The World Bank Argentina Second Rural Education Improvement Project - PROMER-II (P133195) REPORT NO.: RES37764 DOCUMENT OF THE WORLD BANK RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF ARGENTINA SECOND RURAL EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT - PROMER-II APPROVED ON DECEMBER 2, 2014 TO ARGENTINE REPUBLIC EDUCATION LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN Regional Vice President: Axel van Trotsenburg Country Director: Jesko S. Hentschel Regional Director: Luis Benveniste Practice Manager/Manager: Emanuela Di Gropello Task Team Leader: Helena Rovner, Francisco Haimovich Paz The World Bank Argentina Second Rural Education Improvement Project - PROMER-II (P133195) I. BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P133195 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Approval Date Current Closing Date 02-Dec-2014 31-Dec-2019 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Argentine Republic Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The proposed Project Development Objective is to support the national Government to reduce repetition rates in Primary Education and increase enrollment in, and completion rates of, Secondary Education, all in Argentina's rural areas. Summary Status of Financing Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IBRD-84520 02-Dec-2014 16-Apr-2015 07-May-2015 31-Dec-2019 250.50 174.11 76.39 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No I. SUMMARY OF PROJECT STATUS AND PROPOSED CHANGES The World Bank Argentina Second Rural Education Improvement Project - PROMER-II (P133195) The Project has continued to make good progress since the November 2018 restructuring, both in terms of implementation of activities and improvements in the performance of Project indicators. Progress towards achievement of the PDO and Overall Implementation Progress remain Moderately Satisfactory. These ratings will be reassessed in the next supervision mission once the definitive data on indicators for the 2018 school year are finalized and an update is provided on the progress of works. Three of the four PDO indicators are on track to meet their end targets, with the exception of PDO Indicator 4 “Average repetition rate in primary school in rural areas.” This indicator worsened as of the latest available data, but the increase in the repetition rate seemingly indicates a "rebound effect" similar to those registered in other countries after implementing measures such as the "unidad pedagógica" initiated by the Government and the technical complexity of its implementation. Efforts in in-service training will focus on ways to decrease repetition in 2019 to get the indicator back on track. It is worth noting, however, that the same effect was evidenced in urban areas and that the increase in urban areas was actually higher than in rural areas (1.7% vs. 1%). Component 1: Reducing Repetition Rates in Rural Classrooms. In-Service Training. Activities planned for 2019 include 5 principals’ circles and training days, 1 instance of didactic meetings (replicating the model from previous years), and refresher courses for primary school teachers. Secundaria Rural 2030. The pilot is currently under implementation in 127 schools in 11 provinces, which has included the provision of teacher training and technological equipment to participating schools. Increased support to technical and teaching teams for both lower and upper secondary will be provided from June-September 2019 to improve implementation of the model. In addition, improvements are being made to the design of pedagogical material and a monitoring and evaluation tools are being developed to follow up on the implementation of the model. Component 2: Increasing Enrollment and Completion of Rural Secondary School To date, 56 works have been finalized, 2 are undergoing procurement processes, and 78 are being executed. Fiscal restrictions in early 2019 led to lower budget ceilings that caused delays in the construction of 40 schools (considered under the revised target of 110). Due to these delays, the works could only be finalized by the end of 2020. Component 3: Strengthening Project Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation Activities carried by the Secretariat of Education Evaluation (SEE) during 2018 included: (i) preparation activities for Aprender 2019; (ii) exploiting information from Aprender 2018 results; (iii) self-evaluation program in Teacher Training Institutes; and (iv) participation for ERCE. The SEE continues to carry out actions that are helping integrate evaluation into school management, especially through the use of the Aprender jurisdiction- and school-level results reports. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) pilot for dropout prevention in the Province of Buenos Aires (PBA). Budget cuts at the national level affected the availability of budget to implement the En Sintonía program through PROMER, causing significant delays in its launch and a risk of dropping the activity altogether. The full range of materials, however, was designed and produced as planned and the pilot will now be carried out in 25 schools instead of 100, with the possibility of scaling it up in the coming months if additional budget becomes available. The training and implementation of the pilot are now planned for August 2019. Rationale for Restructuring The World Bank Argentina Second Rural Education Improvement Project - PROMER-II (P133195) This Restructuring responds to the Borrower’s request, dated April 29, 2019, for a 12-month extension of the closing date from December 31, 2019 to December 31, 2020. The additional year would allow for the completion of 40 works that had been cut due to budget restrictions (and were considered as part of the revised targets in the latest restructuring), and other activities to meet the targets revised in last year’s restructuring. In particular, an additional year would allow further development of the key non-infrastructure activities introduced in the November 2018 restructuring, including the En Sintonía program and improvements to the Secundaria Rural 2030 pilot. These present an important opportunity as they address important sector bottlenecks identified in the Argentina Country Partnership Strategy for the period FY19-22 and the Improving Inclusion in Secondary and Higher Education Program for Results (P168911). Furthermore, if the project closes in December 2019 as currently planned, it is unlikely that indicator targets will be met, as the team pointed out in the last ISR, and a one year extension would allow the PDO indicators to meet their end targets, especially regarding repetition rate. II. DETAILED CHANGES LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IBRD-84520 Effective 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2020 30-Apr-2021