Development studies project

PES covers the period 6/83-4/85 and is based in part on an attached special evaluation (XD-CAQ-171-A). The project is proceeding according to schedule and within budget. One major achievement has been support for the development of the Open University, in the form of a draft master plan which recommended policies to govern the University"s admissions criteria and procedures, curriculum development strategies, resource allocation priorities and mechanisms, and examination and evaluation procedures. The University, which will offer new opportunities for those otherwise unable to obtain a university education, opened in 9/84 and enrolled 57,000 students in its first year alone. Project support, while modest, has been flexible, timely, and carefully targeted, and has provided key assistance for this major educational innovation. In addition, the project has completed two feasibility and design studies, while another 11 subprojects (SP"s) - covering a wide range of policy issues - are underway. These include, inter alia, an assessment of malnutrition in 12 provinces and of sociocultural influences on food consumption, support for a high-level seminar on "Man and Society in Indonesia in the Year 2000", and a study of policy options for generating off-farm employment. Although it is too early to assess the project"s impact on policy formulation, it is expected that the project will achieve its goals. Already all members of the project working team and steering committee have benefited from dialogues with ministerial officials (and vice versa). The attached evaluation, which focused on five areas - information dissemination, proposal development, selection procedures, approval procedures, and monitoring and evaluation - has pointed to a need to modify project management. This will be done. Action decisions are to: (1) strengthen the working team and steering committee in terms of staff assignment and commitment; (2) establish a new project Secretariat at Bappenas (the National Planning Board); and (3) in response to the growing number of policy study requests from Indonesian agencies, prepare a project amendment to increas grant funding by $1 million and to extend the project for 1 year to 6/88.