REPORT ON THE ANNUAL EDUCATION SECTOR LOAN REVIEW - LOAN 525-L-036-FEBRUARY 22, 23, 1973

BETWEEN 1970-72 NUMBER OF SCHOOLS INCREASED BY 430, CLASSROOMS BY 1424, TEACHING PERSONNEL BY 4122, AND ENROLLMENT BY 77,164. RATE OF INCREASE INDICATES NEED FOR ACCELERATING SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE BEING UTILIZED SUCCESSFULLY IN A VARIETY OF PROJECT AREAS. TRAINING OF UNCERTIFIED TEACHERS IN PROVINCES PROGRESSING WELL. SIMILARLY, TRAINING OF SCHOOL LIBRARIANS AT UNIVERSITY OF PANAMA IS PROGRESSING WELL. RADIO AND TV MATERIALS BEING PREPARED FOR FOLLOW-UP TEACHER TRAINING AND SHOULD REACH 3000 TEACHERS. FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY TRAINED MINISTRY OF EDUCATION STAFF AND SCHOOL PERSONNEL, AND WILL PERFORM FOLLOW-UP SERVICES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION PILOT PROJECT. COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF PRESENT EDUCATIONAL SUPERVISION STRUCTURE BEING PERFORMED. PILOT PROJECT TO DETERMINE STRUCTURE FOR A DECENTRALIZED UNIT OF MINISTRY OF EDUCATION. ADP TRAINING PROGRAM PLANNED TO EXPEDITE MINISTRY DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN INFORMATION SYSTEM. CRITICAL DATES OF LOAN AGREEMENT DISCUSSED AT LENGTH, WITH A 15 MONTH EXTENSION OF PROJECT SCHEDULE BEING GRANTED. EFFECTIVE DATES ARE AS FOLLOW: FINAL COMMITMENT DATE-12/30/74; FINAL DISBURSEMENT DATE-6/30/75; FINAL DATE FOR INITIATION OF CONSTRUCTION-12/1/74.