraining of MOES staff were initiated during project preparation, andwould be continued under the project. The Government would assureadequate staffing for project implementation, and technical assistanceto be provided would focus on the training of these staff. Projectactivities would be closely monitored and considerable flexibilitybuilt into project implementation and supervision. Review missionswould strive to identify and resolve implementation problems as theyarise, and semi-annual project performance reviews and a comprehensivemid-term review would be conducted to adjust or modify the project designas needed. The risk that the Government would not allocate sufficientpublic resources to the sector would be addressed by requiring theconduct of annual budget reviews.

Estimated Costs: Local Foreign Total------US$ million------

Curriculum/Pedagogical SupportCurriculum Development 0.4 0.8 1.2Instructional Materials 0.8 5.4 6.2Teacher Training/Support 2.4 2.3 4.7School Networks Pilot 0.1 0.1 0.2Lao Language Study i/ 0.0 0.0 0.0

*Sub-total 3.7 8.6 1L3

School InfrastructureSchool Reconstruction 4.3 6.7 11.0Provincial Units 0.6 1.1 1.7Construction Service 0.2 0.5 0.7

Sub-total Li la8.3 134

Sector PlanningInformation Systems 0.4 0.7 1.1Performance Assessment 0.1 0.1 0.2

Sub-total 0.5 0.8 1.3

Administration/ManagementCentral Administration 0.3 0.6 0.9Local Administrations 1.0 1.3 2.3Project Support Unit 0.2 1.3 1.5

Sub-total 1_2 3.2 4.7

Total Baseline Cost 10.8 20.2 21.7Physical Contingencies 0.5 1.0 1.5Price Contingencies 2.2 2.1 4.3

Total Proiect Cost / 13.5 2A.0 3z.5~

al Total cost of this sub-component is estimated at US$40,000.b/ Includes US$1.0 million equivalent in identifiable duties and taxes.

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Financing Plan:Local Foreign Total-----US$ million-----

Government/Communities 5.7 0.0 5.7SDC 4.1 5.7 9.8Norway 0.3 2.7 3.0IDA 3.4 15.6 19.0

Total 13.5 24.0 37.5

Estimated IDA Disbursements:

IDA fiscal year1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000----------------------- US$ million ----------------------

Annual 2.0 2.0 2.4 3.1 3.2 3.4 2.9Cumulative 2.0 4.0 6.4 9.5 12.7 16.1 19.0

Estimated SDC Disbursements:

IDA fiscal year1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000---------------------- US$ million ---------------------


Estimated Norway Disbursements:

IDA fiscal year1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000----------------------- US$ million ----------------------


Economic Rate of Return: Not Applicable

MaR: IBRD No. 24632



I. BACKGROUND

1.1 The Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is a small, landlockedcountry bordered by Vietnam in the east, Thailand in the west, Cambodia in thesouth, and China and Myanmar in the north. The country covers a total landarea of nearly 237,000 square kilometers of mountainous terrain, and isadministratively divided into 18 provinces and 128 districts. Its populationwas estimated in 1991 to be 4.2 million, and growing at an annual rate of 2.8%.About 45% of the population are under 15 years of age, and women account forslightly over half of the population. The vast majority of the country'sinhabitants is dispersed over some 12,000 rural villages, with only 15%residing in the capital city of Vientiane and three other major towns.

1.2 With an estimated 1991 per capita income of US$230, the Lao PDRranks among the least developed countries in the world. Production is chieflyagrarian in origin and oriented towards meeting subsistence requirements.The country's most important natural resources remain largely unexploited:valuable mineral deposits, including iron ore, gold, copper and lead; theMekong River and its tributaries, particularly their capacity to generatehydroelectric power; and large areas of arable land. Transportation andcommunications are difficult due to the country's geographical features andlack of adequate infrastructure. Most villages have no access to major roads,and about 40% of the road network is impassable during the rainy season whichensues from May to September each year.

1.3 In 1985, following a decade of central planning, the Governmentlaunched a reform program to support the transition to a market-orientedeconomy and remove structural constraints to growth. The reforms initiallyfocussed on freeing prices, adopting a market-based exchange rate, eliminatingsubsidies, extending autonomy to state enterprises, and authorizing privatesector activities. Since 1989, the Government has further accelerated thereform process and reasserted macroeconomic control. A public enterprisereform and privatization program has been initiated, and a series of tax,tariff and interest rate reforms were put in place to improve public resourcemobilization. Despite some initial setbacks, the reform program has helped tostimulate real GDP growth rates of, most recently, 6.6% in 1990 and 4% in 1991.The potential for sustained growth exists, given the country's naturalresources, but is constrained by a poorly educated labor force and a shortageof managerial and technical skills. To address these deficiencies, theGovernment and IDA both recognize the need to strengthen the educational systemas the cornerstone of a comprehensive human resource development strategy.

1.4 Based on reviews conducted by UNDP, UNESCO and UNICEF since 1982, asector study completed in 1989 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and furtheranalytical work undertaken by IDA during project preparation, the Ministry ofEducation and Sports has formulated an education sector strategy to the year2000. Priority is being given to improving the quality and efficiency ofprimary and lower secondary education, in view of the well-established socialand economic benefits to be obtained from investing in basic education, and thefact that middle- and higher-level training are most effective when built onbroad competencies acquired through a solid foundation of general education.

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II. THE EDUCATION SECTOR

A. Organization and Financing

2.1 General education in the Lao PDR is provided in five years of primary,and three years each of lower and upper secondary education. The system ofpre-service teacher training is highly diversified, consisting of schools andcolleges which offer pedagogical and disciplinary training following eitherprimary or secondary schooling, and a university-level Institute of Pedagogy(IUP) which trains upper secondary teachers. The vocational-technical systemincludes secondary vocational schools for semi-skilled and skilled workers,technical colleges for middle-level technicians, higher technical colleges forhigher-level technicians, and a university-level National Polytechnic Institute(NPI) which grants engineering degrees. Other higher education institutionsgranting first-level degrees include a medical university and a school foradministration and management. Preschooling is available for children up tofive years of age, and nonformal education programs consist mainly of literacytraining and basic education equivalency courses.

2.2 In 1990, an estimated 560,000, 94,000 and 32,000 students wererespectively enrolled in some 6500 primary, 680 lower secondary and 120 uppersecondary schools, corresponding to gross enrollment rates of about 100%, 30%and 12%. Enrollments in other sub-sectors were as follows: 35,000 inpreschools, 10,000 in teacher training schools and colleges, 9000 in vocationalschools and technical colleges, and about 4000 in higher education institutes.Females account for a respectable 45% of total enrollments at the primarylevel, 40% in lower secondary education, 38% in upper secondary education, and38% in teacher training and higher education. Women also constitute about 40%of the 20,000 primary and 7200 lower secondary school teachers, 35% of the 2700upper secondary teachers, and 30% of the 1200 teacher trainers.

2.3 The structure of educational administration includes the Ministry ofEducation and Sports (MOES) at the central level, and local education andsports services at the provincial and district levels. The local services arenot hierarchically linked to the MOES, but are under provincial and districtadministrative committees, whose chiefs are appointed by and report to theCouncil of Ministers. Authority over schools and school personnel differsaccording to the type and level of education. In general, villageadministrative committees are responsible for primary, preschool and nonformaleducation; district education services for lower secondary education andprimary teacher training; and provincial education services for upper secondaryeducation, lower secondary teacher training, and vocational and technicaleducation. The MOES has authority over the IUP and the NPI, and some uppersecondary schools, vocational schools and technical colleges. A number ofpost-secondary educational institutions are under the authority of otherministries such as Communication, Transport, Post and Construction, and Health.

2.4 The financing of education has primarily been the responsibility ofprovinces and districts, which have had their own revenue base and negotiatedtheir budgets directly with the Ministry of Finance (MOF). Between 1985 and1988, annual total public expenditures on education are estimated to have beenequivalent to about 2% of GDP, an order of magnitude for education spendingthat is among the lowest in the world. Moreover, the share of recurrentexpenditures actually declined from 1.9% to 1.1% of GDP and, correspondingly,

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from 15% to 8% of the total public recurrent budgets. In 1990, following aseries of salary increases for public sector employees, recurrent expenditureson education are estimated to have increased to 2.5% of GDP or almost 19% oftotal recurrent expenditures. The recurrent expenditure figures may be over-estimated, especially for 1990, since they assume that salaries have been paidat the official rates, while the reality is that salaries are often not fullypaid. Even then, these expenditure levels would be much less than in otherlow-income Asian countries (i.e., with per capita incomes below US$500), whererecurrent spending on education averages about 3.3% of GDP. Expenditures onprimary and general secondary education represent about 65% of total recurrentexpenditures or 1.6% of GDP, compared to 2.2% in low-income Asian countries.Spending on non-salary items averages about 5% of recurrent expenditures inprimary and 15% in lower secondary education.

2.5 Capital expenditures on education as a share of the total publiccapital budgets increased from 2.6% in 1985 to 8.4% in 1987; in 1990, capitalexpenditures amounted to about US$3.2 million equivalent or about 5% of thetotal public capital budgets. As in other sectors, the Government has reliedheavily on external funding to cover development expenditures. From 1985 to1990, external assistance to the sector amounted to about US$80 millionequivalent, of which 35% was provided by multilateral donors and 65% bybilateral aid agencies and non-governmental organizations. The majormultilateral donors were the ADB, UNDP/UNESCO, IDA and UNICEF, while the majorbilateral donors included the former Soviet Union, Switzerland, Norway andFrance. Although the substantial aid from the former eastern bloc countries(about US$35 million equivalent between 1985 and 1991) will no longer beforthcoming, future levels of assistance to the sector are not expected todecline, with US$60 million of external funding already committed or proposedfor the period from 1991 to 1995.

B. Main Issues

2.6 Current gross enrollment rates in primary and secondary educationrepresent impressive gains since 1975, especially in view of the country'seconomic position. However, the quality of education offered is poor and theGovernment has been unable to improve the situation due to weaknesses in sectormanagement and financing. The result is an educational system characterized byextremely high repetition and dropout rates, and other serious internalinefficiencies. With repetition rates ranging from 40% in Grade 1 to 15% inGrade 5, repeaters constitute 30% of total enrollments at the primary level.Drop-out rates range from 25% in Grade 1 to 10% in Grade 5, and less than one-third of first-grade entrants survive to the final grade of the cycle. At thelower secondary level, repeaters occupy about 11% of school places and only 52%of those beginning the cycle complete the three-year program.

Poor Quality of Education

2.7 The poor quality of educational inputs and processes in basiceducation is evidenced by inappropriate curricula and teaching methods, thescarcity of textbooks and other materials in schools, low levels of teacherqualifications, the absence of systems for teacher upgrading and professionalsupport, and school facilities which do not provide the minimum physicalconditions required for teaching and learning.

2.8 Curricula and Teaching Methods. Curricular programs are outdated,poorly organized, and crowded with 12 subjects at the primary and 17 at thelower secondary levels. The orientation is overly theoretical, of limitedrelevance to the local social and natural environments, and based on rotelearning. As the teacher often has the only textbook in a class, mostinstruction is confined to reproducing the book, by dictating the lessons orwriting them on the blackboard, and then having students recite the lessonsin unison or copy them into their notebooks. Starting in the first grade ofprimary education, teaching and testing throughout the school year are gearedtowards district or provincial year-end examinations, which determineprogression to the next grade. Cut-off scores are arbitrarily determined andthe only feedback provided to students on examination results is whether theyhave passed or failed. There is no effort to chart growth in learning nor todiagnose student needs for enrichment or remediation.

2.9 Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials. It is estimated thatfewer than 5% of students have any textbook at all, and there are almost noother instructional materials in schools. Up to 1987, textbooks were producedand distributed by two state printing enterprises according to MOESinstructions. The printing enterprises still hold the copyrights for mostexisting textbooks and, by all accounts, produce books of relatively goodquality at reasonable prices. Budget constraints prompted the 1987 Governmentdecision to discontinue the free supply of textbooks. Provincial educationservices were then expected to order books directly from the printers and tohandle sales to students to recoup their initial outlay. Large book stocksremained unsold, however, because the provinces were unable to underwritepurchase orders. Families, which bear other costs of schooling (includingfees and donations, school supplies, uniforms and transportation) also couldnot afford to purchase textbooks, especially the large numbers required by thepresently overloaded curricula. In addition to problems of financing, the lackof instructional materials has been due to the absence of a reliable deliverysystem to schools.

2.10 Teachers. Most teachers are poorly and insufficiently trained, withnearly one-third of the primary and lower secondary teaching force having lessthan an upper secondary degree. Teacher training has been the responsibilityof provincial and district education services, which has led to numerousvariations on the structure and content of pre-service programs (para. 2.1).Primary and lower secondary teachers are currently trained in about 60 teachertraining schools and colleges, which are themselves ill-equipped and staffed bytrainers with limited qualifications. The MOES has adopted a national policyto standardize and strengthen pre-service teacher education, and has started toimplement this policy through the Education Quality Improvement Projectfinanced by the ADB and the Government of Norway. Under this project, thefacilities and staff of eleven selected teacher training schools and collegeswill be upgraded and, from 1995, these institutions will offer only programscertified by the MOES. Primary school teachers will receive either three yearsof training following completion of lower secondary education, or one yearfollowing completion of upper secondary education. Lower secondary teacherswill receive three years of training following completion of upper secondaryeducation, while upper secondary teachers will continue to be trained at theIUP. A Teacher Development Center being established at the Institute will beresponsible for developing curricula and instructional materials for pre-service teacher training, as well as programs for in-service teacher training.

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2.11 While the Government has begun to address the improvement of teacherquality over the long-term, there are few opportunities for in-serviceupgrading of the present teaching corps, and no systems of professional andadministrative support to provide guidance to teachers and principals inschools. Teacher morale is low due to the lack of resources in schools anddifficult working conditions. Low teacher motivation, and the high rates ofabsenteeism and abandonment of posts this engenders, have devastating effectson the quantity and quality of instruction students receive.

2.12 Ethnic Minorities. Issues of curricula, teaching methods,instructional materials and teacher training obtain special significance forethnic minorities whose mother tongue is not Lao, the national language andmedium of instruction in schools. While some minority groups have beenacculturated with respect to the Lao language, most have not. Ethnic groupsin the Lao PDR are officially classified into three broad categories of ethnicorigin, named for the elevations at which they tend to live: Lao Loum (lowlandLaos), Lao Theung (upland Laos) and Lao Soung (highland Laos). The Lao Loumare the major ethnic group and native speakers of Lao or its dialects.Together, the Lao Theung and the Lao Soung represent 40% of the totalpopulation, but only 27% of primary and 5% of lower secondary enrollments.The limited participation of these groups in formal schooling results fromthe remoteness and mobility of their settlements, as well as the cultural andlinguistic differences that need to be considered in the design of educationalprograms. The 1992-96 UNICEF Country Programme for the Lao PDR is directlyaddressing the educational situation of ethnic minorities through projectsthat, among others, support community initiatives to build or repair schools,provide instructional materials, train teachers and develop non-formalapproaches to basic education in about 40 rural districts of eight provinceswith high concentrations of minority populations.

2.13 School Facilities. The majority of primary and lower secondary schoolfacilities do not provide an adequate physical environment for teaching andlearning. About 60% of primary and 40% of lower secondary schools are reportedto be severely dilapidated and in need of reconstruction or majorrehabilitation. Roofs and walls are frequently missing or badly degraded,and offer no security nor protection from the elements. Classrooms lack basicfurniture, such as desks and chairs. Where present, such items are fragile andof inappropriate dimensions for the children. Blackboards, the main teachingtool, are often poorly finished and unusable.

2.14 Villages and districts are responsible for the construction of primaryand lower secondary schools, respectively, and the type of construction theyundertake ranges from provisional to permanent structures, depending onavailable materials and resources. Most of the materials that are commonlyutilized degrade rapidly, are not easily maintained, and do not lend themselvesto simple rehabilitation. The extensive deterioration of the infrastructurecan also be attributed to weaknesses in initial design, poor preparation of theunderlying terrain, defective construction techniques, and a general absence ofmaintenance of the buildings and their surroundings. Norms and standards forschool construction and maintenance have not been defined, and technicalcapacities for supervision at the local levels are extremely limited.

2.15 Assistance for primary school construction has been provided to asmall number of communities by the central Government, official aid agencies

and non-governmental organizations, mainly in the form of donations ofconstruction materials. The results of such assistance has been variable,with the more successful experiences dependent on whether the willingness andcapacity of local communities to provide counterpart labor and materials wereestablished beforehand, and whether technical assistance was providedthroughout the design and implementation stages.

Institutional Weaknesses

2.16 Weaknesses in the management, financing and administration ofeducation have inhibited the Government's ability to improve quality,efficiency and equity in the educational system. Many of the issues derivefrom problems in the overall structure of public finances and administration,and will need to be addressed in the context of the institutional reforms thatthe Government is presently undertaking in these areas.

2.17 Sector Planning. Effective sector planning and management have beenhampered by the lack of accurate and relevant educational data, especially atthe central level, which is itself related to limited institutional and staffcapacities in data collection and utilization. In 1986, the MOES institutedthe regular collection of education statistics from provinces and districtsthrough school questionnaires prepared and distributed by the central office.However, the MOES did not establish school-level databases, which are essentialto the proper analysis of educational questions, and maintained only summarystatistics by province and district. Data collected have tended to servedroutine reporting requirements rather than planning and management purposes.Data quality has also been compromised by an unduly complex schoolquestionnaire, which is difficult to complete and includes items for which noclear purpose exists or which could be more reliably obtained through otherdata-gathering mechanisms. These deficiencies can be traced to the fact thatdata collection, processing and analysis have not been linked to immediatelyidentifiable needs in sector planning and management nor to a well-definedconceptual framework for utilizing the information collected.

2.18 Financing. The low levels of funding for education (para. 2.4)constrain long-term prospects for the sector and its potential to contributeto the country's development. While the GoverDnment has been able to rely onexternal assistance for its investment requirements, difficulties have beenencountered in mobilizing domestic resources to finance budgetary expenditures.Local governments have been increasingly unable to devote sufficient resourcesto provide for basic social services. Recognizing that the decentralization offiscal administration has contributed to poor revenue performance and resultedin inequities that could not be corrected by central authorities, theGoverDnment has introduced a major reform of public finances.

2.19 Under regulations issued in 1991, all revenues must be reported tothe MOF where they will be integrated into a national budget plan. Revenuecollection is being unified under two national administrations for customs andtaxes, and these resources will be allocated according to the duties carriedout by the different levels of Government. Local administrations are to ceaseoperating independent budgets and will act under delegation of spendingauthority from the central government. The budget will be executed by anational treasury administration, using a clearly defined public accountingframework, and prior control of all expenditures will be exercised at both the

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commitment and disbursement stages. While these reforms promise to improve theoverall situation, adequate financing for the sector still needs to be assured,particularly in light of initial indications that the share of education in the1992/93 national budget is only 11%.

2.20 An important objective of the financing reforms is to generate theresources needed to raise the salaries of government staff. Public sectorsalaries are low, often subject to delays in payment, and sometimes not evenpaid because of inadequate budgets. While salaries are set according to anational scale, actual payments have varied among provinces and districts,depending on local resources. Most state employees engage in subsistencefarming, hold second jobs or otherwise earn additional income to support theirfamilies. This situation has demoralized the civil service corps and affectedthe efficiency of public services. The Government has thus taken steps toimprove the salary system and rationalize employment in the civil service.Since 1989, salaries have been paid entirely in cash, replacing a system underwhich a major portion of salaries was paid through purchase book entries.Between 1989 and 1991, the size of the civil service was reduced by 19% to acurrent level of about 70,000 employees, the civil service grading system wasrevised, and salaries were nominally increased to about 3.3 times their 1988levels. However, the new salary scales represented little or no increase inreal incomes, and remain uncompetitive with the private sector.

2.21 In 1990, average teacher salaries expressed as a ratio to GDP percapita (GDP p.c.) were equivalent to 1.8 and 2.0 at the primary and secondarylevels, respectively. In low-income Asian countries, salaries average 2.3times GDP p.c. for primary and 3.4 times GDP p.c. for secondary schoolteachers. The regular payment of adequate salaries is necessary to obtain theeffective cooperation of sector staff, particularly teachers, and to helpensure the success of any effort to reform the educational system. However,the resources required to increase salaries can only be mobilized and sustainedby improving efficiency in resource use within the educational system.

2.22 The greatest scope for efficiency gains lies in improving teacherutilization, since teacher salaries constitute the bulk of education recurrentexpenditures and current student-teacher ratios at the primary and secondarylevels are low. The average ratio in primary education is 28:1, compared tothe Asia region average of 33:1, and ratios as low as 15:1 are common in thecountry's many small rural schools. The average size of primary schools isonly 85 students, and traditional practice is to assign one teacher per graderegardless of class size. As a result, teachers tend to be under-utilized andmore than 60% of schools do not provide the full five-year primary program.At the secondary level, student-teacher ratios are 13:1 in lower secondary and12:1 in upper secondary education, compared to an Asia region average of 22:1.Since average class sizes are only 34 and 40 at the lower and upper secondarylevels, respectively, the low ratios suggest that teachers are teaching lessthan 10 hours each week on average.

2.23 Administration. Professional and operational linkages between theMOES and the provincial and district education services have been precluded bythe authority of the political administrative committee chiefs over these localservices. The MOES has not been able to effectively enforce national educationpolicies or address inefficiencies and inequities in the provision and qualityof education. In conjunction with the reform of public finances, the

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Government has initiated a major administrative reform that will establish thevertical structures required to promote the attainment of national policies andobjectives. Local offices will be designated as ministry field services, andthe distribution of responsibilities and functions among the central,provincial and district levels will be re-evaluated as part of a long-termrestructuring to improve the efficiency of public administration. Anotherretrenchment of the civil service is underway while new regulations are beingprepared to improve incentives for Government employees, and administrativestructures and decision-making processes will be streamlined.

2.24 In line with the overall administrative reform of the Government,the MOES has created an internal committee to develop a plan for therestructuring of educational administration. This plan would address problemsin the functioning of existing central and local structures. Currently,decision-making is centralized at the highest levels, even for minor matters,resulting in cumbersome procedures and delays prejudicial to efficientadministration. The responsibilities of the different departments are notclearly spelled out and has led to the duplication of some roles and functions,while others are not performed. The departments have tended to work inisolation from each other, and there has been no mechanism to coordinate theiractivities. The majority of staff in the sector are former teachers who havereceived little or no training in their administrative tasks, whether this bein such specialized areas as financial and personnel management, or in basicrules of administration. The physical facilities of the MOES and the localeducation services are inadequate and in poor condition, and an acute lack ofmaterial resources makes the execution of even the most rudimentary tasks, suchas communications and document reproduction, extremely difficult.

C. Strategy for Sector Development

Government Priorities and Strategies

2.25 The Lao PDR has made substantial progress in evolving a market economywithin a broadly stabilized macroeconomic environment, and GDP is expected tocontinue growing in real terms at about 5% annually. To sustain and broadenits economic achievements, the Government has shifted its investment strategyaway from direct investment in production-related activities to building thephysical and human capital that are essential for long-term growth. This shiftis reflected in the rolling five-year Public Investment Program which theGovernment adopted in 1991 as its sole operational tool for allocating publicresources on a medium-term basis. Investment priority is being given to twoareas: (a) the development of key infrastructure in the energy, transportationand communications sectors; and (b) the delivery of basic services in healthand education. In addition to increased allocations under the PublicInvestment Program, the education sector would also receive a higher proportionof budgetary resources, and administrative reforms would strengthen socialsector support at the local levels.

2.26 The main objectives of the Government's education sector strategy areto improve the quality of education, and the efficiency of educational planningand management. While the development of efficient administrative andfinancing structures will involve and benefit the sector as a whole, specificmeasures to improve quality would focus first on basic education. Emphasis isbeing given to basic education since its products determine the quality of

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entrants into subsequent educational levels and into the work force, andbecause effective basic education enables the majority of the population toparticipate more fully in the country's economic and social development.Improvements in basic education quality would be achieved with the coordinatedassistance of the ADB and the Government of Norway, which are supportingefforts to upgrade teacher training (para. 2.10); UNICEF, through its basiceducation projects for ethnic minorities (para. 2.12); and IDA, the SwissDevelopment Cooperation (SDC) and the Government of Norway, through thefinancing of the proposed project.

2.27 Quality improvement measures would be implemented in conjunction withnew policies on continuous progression in primary education and systems ofstudent assessment, all of which are expected to improve achievement, reducerepetition and dropout, and raise survival and completion rates. TheGovernment's targets for the year 2000 would be to raise the cohort survivalrate in primary education from 30% to over 60%, and reduce the proportion ofrepeaters in total enrollments from 30% to 14%. Targets at the lower secondarylevel would be to raise completion rates from 52% to 70%, and reduce theproportion of repeaters in total enrollments from 11% to 5%. Primary and lowersecondary enrollments in 2000 would reach about 715,000 and 120,000 students,respectively, which would be equivalent to the current gross enrollment ratios.If these targets are reached, substantial cost savings would result from thereduction in the number of years required to produce a graduate from 14.5 to7.2 in primary, and from 5.2 to 4.0 in lower secondary education.

2.28 The Government intends to improve the conditions of service for sectorstaff, especially teachers, through appropriate career incentives, salaryincreases, and the reform of administrative and financial structures asrequired to ensure the regular payment of salaries. For its part, the sectorwould undertake measures to improve efficiency in teacher utilization. At theprimary level, an average student-teacher ratio of 33:1 would be achievedprimarily through the systematic organization of multigrade classes. Theaverage ratio at the secondary level would be raised to 25:1 by increasing theeffective teaching hours of teachers. Higher ratios would also be fostered byincreasing the average size of schools on the basis of school mapping outcomes.The Government recognizes that improvements in teacher utilization willnecessarily involve a reduction in the absolute numbers of teachers, notablyat the secondary level, and that the process will need to be properly managedto minimize any negative impact on educational access and quality.

2.29 Beyond the immediate priorities in basic education, the Governmentrecognizes the importance of vocational-technical and higher education toprovide the middle- and higher-level technical skills required for enhancedproductivity and competitiveness. Pre-investment work in these areas is thusunderway. The UNDP has supported an employer survey and an inventory ofvocational and technical schools, while a study of the labor market and relatedhuman resource development needs is being undertaken with technical assistancefunded by the ADB. Under the IDA- and SDC-financed NPI Project (para. 2.31),a sector study will be conducted to develop an investment strategy forvocational-technical education and training; this study would include anoverall assessment of upper secondary education to review the balance betweenacademic and vocational offerings at this level. The ADB has also proposed toassist the Government in developing a master plan for higher education, withinwhich the strengthening of the IUP as a teacher training institution is seen asthe first phase in its transformation into a national university.

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IDA Experience and Strategy

2.30 Lessons from Previous IDA Involvement. IDA assistance to the Lao PDRhas consisted of sixteen credits totalling about US$316 million, including aSecond Structural Adjustment Credit (SAC2) approved in September 1991 tosupport continued reforms in economic management, public finances andadministration. The PCRs and PPAR of four completed agriculture and industryprojects- highlight the importance of good technical preparation and thecritical role of IDA supervision in countries such as the Lao PDR where projectskills are limited. Grant funding of V120 million (about US$900,000equivalent) was thus obtained from the Japan Policy and Human ResourcesDevelopment Flnd administered by IDA to support detailed projectpreparation,2 and intensive IDA supervision would be undertaken duringproject implementation.

2.31 The first and only IDA operation in the education sector to date, theNPI Project (Credit 2001-LA, 1989), aims to train engineers and technicalmanagers for the productive sectors of the economy. The NPI experience thusfar points to the need for incentives to contain the turnover of project staff,and to streamline the decision-making and administrative procedures involved inimplementing the project. These issues would be addressed on a country levelthrough the reforms supported by SAC2, and by actions under the proposedproject to promote improved employment conditions for sector staff and toclearly delineate lines of authority and responsibility in project managementand implementation arrangements. The NPI Project has also fostered positiveworking relationships between the Government, IDA and the SDC, and theincreased familiarity with each other's procedures would be drawn upon in theimplementation of the proposed project.

2.32 IDA Assistance Strategy. The objectives of IDA's country assistancestrategy are to: (a) support Government efforts to move to a market economywhile maintaining macroeconomic stability; (b) assist in the development ofthe physical capital needed to expand production and exports; (c) promote thesustainable use of the country's natural resources; and (d) support humanresource development, both for increasing labor productivity and foralleviating poverty. In line with the human resource development objective,IDA has established solid relationships in the education sector through itspolicy dialogue, sector analysis and advice, and the technical assistance andtraining provided during project preparation. IDA lending for education hasbeen limited, however, accounting for only 2% of total lending between fiscalyears 1986 and 1992. The proposed project would represent a substantialincrease in IDA assistance to the education sector, in view of the importanceof the sector for the country's social and economic development. IDA has alsomobilized substantial cofinancing for the proposed project, and has sought tocoordinate its activities with other donor agencies to help ensure a coherentdevelopment effort in the sector.

For the First, Second and Third Agricultural Rehabilitation and DevelopmentProjects, PCR Nos. 7250, 8084 and 9858, respectively, and PPAR No. 8884; PCRNo. 9857 for the Agricultural Production Support Project; and PCR No. 8374for the Nam Ngum Hydroelectric Project.

2/ The Japanese Grant Agreement between the Lao PDR and IDA (as Administrator ofGrant Funds provided by the Government of Japan) was signed on February 11,1991.

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2.33 Rationale for IDA Involvement. Following the approval of the NPIProject in 1989, the Government requested IDA assistance to develop andimplement a program for overall sector reform. IDA's main contribution tothese discussions has been to help sharpen the definition of sector priorities,and to underscore the need to balance desired objectives with proposals thatare pedagogically effective and financially viable. IDA has also encouragedan approach that would promote sector-wide policies and planning, and therebystrengthen the coordination of development activities in the sector. IDAinvolvement in the sector would further complement the reforms in publicadministration and resource management being supported by SAC2. In the comingyears, the Government aims to establish systems of financial control andaccounting, reduce the civil service while upgrading salaries and employmentconditions, and redefine local government authority, structures and financingmechanisms. The proposed project would support implementation of these reformsin the education sector, and would help ensure that sector requirements aretaken into account as these reforms are elaborated.

III. THE PROJECT

A. Obiectives and ScoRe

3.1 The project would aim to address immediate needs for qualityimprovements in basic education and to establish the policy and institutionalframeworks for longer-term sector development. The project's specificobjectives would be:

(a) to improve student and teacher performance in primary and lowersecondary schools, by supplying instructional materials, introducingnew approaches to teaching and learning, and providing in-servicetraining and pedagogical support to teachers;

(b) to develop viable mechanisms for assuring the provision of appropriateeducational facilities in primary and secondary education, bysupporting local communities in the construction and maintenance oftheir primary schools, and developing capacities at the central andprovincial levels to plan, manage and implement school constructionprograms;

(c) to promote efficiency in the allocation and use of resources byinstalling systems to collect and utilize management information,and developing technical skills in educational planning, monitoringand evaluation;

(d) to enable more effective delivery of basic education services, bystrengthening management capacities at all administrative levels,and developing the structures and processes required to respond toclearly identified needs of the educational system.

3.2 To accomplish these objectives, the project would consist of thefollowing components and sub-components:

(a) Curriculum Development and Pedagogical Support, including (i)curriculum and instructional materials development, (ii) instructional

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materials provision, (iii) teacher training and support, (iv) aprimary schools networks pilot, and (v) a study on Lao languageteaching and the schooling of ethnic minorities.

(b) School Infrastructure, including (i) a limited school reconstructioneffort, (ii) creation of Provincial Units for Construction Assistancein six provinces, and (iii) reinforcement of the School ConstructionService Unit of the MOES;

(c) Sector Planning. Monitoring and Evaluation, including (i)establishment of systems of data collection, analysis and utilization,and (ii) carrying out of studies to assess educational outcomes; and

(d) Educational Administration and Management, including (i) strengtheningof MOES capacities in financial and personnel management, and thepreparation of plans for revised administrative structures and a staffdevelopment program for the MOES; (ii) institutional assessment oflocal and school administrations, and training of staff at theselevels; and (iii) support to project management and implementation.

3.3 Through the implementation of the above components, the project wouldinitiate actions on key policy measures designed to increase completion ratesin basic education and improve efficiency in teacher utilization. Theseactions would include: (a) introduction of continuous student progression andevaluation in primary schools; (b) review of current practices in studentassessment and examinations; (c) organization of multigrade classes, whichwould allow the full primary cycle to be offered in small schools as well aspromote efficient student-teacher ratios; (d) increasing the effective teachinghours of secondary school teachers; and (e) school mapping to increase theaverage school size.

3.4 The commitment of the Government to the objectives, strategy andactivities of the project was confirmed in a Letter of Education Policy thatwas furnished to IDA and reviewed at negotiations (Annex 1). At negotiations,the Government provided assurances that it would carry out the project inaccordance with work programs and timetables satisfactory to IDA, and forthis purpose, would furnish to IDA for its review by April 15 of each year,beginning in 1994, a proposed annual work program and timetable for thefollowing Government fiscal year. Understandings were also reached that theannual work program and timetable for Government fiscal year 1993/94, as wellas a work program and performance indicators for overall projectimplementation, would be reviewed and agreed upon during the initial IDAsupervision mission scheduled for August 1993.

B. DescriRtion

Curriculum DeveloRment and Pedagogical Support(Proposed outlay of US$14.2 million, including contingencies)

3.5 Curriculum and Instructional Materials DeveloRment. The project wouldsupport the development of curricula and instructional materials in primary andlower secondary education that organize programs of study into key learningareas, emphasize problem-solving and practical applications to the students'natural and social environments through well-sequenced presentations of lessons

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and exercises, and support continuous assessment of student growth in knowledgeand understanding. The primary education syllabus, which details the learningobjectives, content outlines and teaching strategies for each grade and subjectin the curriculum, has been completed and approved. On this basis, 12 textbooktitles in three core subjects, 13 teacher guide titles, and support materials(learninp kits, charts and flash cards) would be developed for the five primarygrades.- The lower secondary syllabus is scheduled for completion bySeptember 1993; 15 textbook titles with corresponding teacher guides in fivecore subjects, and support materials (learning kits and basic equipment), wouldbe developed for the three grades at this level.

3.6 Each set of curriculum materials for a particular grade would bedeveloped and tested over a two-year period by national teams, in conjunctionwith pilot school teachers who would try out sections of the materials as theyare developed. Fifteen primary and nine secondary pilot schools in threeprovinces have been selected to represent the range of schooling conditionsin the country. Nationwide, grade-by-grade introduction of the new materialswould begin in school year 1994/95 for primary education, and two years laterin 1996/97 for lower secondary education. Full implementation would beachieved at both levels in school year 1998/99 (Annex 10).

3.7 In addition to the development of new instructional materials forprimary and lower secondary education, the project would support: (a) therewriting of selected Lao language and social science textbooks for uppersecondary education, as existing texts have been rendered obsolete by recentcountry and world developments; and (b) the selection of existing manuscriptsfor limited reprinting, in order to supply learning resources in primary andlower secondary schools while the new curriculum materials are being developed,and to provide supplementary materials, including readers and reference books.

3.8 The project would strengthen the Research Institute for EducationalSciences (RIES), the MOES agency responsible for curriculum and instructionalmaterials development. The buildings which house the Institute would berefurbished to improve space utilization and the physical work environment, andother material inputs, including furniture and equipment, would be provided.Institute staff would receive about 33 staff-months of overseas training, andwould be supported by 63 staff-months of foreign specialist services incurriculum preparation and instructional materials development and publishing,and 248 staff-months of local specialist services to assist with thepreparation and review of manuscripts. The project would also finance thecosts related to local training in word processing and desktop publishing,testing of new curriculum materials (including production of trial editions andtraining of staff in pilot schools), and management and operations.

3.9 Instructional Materials Provision. The project would support theprinting and distribution of textbooks, teacher guides and supplementarymaterials. New textbooks would be provided at a ratio of one book for everystudent. Teachers would receive a teacher guide and a copy of the student textfor each grade and subject taught. Teacher training colleges would also beprovided with a supply of the new books. The production and quantityspecifications of these materials would be such as to extend expected book life

3/ Work is nearly complete on the materials for Grade 1 and the preparation ofGrade 2 materials is underway (para. 3.40).

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to at least five years and eliminate the need for reprinting during the projectperiod. A total of about 1.7 million primary, 670,000 lower secondary and176,000 upper secondary new textbooks, as well as 117,000 teacher guides, wouldbe produced for all grades. For the reprinting of existing book titles, about935,000 copies would be scheduled for delivery in school years 1993/94 and1994/95; thereafter, about 200,000 copies of supplementary materials would beprinted and distributed (Annex 11).

3.10 Book distribution would be undertaken once annually and completedbefore the onset of the rainy season in May. Books would be delivered by theprinter to the MOES warehouse in Vientiane, where individual school lots wouldbe parcelled and gathered into district lots. The Vientiane warehouse, and theMOES warehouses in the provinces of Luang Prabang and Savannakhet, would usetheir existing vehicles to deliver district lots to about half of the districtsin the country. Deliveries to the remaining districts would be contracted tothe two private firms in the country offering full transport services and ableto guarantee delivery to the districts. District offices would providetemporary dry storage and lockable wooden boxes in which books could be carriedto and stored in schools. As a rule, teachers would be requested to collectthe books from district offices, but allowances would be made for directdelivery to schools where warranted. The project would finance equipment andoperating expenses for the MOES warehouses, contracts for transport services,book boxes, and costs incurred by teachers for transporting books.

3.11 The Instructional Materials Unit (IMU) in the MOES Department ofPlanning and Finance (DPF) would be responsible for planning and supervisinginstructional materials production and distribution, and for ensuring strictadherence to agreed upon timetables. Given the importance of these functions,a full-time position for a Unit Chief would need to be created. The IMU wouldcoordinate closely with: (a) RIES, for the preparation of camera-readymanuscripts; (b) the Statistics Unit in the DPF, for the installation andmaintenance of the required data systems (para. 3.32); (c) the Project SupportUnit, for the processing of printing and distribution contracts (para. 3.38);and (d) the MOES warehouses and the district education services, for theorganization and management of the distribution network. The project wouldfinance equipment and management expenses for the IMU and the MOES warehouses,local training for IMU, warehouse and local education services staff, and about18 staff-months of overseas training in a publishing company with a substantialdistribution activity. About 18 and 14 staff-months of foreign and localspecialist services, respectively, would be provided to assist in setting upthe production and distribution systems and, subsequently, to help addresslonger-term issues in developing a publishing program for the continuedprovision of instructional materials. At negotiations, the Government providedassurances that, by September 30, 1993, the IMU would be officially assignedits responsibilities and authorities, and the Unit's Chief would be appointed.

3.12 The project would encourage students to use textbooks at home inthe belief that the benefits from such a policy would outweigh the risks ofadditional loss or reduced book life. These benefits would include not onlyincreased student time-on-task, motivation and achievement, but also thepotential to create an environment in which parents and the community canbecome more actively involved in their children's education. Government policyon the provision of textbooks would be as follows: (i) at the primary level,books would be loaned to students for a minimum deposit that would be

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reimbursed upon return of the books at the end of the school year; (ii) at thelower secondary level, books would be loaned to students for a fee; and (iii)the selected upper secondary education textbooks would be produced for sale tostudents. The Department of General Education (DGE) would be responsible fordeveloping implementing guidelines and monitoring arrangements to help ensurecompliance with the Government's policy. These guidelines would includeprovision for books to be loaned free of charge to the poorest students and/orin the poorest communities.

3.13 The project would also finance the production of curriculum supportmaterials for primary and lower secondary education (para. 3.5), and theprovision of basic school supplies to primary students. Production of supportmaterials would be undertaken both centrally for distribution to schools andlocally by teachers, as appropriate. Support materials that are centrallyproduced would be distributed to schools with book deliveries. School supplieswould only be provided to students most in need, according to criteria set bythe DGE. As a longer-term measure, the project would support about 26 staff-months of specialist services to assist the Government in developing a system,involving parents, communities and the district education services, forthe cost-effective provision of school supplies to primary students.

3.14 Teacher Training and Pedagogical Support. Teachers would beintroduced to the new curriculum materials and approaches through orientationprograms, and thereafter provided continuing support by a corps of advisers tobe established under the project. At the primary level, three pedagogicaladvisers would be appointed and attached to each district education service.At the lower secondary level, a Center for Pedagogical Support would beestablished for each province and staffed with eight teacher advisers. These384 pedagogical and 144 teacher advisers would have two major functions: (a)to conduct the teacher orientation programs in their respective districts andprovinces; and (b) to provide professional guidance to teachers during theschool year. Core teams of primary and lower secondary advisers would beformed by selecting two pedagogical and two teacher advisers from eachprovince, and providing them with about 58 staff-months of overseas training.

3.15 The teacher orientation programs would be run in two stages, eachlasting two weeks. In the first stage, the programs would be developed, testedin the pilot schools (para. 3.6), and conducted by staff from RIES, the MOESDepartment of Teacher Training, the IUP Teacher Development Center, the DGE andselected faculty members from teacher training colleges. These staff, assistedby the core teams of advisers, would train the pedagogical and teacher advisersin four regional sessions, undertaken successively for groups of neighboringprovinces. In the second stage, the advisers would simultaneously organize andconduct the orientation programs in their own districts for a total of about20,000 primary teachers. The training for lower secondary teachers would beconducted at the provincial level, and would reach about 5000 teachers. Theorientation programs would include overviews of curriculum content and moduleson teaching strategies, continuous assessment, multigrade teaching, localproduction of teaching aids, and basic book care. Detailed training agendasand written instructions would be provided to the advisers to assist them inconducting the programs for teachers in their districts and provinces. Centralstaff would monitor the local training programs and evaluate their impact todetermine the need for any adjustments or modification. The project wouldfinance all expenses related to conducting and evaluating the teacherorientation programs.

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3.16 During the school year, the pedagogical advisers in each districtwould be responsible for supervising about 55 primary schools on average.Informal groups of five to six schools would be formed, and the principal or asenior teacher would be designated as the local pedagogical coordinator. Thepedagogical advisers would visit each school group for about three days eachmonth. For lower secondary schools, the teacher advisers would visit anaverage of two schools per month, and teachers would also have the opportunityto attend short-term training programs at the Pedagogical Support Centers. TheDGE and the core teams of advisers would prepare detailed plans of activitiesfor the school visits, as well as simple structured questionnaires to recordobservations and feedback from teachers. The DGE would monitor the extent towhich the advisers are actually able to visit the schools, and evaluate theeffectiveness of the assistance provided to teachers during the visits. Theproject would finance vehicles for the advisers and other expenses related toschool supervision.

3.17 As the MOES agency responsible for general education standards,the DGE would define recruitment criteria and lines of authority for theadvisers, and would assist provincial and district education officials in theirselection from among experienced teachers or other sector staff with teachingcredentials. The DGE would also ensure that the role of the advisers isintegrated into the teacher in-service training structure being developed underthe Education Quality Improvement Project (para. 2.10). At negotiations, theGovernment provided assurances that at least three pedagogical advisers wouldbe appointed for each administrative district by June 30, 1994, and that atleast eight teacher advisers would be appointed for each administrativeprovince by June 30, 1996. The DGE, in collaboration with RIES, would also beresponsible for monitoring and evaluating curriculum implementation in schools,and for preparing longer-term plans to address issues related to examinationreform. To strengthen capacities in the DGE, the project would provide about18 staff-months of overseas training and 40 staff-months of foreign specialistservices, and would finance equipment and other expenses related to managementand operations.

3.18 Primary School Networks Pilot. The project would test a model wherebyteachers and principals of neighboring primary schools would form a network ofmutual support as they attempt to implement the new teaching and learningapproaches. The main objective of the pilot is to develop a complementary oralternative strategy for pedagogical support, since any large-scale effort canoffer only limited assistance directly to schools, and assistance from theadvisers may be less frequent and effective than is desirable given thedifficulties of reaching many schools in the country. The pilot would involvenetworks of schools in three districts of one province. The network schoolswould receive additional training, advisory and material support, but with theview that these resources could eventually be generalized to all schools. Atleast half of the pilot schools would have enrollments for which multigradeteaching would be appropriate, in order to demonstrate the effectiveness ofsuch techniques in improving achievement and expanding access to the fullprimary cycle. The pilot would also test a mechanism that would enableteachers to develop and reproduce supplementary teaching and learning materialsfor use by themselves and their students. The project would support all costsrelated to planning and implementing the pilot, including 25 staff-months ofstudy visits to countries where such networks have been successfully

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implemented, and about 6 staff-months of services from foreign specialistsinvolved in these successful undertakings.

3.19 Study on Lao Language Teaching. Recognizing the special situation ofethnic minority students, the project would support a study to: (a) evaluateclassroom practices in schools catering to ethnic minorities with respect tothe use (or non-use) of textbooks written in Lao, and determine the need toprovide other instructional materials or supplies to these students ifwarranted (which would require adjustments to the number of Lao books to beprinted and distributed); (b) develop appropriate strategies for teaching Laoto students whose mother tongue is not Lao; and (c) identify otherinterventions or policy options for the education of ethnic minorities. Theproject would finance expenses for field research, and about 15 staff-months oflocal and 3 staff-months of foreign specialist services required to carry outthe study.

School Infrastructure(Proposed outlay of US$16.1 million, including contingencies)

3.20 School Reconstruction. The project would aim to establish thefoundation for a systematic and sustainable construction program for primaryand lower secondary schools. School building designs and institutionalstructures and processes would be developed, implemented and evaluated, witha long-term view to ensuring that within 20 to 25 years, all schools would bebuilt to standards which provide a suitable environment for teaching andlearning. The scope of works under the project would be limited to that whichcan be carefully supervised, but would represent the variety of conditions thata national construction program should be prepared to address.

3.21 In keeping with its qualitative orientation, the project wouldconcentrate on the reconstruction of existing schools. The school buildingsto be provided would be durable structures, with concrete foundations, brickwalls and an overall expected life of at least 25 years. These structureswould involve a lower initial investment than wooden buildings, require lessmaintenance, substantially reduce future needs for reconstruction, and helpsafeguard school furniture and equipment. The project would also providedurable furniture that are appropriately sized for Lao school children andare able to support both traditional and alternative classroom practices.

3.22 At the primary level, the project would construct about 390 schoolsthrough cooperative ventures between local communities and educationauthorities in Vientiane Prefecture, and the provinces of Saravane,Savannakhet, Vientiane, Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang and Luang Namtha.Communities selected to participate in the project would receive constructionmaterials which are not readily available in their localities, and technicalassistance to improve the quality of existing school facilities. This materialand technical support would be provided by the School Construction Service Unit(SCS) of the MOES-DPF, and by Provincial Units for Construction Assistance(PUCAs) to be created in the six aforementioned provinces.

3.23 The SCS would prepare construction manuals containing architecturaldesigns for four primary school models, and illustrated technical instructionson site selection and preparation, storage and utilization of constructionmaterials, methods of construction, and building and site maintenance. The

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school models would be designed for enrollment capacities ranging from 75 to200 students, and would include two multigrade prototypes. The localcommunities would be responsible for construction of the primary schoolbuildings. They would supply locally available materials and organize thelabor required for construction. The construction work would be undertakenbetween November and March, a period when communities are generally free fromfarming responsibilities and the dry weather facilitates the transport ofmaterials and supervision of works. The school principal or other localauthority would oversee the planning and execution of the construction, withthe assistance of PUCA or SCS technicians.

3.24 Project schools would be selected by the PUCA of the provincialeducation service, in consultation with the district education service,according to MOES guidelines and after the community's willingness toparticipate in the project has been confirmed by a site visit. The PUCA wouldprepare an agreement between the community and the provincial education serviceto establish their respective responsibilities, the school model to beutilized, and the types and quantities of construction materials and laborrequired. The SCS would compile the list of construction materials to beprovided to the communities in each province, procure these materials, andarrange for their distribution to the PUCAs. The PUCAs would arrange for thesematerials to be delivered from the provincial warehouses to the project sites,and would provide the technical supervision needed throughout all phases ofpreparation and execution of the works. For primary school construction inVientiane Prefecture, the role of the PUCA would be assumed by the SCS.

3.25 For lower secondary schools, the SCS would prepare architecturaldesigns for single- and two-story versions of a one-stream model with anenrollment capacity of 120 and a two-stream model for up to 240 students.The SCS would contract construction enterprises to rebuild and rehabilitateabout 12 one-stream and 22 two-stream schools throughout the country, at sitesidentified according to MOES guidelines. The provincial education serviceswould be responsible for site selection and surveys, for collecting other datarequired for the preparation of bid documents, and for preparing evaluationreports upon completion of a contract. Supervision of works would beundertaken by supervisors of the SCS or by civil works technicians engaged bythe project for this purpose. Basic equipment would also be provided to allsecondary schools reconstructed under the project.

3.26 Provincial Units for Construction Assistance. To developinstitutional arrangements that preserve the vital role of local communitiesin primary school provision, the project would progressively establish PUCAswithin the education services of six selected provinces (para. 3.22). EachPUCA would support the construction of 8 to 10 primary schools in its firstyear of existence, and would increase this capacity to 14 to 18 schools by theend of the project. The goal beyond the present project would be to establishPUCAs in all provinces, each able to support an annual construction program of20 to 25 schools. The project would build offices to accommodate PUCApersonnel and, where required, warehouses for the storage of constructionmaterials. Each PUCA, except in Savannakhet, would be staffed by two civilworks technicians, a warehouse supervisor and a watchman, and assisted by avolunteer architect or technician; due to the size of the province, theSavannakhet PUCA would be staffed by four technicians, a warehouse supervisorand a watchman, and assisted by two volunteers. A total of 17.5 staff-years of

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specialist services would be provided by seven volunteers over the course ofthe project. To the extent possible, the Government would work with non-governmental organizations experienced in community-based school constructionto recruit either local or foreign volunteers to provide the technicalassistance required for the PUCAs. At negotiations, the Government providedassurances that PUCAs would be established and staffed, in accordance with atimetable satisfactory to IDA, in the six selected provinces. Understandingswere reached that the PUCAs would be established and staffed in Savannakhet byNovember 1993, in Saravane and Vientiane Province by November 1994, and inXieng Khouang, Luang Prabang and Luang Namtha by November 1995.

3.27 In addition to their role in the construction of permanent primaryschool facilities, the PUCAs would provide technical assistance to communitiescontinuing to build provisional and semi-permanent structures. They would alsoassist in selecting and surveying the project sites for lower secondary schools(para. 3.25), establishing the needs for rehabilitation of the offices of theprovincial and district education services (paras. 3.37), and undertakinggeneral supervision of these works where possible. The project would providethe necessary resources for the establishment and functioning of the PUCAs,including facilities, furniture, equipment, foreign specialist services,expenses related to management of PUCA operations and supervision of works, andstaff compensation. In order to recruit and retain qualified technicians, theproject would finance professional premiums to bring civil service salariesclose to levels competitive with those in private enterprises; these paymentswould be linked to staff performance and would be reduced as civil servicerates increase.

3.28 School Construction Service Unit. The project would seek to developin the SCS the institutional capacities to plan and manage the investmentprogram for the construction of schools, as well as the provision ofadministrative facilities for the central and local education services (paras.3.36, 3.37). In addition to its responsibilities in school construction(paras. 3.23 to 3.25), the SCS would prepare bidding documents for theprocurement of all civil works, construction materials and furniture under theproject, assure the management of construction contracts and generalsupervision of works, and determine the need to adjust the designs, manuals,implementation procedures or scope of construction under the project.

3.29 To enable the SCS to fulfill these responsibilities, the present staffof two would be expanded to twelve. At negotiations, the Government providedassurances that an additional architect or civil works technician, an engineer,a draftsman, a procurement manager, an accountant and a construction supervisorwould be employed by September 30, 1993, and that four other constructionsupervisors would subsequently be hired, two by July 31, 1994 and two byOctober 31, 1995. Support staff would be engaged on a contractual basis inview of the need for bilingual (Lao-English or Lao-French) secretarial skills.The technical staff would be hired on regular civil service positions and wouldreceive professional premiums similar to those proposed for the PUCAs. SCSstaff would receive about 4 staff-months of overseas training, with furthertraining and technical assistance from consultant architects who would provideabout 26 staff-months of foreign specialist services. The project would alsoprovide furniture and equipment for the SCS offices, and would support expensesrelated to SCS operations and supervision of works.

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Sector Planning. Monitoring and Evaluation(Proposed outlay of US$1.6 million, including contingencies)

3.30 Information Systems. The project would develop systems of datacollection and utilization to support sector planning and management, tomonitor and analyze the extent to which objectives are being met, and toidentify measures to improve the implementation and outcomes of sectoractivities. These systems would involve identifying the purposes for whichdata need to be collected, specifying the data elements which respond to theseneeds, designing appropriate instruments and methods of data-gathering, anddeveloping procedures to ensure the feedback of information to and from thelocal and central levels. The strategy of the project would be to keep datarequirements to a minimum in order to focus on improving the quality andtimeliness of the data collected, and on analyzing and utilizing suchinformation. Once established and effectively functioning, the basic systemscould be gradually expanded in terms of scope and technical sophistication.

3.31 The project would develop basic information systems built on thefollowing central databases: (a) school database, covering data onenrollments, student flow statistics and numbers of teachers, to be obtainedthrough an annual census of schools and published in an annual statisticalbulletin; (b) school maps, which would be published in an education atlas andregularly updated, to provide the locational and basic demographic informationneeded to monitor access to schools and improve efficiency in resourceallocation; (c) instructional materials database, to maintain the informationrequired for instructional materials to be packaged by school and by district,and to monitor actual distribution to schools based on delivery receipts signedby teachers to confirm quantities received; (d) school facilities and furnitureinventory, to support the programming of investments in school facilities,furniture and equipment; and (e) personnel inventory, covering both teachingand administrative staff, to support the implementation of the new payrollsystem and other civil service reforms, measures to improve staff utilization,and planning of staff development programs.

3.32 The Statistics and Planning Units in the DPF would establish andmaintain the above systems in coordination with user groups in the differentdepartments of the MOES. To develop the required technical skills ineducational planning, information systems design, data collection, databasecreation and management, and data analysis and reporting, the project wouldprovide about 39 staff-months of overseas training, 18 staff-months of foreignspecialist services and 40 staff-months of local programming services. Inaddition, local training would be organized for MOES, provincial and districtstaff on the use of information for planning and management. The project wouldalso finance equipment and expenses related to management and operations.

3.33 Assessment of Educational Outcomes. Given the importance of analyzingeducational quality issues in greater depth, the project would support sample-based studies to: (a) provide data on rates and patterns of student attendanceand achievement; (b) examine school and non-school factors affectingeducational outcomes, including gender-specific issues; and (c) evaluate thecost-effectiveness of specific educational policies and interventions. Thestudies would be managed by the DPF Planning Unit and would serve as aprecursor to a system of periodic assessments that would allow monitoring ofsector performance over time. To ensure compatibility with curricular content,

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the tests to be utilized as measures of student achievement would be developedby a team of local specialists from RIES, the DGE, the Department of TeacherTraining and the IUP, with the assistance of foreign consultants. The projectwould provide a total of about 6 staff-months of foreign specialist servicesand about 6 staff-months of overseas training for the development of theresearch design, survey and test instruments, data analysis, report-writing anddissemination. The project would also support the costs related to survey andtest administration, and data processing.

Educational Administration and Management(Proposed outlay of US$5.6 million, including contingencies)

3.34 Central Administration. The project would strengthen institutionalcapacities in educational administration and management while assisting thesector to respond to the overall administrative and fiscal reforms of theGovernment. In line with these reforms, and as conditions for more efficientand effective delivery of education services, priority would be given toimprovements in financial and personnel management. This would require thereinforcement of the Finance Unit of the DPF and the Department of Organizationand Personnel (DOP). The Finance Unit would assume primary responsibility forexpenditure programming and budgeting for the sector as a whole, and forimplementing centralized payroll and accounting systems that would help toensure the regular payment of salaries to sector staff. These activities wouldbe implemented in accordance with regulations to be developed by the Budget,Public Accounting and Treasury Departments of the MOF. In the DOP, capacitieswould be created to develop personnel policies and procedures for sector staff,while adhering to guidelines on compensation, career progression and othercivil service regulations to be issued as part of the reform in publicadministration. The DOP would also prepare and implement plans to improveefficiency in the utilization of staff resources, especially teachers.

3.35 Because the provision of adequate financing for education andincentives to retain qualified sector staff are crucial for successful projectimplementation, the Government provided assurances at negotiations that, byApril 15 of each year, beginning in 1994, IDA would be furnished for its reviewthe proposed budgetary allocations to the education sector for the followingGovernment fiscal year. The budget reviews would specifically assess: (a)allocations for salary and non-salary requirements relative to sector needs,and the share of education in the total budget; and (b) efficiency improvementswithin the educational system, particularly progress in reaching targetedstudent-teacher ratios in primary and secondary education.

3.36 The project would also provide for institutional analyses to assistthe MOES in developing plans for revised administrative structures andprocedures consistent with the functional requirements of the sector. Suchanalyses would address questions relating to the responsibilities andrelationships of the different levels of educational administration, and theorganizational and staffing patterns corresponding to these roles. To supportboth immediate efforts to improve financial and personnel management, andlonger-term institutional development planning, the project would finance about24 and 72 staff-months of foreign and local specialist services, respectively,about 18 staff-months of overseas training, local training courses, andmanagement and operations expenses. The MOES buildings in Vientiane would alsobe rehabilitated, and office furniture and equipment would be provided.

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3.37 Local Administrations. The project would complement the overalladministrative and financing reforms of the Government with a focussed effortto elicit the participation of local education services and schools in definingmore efficient and effective structures and procedures for educationaladministration and management. Institutional assessments would be undertakenwith the provincial education services of three provinces, and a sample ofdistrict education services and schools within these provinces. The resultsof these assessments would feed into the longer-term institutional developmentplans for the sector. In addition, as these assessments would be conducted inthe early stages of project implementation, feedback would be obtained onproblems encountered as the inputs and activities of the different projectcomponents reach the field. Basic management training would be designed andprovided to staff in accordance with needs identified during the assessments,and within the context of developing an institutional framework to providecontinuing support to administrators following their training. The projectwould finance about 12 and 72 staff-months of foreign and local specialistservices, respectively, the institutional assessments and the local trainingprograms. Administrative buildings of the local education services would alsobe rehabilitated, and office furniture and equipment provided.

3.38 SuRRort to Project Management and ImRlementation. A Project SupportUnit (PSU) has been established to provide essential services in projectmanagement and administration while ensuring the effective implementation ofthe project within the regular MOES structure. The PSU is also responsible formanaging the other major development project in the sector, the ADB-financedEducation Quality Improvement Project (para. 2.10). The functions of the PSUwould include the administration of technical assistance and overseas trainingprograms, procurement of goods (other than furniture) and services requiredunder the project, maintenance of project files, accounts and records,supervision of contract payments and expenditures, preparation of withdrawalapplications, monitoring of project progress against agreed upon implementationschedules and action plans, progress reporting, arrangement for timely auditsof project accounts, and liaison with IDA and SDC.

3.39 The PSU is headed by a full-time Project Director, assisted by twoProject Coordinators responsible for the IDA- and ADB-financed projects,respectively. An office manager and assistant manager would be recruited andtrained in IDA procedures, including procurement and disbursements. Bilingualsecretaries and translators (French-Lao and English-Lao) would be engaged asneeded. A total of about 90 and 72 staff-months of foreign and localspecialist services, respectively, would be provided to advise and train PSUstaff in the various aspects of project management and administration. Theproject would also finance about 12 staff-months of overseas training,equipment, contract staff salaries, and management and operations expenses.At negotiations, the Government provided assurances that, by September 30,1993, the Project Director, two Project Coordinators, an office manager and anassistant office manager would be appointed, and that a Project Adviser wouldbe employed and assigned to the PSU until the completion of the project.Understandings were reached that, although the position of Project Adviserwould be established for the entire duration of the project, the initialconsultant contract would be for two years, automatically renewable for equalperiods of time, unless the Government and IDA, in coordination with SDC, wouldagree to terminate the services of such consultant.

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C. Status of Project Preparation

3.40 Project preparation is at an advanced stage as a result of the supportprovided by the Japanese Grant for Project Preparation (para. 2.30). The Granthas financed a total of 53 staff-months of specialist services in areas relatedto all project components, and about 27 staff-months of overseas training incurriculum and instructional materials development, educational planning andinformation systems. Other activities accomplished under the Grant include:(a) completion of the primary education syllabus; (b) preparation and pilotingof textbooks, teacher guides and support materials for Grades 1 and 2; (c)architectural studies for rehabilitation of the RIES buildings; (d) a study toassess the capacities of the local construction industry in relation to therequirements of the school construction program; (e) preparation of standarddesigns for primary and secondary schools; (f) collection of baseline data forthe school facilities and furniture inventory; (g) local training forprovincial and district planning officers on school data-gathering instrumentsand preparation of school maps; (h) collection and processing of basic schooldata for school years 1990/91 and 1991/92; (i) publication of the first schoolatlas; (j) local training for provincial finance officers on the new budget andaccounting systems; (k) preparation of sector budgets for Government fiscalyears 1992 and 1993; and (1) preparation of standard bidding documents forworks, goods and services. In addition to the activities financed by theJapanese Grant, the Government of France has provided about 3 staff-months ofspecialist services towards the analysis of the financial management system,and 4 staff-months of overseas training for MOES finance officers. About 18staff-months of specialist services in project management and 10 staff-monthsof overseas training for PSU and other MOES staff have also been provided underan ADB technical assistance grant for start-up operations for the EducationQuality Improvement Project.

IV. COSTS AND FINANCING

A. Cost Estimates

4.1 Summary of Project Costs. The total project cost is estimated atKip 26.8 billion or US$37.5 million equivalent, including contingencies andtaxes. A summary of costs by project component is given in Table 4.1 and bycategory of expenditure in Table 4.2. Cost breakdowns by component, categoryof expenditure and project year are provided in Annex 8.

4.2 Basis of Cost Estimates. Base costs are expressed in March 1993prices. Costs for civil works and construction materials are based on recenttender prices given by the Ministry of Communications, Transport, Post andConstruction, and quotations from construction enterprises operating in theLao PDR. Costs for furniture to be provided in association with project-supported construction are estimated at between 8% and 15% of the cost of thecivil works. The costs of other furniture and equipment are based on recentMOES purchases financed by the NPI Project, the Education Quality ImprovementProject, the Japanese Grant for Project Preparation, and other technicalassistance grants from ADB, UNDP and UNICEF. Implementation of theseactivities has also provided cost estimates for instructional materials, localand overseas training, specialist services, and management and operations. Atotal of about 1100 staff-months of local and foreign specialist services wouldbe required under the project.

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Table 4.1: SUMMARY OF PROJECT COSTS BY COMPONENT

S TotalLocal Foreign Total Local Foreign Total Foreign Base

Project Component ---------Kip million--------- ------US$ million---- Exchange Cost

Curriculum/Pedagogical Support

Curriculum Development 260.3 587.5 847.8 0.4 0.8 1.2 69.3 3.7Instructional Materials 590.9 3810.1 4401.0 0.8 5.4 6.2 86.6 19.5Teacher Training/Support 1737.2 1616.8 3354.0 2.4 2.3 4.7 48.2 14.8School Networks Pilot 47.2 70.8 118.0 0.1 0.1 0.2 60.0 0.5Lao Language Study 11.6 17.4 29.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 60.0 0.1

Sub-total 2647.2 6102.6 8749.8 3.7 8.6 12.3 69.7 38.7

School InfrastructureSchool Reconstruction 3106.0 4805.0 7911.0 4.3 6.7 11.0 60.7 35.0

Provincial Units 400.0 792.1 1192.1 0.6 1.1 1.7 66.4 5.3Construction Service 119.5 350.4 469.8 0.2 0.5 0.7 74.6 2.1

Sub-total 3625.4 5947.4 9572.9 5.1 8.3 13.4 62.1 42.3

Sector PlanningInformation Systems 300.2 532.4 832.6 0.4 0.7 1.1 63.9 3.7Performance Assessment 37.5 56.2 93.7 0.1 0.1 0.2 60.0 0.4

Sub-total 337.7 588.6 926.3 0.5 0.8 1.3 63.5 4.1

Administration/Management

Central Administration 196.1 465.1 661.2 0.3 0.6 0.9 70.3 2.9Local Administrations 738.7 889.3 1628.0 1.0 1.3 2.3 54.6 7.2Project Support Unit 189.8 887.1 1076.9 0.2 1.3 1.5 82.4 4.8

Sub-total 1124.6 2241.6 3366.2 1.5 3.2 4.7 66.6 14.9

Total Baseline Cost 7734.9 14880.2 22615.2 10.8 20.9 31.7 65.8 100.0

ContingenciesPhysical 340.8 744.0 1084.8 0.5 1.0 1.5 68.6 4.8Price 1585.5 1507.4 3092.9 2.2 2.1 4.3 48.7 13.7

Total Project Cost a/ 9661.2 17131.6 26792.8 13.5 24.0 37.5 63.9 118.5

Includes US$1.0 million equivalent in identifiable duties and taxes. The totals in thisand subsequent tables may not exactly add up due to rounding.

4.3 Taxes and Duties. Project costs include an estimated US$1.0 millionequivalent in construction-related duties and taxes, calculated as follows:10% on works undertaken by construction enterprises and locally-procuredfurniture, and 5% on locally-procured construction materials. All goodsimported under the project would be exempt from duties and taxes.

4.4 Contingency Allowances. Project costs include a contingency allowancefor unforeseen physical additions (US$1.5 million equivalent) and for inflation

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Table 4.2: SUMMARY OF PROJECT COSTS BY CATEGORY OF EXPENDITURE

2 TotalLocal Foreign Total Local Foreign Total Base

Expenditure Category ---------Rip million--------- -------US$ million ----- Cost

Civil Works 1095.7 1643.6 2739.3 1.5 2.3 3.8 12.1Construction Materials 2051.6 3087.7 5139.2 2.9 4.4 7.3 22.8Furniture 113.2 1018.8 1132.0 0.2 1.4 1.6 5.0Equipment/Vehicles 136.9 1232.2 1369.1 0.2 1.7 1.9 6.1Instructional Materials 342.9 3086.0 3428.9 0.5 4.3 4.8 15.2Local Training 1672.2 716.6 2388.8 2.3 1.0 3.3 10.6

Foreign Training 49.3 444.0 493.3 0.1 0.6 0.7 2.2Local Specialists 278.4 119.3 397.7 0.4 0.2 0.6 1.8Foreign Specialists 276.8 2491.0 2767.8 0.4 3.5 3.9 12.2Studies 96.2 144.4 240.6 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.1

Management/Operations a/ 597.8 896.6 1494.4 0.8 1.3 2.1 6.6Incremental Recurrent 1023.9 0.0 1023.9 1.4 0.0 1.4 4.5

Total Baseline Cost 7734.9 14880.2 22615.2 10.8 20.9 31.7 100.0

ContingenciesPhysical 340.8 744.0 1084.8 0.5 1.0 1.5 4.8Price 1585.5 1507.4 3092.9 2.2 2.1 4.3 13.7

Total Prolect Cost 9661.2 17131.6 26792.8 13.5 24.0 37.5 118.5

!I Expenditures directly related to project management and operations such as officesupplies, gasoline, contract staff salaries, etc.

(US$4.3 million equivalent). Physical contingencies are estimated at 5% ofbase costs. Following IDA country guidelines, price contingencies are basedon the following inflation factors: for foreign costs, 3.1% throughout theproject period; and for local costs, 6.5% and 5.5% for the first and secondproject years, respectively, and 5.0% thereafter. Price contingencies areequivalent to 13% of base costs plus physical contingencies.

4.5 Foreign Exchange Costs. Direct and indirect foreign exchange costsare estimated at US$24.0 million equivalent, or about 64% of total projectcost, including contingencies. The estimated foreign exchange component forthe various expenditure categories are as follows: 90% for constructionmaterials, furniture, equipment, vehicles, instructional materials, foreignspecialists and overseas training; 60% for civil works, studies, and projectmanagement and operations; and 30% for local training and local specialists.

4.6 Incremental Recurrent Costs. Project cost estimates include thefollowing incremental recurrent costs: (a) salaries of additional regularpersonnel to be appointed to the SCS and the PUCAs, based on current civilservice rates; and (b) maintenance of buildings and equipment procured underthe project, respectively estimated at 3% of construction cost and 10% ofinitial purchase prices. At negotiations, the Government provided assurancesthat the facilities constructed and equipment procured under the project wouldbe adequately maintained.

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B. Financing

4.7 The total project cost of US$37.5 million equivalent would befinanced by: (a) an IDA Credit of SDR 13.7 million or US$19.0 millionequivalent, representing 51% of total project cost (52% net of taxes andduties); (b) a grant of SwF 15.0 million or US$9.8 million equivalent from theGovernment of the Swiss Confederation through the SDC (the Swiss Contribution),representing 26% of total project cost (27% net of taxes and duties); (c) agrant of NOK 21.0 million or US$3.0 million equivalent from the Royal Ministryof Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway (the Norwegian Grant), representing8% of total project cost; and (d) local financing of US$5.5 million equivalent,representing 15% of total project cost, and including US$1.0 equivalent ofestimated taxes and duties, as well as community contributions of US$2.9million equivalent towards the construction of primary schools. Projectfinancing would be in accordance with Table 4.3 below.

Table 4.3: FINANCING PLAN

(Amounts in US$ million equivalent, including contingencies)

Estimated-------------------- US$ million -------------------- Share of

Expenditure Category Local a/ SDC Norway _/ IDA Total IDA Financing

Civil Works 0.5 - - 4.1 4.6 90%Construction Materials 3.2 - - 5.4 8.6 63SFurniture 0.2 - - 1.7 1.9 90%Equipment/Vehicles - - - 2.1 2.1 100%Instructional Materials - - 2.4 3.2 5.6 57XTraining/Specialists/Studies - 9.8 0.6 - 10.4 0%Management/Operations - - - 2.5 2.5 100%Incremental Recurrent 1.8 - - - 1.8 0%

Total Project Cost 5.7 9.8 3.0 19.0 37.5 51%

a/ Government financing and local community contributions.

b/ Under Instructional Materials, the printing of new primary and lower secondary educationtextbooks. Under Training/Specialists/Studies, overseas training and technical assistancefor instructional materials publishing and distribution, and the development of a systemfor the cost-effective provision of school supplies.

4.8 The Swiss Contribution would be provided in the context of theProcedural Arrangements between the Government of Switzerland and IDA forcooperation in the cofinancing of specific projects within the framework of theNinth IDA Replenishment, dated May 9, 1990. IDA would administer the SwissContribution in accordance with the provisions of these Arrangements. TheGovernments of Switzerland and the Lao PDR would enter into an agreement (theSwiss Contribution Agreement), cross-referencing the Development CreditAgreement with respect to the allocation and withdrawal of funds, andconditions of execution of the project. The fulfillment of all conditionsprecedent to the effectiveness of the Swiss Contribution Agreement would be acondition of effectiveness of the IDA Credit.

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4.9 The Norwegian Grant would be provided in the context of the Agreementdated October 2, 1986, among Norway, IBRD and IDA, providing the framework forcooperation in the financing of development projects. IDA would administer theNorwegian Grant in accordance with the provisions of an agreement to be enteredinto between Norway and IDA (the Administration Agreement). IDA, asAdministrator of the funds provided by the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs ofthe Kingdom of Norway, and the Government of the Lao PDR would enter into anagreement (the Norwegian Grant Agreement) setting forth the terms andconditions of the Grant, including the allocation and withdrawal of funds, andconditions of execution of the project. The fulfillment of all conditionsprecedent to the effectiveness of the Norwegian Grant Agreement would be acondition of effectiveness of the IDA Credit.

V. MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

A. Organization

5.1 The MOES would be the executing agency for the project, which would beimplemented over a six-year period beginning July 1, 1993 and ending June 30,1999. Project implementation would involve the whole administrative structureof the educational system, represented by the different MOES departments,provincial and district education services, and schools. Within the MOES,responsibility for operational management and day-to-day implementation wouldbe attributed to the departments which are charged to carry out the differentproject activities within the regular line structure of the MOES.

5.2 Working groups have been formed of key staff from the departmentsinvolved in a particular project component. These working groups would ensurecoordination of activities within each component. Overall project coordinationand policy matters would be the responsibility of a Project Supervision andCoordination Committee, which comprises the MOES Vice-Ministers and theDepartment Directors, and is chaired by the First Vice-Minister. The PSU(para. 3.38) would report directly to the Committee and serve as itssecretariat. The relationship between the PSU and the other MOES departmentswould be functional in nature, with the PSU providing essential support tofacilitate project implementation.

B. Procurement

5.3 Procurement of works, goods and services required by the project wouldbe undertaken in accordance with IDA's Guidelines for Procurement Under IBRDLoans and IDA Credits (May 1992) and Guidelines for the Use of Consultants byWorld Bank Borrowers and by the World Bank as Executing Agency (August 1981).As provided by the Procedural Arrangements between the World Bank and theGovernment of Switzerland (para. 4.8), and as to be provided by the NorwegianGrant Agreement (para. 4.9), IDA guidelines and procedures would apply toprocurement financed by the Swiss Contribution and the Norwegian Grant.

5.4 The preparation and issuance of invitations to bid and biddingdocuments would be the responsibility of: (a) the SCS, with respect to theprocurement of civil works, construction materials and furniture; and (b) thePSU for the procurement of all other goods, including equipment andinstructional materials. The PSU would also be responsible for preparing and

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issuing terms of reference, short lists and letters of invitation for technicalassistance and training contracts. The PSU and SCS would undertake theirprocurement responsibilities in consultation with concerned MOES departments.Bid openings, evaluations and recommendations to award contracts would be theresponsibility of an MOES bid evaluation committee, in which both the SCS andPSU are represented. Approval by IDA of the contract award, if required, wouldbe secured by the PSU.

5.5 Procurement arrangements under the project would be as follows:

(a) Civil Works. Construction and rehabilitation of secondary schools,accounting for about 65% of the total value of works contracts underthe project, would be procured on the basis of InternationalCompetitive Bidding (ICB) procedures. Although contract values wouldbe small (about US$70,000 equivalent on average) and the worksgeographically dispersed, procurement through ICB would be attemptedbecause foreign bidders from countries bordering the Lao PDR have bidfor such contracts in the past and the capacities of localconstruction enterprises in a number of provinces are limited. Tofurther increase interest on the part of foreign bidders, the initialICB advertisement would indicate the total number and cost of schoolsto be constructed under the project so that prospective bidders areaware that similar works contracts would be open to bids over a four-to five-year period. Contracts of less than US$70,000 equivalent forthe construction and rehabilitation of administrative facilities wouldbe awarded on the basis of Local Competitive Bidding (LCB) proceduresacceptable to IDA. The total value of works procured through LCBwould not exceed US$1.6 million equivalent. The qualification of thelowest evaluated responsive bidder to perform a contract awardedthrough either ICB or LCB would be ascertained by postqualification.

(b) Construction Materials. Materials for the construction of primaryschools would be grouped into bid packages of at least US$100,000equivalent for procurement under ICB procedures. Contracts estimatedto cost less than US$100,000 equivalent, not to exceed an aggregatetotal of US$1.5 million equivalent, would be procured through shoppingprocedures based on written quotations from at least three local orforeign suppliers.

(c) Furniture. In view of the quantities involved and limited localproduction capacities, contracts for school and office furniturecosting at least US$80,000 equivalent would be procured through ICBprocedures, and would account for about 75% of the total value offurniture contracts under the project. Contracts for school andoffice furniture costing less than US$80,000 equivalent would beawarded on the basis of LCB procedures acceptable to IDA, and wouldnot exceed US$200,000 equivalent in the aggregate. Furniture packagesof less than US$1500 equivalent each would be procured throughshopping procedures based on written quotations from at least threelocal or foreign suppliers, and would not exceed an aggregate total ofUS$500,000 equivalent.

(d) Eauipment/Vehicles. Equipment, including about 430 motorcycles, wouldbe grouped into bid packages of at least US$100,000 equivalent for

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procurement under ICB procedures. Contracts below this amount, not toexceed an aggregate total of US$400,000, would be procured throughshopping procedures based on written quotations from at least threelocal or foreign suppliers. Since full factory guarantees,maintenance service and the availability of spare parts for four-wheelmotor vehicles in the Lao PDR are limited to a few models only, four-wheel motor vehicles estimated at a total cost of US$450,000 would beprocured through the Inter-Agency Procurement Services Office (IAPSO)of the UNDP.

(e) Instructional Materials. Contracts for instructional materials wouldbe grouped into bid packages of at least US$100,000 equivalent forprocurement under ICB procedures. Contracts below this amount wouldbe awarded after direct negotiations with suppliers and would notexceed US$3.2 million in the aggregate. The nature and scope of theinstructional materials to be procured through negotiated contractswould include the following items which are unlikely to be of interestto foreign suppliers: (i) printing of trial editions for the newcurriculum materials and about 60 titles of teacher guides, textbooksand reference books, for which the average print run would be lessthan 25,000 copies; (ii) production of charts, posters and learningkits, estimated at US$20 per primary school and grade, and US$70 perlower secondary school and grade; (iii) school supplies such asnotebooks and pencils, for distribution to primary students on thebasis of need, and estimated at US$25 per school and grade; (iv) localtransport of instructional materials from MOES warehouses to 128education districts; and (v) proprietary instructional materialsestimated at a total cost of US$400,000 to be procured directly frompublishers according to IDA guidelines.

(f) Consultancies/Services/Miscellaneous. Specialist services would beprocured in accordance with IDA policies and procedures on theselection and employment of consultants. To the extent possible,linkages would be established with institutions able to provideintegrated technical assistance and training services. Local trainingand project management/operations would be undertaken by theimplementing agencies according to local regulations.

5.6 Estimated project costs by expenditure category and procurement methodare summarized in Table 5.1 below. In accordance with IDA guidelines: (a)eligible domestic contractors would be allowed a margin of preference of 7.5%for works contracts to be awarded through ICB; and (b) in the comparison ofbids for goods to be procured through ICB, domestic manufacturers would beallowed a preferential margin of 15% or the existing customs duty, whichever islower, over the c.i.f. prices of competing imports.

5.7 The following would be subject to prior review by IDA: (a) allcontracts with an estimated value of at least US$100,000 equivalent, includingconsultant contracts; (b) the first five civil works contracts awarded on thebasis of ICB procedures, regardless of value; and (c) terms of reference forall technical assistance and training, all single-source consultant contracts,consultant contracts for assignments of a critical nature as determined by IDA,and amendments to consultant contracts valued at more than US$100,000equivalent or those that raise the total contract value above US$100,000.

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Table 5.1: PROJECT COSTS BY PROCUREMENT ARRANGEMENTS(in US$ million equivalent)

Procurement Method Total CostExpenditure Category ----------------------------- (including

ICB LCB Other N.I.F. contingencies)

1. Works 3.0 1.6 4.6(2.7) (1.4) (4.1)

2. Goods

2.1 Construction materials 4.2 1.5 a/ 2.9 b/ 8.6(4.1) (1.3) (-) (5.4)

2.2 Furniture 1.2 0.2 0.5 a/ 1.9(1.1) (0.2) (0.4) (1.7)

2.3 Equipment/vehicles 1.1 1.0 c/ 2.1(1.1) (1.0) (2.1)

2.4 Instructional materials 3.2 d/ 2.4 e/ 5.6(3.2) (-) (3.2)

3. Consultancies/Services

3.1 Design/supervision 0.2 f/ 0.2

(-) (-)

3.2 Technical assistance 4.9 S/ 4.9

(-_) (-)

3.3 Training 4.9 h/ 4.9

(-) (-)

3.4 Studies - 0.4 f/ 0.4

(-) (-)

4. Miscellaneous

4.1 Management/operations 2.5 i/ - 2.5(2.5) - (2.5)

4.2 Incremental recurrent 1.8 1.8

(-) (-)

Total 9.5 1.8 8.7 17.5 37.5(9.0) (1.6) (8.4) (-) (19.0)

Note: N.I.F.: Not IDA-Financed.Figures in parentheses are the amounts to be financed by the IDA Credit.

a/ Shopping based on written quotations from at least three local or foreign suppliers.

b/ Materials to be provided by local coammunities for the construction of primary schools.

c/ Shopping, except for four-wheel motor vehicles which vould be procured through theInter-Agency Procurement Services Office (IAPSO) of the UNDP.

d/ Negotiated contracts with local printers and transporters, and direct purchases fromsuppliers.

e/ To be financed by the Norwegian Grant and procured under ICB procedures in accordance withIDA guidelines.

f/ To be financed by the Swiss Contribution (US$4.4 million equivalent) and the Norwegian Grant(US$0.5 million equivalent) and procured in accordance with IDA guidelines.

A/ To be financed by the Swiss Contribution (US$4.8 million) and the Norwegian Grant(US$0.1 million equivalent) and procured in accordance with IDA guidelines.

h/ To be financed by the Swiss Development Cooperation in accordance with IDA procurementguidelines.

i/ To be procured according to local regulations satisfactory to IDA.

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All other contracts and expenditures not covered by contract would be subjectto selective post-review. Prior review would cover about 80% of the totalvalue of contracts to be awarded under the project.

C. Disbursements

5.8 The proposed IDA Credit would be disbursed over seven years, withdisbursements to be completed by the Closing Date of June 30, 2000. Thedisbursement forecast is one semester shorter than the disbursement profile foreducation projects in the East Asia and Pacific Region (Annex 9). Disbursementestimates for the first three years of the project are higher than would bepredicted by the profile, but are considered feasible in view of the advancedstate of project preparation (para. 3.40).

5.9 Disbursements would be made against: (a) 90% of total expenditures oncivil works; (b) for furniture, construction materials, equipment, vehicles andinstructional materials, 100% of foreign expenditures for directly importedgoods, 100% of local expenditures (ex-factory cost) for locally-manufacturedgoods, and 85% of local expenditures for other goods procured locally; (c) 100%of total expenditures for consultancies and services, including design andsupervision, technical assistance, training and studies; and (d) 100% of totalexpenditures for management and operations. Disbursements to be made againstthe IDA Credit, the Swiss Contribution and the Norwegian Grant are susmmarizedin Table 5.2 below.

Table 5.2: DISBURSEMENT CATEGORIES

Amount in US$ million FinancingExpenditure Category IDA SDC Norway Percentage

(1) Works 3.9 - - 90S of total expenditures

(2) Goods(a) Construction materials 5.1 - - 1002 of foreign expenditures;(b) Furniture 1.6 - - I 1002 of local expenditures(c) Equipment/vehicles 2.0 - - > (ex-factory cost);(d) Instructional materials 3.0 - 2.3 I 852 of local expenditures for

| other locally-procured items

(3) Consultancies/Services(a) Design/supervision - 0.2 - l

(b) Technical assistance - 4.2 0.5 > 1002 of total expenditures(c) Training - 4.5 0.1(d) Studies - 0.4 - 1

(4) Miscellaneous(a) Management/operations 2.4 - - 1002 of total expenditure.

(5) Unallocated 1.0 0.5 0.1

Total 19.0 9.8 3.0

5.10 Disbursements for all contracts with a value of at least US$100,000equivalent would be supported by full documentation. Disbursements againstcontracts of less than US$100,000 and for management/operations would be made

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on the basis of Statements of Expenditures (SOEs). Disbursements for localtraining expenses would also be made against SOEs, subject to prior review byIDA of training agendas and budgets. Supporting documentation for alldisbursements against SOEs would be held by the PSU and made available uponrequest for examination by IDA review missions. To the extent possible,withdrawal applications would be aggregated in amounts of at least US$100,000prior to submission to IDA.

5.11 To facilitate timely project implementation and disbursements, theGovernment would establish and operate, under terms and conditions satisfactoryto IDA, three Special Accounts in the Banque pour le Commerce Exteri6ur Lao.These Accounts would cover, respectively, IDA's, SDC's and Norway's shares ofeligible project expenditures in all disbursement categories. The Account forIDA-financed expenditures would be denominated in US Dollars, with anauthorized allocation of US$1.0 million. The Account for SDC-financedexpenditures would be maintained in Swiss Francs, with an authorized allocationof SwF 1 million (US$650,000 equivalent). The Account for Norway-financedexpenditures would also be maintained in US Dollars, with an authorizedallocation of US$150,000. Applications for replenishment of these Accounts,supported by appropriate documentation, would be submitted regularly(preferably monthly) or when the amounts withdrawn equal 50% of the initialdeposit.

5.12 The Government would also establish a project account denominated inKip to cover the Government's share of project expenditures. To ensure theflow of funds for project activities at the provincial, district and schoollevels, working accounts would be established for the MOES in provincial banks.The Government would make an initial, one-time deposit of a minimum ofUS$10,000 equivalent for each province. District and school expenditureseligible for reimbursement under the project would be paid from these workingaccounts. As these expenses are incurred and after receipt of satisfactorydocumentation, replenishment would be made from the Special Accounts or theGovernment's project account, as appropriate. These working accounts would beof an interim nature, and would be phased out as the Government's overallfinancing structures are put in place. When the accounts are closed, theamounts remaining in the accounts would be reimbursed to the Government. Atnegotiations, understandings were reached with the Government on establishingby December 31, 1993 and operating provincial working accounts as describedabove, and on phasing out these accounts as soon as an effective Treasurysystem has been established at the provincial level, with the objective ofeliminating these accounts by the end of Government fiscal year 1994/95.

D. Accounts and Audits

5.13 The PSU would maintain separate accounts to reflect expenditures underthe project in accordance with sound accounting practices. Project accounts,including the Special Accounts, would be audited by the Enterprises AccountingDepartment of the MOF in accordance with IDA's Guidelines for FinancialReporting and Auditing of Projects Financed by the World Bank (The World Bank,March 1982). At negotiations, the Government provided assurances that IDAwould be provided within nine months of the end of each Government fiscal yearwith an audit report, including separate opinions by the auditor on theoperation of the Special Accounts and on disbursements against certified SOEs.

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E. Monitoring. Reporting and Supervision

5.14 All MOES units with project implementation responsibilities wouldprepare their respective work programs for each Government fiscal year. Theindividual units' work plans would be reviewed by the appropriate workinggroup, consolidated into annual work programs for each project component, andsubmitted to the PSU. The plans for each component would be reviewed by thePSU, integrated into an annual work program for the project as a whole, andsubmitted to the Project Supervision and Coordination Committee for approval.The PSU would be responsible for monitoring and reporting projectimplementation progress in accordance with the approved annual work programs.

5.15 The PSU would prepare semi-annual reports on progress in projectimplementation, utilizing a simple, tabular format to compare actualaccomplishments against agreed upon work programs, and including a concise,narrative section describing major project achievements and problemsencountered. At negotiations, the Government provided assurances that progressreports would be furnished to IDA by April 15 and November 15 of each year,beginning in 1994. These reports would constitute the basis for semi-annualproject performance reviews to be conducted jointly by the Government, IDA andSDC (para. 5.16). Assurances were also received that the Government'scontribution to the Project Completion Report would be submitted to IDA withinsix months of the Closing Date.

5.16 Following an initial supervision mission to be held in August 1993,IDA and SDC would jointly conduct review missions every six months duringproject implementation (Annex 17). Each review mission would be prepared toidentify emerging issues in project implementation, and to assist the MOES inresponding promptly to these issues before they develop into major problems.During the first two years of project implementation, specific attention wouldbe given to evaluating the effectiveness of: (a) the teacher orientationprograms (para. 3.15); (b) the assistance provided to teachers by advisers(para. 3.16); (c) the instructional materials supplied to students who do notspeak Lao as a first language (para. 3.19); and (d) the institutionalarrangements for primary school construction (paras. 3.22 to 3.24). Acomprehensive mid-term project review would also be held to determine the needfor modifications to the design and implementation targets of these and allother project activities. At negotiations, assurances were provided that theGovernment would, in consultation with IDA, carry out a mid-term of projectimplementation by April 1996.

VI. PROJECT BENEFITS. RISKS AND IMPACT

6.1 Benefits. The project would improve the quality of basic education,which leads to increased overall productivity and growth, and raises thewelfare of the poor directly through the income gains and greater opportunitiesafforded by a better education. The project would help ensure that the sectoris built on a solid foundation of quality basic education, and would developthe institutional capacities needed for greater self-reliance in the design andmanagement of educational development. By the end of the project in 1999, anestimated 26,000 primary and lower secondary teachers remaining in the systemwould stand to benefit from higher salaries and improved working conditions.About 785,000 students projected to be enrolled at these levels would benefit

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from the qualitative improvements resulting from better-trained and moremotivated teachers, new instructional materials and teaching strategies, andupgraded school facilities. Expanded access is expected as the system is ableto accommodate more students in places formerly occupied by repeaters, alongwith improved equity since problems of repetition and dropout generally affectpoorer children. Equity would also be enhanced through a more balancedredistribution of resources among provinces and districts.

6.2 Risks. The project would represent the first Government effort toundertake a major national reform in the education sector, and would faceimportant risks. Project implementation would involve a diverse set ofactivities in provinces and districts throughout the country, and would requireextensive coordination by an executing agency that has limited managementcapacities and experience with IDA procedures. The project would also beimplemented, at least initially, during a period of transition and uncertaintyconcerning Government efforts to recentralize revenue collection andexpenditure control, redefine central-local authorities and relationships,and create a professional and more efficient civil service. Progress in theseoverall fiscal and administrative reforms would drive much of the project's ownactions to improve educational administration and management. The risk alsoexists that insufficient budgetary resources would be allocated to education,despite the stated priority given to the sector in the country's developmentagenda, and that the MOES would not implement the efficiency measures requiredto assure the financial sustainability of its sector programs.

6.3 Actions to address the above risks have been taken on several fronts.Detailed preparation has been undertaken and a substantial number of start-upactivities has been accomplished (para. 3.40). The MOES has involvedprovincial and district staff in project preparation to generate the localcommitment and sense of ownership that are critical for implementation success.Extensive internal discussions were also held to develop project managementarrangements that the MOES believes would most effectively facilitateimplementation and coordination of project activities. Analysis ofinstitutional development needs and training of MOES staff were initiatedduring project preparation, and would be continued under the project. Thelocal staff required for project implementation would be assured by theGovernment, and the technical assistance to be provided by the project wouldfocus on the training of these staff. The extended project preparation processhas led to a more focussed project design, while recognizing the need for closemonitoring of project activities and considerable flexibility during projectimplementation and supervision. IDA review missions would assist the MOES inidentifying and resolving implementation problems as they arise, and semi-annual project performance reviews and a comprehensive mid-term review would beconducted to adjust or modify the project design as needed. To help assure theprovision and sustainability of the public resources required by the sector,annual budget reviews would be required and linked to efficiency improvementswithin the educational system. Conditionalities under SAC2 would reduce therisk of delays in implementing the Government's overall financing andadministrative reforms.

6.4 Environmental Impact. The project is not expected to have anynegative environmental impact. In the new primary school curriculum to bedeveloped, an integrated sciences subject called The World Around Us wouldencourage understanding of the environment and a commitment to its

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preservation; environmental education would also be integrated into the lowersecondary science curriculum. Standard school designs to be utilized under theproject would minimize requirements for increasingly scarce timber and utilizeappropriate technologies to provide durable facilities while protecting theenvironment. Technical specifications in civil works bidding documents wouldprohibit the use of building materials containing asbestos fibers in theconstruction of project schools and other facilities.

6.5 Impact on Women. Raising the overall quality of basic education wouldbenefit all students in the system, including females who presently constituteover 40% of current enrollments. Since no reliable data exist on factorsaffecting the participation and performance of girls in schools, more detailedanalysis of gender issues in education would be undertaken under the project inorder to identify appropriate strategies for ensuring equal access toeducational opportunities for women. With respect to staff developmentactivities for educational administrators, efforts would be made to identifyqualified women who could be trained to assume positions of responsibility.

6.6 Sustainability. The project has been designed with explicit attentionto issues of institutional and financial sustainability. The project wouldsupport a wide range of activities aimed at building local technical andmanagerial skills at all levels of the educational administration. Theseactivities, including organization and management analysis, extensive stafftraining, and systematic monitoring and evaluation, would help develop theinstitutional capacities required to sustain the expected improvements in theeducational system. The project would generate estimated annual incrementalrecurrent costs of Kip 511 million (US$730,000 equivalent) in 1990 prices,representing 2.6% of the education recurrent budget in 1998/99, the last yearof the project. The estimated education recurrent budget for that year ofabout Kip 19.4 billion (US$27.7 million equivalent) would represent 2.8% of GDP(compared to a 1980s average of 3.3% for low-income countries in Asia) and 21%of the total Government recurrent budget (for a sector that employs over 50% ofcivil servants). These estimates demonstrate that increasing the salaries ofsector staff and providing adequate non-salary expenditu--es for the qualityimprovements proposed by the project could be sustained by the Governmentbudget. Financial sustainability would be dependent, however, on theassumptions that projected growth rates in GDP are achieved, budget allocationsrequired to implement sector programs are assured, and targeted increases instudent-teacher ratios are realized.

VII. AGREEMENTS AND RECOMMENDATION

7.1 The commitment of the Government to the objectives, strategy andactivities of the project was confirmed in a Letter of Education Policy thatwas furnished to IDA and reviewed at negotiations (para. 3.4).

7.2 During negotiations, the Government provided assurances that it would:

(a) carry out the project in accordance with work programs and timetablessatisfactory to IDA and, for this purpose, furnish to IDA for itsreview by April 15 of each year, beginning in 1994, a proposed annualwork program and timetable for the following Government fiscal year(para. 3.4);

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(b) by April 15 of each year, beginning in 1994, furnish to IDA for itsreview the proposed budgetary allocations to the education sector forthe following Government fiscal year (para. 3.35);

(c) by September 30, 1993, employ and assign to the PSU a ProjectDirector, two Project Coordinators, an office manager and an assistantoffice manager; and, in addition, employ and assign to the PSU aProject Adviser until the completion of the project (para. 3.39);

(d) employ and assign to the SCS: by September 30, 1993, an architect orcivil works technician, an engineer, a draftsman, a procurementmanager, an accountant and a construction supervisor; by July 31,1994, two additional construction supervisors; and by October 31,1995, two additional construction supervisors (para. 3.29);

(e) by September 30, 1993, assign to the IMU its responsibilities andauthorities and appoint a Unit Chief (para. 3.11);

(f) establish and staff PUCAs, pursuant to a timetable satisfactory toIDA, in the provinces of Savannakhet, Saravane, Vientiane, XiengKhouang, Luang Prabang and Luang Namtha (para. 3.26);

(g) by June 30, 1994, appoint at least three pedagogical advisers for eachadministrative district, and by June 30, 1996, appoint at least eightteacher advisers for each administrative province (para. 3.17);

(h) on April 15 and November 15 of each year, beginning in 1994, furnishto IDA semi-annual reports on progress in project implementation; and,in consultation with IDA, carry out a mid-term of projectimplementation by April 1996 (para. 5.15, 5.16); and

(i) furnish to IDA within nine months of the end of each Government fiscalyear an audit report, including separate opinions by the auditor onthe operation of the Special Accounts and on disbursements againstcertified SOEs (para. 5.13).

7.3 During negotiations, the following understandings were reached withthe Government:

(a) the annual work program and timetable for Government fiscal year1993/94, and a work program and performance indicators for overallproject implementation, would be reviewed and agreed upon during theinitial IDA supervision mission scheduled for August 1993 (para. 3.4);

(b) the position of Project Adviser would be established for the entireduration of the project, however, the initial consultant contractwould be for two years, automatically renewable for equal periods oftime, unless the Government and IDA, in coordination with SDC, wouldagree to terminate the services of such consultant (para. 3.39);

(c) the PUCAs would be established and staffed in six provinces asfollows: by November 1993 in Savannakhet, with four civil workstechnicians, a warehouse supervisor and a watchman; by November 1994in Saravane and Vientiane Province, each with two civil works

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technicians, a warehouse supervisor and a watchman; and by November1994 in Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang and Luang Namtha, each with twocivil works technicians, a warehouse supervisor and a watchman(para. 3.26); and

(d) by December 31, 1993, working accounts with initial deposits of atleast US$10,000 would be established in provincial banks for eachadministrative province; however, these working accounts would bephased out as soon as an effective Treasury system has beenestablished at the provincial level, with the objective ofeliminating these accounts by the end of Government fiscal year1994/95 (para. 5.12).

7.4 The following would be conditions of effectiveness:

(a) the fulfillment of all conditions precedent to the effectiveness ofthe Swiss Contribution Agreement (para. 4.8); and

(b) the fulfillment of all conditions precedent to the effectiveness ofthe Norwegian Grant Agreement (para. 4.9).

7.5 Subject to the provisions in paras. 7.2 to 7.4 above, the proposedproject would constitute a suitable basis for an IDA Credit of SDR 13.7 million(US$19.0 million equivalent) to the Lao People's Democratic Republic, onstandard IDA terms, with a maturity of 40 years and 10 years of grace.

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ANNEXES

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Annex 1

Page 1 of 6



Text of the Government's Letter of Education Policy

(Unofficial translation of the original French)

[Addressed to the President of theInternational Development Association]

1. I have the honor to communicate to you the principal orientations ofthe education policy of the Government of the Lao PDR, which constitutes animportant basis for the preparation and approval of the Education DevelopmentProject.

2. The Lao Government is firmly committed to strengthening theeducational system as the cornerstone of a human resource development strategyfocussed on poverty alleviation and increased labor productivity. In August1990, a National Conference of educational administration officials endorsedthe recommendations of the World Conference of Education for All held inJomtien, and affirmed the right of all citizens to quality basic education.

3. The Constitution of the Lao PDR promulgated in August 1991 recognizedthe right of all citizens to education, and instituted the principle ofcompulsory primary education. It authorizes the operation of private schoolswithin the context of national education programs and anticipates thedevelopment of education at all levels, with particular attention to ethnicminority areas. The Government has reaffirmed the general objectives of its"Education Sector Strategy to Year 2000," which also aims to stimulate thedevelopment of preschool education, to develop a technical and intellectualbase, to reorganize upper secondary, vocational-technical and higher educationas a function of available school places and the socio-economic needs of thecountry, and to reduce illiteracy. Emphasis is placed on the improvement ofthe quality of education with a view to progressively upgrading Lao educationto international standards, on the complementarity of education within andoutside the country, and the relevance of education to family, social andeconomic life.

4. To implement this policy, it will be necessary to increase theefficiency of educational management, improve the quality of education, andexpand access to the improved system. Immediate priority is given to primaryeducation. However, taking into account the needs for social and economicdevelopment, it is equally necessary to improve and develop secondaryeducation, in a well-planned manner, especially the lower secondary cycle.

5. These objectives will be incorporated into a draft Education Act onthe organization of education which will eventually be submitted by theGovernment for approval by the National Assembly.

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Increasing the Efficiency of Educational Management

6. The Government aims to restructure the administration and managementof the system, with a view to reconcentrating the mobilization of publicresources for education and redistributing these equitably among provinces anddistricts. To this effect, statutory measures will be taken to define thehierarchical and functional articulation of powers and functions, and toestablish responsibilities in decision-making and management at the central,provincial, district and school levels. Administrators at all levels will betrained to perform their new functions according to precise ministerialinstructions, with the long-term objective of building sufficient capacitiesin the analysis, planning and management of education policy.

7. An educational management information system will be built around anannual census of schools, supplemented by periodic inventories, surveys andresearch studies, each providing data to manage, monitor and evaluateeducational inputs, processes and outcomes. School mapping and micro-planningwill be undertaken on a continuing basis to provide the geographical,demographic and more detailed school data necessary to improve efficiency inthe utilization of educational resources and to ensure equity in access toschools. School principals and staff of the Ministry of Education and Sports,its provincial and district services will be trained in procedures andtechniques related to the use of information for planning, management,monitoring and evaluation.

8. With regard to internal efficiency, measures will be taken to reduceunit costs per student and per graduate, and thereby free resources which canbe directed to raising quality and expanding access. To improve internalefficiency at the primary level, the Government aims to reduce dropout andthereby increase the proportion of first-grade entrants reaching the finalgrade of the cycle, and to reduce repetition rates. This will be achieved byimplementing a policy on continuous progression, supported by studentassessment and remedial instruction in the basic subjects, throughout thecycle to assist students diagnosed to be in need of such assistance.Complementary measures aimed at improving quality and, consequently, studentachievement, will also contribute to reducing repetition and improving studentprogression.

9. The normalization of student-teach ratios in secondary education willresult in expanded access to the lower secondary level, which would permit theabsorption of an increased number of primary school graduates. In view of theanticipated increase in the demand for admission to each of the secondarycycles, a merit-based selection policy will be established in conjunction witha system of national public examinations.

10. Improved efficiency in the utilization of teachers will be reflectedin higher student-teacher ratios. At the primary level, this objective willbe achieved mainly by the systematic organization of multigrade classes,principally in small rural schools. Teachers will be suitably trained in thisregard. At the secondary level, the student-teacher ratios will be raised bytraining teachers to teach in more than one curricular area and increasing


effective teaching hours to statutory levels. The utilization of teachers inboth primary and secondary education will also be improved by increasing thesize of schools.

11. The outcomes of school mapping will help determine appropriatelocations where schools of an optimal size can be established, and may alsolead to the consolidation of small schools where this would not havedetrimental effects on access. Standard school and classroom designs, of moredurable structures, will be elaborated to assure greater efficiency ininvestment expenditures. They will favor to the extent possible localconstruction materials and techniques, so that communities can continue toactively participate in the construction of their schools.

12. Student scholarships at the secondary level will be allocated on amore selective basis to academically qualified students whose financialresources are insufficient to allow them to continue their studies and givingpriority to study options which will be necessary for the socio-economicdevelopment of the country.

13. With regard to pre-service teacher education, this will beconcentrated in 11 sites including five combined teacher training colleges forprimary and lower secondary teachers, five colleges for lower secondaryteaches and one Institute of Pedagogy for the training of upper secondaryteachers. Within the framework of a national teacher training plan, policieson admissions to teacher training institutions and subsequent teacherassignments will be elaborated, with a view to ensuring that the number ofteacher training graduates coincides with national needs.

Improving the Quality of Education

14. New curricula, textbooks, teacher guides and other correspondinginstructional materials will be centered around a limited number of integratedbasic subjects, emphasizing problem-solving, learning-to-learn and creativeskills, as well as the role of schools in society and the preservation of theenvironment. Towards the end of the upper secondary cycle, options foradvanced studies in the basic disciplines will be created. The grade-to-gradepromotion examinations will be replaced by school-based assessment aimed atcontinuously identifying the adjustments required to improve student masteryof knowledge and skills defined by the new curriculum. National examinations,while serving mainly as selection mechanisms between cycles, will also bedesigned to provide schools with systematic feedback on teaching effectivenessand student performance.

15. The policy of the Government will be to provide, as far as possible,each student with one copy of the required textbooks to be produced inconjunction with the development of the new curricula. In order to meet thesetargets, the Government will develop local publishing capabilities, andutilize the most cost-efficient means to print, distribute and utilizetextbooks and other instructional materials. Provincial and districteducation services will have final responsibility for the distribution ofbooks and other materials within their respective constituencies.


16. The policy of the Government is that communities participate in theconstruction of primary schools, while the construction of secondary schoolswill become the main responsibility of the provinces. The Government plans toprovide to local communities the advice and technical and material supportneeded to rehabilitate and construct school facilities of good quality. Thissupport will be provided through decentralized construction support units,which will be established in provinces and staffed with civil workstechnicians who would guide and supervise the construction executed by thecommunities. The communities and the school administration will assure themaintenance of the school infrastructure.

17. The Government intends to improve the quality of teachers bystandardizing and strengthening pre-service education in teacher trainingcolleges, institutionalizing in-service training, and establishing apedagogical support system. The Government will upgrade the facilities andquality of the teaching staff of the selected teacher training institutionswhich will offer pre-service teacher education programs certified by theMinistry of Education for primary and lower secondary teachers. Uppersecondary teachers will continue to be trained at the Institute of Pedagogywhich the Government will strengthen as a teacher training institution, andwill convert into a national university after appropriate study. The teachertraining programs will be revised in accordance with the new standards andwith the new general education curricula. The objective will be to balancetheory and practice, and to develop pedagogical skills, including multigradeteaching and student assessment, while strengthening the academic knowledgeof future teachers.

18. A system of in-service upgrading is under the responsibility of theDepartment of Teacher Training, while the development of the programs underthis system will be the responsibility of the Teacher Development Center to beestablished at the Institute of Pedagogy, in collaboration with the concerneddepartments of the Ministry of Education. The first in-service trainingpriority will be given to the orientation of teachers to the new schoolcurricula. This training will utilize for its basic training package thenewly-developed textbooks and teacher guides. School principals will also betrained to better perform both their educational and administrative functions.A system of pedagogical assistance and control will be created to provide aninstitutional support system to teachers and principals in their place ofwork, as well as to evaluate the adequacy of school resources and outcomes.For the primary level, a certain number of teachers will be selected fromamong the most experienced and effective to be trained in the functions ofPedagogical Advisers. In-service training will be offered at the TeacherDevelopment Center for upper secondary teachers, and in teacher trainingcolleges for primary and lower secondary teachers.

19. To improve efficiency and the quality of education in schools inethnic minority areas, functional networks of neighboring schools would beestablished around a central guide-school to coordinate the activities andpromote continuous material and pedagogical support among the schools.

- 43 -Annex lPage 5 of 6

20. Quality improvements in the training and supervision of teachers willbe accompanied by measures to recruit qualified teachers and retain them inthe system. The Government will continue to explore the possibility ofestablishing appropriate incentives through a more flexible salary structure.The Government also intends to reform the administrative and financialstructures as required for the regular payment of teachers' salaries, and tofurther improve conditions for teachers by ensuring adequate salaries andcareer patterns that take into account their qualifications and increase thecompetitiveness of the teaching profession. With the agreement of theMinistry of Finance, the Ministry of Education will organize the payment ofteacher salaries through its deconcentrated services. Improved teachingconditions are expected to attract more qualified applicants for admission toteacher training institutions. The system of provincial quotas, currentlyused for selection into teacher training programs, will be reconsidered as aconsequence.

Expanding Access to Improved Education

21. The objective of the Government is to universalize primary educationand to revitalize secondary education. Every effort will be made to raise theshare of female enrollments. At the primary level, particularly in ruralareas, the systematic organization of multigrade classes will improve not onlythe efficiency of teacher utilization but will also help provide all studentswith the possibility of access to the full primary cycle. In the medium-term,boarding facilities will continue to be provided for rural and otherdisadvantaged students to promote educational opportunities. In urban areas,the double-shifting will continue to be practiced on the condition that thisdoes not involve a reduction of the study program nor affect the quality ofteaching. To meet the recurrent costs corresponding to the projectedexpansion and improvements, the annual budget allocated to education will begradually increased as a function of sector needs and the priority given tothe sector, and taking into account the economic growth of the country.

22. The Government will establish nonformal education programs directedtowards seven main target groups: (i) children estimated to have neverattended school; (ii) children who have prematurely dropped out of school;(iii) children who have completed primary school but do not have access tosecondary schooling; (iv) the population between 15 and 40 years of age thatare estimated to be illiterate; (v) civil servants and cadres who have lessthan a lower secondary school degree; (vi) ethnic minorities who remain out ofthe mainstream of education and training because of their geographic andcultural isolation; and (vii) women, particularly those in rural areas, whoare insufficiently educated concerning family health and safe motherhood. Toaddress the education and training needs of these groups, and to implement acoherent nonformal education policy and strategies, concerned institutions andstaff will be strengthened, and collaboration with nongovernmentalorganizations will be sought. Literacy programs linked to skills trainingwill be offered to illiterate adults and out-of-school youth; the academiclevel of all cadres and civil servants will be raised to completion of lowersecondary education through equivalency programs; and literacy programsoriented specifically oriented towards income-generating activities will be

- 44 -

Annex 1Page 6 of 6

offered to ethnic minorities after a self-assessment of needs. All thesenonformal education programs will aim to improve living and working conditionsof the participants in their natural and cultural environments, and to developactivities oriented towards self-sufficiency and employment, in order thatthey can contribute to, and benefit from, the social and economic developmentof the nation.

23. To improve the efficiency of post-secondary education, the Governmentalso aims to reform vocational-technical and higher education. Conceptual andfeasibility studies will be undertaken to serve as the basis for establishingplans, programs and development projects as a function of the labor marketneeds in the service of the socio-economic development of the country.

Vientiane, 8 January 1993

(Signed by the Minister of Education and Sports]

- 45 -Annex 2



Basic Data

Country Data (1991)

Area 237,000 sq. km.Population 4.2 millionPopulation density 17 per sq. km.Annual population growth 2.8%GNP per capita US$230Adult literacy (1985) 44%

Sector Data (1990)

Percent Gross enrollmentEducation Level Age Group Enrollments female rate (%)

Pre-school 3-5 35,000 n.a. 2Primary 6-10 560,000 45 100General secondaryLower 11-13 94,000 40 30Upper 14-16 32,000 38 12

Vocational-technical 11-16 9,000 n.a. 2Teacher training 11-16 10,000 38 2Higher 17-22 4,000 37 1

Students/ Students/Education Level Schools Enrollments Classes Teachers class teacher

Primary 6,500 560,000 23,900 19,970 23 28Lower secondary 680 94,000 2,800 7,400 34 13Upper secondary 120 32,000 800 2,600 40 12

n.a. - not available

LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICEDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Structure of the Education System

12 13 14 15 16 17 Nedicine

Higher 13 14 15 Pharmacy and Engineering

L14 Upper Secondary Teacher Training

Technical Training

Post Secondary Lower Secondary Teacher TrainingPast Secondary

Primary Teacher Training

Vocational-Technical Training Ch

Upper-Secondary Lower Secondary Teacher TrainingUpper-Secondary

Primary Teacher Training

General Upper Secondary

Vocational Education

Lower Secondary 6 7 8 Primary Teacher Training

L General Lower Secondary

Primary 1 5

Pre -school 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 t0 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Years of Schooling

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 11 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Aze



Primary and Secondary Education Pyramid(General Education Enrollments, 1990)

Ate Grade Total

16 11 5,600 3,700 9,300

15 10 6,200 4,000 10,200

14 9 7,800 4,600 12,400

Upper Secondary (622) 19,600 12,300 (382) 31,900

13 8 15,700 10,300 26,000 .

12 7 17,300 11,900 29,200

11 6 23.000 15,600 38,600

Lower Secondary (602) 56,000 37,800 (402) 93,800

10 5 31,900 23,600 55,500

9 4 37,100 29,400 66,500.................

8 3 48,200 __ :r.r.r ..................... E -r :: r ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ r:~~.38, ooo . ......... 86,200..8 3 ~~48,200 38,000 86,200

7 2 68,800 .......... 53,100 121,900

132,800 _ 100.900 233,700

Primary (552) 318,700 Male Female 245,000 (452) 563,700

- 48 -Annex 5



Structure of the Ministry of Education and Sports

Minister

F~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~First

Vice-Minister Vice-Minister Vice-Minister Vice-Minister

Cabinet and Preschool Sports and Higher,Research Education Physical Technical and

Education VocationalEducation

Organization Generaland Personnel Education Literacy

and Adult ExternalEducation Relations

Planning and TeacherFinance Training

StudentSelection

Information j Instituteof Pedagogy

NationalResearch X PolytechnicInstitute for j InstituteEducationalSciences

Warehouse

InstructionalMaterialsFactory

I …Note:

Chalk Factory

-------------- MinistryDepartment

I EducationalI Printing I AttachedEnterprise I Agency


PRIMARY EDUCATIONENROLLMERT PROJECTIONS, 1990-2000

------------------------------------------------------ __---------------------__-----------------------------------------------------__-----

SCHOOL YEAR 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 99/2000

TOTAL NEW ENTRANTS 143,400 144,300 146,100 148,800 152,500 157,200 162,100 167,100 172,300 177,700Population age 6 118,800 122,500 126,300 130,200 134,200 138,400 142,700 147,100 151,700 156,400Total intake rate 1.21 1.18 1.16 1.14 1.14 1.14 1.14 1.14 1.14 1.14

ENROLLMENT Grade 1 236,900 239,100 241,700 245,500 250,700 247,500 241,300 234,700 228,600 223,400

Repetition rate 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.36 0.32 0.28 0.24 0.20 0.16Dropout rate 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.23 0.22 0.20 0.18 0.17 0.15Promotion rate 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.41 0.46 0.52 0.58 0.63 0.69




Repetition rate 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.18 0.16 0.14 0.12 0.10 0.08Dropout rate 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.14 0.12 0.11 0.10 0.09 0.08 .

Promotion rate 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.68 0.72 0.75 0.78 0.81 0.85 '





TOTAL 557,600 553,700 550,400 552,000 558,300 575,500 601,600 635,400 674,700 715,100

Repeaters as proportionof total enrollments 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.27 0.23 0.20 0.17 0.14

Population age 6-10 553,700 570,300 587,400 605,000 623,200 641,900 661,100 681,000 701,400 722,400Gross enrollment rate 1.01 0.97 0.94 0.91 0.90 0.90 0.91 0.93 0.96 0.99

mb -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-

0__4q


LOWER SECONDARY EDUCATIONENROLMUENT PROJECTIONS, 1990-2000

------------------------------------------------------ __---------------------__-----------------------------------------------------__-----

SCHOOL YEAR 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994195 19959/6 1996/97 1997/98 1996/99 99/2000

TOTAL HE ENTRAJTS 34,900 35,500 36,200 36,100 36,100 36,400 37,600 39,800 42,600 46,000Primry school graduates 41,600 41,100 42,600 40,300 36,400 36,700 40,500 43,500 49,300 60,100Transition rate 0.84 0.66 0.65 0.90 0.94 0.94 0.93 0.92 0.87 0.77





ENROLLMENT Grade S 25,300 25,500 25,700 26,200 26,600 27,000 27,800 28,700 30,300 32,600


TOTAL 93,900 95,000 96,600 97,600 98,100 99,000 101,400 105,600 111,900 120,200

Repeater. as proportionof total enrollments 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.09 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.05


------------------------------------------------------------------- __--------__------------------------------------------------------------

0U'Y

LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICEDUCATION DEVELOPMET PROJECT

UPPER SECONDARY EDUCATIONENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS, 1990-2000

SCHOOL YEAR 1990|91 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 99/2000

TOTAL NEWI ENTRARTS 11,300 11,300 11,500 11,700 12,000 12,400 13,000 13,600 14,500 15,400Lover secondary graduates 18,200 17,700 17,800 18,000 18,300 19,200 20,100 21,300 22,600 24,500Transition rate 0.62 0.64 0.65 0.65 0.66 0.65 0.65 0.64 0.64 0.63





k.,,ENROLLMENT Grade 11 9,800 9,600 9,600 9,600 9,700 9,900 10,300 10,800 11,400 12,100 ,


TOTAL 32,100 31,900 32,100 32,500 33,100 34,100 35,400 37,100 39,200 41,700

Repeaters as proportionof total enrollments 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.05 0.05


0q

w

0

e.n


LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICEDUCATION SECTOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Expected Students' Flow through the Education System (1990-2000)

PRIMARY ~LOWER UPPERPRIMARY J SECONDARY SECONDARY

100

6 \ > 63% Survival60 801 M Completion

48 i77 e Traniton

80% Survival

32 1 70% Completlon

63% Transiton

30 - : 30% Survival

26 1 26% Completion

22 z 85% Transition 17 86% Survival16 81% Completion

67% Survival

12 52% Completion7 65% Transit,on__

6 76% Surval5 1 t 68% Completion

19W90 ,

- - - - 199g000


PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATIONTEACHER PROJECTIONS, 1990-2000

------------------------------------------------------ __---------------------__--___-----------__________----------_---_------------__-----

SCHOOL YEAR 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 99/2000

-------------------------------------------------------------__--------------__------------------------------------------------------------

PRIMARY EDUCATIONTotal enrollments 557,600 553,700 550,400 552,000 558,300 575,500 601,600 635,400 674,700 715,100

Student-teacher ratio 28.0 28.0 28.0 28.0 28.8 29.7 30.5 31.3 32.2 33.0

Total teacher requirement. 19,900 19,800 19,700 19,700 19,400 19,400 19,700 20,300 21,000 21,700

Grade 1 8,500 8,500 8,600 8,800 8,700 8,300 7,900 7,500 7,100 6,800

Grade 2 4,200 4,200 4,300 4,300 4,200 4,500 4,800 5,000 5,100 5,100

Grade 3 2,800 2,700 2,600 2,700 2,600 2,700 3,000 3,400 3,700 4,000

Grade 4 2,500 2,300 2,200 2,200 2,100 2,100 2,200 2,500 2,900 3,200

Grade 5 2,000 2,000 1,900 1,800 1,700 1,700 1,700 1,900 2,200 2,500

LOWER SECONDARY EDUCATIONTotal enrollment 93,900 95,000 96,600 97,600 98,100 99,000 101,400 105,600 111,900 120,200


Total teacher requirements 7,200 7,300 7,400 7,500 6,500 5,800 5,300 5,000 4,900 4,800

Grade 6 3,000 3,100 3,100 3,100 2,700 2,400 2,200 2,100 2,000 2,000

Grade 7 2,300 2,300 2,300 2,400 2,100 1,900 1,700 1,600 1,600 1,500 -

Grade 8 1,900 2,000 2,000 2,000 1,800 1,600 1,500 1,400 1,300 1,300 L.

UPPER SECONDARY EDUCATIONTotal enrollment 32,100 31,900 32,100 32,500 33,100 34,100 35,400 37,100 39,200 41,700


Total teacher requirements 2,700 2,700 2,700 2,700 2,300 2,100 1,900 1,800 1,700 1,700

Grade 9 1,000 1,000 1,100 1,100 900 800 800 700 700 600

Grade 10 600 800 800 800 700 700 600 600 500 500

Grad 11 800 800 800 800 700 600 600 500 5oo 500

---------------------------------------------------------------------__------__------------------------------------------------------------

0

LR>




Public Recurrent Expenditures for Education: Past Trends and Proiections a/

Table 1: Estimated Public Recurrent Expenditures for Education, 1988-90

Expenditures in current Kip millionLevel of education 1988 1989 1990

General educationPrimary 1,020 1,694 4,596Lower secondary 430 740 2,030Upper secondary 276 442 1,370

Total, primary and secondary education 1,726 2,876 7,996

Total, preschool, teacher training,vocational-technical, highereducation, and administration 545 1,544 4,389

Total, all levels 2,271 4,420 12,385

Total public recurrent expenditures 28,038 39,936 65,877

Gross Domestic Product 192,700 333,670 490,750

Share of primary and secondaryexpenditures in:

Total public recurrent expenditures 6.2% 7.2% 12.3%

Gross Domestic Product 0.9% 0.9% 1.6%

Share of total education expenditures in:

Total public recurrent expenditures 8.1% 11.0% 18.8%

Gross Domestic Product 1.1% 1.3% 2.5%

A/ Details are in the following documents available in the project file (seeAnnex 18 for full references): Mingat (September 1989, February 1990,April 1990, March 1991); Magnen (April 1991); and Botti (December 1991).

- 55 -

Page 2 of 4

Table 2: Estimated Public Recurrent Expenditures for Educationby Level of Education, 1990

Share inLevel of education/ Amount in current totalType of expenditure Kip million expenditures

Primary educationSalaries (95%) 4,377Operating costs (5%) 219

Sub-total, primary 4,596 37%

Lower secondary educationSalaries (85%) 1,725Operating costs (5%) 305

Sub-total, lower secondary 2,030 17%

Upper secondary educationSalaries (50%) 685Operating Costs (50%) 685

Sub-total, upper secondary 1,370 11%

Total, primary and secondary education 7,996 65%

Preschool education 314 2%

Teacher training 838 7%

Vocational-technical education 965 8%

Higher education 772 6%

Administration 1,500 12%

Total, all levels 12,385 100%


Table 3: Estimated Public Recurrent Expenditures for Education, 1990-2000

Annualrate of

1990 1995 2000 increase

Primary education

Enrollments (in thousands) 558 576 715 2.8%Population age 6-10

(in thousands) 554 642 722 3.0%Gross enrollment ratio 100% 90% 99%

Number of teachers 19,910 19,400 21,670 1.0%Student-teacher ratio 28 30 33

Average annual salary a/(in 1990 Kip thousand) 217.2 344.4 384.8 5.9%

Annual unit cost per student(in 1990 Kip thousand) 8.1 12.5 13.7 5.4%

Total expenditures(in 1990 Kip billion) 4.6 7.8 10.3 8.4%

Lower secondary education



Number of teachers 7,220 5,820 4,810 -4.6%Student-teacher ratio 13 17 25

Average annual salary g/(in 1990 Kip thousand) 238.6 387.2 434.5 6.2%

Annual unit cost per student(in 1990 Kip thousand) 21.6 24.2 21.7 0%



Table 3 (continued)

Annualrate of

1990 1995 2000 increase

Upper secondary education



Number of teachers 2,670 2,080 1,670 -5.4%Student-teacher ratio 12 16 25

Average annual salary -/(in 1990 Kip thousand) 265.4 440.8 496.6 6.5%

Annual unit cost per student(in 1990 Kip thousand) 41.5 44.1 39.7 -0.4%


Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 490.8 626.2 799.9 5.0%

Total expenditures, primary andsecondary educationAmount (in 1990 Kip billion) 8.0 12.1 15.0 6.5%Share of GDP 1.6% 1.9% 1.9%

Total education recurrentexpenditures h/Amount (in 1990 Kip billion) 12.3 18.6 23.1 6.5%Share of GDP 2.5% 3.0% 2.9%

a/ Assumes 1990 salaries are doubled by 1995 and increased by 3% per yearthereafter.

k/ Including preschool, teacher training, vocational-technical, highereducation and administration.


Surary Account by Project ComponentKip

CURRICUL INSTRUCT PERFORMAUN IONAL TEACHER SCHOOL LAO SCHOOL CONSTRUC INFORMAT NCE CENTRAL LOCAL PROJECT

DEVELOPH MATERIAL TRAINING NETUORKS LANGUWAGE RECONSTR PROVINCI TION ION ASSESSME ADMINIST ADMINIST SUPPORTENT S /SUPPORT PILOT STUDY UCTION AL UNITS SERVICE SYSTEMS NT RATION RATIONS UNIT

1. INVESTMENT COSTS

A. Civit Works 131.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1599.5 99.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 87.2 821.7 0.0B. Construction Materials 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3430.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0C. Community Labor/MateriaLs 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1708.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0D. Furniture 16.3 250.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 807.9 10.9 2.9 0.0 0.0 7.5 36.2 0.0E. Equipment/Vehicles 72.2 114.4 639.9 0.0 0.0 15.2 205.3 24.4 32.2 0.0 100.1 124.7 40.8F. Instructional Materials 30.7 3398.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0G. Local Training 23.2 50.4 1793.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 160.9 0.0 21.4 339.6 0.0H. Foreign Training 77.2 38.6 169.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.6 115.8 0.0 57.9 0.0 25.71. Local Speciatists 97.2 18.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 56.0 5.9 0.0 28.6 0.0 51.5 88.5 51.5J. Foreign Specialists 293.1 280.3 282.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 300.3 247.4 180.2 0.0 240.2 120.1 823.7K. Studies 0.0 0.0 0.0 118.0 29.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 93.7 0.0 0.0 0.0L. Management/Operations 52.7 193.0 160.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 443.5 159.0 300.3 0.0 42.9 25.0 117.5

LI'Total INVESTMENT COSTS 794.7 4343.8 3045.4 118.0 29.0 7617.9 1064.9 442.3 818.0 93.7 608.8 1555.7 1059.2 co

II. RECURRENT COSTS

A. Incremental Recurrent 53.2 57.2 308.6 0.0 0.0 293.1 127.2 27.6 14.7 0.0 52.4 72.3 17.7

Total BASELINE COSTS 847.8 4401.0 3354.0 118.0 29.0 7911.0 1192.1 469.8 832.6 93.7 661.2 1628.0 1076.9Physical Contingencies 39.7 217.5 153.4 5.9 1.4 380.9 55.1 22.9 40.9 4.7 30.4 79.0 53.0Price Contingencies 72.3 450.0 463.9 11.5 4.3 1277.4 161.1 45.8 106.8 14.8 67.7 292.4 124.9

Total PROJECT COSTS 959.8 5068.5 3971.3 135.3 34.7 9569.3 1408.3 538.6 980.3 113.1 759.4 1999.3 1254.8

Taxes 15.9 28.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 557.7 18.1 0.3 0.0 0.0 10.2 104.8 0.0Foreign Exchange 654.5 4351.6 1814.7 79.4 20.2 5645.0 910.2 392.9 607.3 65.6 524.2 1046.0 1020.0

Vatues Scaled by 1000000.0 3/19/1993 11:04

0t-tX


Sumary Account by Project ComponentKip

Physical PriceContingencies Contingencies

Total X Amount X Amount

I. INVESTMENT COSTS

A. Civil Works 2739.3 5.0 137.0 15.5 425.0B. Construction Haterials 3430.7 5.0 171.5 12.3 422.4C. Community Labor/Materials 1708.5 5.0 85.4 21.9 373.5D. Furniture 1132.0 5.0 56.6 12.8 145.0E. Equipment/VehicLes 1369.1 5.0 68.5 3.9 53.2F. Instructional Materials 3428.9 5.0 171.4 10.5 359.06. Local Training 2388.8 5.0 119.4 18.1 431.8H. Foreign Training 493.3 5.0 24.7 6.9 34.1I. Local Specialists 397.7 5.0 19.9 15.7 62.6J. Foreign Specialists 2767.8 5.0 138.4 10.5 292.0K. Studies 240.6 5.0 12.0 12.7 30.6L. Management/Operations 1494.4 5.0 74.7 14.6 218.5

Total INVESTMENT COSTS 21591.3 5.0 1079.6 13.2 2847.7

II. RECURRENT COSTS

A. Incremental Recurrent 1023.9 0.5 5.2 23.9 245.2

Total BASELINE COSTS 22615.2 4.8 1084.8 13.7 3092.9Physical Contingencies 1084.8Price Contingencies 3092.9 4.4 136.8

Total PROJECT COSTS 26792.8 4.6 1221.6 11.5 3092.9

Taxes 735.4 4.8 35.0Foreign Exchange 17131.6 4.8 815.8

Values Scaled by 1000000.0 3/19/1993 11:04

0

0 D


Kip

Suary Accounts by Year

Base Costs Foreign Exchange

93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total X Anut*---=-=-===fl=s=.====s=====s======r=fl=s==s-=sss..=zc:===L======:===s===: ============u===S=

1. INVESTMENT COSTS

A. Civit Vorks 219.1 244.5 475.8 604.8 677.5 517.5 2739.3 60.0 1643.6B. Construction Materials 171.5 411.7 686.1 823.4 823.4 514.6 3430.7 90.0 3087.7C. Coeu.nity Labor/Haterials 85.4 205.0 341.7 410.0 410.0 256.3 1708.5 0.0 0.00. Furniture 84.1 79.8 179.1 227.4 271.1 290.4 1132.0 90.0 1018.8E. Equlpm_nt/Vehicles 900.5 286.4 120.9 19.1 22.0 20.3 1369.1 90.0 1232.2F. Instructional Materials 528.1 614.6 719.1 642.2 602.5 322.5 3428.9 90.0 3086.0G. Local Training 67.9 607.0 331.0 582.0 325.3 475.5 2388.8 30.0 716.6H. Foreign Training 190.9 89.0 123.3 38.6 25.7 25.7 493.3 90.0 444.01. Local Specialists 67.9 66.1 74.1 74.6 68.4 46.6 397.7 30.0 119.3J. Foreign Specialists 534.1 455.5 481.9 479.8 440.4 376.1 2767.8 90.0 2491.0K. Studies 9.7 93.7 38.3 47.5 24.3 27.2 240.6 60.0 144.4L. Nanageiment/Operations 186.4 233.3 259.0 273.6 271.1 270.9 1494.4 60.0 896.6

Totat INVESTMENT COSTS 3045.8 3386.6 3830.4 4223.1 3961.8 3143.5 21591.3 68.9 14880.2

11. RECLURRENT COSTSa- -

M. Increeental Recurrent 4.0 107.7 158.6 205.6 250.3 297.5 1023.9 0.0 0.0 0

Total BASELINE COSTS 3049.9 3494.3 3989.0 4428.7 4212.1 3441.1 22615.2 65.8 14880.2Physical Contingencies 152.5 169.8 192.5 212.4 199.3 158.4 1084.8 68.6 744.0Price Contingencies 59.6 229.6 425.7 681.6 832.8 863.6 3092.9 48.7 1507.4

Total PROJECT COSTS 3262.0 3893.7 4607.2 5322.7 5244.2 4463.0 26792.8 63.9 17131.6SXSSSSSWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSZCSS===SSSSZZS === =Z.-z=

Taxes 44.4 68.2 130.1 163.2 183.5 146.0 735.4 0.0 0.0Foreign Exchange 2621.2 2515.3 3020.4 3225.2 3214.9 2534.7 17131.6 100.0 17131.6

Values Scaled by 1000000.0 3/19/1993 11:04

oq

0

0%

LAO PEOPLE'S DEMCXRATIC REPUBLICEDUCATIOH DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Suomary Accounts by Year

Totals IncLuding Contingencies Totals Including ContingenciesKip USS

93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total

1. INVESTMENT COSTS

A. Civil Works 235.0 272.7 551.2 727.2 845.2 670.0 3301.3 0.3 0.4 0.8 1.0 1.2 0.9 4.6

B. Construction Materials 183.1 453.7 780.4 966.5 997.5 643.5 4024.7 0.3 0.6 1.1 1.4 1.4 0.9 5.6

C. Comumity Labor/Materials 92.6 235.6 413.2 520.6 546.7 358.8 2167.5 0.1 0.3 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.5 3.0

D. Furniture 89.7 87.7 203.0 265.8 326.6 360.7 1333.5 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 1.9

E. Equipment/VehicIes 961.8 316.3 137.9 22.5 26.7 25.5 1490.8 1.3 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.1

F. Instructional Materials 564.0 678.7 820.5 757.0 733.6 405.6 3959.4 0.8 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.6 5.5

G. LocaL Training 73.3 688.4 392.8 721.3 421.2 643.1 2940.1 0.1 1.0 0.5 1.0 0.6 0.9 4.1

H. Foreign Training 203.9 98.3 140.7 45.5 31.3 32.4 552.2 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.8

1. Local Specialists 73.3 75.0 87.9 92.4 88.6 63.1 480.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.7

J. Foreign SpeciaLists 570.5 503.0 549.9 565.5 536.3 473.1 3198.1 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 4.5

K. Studies 10.4 104.8 44.5 57.5 30.5 35.5 283.2 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.4

L. Management/Operations 200.1 261.1 301.5 330.8 340.5 353.6 1787.6 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 2.5

Total INVESTMENT COSTS 3257.6 3775.2 4423.5 5072.6 4924.8 4064.7 25518.5 4.6 5.3 6.2 7.1 6.9 5.7 35.7

II. RECURRENT COSTS

A. Incremental Recurrent 4.4 118.5 183.7 250.1 319.4 398.3 1274.3 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.6 1.8

Zs2z 3S.==3 = =- nSSSSSl S=. 3S ====l .= ;===== 7=.=S ss.ss...s

Total PROJECT COSTS 3262.0 3893.7 4607.2 5322.7 5244.2 4463.0 26792.8 4.6 5.4 6.4 7.4 7.3 6.2 37.5

Szss=-==t=mfl==zSS===..S==:==S.=s===t=sS.S=S=SSSSS===3.3zs===3S.S z== _===SS====S-=====3z======z=s=S==-=.,,,,=Sfl==,=S=,.S=S===S==

Value Scaled by 1000000.0 3/19/1993 11:04

oo04


Kip

Project Cocponents by Year

Base Costs Total

93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Kip USSER =============S ========S=:==z=K===_=======.==

A. CURRICULUM/PEDAGOGICAL1. CURRICJLUM DEVELOPMENT 343.0 148.7 123.6 114.0 85.2 33.3 847.8 1.22. INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS 873.1 775.8 864.8 750.7 719.0 417.6 4401.0 6.23. TEACHER TRAINING/SUPPORT 720.0 683.0 544.2 539.6 450.2 417.1 3354.0 4.74. SCHOOL NETWORKS PILOT 9.7 61.1 22.2 17.9 3.6 3.6 118.0 0.25. LAO LANGUAGE STLDY 0.0 6.1 6.1 9.7 3.6 3.6 29.0 0.0

Sub-total 1945.8 1674.6 1560.8 1431.8 1261.6 875.2 8749.8 12.2B. SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE1. SCHOOL RECONSTRUCTION 262.8 7T7.7 1467.3 1887.7 2018.4 1497.0 7911.0 11.12. PROVINCIAL UNITS 81.4 243.8 294.1 222.4 205.2 145.2 1192.1 1.73. CONSTRUCTION SERVICE 168.0 77.8 70.9 51.0 51.0 51.0 469.8 0.7

Sub-total 512.2 1099.4 1832.3 2161.1 2274.7 1693.2 9572.9 13.4C. SECTOR PLANNING, M&E1. INFORMATION SYSTEMS 144.1 188.8 129.4 140.1 93.7 136.6 832.6 1.22. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT 0.0 26.5 10.0 20.0 17.2 20.0 93.7 0.1

Sub-totaL 144.1 215.2 139.4 160.2 110.8 156.6 926.3 1.3 cAD. ADMINISTRATION/MANAGEMENT1. CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION 228.1 112.4 80.2 80.2 80.2 80.2 661.2 0.92. LOCAL ADMINISTRATIONS 35.7 195.1 202.5 421.6 311.0 462.0 1628.0 2.33. PROJECT SUPPORT UNIT 184.0 197.6 173.8 173.8 173.8 173.8 1076.9 1.5

Sub-totaL 447.9 505.1 456.5 675.6 565.1 716.1 3366.2 4.7

Total BASELINE COSTS 3049.9 3494.3 3989.0 4428.7 4212.1 3441.1 22615.2 31.6Physical Contingencies 152.5 169.8 192.5 212.4 199.3 158.4 1084.8 1.5Price Contingencies 59.6 229.6 425.7 681.6 832.8 863.6 3092.9 4.3

Total PROJECT COSTS 3262.0 3893.7 4607.2 5322.7 5244.2 4463.0 26792.8 37.5

Taxes 44.4 68.2 130.1 163.2 183.5 146.0 735.4 1.0Foreign Exchange 2621.2 2515.3 3020.4 3225.2 3214.9 2534.7 17131.6 24.0

VaLues Scaled by 1000000.0 3/19/1993 11:04

P 3

a'


Projects Cowponents by Year

Totals Including Contingencies Totals Including ContingenciesKip USS

93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total

A. CURRICULUM/PEDAGOGICAL1. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT 367.3 165.0 142.5 136.5 105.3 43.2 959.8 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 1.32. INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS 933.2 857.0 987.4 885.9 877.0 528.0 5068.5 1.3 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.2 0.7 7.13. TEACHER TRAINING/SUPPORT 769.1 769.8 636.2 661.8 577.3 557.1 3971.3 1.1 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 5.64. SCHOOL NETWORKS PILOT 10.4 68.4 25.8 21.6 4.5 4.7 135.3 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.25. LAO LANGUAGE STLDY 0.0 6.8 7.1 11.7 4.5 4.7 34.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Sub-Total 2079.9 1867.1 1799.0 1717.5 1568.6 1137.6 10169.7 2.9 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.2 1.6 14.2

B. SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE1. SCHOOL RECONSTRUCTION 281.9 868.5 1699.9 2268.9 2517.1 1933.0 9569.3 0.4 1.2 2.4 3.2 3.5 2.7 13.42. PROVINCIAL UNITS 87.1 270.9 339.2 266.2 255.4 189.6 1408.3 0.1 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 2.03. CONSTRUCTION SERVICE 179.6 86.3 81.7 61.3 63.6 66.0 538.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.8

Sub-Total 548.6 1225.7 2120.8 2596.3 2836.0 2188.6 11516.1 0.8 1.7 3.0 3.6 4.0 3.1 16.1

C. SECTOR PLANNING, M&E1. INFORMATION SYSTEMS 154.3 210.9 149.3 170.0 116.7 179.1 980.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 1.42. PERFORKANCE ASSESSMENT 0.0 29.6 11.6 24.2 21.6 26.1 113.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2

Sub-Total 154.3 240.5 161.0 194.3 138.2 205.3 1093.5 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 1.5 t

D. ADMINISTRATION/MANAGEMENT1. CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION 244.1 124.5 92.3 95.8 99.4 103.2 759.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.12. LOCAL ADMINISTRATIONS 38.3 217.2 234.8 512.7 388.7 607.7 1999.3 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.8 2.83. PROJECT SUPPORT UNIT 196.8 218.8 199.2 206.1 213.3 220.7 1254.8 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 1.8

Sub-Total 479.2 560.5 526.4 814.6 701.4 931.6 4013.5 0.7 0.8 0.7 1.1 1.0 1.3 5.6

Total PROJECTS COSTS 3262.0 3893.7 4607.2 5322.7 5244.2 4463.0 26792.8 4.6 5.4 6.4 7.4 7.3 6.2 37.52 …============ ============5==========: ========= ===========~=…=======S=Zz=

Values Scaled by 1000000.0 3/19/1993 11:04

0

-64 - Annex 9


IDA Disbursement Schedule and Profile

Estimated IDA Disbursements Disbursement Profile a/

IDA Fiscal By Semester Cumulative Cumulative Cumulative Semesters from

Year/Semester ---- in US$ million ---- as S of total as S of total Approval Date

1993 1st2nd 0.0 0.0 0 0 0

1994 1st 1.0 1.0 5 0 12nd 1.0 2.0 11 3 2

1995 1st 1.0 3.0 16 6 3

2nd 1.0 4.0 21 10 4

1996 1st 1.1 5.1 27 18 52nd 1.3 6.4 34 30 6

1997 1st 1.5 7.9 42 38 72nd 1.6 9.5 50 54 8

1998 1st 1.6 11.1 58 66 92nd 1.6 12.7 67 74 10

1999 1st 1.7 14.4 76 82 11

2nd 1.7 16.1 85 86 122000 1st 1.5 17.6 93 94 13

2nd 1.4 19.0 100 98 142001 1st 100 15

a/ Education Sector, East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Region.

Disbursement Graph

100

__90-

c 80

D 70-

b60-

0250-

40

20-

10 .1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 200 1

IDA Fiscal Year

- Appraisal EstinkLate EAP Educ. Profile



Curriculum Implementation Schedule

CAIENDAR YEAR J 1991 T 1992 1993 1994 1995 | 1996 1997 1998 1999

LEVEL | GRADE |J H S HI m S J M S J M S Ji M S M S J M S J M S Ji M S

Gradel ~~~~~E~~2L.. ~ .......----- ------.'-*JK | Grade 3I l:::i :::

1 I 1 tH Grade 3 ------- :.-.'-...-:,,,-'. .-

R Grade42

L S | Grade 65' --. ~ ' ... ".'~'~'~'~'--~'~'~'~-'-~*"|_ ...................... |

I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

L D Grade 3m.inl.

R Y Grade 84l l ll ........ i ...........-......................... , 1.---------.- ,,---,-.---*_#_ ~ ..W N Grade 7 - - .

~R Y Grade 8 ......... _ _ _ _ _..._ __..._ _ .__.

LEGEND: J=January, M=May, S=September

Syllabus preparation and modification

Instructional materials development, testing and revision; * - submission of camera-ready manuscripts to printers

Printing and distribution of textbooks and teacher guides; I = distribution completed

Teacher orientation program

Implementation



Instructional Materials Printing and Distribution

A. New Curriculum Materials

Grade Textbooks Teacher Guides Print Year

Grade 1 Lao Language Lao Language 1993/94Mathematics Mathematics

Other Subjects


Other Subjects


Other Subjects

Grade 4 Lao Language Lao/Mathematics 1996/97Mathematics Other SubjectsThe World Around Us

Grade 5 Lao Language Lao/Mathematics 1997/98Mathematics Other SubjectsThe World Around Us

Number ofPrimary Titles 12 13

Grade 6 Lao Language Lao Language 1995/96Mathematics MathematicsNatural Science Natural ScienceSocial Science Social ScienceTechnology Technology



Number of LowerSecondary Titles 15 15


B. Reprinting Program

Grade Textbooks Teacher Guides Print Year

Grade 3 Lao Language 1993/94

MathematicsScience


MathematicsScience


MathematicsScience

Number ofPrimary Titles 9

Grade 6 Lao Literature Lao Composition 1994/95

AlgebraArithmeticHygieneBiology


AlgebraGeometryBiology


AlgebraGeometryBiology

Number of LowerSecondary Titles 13 3

- 68 -Annex 1 1Page 3 of 5

C. Revised Materials (Selected URper Secondary Textbooks)

Gradei8 Textbooks Print Yeal

Grade 9 Lao Language 1995/96HistoryGeographyPopulation Education



Number of UpperSecondary Titles 1Z

D. Supplementary Readers and Reference Books

Number of CoRies Print Year

50,000 1995/96(Titles to be 50,000 1996/97determined) 50,000 1997/98

50,000 1998/99

Total 200.000



INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTIONNumber of TitLes and Copies

Number of ---------Number of Copies for-------- Print Run TotalTitles Students a/ Teachers b/ Trainees c/ Per Title d/ Print

A. New Curriculum MaterialsGrade 1 Textbooks 2 250,700 8,700 770 312,000 624,000

Teacher Guides 3 8,700 770 11,000 33,000Grade 2 Textbooks 2 134,900 4,500 770 168,000 336,000

Teacher Guides 3 4,500 770 6,000 186000Grade 3 Textbooks 2 92,900 3,000 770 116,000 232,000

Teacher Guides 3 3,000 770 5,000 15,000Grade 4 Textbooks 3 78,800 2,500 770 986000 294,000

Teacher Guides 2 2,500 770 4,000 8,000Grade 5 Textbooks 3 69,400 2,200 770 87,000 261,000

Teacher Guides 2 2,200 770 4,000 8,000Sub-totat, Primary 1,829,000

Grade 6 Textbooks 5 41,400 2,200 310 53,000 265,000Teacher Guides 5 2,200 310 3,000 15,000

Grade 7 Textbooks 5 33,600 1,600 310 43.000 215,000Teacher Guides 5 1,600 310 2,000 10,000


Sub-total, Lower Secondary 705,000

B. Reprinting ProgramGrade 3 Textbooks 3 37,200 2,700 770 49,000 147,000Grade 4 Textbooks 3 30,250 2,200 770 40,000 120,000Grade 5 Textbooks 3 25,600 1,800 770 34,000 102,000Sub-total, Primary 369,000

Grade 6 Textbooks 5 40,500 2.700 310 52,000 260,000Teacher Guides 1 2,700 310 4,000 4,000




C. Revised Upper SecondaryGrade 7 Textbooks 4 13,500 800 100 17,000 68,000Grade 8 Textbooks 4 10,700 700 100 14,000 56,000Grade 9 Textbooks 4 9.900 600 100 13,000 52,000Sub-total, Upper Secondary 176,000

D. SuppLementary Readers/Reference Books 20 10,000 200,000

Grand Total 3,845,000

.... ... ... ... ... ................ ... ... .... ... ............ ... ...............................

a/ Based on enrollments projected for year of distribution. Ratio of one textbook per student,except for primary reprints which are estimated at 1 textbook for every two students.

b/ Based on teacher requirements projected for year of distribution. Ratio of one textbook/teacher guide per teacher.

c/ Based on average total enrollments in teacher training colleges projected for 1996-2000 by theAsian Development Bank. Ratio of one textbook/teacher guide for every four teacher trainee.

d/ Includes an allowance of 20X for textbooks and teacher guides; rounded to the ne rast thousand.



INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTIONNumber of Copies by Project Year

1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 Total

A. New Curricutum HateriaLsGrade 1 Textbooks 624,000

Teacher Guides 33,000Grade 2 Textbooks 336,000




Teacher Guides 8,000Sub-total, Primary 1,829,000

Grade 6 Textbooks 265,000Teacher Guides 15,000




B. Reprinting ProgramGrade 3 Textbooks 147,000Grade 4 Textbooks 120,000Grade 5 Textbooks 102,000Sub-total, Prifmry 369,000





C. Revised Upper SecondaryGrade 7 Textbooks 68,000Grade 8 Textbooks 56,000Grade 9 Textbooks 52,000Sub-total, Upper Secondary 176,000

0. Supptementary Readers/Reference Books 50,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 200,000

Total 1,026,000 920,000 753,000 577,000 519,000 50,000 3,845,000

LAD PEGPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICEDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROJIECT

CIVIL WORKS IMPLEMENfTATION SCMEDULE

S-it. i.tifcetio.. Eu.1s11----* EUE--I

:idd=~itq ocoenZ,.Iu.ti / ..td~EumE IEEEEE .uuu*Bidi,vtr.tioae*h**b **lit** *tion**

Delivery to ..er.bo.wea~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FT II III I II PDeloieyto .. oo. st.

.iddi.9 d. . se. n* u Eu ...ai it-tioAreie

:iddi.9 d-u-.t.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~t.

LAO PEOPLE'S DEhOCRATIC REPUBLIC

EDUCATION DEVELOPHENT PROJECTCIVIL WORKS INPLtEERTATION SChEDULe

IMlnin..d)

IDA l- car Year* rY93 _F r9 Y94 FY95 cFYsi-6 FY97 CY7FY98 CY9 I99 s

HotT; R - -Dr -.I -

r D

I"X

D.:lq-/.ps.ifi--tio.. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~t -LL1t_

D.Ii,ery~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ toshol


Technical Assistance Plan

A. Curriculum Development and Pedagogical Support

--------------------- Staff-Months ------------------------

Area/Specialization Type Unit 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total

Curriculum and instructional materials R RIES 2 2 2 2 2 - 10.0

development and evaluation

Subject specialists R RIES- Languages, primary 1 1 1 1 1 - 5.0

- Mathematics, primary 1 1 1 1 1 - 5.0

- Languages, lower secondary 1 1 1 1 1 - 5.0

- Mathematics, lower secondary 1 1 1 1 1 - 5.0

- Natural sciences, lower secondary 2 2 2 2 2 - 10.0

- Social sciences, lower secondary 2 2 2 2 2 - 10.0

Text writers and external readers- Primary and lower secondary L RIES 50 50 50 50 25 - 225.0

- Upper secondary L RIES 12 6 - - - - 18.0

- Supplementary materials L RIES - 1 1 1 1 1 5.0

Content analysis/quality of texts I RIES - - 1 1 1 1 4.0

Textbook publishing R RIES-PU 3 3 3 - - - 9.0

Pedagogical supervision R DGE 3 3 2 3 2 2 15.0

I DGE 2 3 2 3 1 2 13.0

Examinations I DGE 2 2 2 2 2 2 12.0

School networks I DGE - 1 1 1 - - 3.0

R DGE - 1 1 1 - - 3.0

Lao language teaching R RIES - 1 1 1 - - 3.0

L RIES - 5 5 5 - - 15.0

Instructional materials printing and I IMU 6 3 3 2 2 2 18.0 > D

distribution L IMU 4 2 2 2 2 2 14.0 m X

System for provision of school supplies I IMU/DGE 2 2 1 - - 2 7.0 F

R IMU/DGE 2 2 1 - - 2 7.0 e wL IMU/DGE 2 2 2 2 2 2 12.0

Technical Assistance Plan (cont.)

B. School Infrastructure

--------------------- Staff-Months ------------------------Area/Specialization Type Unit 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total

School construction/procurement of civil I SCS 12 4 4 2 2 2 26.0works and furniture

Civil works technicians V PUCAs 6 12 42 72 60 18 210.0

C. Sector Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

Educational planning and information systems I DPF-SPUs 3 3 3 3 3 3 18.0Computer program development and maintenance L DPF-SPUs 10 10 10 5 5 - 40.0

Sector performance assessment I DPF-SPUs - 2 1 1 1 1 6.0 -

D. Educational Administration and Management

Financial management/accounting I DPF-FU 2 2 2 2 2 2 12.0L DPF-FU 6 6 6 6 6 6 36.0Personnel management I DOP 2 2 2 2 2 2 12.0

L DOP 6 6 6 6 6 6 36.0Staff development/training I DOP 2 2 2 2 2 2 12.0

L DOP 12 12 12 12 12 12 72.0Project management I PSU 12 12 12 12 12 12 72.0Procurement of goods and I PSU 3 3 3 3 3 3 18.0technical assistance/project accounts L PSU 12 12 12 12 12 12 72.0

It >Legend

aType: R - Regional; I - International; L - Local; V - Volunteer (foreign or local)Unit: RIES - Research Institute for Educational Sciences; RIES-PU - RIES Publishing Unit; IMU - Instructional Materials Unit; 0 wDGE - Department of General Education; SCS - School Construction Service; PUCAs - Provincial Units for Construction *Assistance; DPF-SPUs - Department of Planning and Finance, Statistics and Planning Units; DPF-FU - Department of Planningand Finance, Finance Unit; DOP - Department of Organization and Personnel; PSU - Project Support Unit


Overseas Training Plan

A. Curriculum Development and PedagoAical Support

-S_-__--------------- Staff-Months ------------------------

Area/Specialization Type Unit 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total

Curriculum and instructional materials R RIES 8 3.5 2 3.5 2 2 21.0

development I RIES 6 - - - - - 6.0

Textbook publishing R RIES-PU 3 3 - - - - 6.0

Textbook printing and distribution R IMU/Warehouses 6 6 6 - - - 18.0

Pedagogical supervision R DGE/PES/DES 40 2 22 2 2 2 70.0

Testing and examinations I DGE - - 3 3 - - 6.0

School networks I DGE/PES/DES 3 - - - _ _ 3.0

R DGE/PES/DES/PS - 20 2 - - - 22.0

B. School Infrastructure 9Lu

School construction R SCS - 4 - - - - 4.0

C. Sector Planning. Monitoring and Evaluation

Educational planning and information systems I DPF-SPUs 9 9 9 1 1 1 30.0

Computer program development and maintenance R DPF-SPUs 3 3 3 - - - 9.0

Sector performance assessment I DPF-SPUs - 2 - 2 - 2 6.0

D. Educational Administration and Management

Financial and personnel management I DOP, DPF-FU 3 3 3 3 3 3 18.0

Project management R PSU 2 2 2 2 2 2 12.0

Le,eendType: R - Regional; I - InternationalUnit: RIES - Research Institute for Educational Sciences; RIES-PU - RIES Publishing Unit; IMU - Instructional Materials Unit;

DGE - Department of General Education; PES - Provincial Education Service; DES - District Education Service; PS - Pilot

School; SCS - School Construction Service; DPF-SPUs - Department of Planning and Finance, Statistics and Planning Units;

DPF-FU - Department of Planning and Finance, Finance Unit; DOP - Department of Organization and Personnel; PSU = Project

Support Unit


Local Training Plan

Estimated Number ------------------------- Staff-Weeks ---------------------------Subject of Training/Staff Units of Participants 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total

Textbook publishingRIES Publishing Unit 5 30 - - - - - 30

Instructional materialsprinting/distribution/management

IMU 4 80 - - - - - 80Warehouses 6 30 - - - - - 30Provincial education services 36 100 - - - - - 100District education services 128 320 - - - - - 320

Curriculum trialsPrimary pilot teachers/principals 40 80 80 80 80 - - 320Lower secondary pilot teachers/principals 54 - 110 110 110 - - 330

Teacher orientation programPrimary trainers/pedagogical advisers 384 - 770 770 770 770 770 3850Primary teachers 20700 - 17400 9000 6000 5000 4000 41400Lower secondary trainers/teacher advisers 144 - - - 290 290 290 870Lower secondary teachers 5100 - - - 4400 3200 2600 10200

Pedagogical supportPrimary core team 38 190 - - - - - 190Lower secondary core team 20 - - 100 - - - 100School network pilot teachers/principals 20 - 60 - - - - 60

Sector planning/information systems/data collection, analysis and utilizationMOES 10 100 100 100 100 100 100 600Provincial education services 36 - 100 - 100 - 100 300District education services 128 - 320 - 320 - 320 960

Educational administration and managementHOES 10 100 100 100 100 100 100 600Provincial education services 90 - - 90 - 90 - 180District education services 384 - - - 390 - 390 780School administrators 2000 - - - 2000 - 2000 4000

MLeRend

Unit: RIES - Research Institute for Educational Sciences; LIMU - Instructional Materials UnitHOES - Hinistry of Education and Sports



Project Management and Implementation Chart

Project Supervision and Coordination Committee

Project Support Unit

[ I - 1 F ! 1--Working Group Working Group Working Group Working Group Working Group

Teacher Curriculum School Sector | Educational

Training Development Infrastructure Planning, | | Administration

(for ADB- and Monitoring andsupported Pedagogical and Managementproject) J Support j Evaluation

Implementing Implementing Implementing [ Implementing ImplementingUnits Units Units Units Units

(DTT, IP, TDC) (RIES, IMU, (SCS, DGE, (PU, SU, DGE) (FU, DOP, PSU)DGE, DTT) DTT)

Note: DTT - Department of Teacher Training; IP - Institute of Pedagogy; TDC - Teacher Development Center; T

RIES - Research Institute for Educational Sciences; IMU - Instructional Materials Unit, Department ofPlanning and Finance (DPF); DGE - Department of General Education; SCS - School Construction Service,DPY; PU - Planning Unit, DPF; SU - Statistics Unit, DPF; DU - Finance Unit, DPF; DOP - Department of

Organization and Personnel; PSU - Project Support Unit; ADB - Asian Development Bank




IDA Supervision Plan

1. IDA Supervision Input. The staff input indicated in the tablebelow is in addition to regular supervision needs for the review of progressreports, procurement actions, supervision report preparation andcorrespondence (estimated for this project to require six staff-weeks peryear throughout project implementation).

2. Borrower's Contribution to Supervision.

(a) Annual work programs and timetables for each Government fiscal year,to be prepared by each implementing unit, would be reviewed by theappropriate working groups, consolidated into work programs for eachproject component, and submitted to the Project Support Unit (PSU).On this basis, the PSU would prepare an integrated annual workprogram for the project for approval by the Project Supervision andCoordination Committee (PSCC).

(b) The PSU would be responsible for ensuring that the following would besubmitted to IDA for its review by April 15 of each year, beginningin 1994: (i) proposed annual work programs and timetables; and (ii)proposed budgetary allocations to the education sector for thefollowing Government fiscal year.

(c) Semi-annual reports on progress in project implementation, to beprepared by the PSU, would utilize a simple, tabular format tocompare actual accomplishments against agreed upon work programs,and include a concise, narrative section describing major projectachievements and problems encountered. Semi-annual reports would befurnished to IDA by April 15 and November 15 of each year, beginningin 1994. These reports would constitute the basis for semi-annualproject performance reviews to be conducted jointly by theGovernment, IDA and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC).

(d) Project monitoring and reporting of implementation progress inaccordance with the approved annual work programs would be theresponsibility of the PSU, with inputs from the implementing units.

(e) The PSU would be responsible for coordinating arrangements for Bankand other donor supervision missions, and for providing informationrequired by missions. Mission briefings upon arrival and wrap-upmeetings would be presided by the PSCC Chair or a designatedrepresentative.

(f) The Government's contribution to a Project Completion Report would beprepared by the PSU and submitted to IDA within six months of theClosing Date.


3. Field Supervision Plan

Approximate Staff InputDates Activity (staff-weeks)

08/93 Initial supervision mission 611/93 Semi-annual review mission 404/94 Semi-annual review mission 611/94 Semi-annual review mission 404/94 Semi-annual review mission 611/95 Semi-annual review mission 404/96 Mid-term review 811/96 Semi-annual review mission 404/97 Semi-annual review mission 611/97 Semi-annual review mission 404/98 Semi-annual review mission 611/98 Semi-annual review mission 404/99 Semi-annual review mission 611/99 Final supervision/PCR mission 8

(a) Semi-annual reviews of project performance would be held in Apriland November of each year, starting in 1994, to assess progress inproject implementation. The supervision missions scheduled forApril each year would also specifically review: (i) the proposedannual work programs and timetables; and (ii) the proposed budgetaryallocations to the education sector for the following Governmentfiscal year.

(b) A comprehensive mid-term review would be held in April 1996 todetermine the need for modifications to the design and implementationtargets of all project components.

(c) Each IDA supervision mission would: (i) require at least two weeksin the field; (ii) require the services of a General Educator and anArchitect/Implementation Specialist; and (iii) review progress ofprocurement and civil works, financial statements and disbursements,credit covenants, and the implementation of technical assistance andtraining programs components. Specialized skill requirements wouldbe added to the missions according to needs identified by previoussupervision missions and would include among others, the followingareas: instructional materials production and distribution, teachertraining, pedagogical supervision, second-language teaching,educational planning, educational information systems, sectorperformance assessments, financial and personnel management, andeducational administration and management.

(d) All supervision missions would be conducted jointly with the SDC,which would provide both general supervision and, in coordinationwith IDA resources, additional specialized skills.




Selected Documents in the Prolect File

1. Lao People's Democratic Republic, Ministry of Education and Sports.Projet de d6veloRpement du secteur de l'6ducation: Politigue del'6ducation (signed Letter of Education Policy in the original French).January 8, 1993.

2. Lao People's Democratic Republic. Political ReRort of the ExecutiveCommittee of the Central Committee of the Lao People's RevolutionaryParty Presented at the Vth Party Congress. 1991.

3. Lao People's Democratic Republic. Strategy of Education to Year 2000.June 10, 1987.

4. Botti, M. RaRport d'4valuation [Aspects financiers et 6conomiques].Mission d'6valuation, d6cembre 1991.

5. Mingat, A. Aspects financiers associ6s & la r6forme de l'6ducation enRDP Lao. ler mars 1991.

6. Mingat, A. Analyse financi6re de l'6ducation en R.D.P. Lao: Exercicede Rlanification A 1'horizon de lann6e 2000. Avril 1990.

7. Mingat, A. Cadre de politique sectorielle. 9 f6vrier 1990.

8. Mingat, A. Aspects financiers de l'education en R.D.P. Lao.Septembre 1989.

9. Baumgart, N. Consultant's Report: Curriculum Development.Appraisal mission, November-December 1991.

10. Baumgart, N. Consultant's ReRort: Curriculum Development.Pre-appraisal mission, February-March 1991.

11. Baumgart, N. Consultant's Report: Curriculum Development.Preparation mission, August 1990.

12. Moll-Druecker, B. Documents de travail [Aspects p6dagogiques].Rapport de mission de preparation, 30 aoQt 1990.

13. Chewprecha, T. and A. Meesing. Consultants' Report on Lao PDRCurriculum Materials Development and Evaluation Consultancy.4-24 November 1991.


14. Chewprecha, T. and A. Meesing. Consultants' Report on Lao PDRCurriculum Development and Evaluation Consultancy. 19 April -4 May 1992.

15. Chewprecha, T. and A. Meesing. Consultants' Report on CurriculumMaterials Development and Evaluation. 4 August - 9 September 1992.

16. Chewprecha, T. Consultant Report on Curriculum Materials Developmentand Evaluation. 4 August - 21 November 1992.

17. Denning, C. Textbook Printing and Distribution Component: AppraisalReport. 14 September - 2 October 1992.

18. Kingham, D. Instructional Materials Production and Distribution.Report submitted to the Asian Development Bank, March 1991.

19. Waechter, J.A. Projet de d6veloppement du secteur de l'education[Genie civil]. Rapport de mission d'6valuation, novembre/d6cembre 1991.

20. De Spiegeleer, J. Document de projet: GCnie civil. May 1992 (costsupdated December 1992).

21. De Spiegeleer, J. Esquisses pour les 6coles primaires en R.D.P. Lao.Juillet 1992.

22. Botti, M. R6flexions sur le systAme d'information et l'Unite dePlanification de l'Education. Septembre 1992.

23. Coussement, S. Rapport final [Systgme d'information et carte scolaire].26 juillet 1991-25 juillet 1992.

24. Coussement, S. Rapport d'activit6 [Systdme d'information et cartescolaire]. 26 juillet 1991-25 janvier 1992.

25. Botti, M. Renforcement institutionnel du svst6me d'6ducation.Septembre 1992.

26. Botti, M. Examen des aspects budgetaires et financiers du systamed'6ducation (2). Juillet 1992.

27. Botti, M Examen des aspects budgetaires et financiers du svst6med'6ducation. Avril 1992.

28. Cottereau, Y. et J.L. P6rillier. Composante restructurationadministrative et Loi cadre de l'Education. Rapport demission d'6valuation, 4 d6cembre 1991.

29. Carol, J. Audit organisationnel du Ministere de l'Education et desSports: Analyse et r6commandations. D6cembre 1991.

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Annex 18Page 3 of 3

30. Claisse, A. Mission d'6tude sur la restructuration de l'administrationet de la gestion de l'6ducation: RaRRort sur la formation et leperfectionnement administratif des cadres de l'6ducation.23 novembre-14 d6cembre 1991.

31. Martel, G. Analyse des oroblAmes budg6taires et financi6rs du Minist6rede l'Education et des SRorts du Laos: Elaboration d'une r6organisationdes services et d6finition d'un syst6me de gestion informatis6e dessalaires. Octobre 1991.

32. Spratt, J.E. Needs Assessment Report: Program Planning and Coordinationin the Education Sector. Report submitted to the United NationsDevelopment Programme, 26 December 1991.

33. Magnen, A. Projet de Plan d'Action du Secteur de l'Education 1991-1995.Pr6par& pour le Gouvernment et le Programmes des Nations Unies pour led6veloppement (PNUD). R6vis6 avril 1991.

34. George, R. Framework for Development of Education in Lao People'sDemocratic Republic. Submitted to the Ministry of Education and Sportsand the United Nations Development Programme, July 1990.

35. Asian Development Bank. Appraisal of the Education Quality ImprovementProject in Lao People's Democratic Republic. September 1991.

36. Asian Development Bank. Proiect Preparation Study for an EducationSector Project in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Reportsubmitted by the Queensland Education Consortium, January 1991.

37. Asian Development Bank. Lao People's Democratic Republic: EducationSector Study (in 8 volumes). Advisory Technical Assistance Project,September 1989.

38. United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Government of the LaoPeople's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Draft Country ProgrammeRecommendation for Cooperation during 1992-96: Extract of InformationRelated to the Education Sector. 25 November 1991.

39. United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Government of the LaoPeople's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Draft Plan of Operations forBasic Education. August 1991.

40. United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Government of theLao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Draft Project Plan ofAction for Basic Education for Rural Ethnic Minority Children.August 1991.

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