Recommended actions to foster the adoption of Corporate Social ...

subsequent survey, by the World Bank 83 , ofinternational buyers revealed that labor standardsin El Salvador were at the top of the list inimportance to outside business interests, and manybelieve competitiveness in this country willcontinue to have something to do with laborstandards and environmental practices highlightingthe need for an industry-wide approach thatinvolves the public sector (Roberts, 2005).3.3 CommunityIn El Salvador, the community area of CSR is notperceived as valuable by SMEs. Their opinion is thatCSR issues, such as community involvement andpublic-private partnerships are not widespread andaffect only the country’s overall sustainabledevelopment and not SME competitiveness.The most important activities in the communityarea are related to educational programs. ElSalvador’s Education with Community ParticipationProgram (EDUCO) began in 1991, from State andlocal communities’ efforts to create pre-school andbasic education services in rural areas. EDUCObecame a key part of the strategy against aneducation crisis after the 12-year civil war. 84 ManySMEs participate in educational programs, mainlythrough NGOs activities.In 1990, fieldwork by the Ministry of Education(MINED) found that many rural communities hadtaken the initiative and organized themselves toprovide basic education for their children duringthe conflict. Their research generated severalrecommendations: promote linkages betweenschools and communities, teachers training, providebasic educational materials, eliminate allrequirements for uniforms and financialcontributions from families and promote schoolfeeding programs. Genuine MINED commitment,active community involvement and financial andtechnical support from the United NationsChildren’s Fund (UNICEF), World Bank and UnitedStates Agency for International Development(USAID) helped create EDUCO 85 .Salvadoran NGOs are educated and able to providehigh quality service in traditional sectors, such aseducation, assistance to disabled people and peacekeeping after the civil war, but most of them do nothave expertise in negotiation, participation andengagement. Considering the low levels ofattainment and quality in the educational systemand the important implications they may have forEl Salvador’s business community, recent researcharticulates the link between enhanced productivitythrough technology and the educational level ofemployees (Tsukamoto and Twose, 2003).Therefore, Salvadoran NGOs may contribute notonly to the enhancement of basic education (wherethey already play an important role), but also topromoting business education of responsiblebehaviors for SME managers and employees incertain sectors or territories.According to a survey by Fundemas, in thecommunity area, 59 percent of enterprisescollaborate on social projects, a practice that growsproportionally with the size of an enterprise, andmonetary aid (philanthropy) is the preferred type ofhelp. The activities are programs of municipalsupport (13 percent), support for governmentalorganizations’ social programs (50 percent),employment donations and support for educationalprograms. The SMEs claim that the most important83 An earlier World Bank team (Tsukamoto and Twose, 2003) had suggested that CSR in education should focus on the twin themes ofenterprise and employability. Based on this recommendation, several areas of possible involvement were identified including thefollowing: (i) scholarships to promote the completion of secondary education and to connect secondary level graduates with choices in theworld of work; (ii) support to strengthen monitoring and to disseminate information on how the system is performing in relation tospecific performance indicators; (iii) support for strengthening English as a Second Language Programs through policy dialogue and thetesting of incentives; (iv) support for technological skill development (based on a detailed understanding of the nature of technologicalskills that will be required by the private sector); (v) support for strengthening school leadership by creating or deepening connectionsbetween school administrators and private sector managers; (vi) support for creating curriculum and performance standards in areasclosely associated with private sector requirements; (vii) support for efforts to achieve equity with respect to whatever performancestandards are adopted.84 In the context of increasing social consensus and economic recovery, public investment in education grew from 1.5 percent of GDP in1992 to 3.0 percent in 2000 and innovative initiatives led to a nation-wide Educational Reform Process (www.mined.gob.sv)85 EDUCO is based on creation, legalization, and provision of support to local organizations involving parents (Asociaciones Comunales parala Educación – ACE), which help develop new education services in their communities. MINED transfers financing to ACEs to hireteachers and purchase goods and services for their schools. In 1991, 263 ACEs participated, each hired a teacher, and 8,416 studentsbenefited. In 2003, the program included over 2,000 ACEs and rural schools, 7,000 teachers, and 362,000 students. ACEs administeredabout US$50 million dollars (approximately 12 percent of the national education budget).El Salvador 91