Strategic Review of the EDUCO Program - EQUIP123.net

Strategic Review of the EDUCO ProgramJuly 2010Teachers chosen by the ACEs were hired on annual contracts and a coordination office was set up inMINED. In short order, the pilot project expanded to 130 additional schools.In 1991, with the negotiation of a World Bank loan, the groundwork was prepared for expanding themodel in three of the country’s 14 departments where MINED had high educational deficits. Schoolswere established in 263 communities and 263 ACEs were organized to cover preschool and first grade.To implement EDUCO in these 263 communities, MINED trained a group of supervisors to monitor it.It also trained a group of facilitators who would then train the parents who were members of the ACEsand who would receive support materials for training the ACEs. MINED also printed teachers’ guidesand the necessary legal documents, and designed and established a system for opening bank accounts tohandle funds transfers.By 1993, EDUCO had expanded to 1,009 sections and by 1997, it had 6,060 sections covering preschoolthrough seventh grade, with 193,920 students and 4,196 teachers. That same year, MINEDbegan implementing complementary programs in EDUCO. It developed “Parent Schools” in 1,759communities and established a single curriculum for all the schools in the country. Schools were givenlibraries. Alternative, or multi-grade, classrooms were created in 1,043 schools, which taught two ormore grades that had low enrollment. There were also special education classrooms for 258 children,accelerated education, and tele-learning (to offer 7th to 9th grade using television and print materials)for 473 seventh graders (MINED, 1997).1995–1999The expansion of EDUCO was accompanied by an internal reorganization of MINED. A National EducationOffice was created, which, together with the National Administration Office, created the groundworkfor coordinating the administration of funds and the processes that had a bearing on the schools.Teacher salaries were covered by national funding sources and teacher benefits were improved: theywere added to the Credit Union of Ministry of Education Employees, through which they had access tofree life insurance and to optional burial insurance.The first initiative to establish a rural incentive system was implemented. EDUCO and traditional teachersworking in rural areas received a salary bonus. This benefit increased the average salary for EDUCOteachers to 7% above that of the rest of the teachers in the system. In 1997, EDUCO received the WorldBank’s Award for Excellence in recognition of its successful strategy for the provision of educationalservices by rural communities, with parent participation. This award opened a window of opportunity;many countries in Latin America, including Guatemala and Honduras, wanted to try El Salvador’s experiencein their own countries.64