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MANILA, PHILIPPINES - ADB will help address shortcomings in Samoa's education system through a project, backed by an ADB loan of US$8 million, to improve the curriculum, assessment system, learning materials, facilities, and teaching.

Building on an earlier ADB Education Sector Project for Samoa in 2000 and those by various funding agencies, the project will address several priority areas in the education sector, supporting the Government's education policies to promote equitable access to quality education that prepares competent young people for further study, work, and adult life.

It will introduce curriculum reform and an assessment system, improve the effectiveness of teachers, equalize access to quality education, and strengthen planning and management of education service delivery.

"The project aims to establish a system in which all children can have an equal opportunity to learn at a higher level, while increasing the cost effectiveness of education," says Kowsar Chowdhury, an ADB Education Specialist.

"It will help eliminate inequities by minimizing regional disparities in access to quality education, especially among poor communities."

"The Project will align the financial contributions and engagement of three development partners: ADB, AusAID, and NZAID, with a Government-led sector development program. The implementation arrangements have been designed to promote greater local ownership, alignment with local systems, and donor harmonization as agreed in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness 2005. These arrangements will have a longer-term outcome on sustainable capacity building."

Despite many achievements in the last 10 years, significant problems are affecting the country's education system.

The primary curriculum is more than 25 years old and many teachers are not familiar with effective teaching practices. Lack of teachers' manuals, textbooks and learning materials hamper high quality teaching and learning. In addition, assessment system is not reliable to provide effective feedback on student performance.

Standards, as measured by literacy test results, have been slipping. For example, year 4 students at risk of falling short of standards in English increased from 29% in 1997 to 51% in 2003, while year 6 students at risk in numeracy rose from 63% to 71% in the same period.

About 40,000 primary school students will benefit from quality improvements under the project, which especially targets schools with a large number of pupils at risk. In addition, about 15,000 secondary school students will benefit from more relevant multimedia learning materials.

"Offering relevant, well taught curriculum is an important incentive in attracting and keeping students in school," adds Indu Bhushan, Director of ADB's Pacific Operations Division. "Enhanced quality through a more relevant curriculum, a reliable assessment system and better learning environment will improve test results and lower the dropout and repetition rates."

The total cost of the project is estimated at $30 million, of which AusAID and NZAID will each provide grant cofinancing of $8.6 million equivalent and the Government of Samoa will contribute $4.74 million equivalent.

ADB's loan, from its concessional Asian Development Fund, has a 32-year term, including a grace period of eight years. Interest is charged at 1% per annum during the grace period and 1.5% per annum subsequently.

Supporting the loan is an ADB technical assistance grant of $350,000 to establish a framework for developing effective teacher development programs that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the project activities. The Government will contribute $100,000 equivalent to finance the TA's local currency cost.

The Ministry of Finance is the executing agency for the project, which is due for completion around June 2012.

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