Project assistance completion report : rural primary education project no. 522-0167

Despite major crises, all activities have been completed. Due to the Government of Honduras' (GOH) slow procurement and distribution of materials, the MOE constructed only about half of the target number of classrooms by the original 4/85 PACD. Contracting of private firms was then authorized. While this increased costs, it accelerated construction and eventually 2,056 of a targeted 2,100 classrooms were built - many of them in extremely remote and previously unserved areas. The project also renovated 606 of a targeted 700 schools and provided locally built school furniture, including 3,000 items to non-project schools. As a consequence of project construction and renovation, 81,100 students have access to primary education for the first time. For several reasons - e.g., taboos against singles of opposite sexes occupying the same house, lack of enthusiasm among villagers, and inadequate rural living conditions for teachers - only 5 of 600 planned housing units for rural teachers were built. Funds were used instead to build an in-service teacher training center in La Paz. However, after completion of this 13-building residential complex, USAID/H decided that it was too remote from population centers, too costly to operate, and did not fit with the concept of decentralized teacher training. As a result, plans have been made to trade the complex for an educational center in Tegucigalpa of equivalent value and size. Under the maintenance component, which limited its target area in 7 departments due to operational difficulties, 1,200 classrooms were repaired and 1,008 received indirect support (i.e., manuals and equipment). A key aspect of the component was the use of promoters to create support for maintenance activities among parents, teachers, and students. More than in 70% of the communities that received maintenance services and training have continued their repair work. Although the MOE decided not to merge the In-service Teacher Training Group (ITTG), created under a previous project, with its Pedagogical Section, the ITTG component provided professional training to 39 trainers and seminars and short courses to more than 16,000 MOE teachers and supervisors (exceeding target); nearly all indicated that the training improved their job performance. This component also: introduced the "nucleo" concept of school organization in 5 departments, developed an innovative and participatory curriculum model, and was (unexpectedly) successful in motivating primary school teachers. Efforts to institutionalize a computerized MIS was impeded by the MOE's chronic management instability and high personnel turnover. Only the educational statistics subsystem of the MIS was achieved as planned. A follow-on component is planned to fully integrate the system into overall MOE operations. Several lessons were learned. (1) Rapid personnel turnovers placed excessive power in the hands of an MOE official of limited ability; A.I.D. contractors should implement projects from beginning to end. (2) Use of the private sector for school construction proved more efficient but also more expensive than the Fixed Amount Reimbursement method. (3) A.I.D. must eventually deal (as this project did not) with the GOH bureauratic problems which hindered project implementation. (4) The project's impact on school dropout and repeater rates was miniscule. A stronger focus on educational quality issues was needed.