Boosting Access to Affordable Textbooks for Uzbek Students

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (30 September 2004) - ADB has approved a US$25 million loan to help improve access to and quality of basic education in Uzbekistan by providing students with affordable textbooks.

In 1998, the Government terminated the policy of free provision of textbooks due to financial constraints. Most parents found the full textbook prices unaffordable, and suppliers struggled with the uncertainty of demand. This led to serious textbook shortages in many schools by 2000.

"Textbooks are almost the only form of teaching and learning support provided for both students and teaching staff in Uzbekistan," says Lan Wu, an ADB Senior Social Economist.

"Making fully available affordable textbooks is a precondition for improving access to and quality of basic education."

The ADB-backed Basic Education Textbook Development Project (BETDP) successfully introduced a scheme in 2001 that addressed the affordability issue by renting out textbooks for an annual fee that was about five times cheaper than the total price.

The new project will build on BETDP and will extend the textbook rental scheme from its present coverage of grades 2-5 and 9 to grades 6, 7, and 8. The Government continues to provide free books for grade 1 pupils.

"National coverage of the textbook rental scheme to include affordable core textbooks and teacher guides for all grades of basic education is now needed," says Mr. Wu.

The project will establish systems for the competitive selection, procurement, and distribution of textbooks, and ensure annual provisions from the Government budget of textbook rental fee support for poorer students, who comprise about 15% of the student population.

To ensure the sustainable provision of textbooks, the project will establish a republican textbook revolving fund foundation to manage the collection and disbursement of accumulated rental fees on behalf of parents and schools.

The book publishing sector will be developed through support for short-term book sector skills training, and about 1,000 school libraries will be refurbished and upgraded.

The project will also strengthen the basic education policy framework by designing a more relevant curriculum, modernizing testing and assessment systems, and conducting related research studies.

About 6 million students will benefit from the project, 27.5% of which come from poor families and 6.6% from ethnic minorities.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $55 million, with the Government financing $30 million equivalent.

ADB's loan will come from its ordinary capital resources and carry a 25-year term, including a grace period of 5 years. Interest is determined in accordance with ADB's LIBOR-based lending facility.

The Ministry of Public Education will execute the project, and the BETDP project steering committee will remain as the project's overall coordinator. The project is due for completion in December 2009.

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