Secondary Education - Projects

Below are examples of current World Bank projects that are addressing the twin challenges of increasing access to and quality of secondary education systems.

Bangladesh - Education Sector Development Support Credit II
Approved in March of 2006, the Second Programmatic Education Sector Development Support Credit Project will assist the Ministry of Education (MoE) in undertaking the second phase of a medium-term reform agenda, aimed at addressing systemic governance issues in order to raise the quality, and cost-effectiveness of service delivery, and improve equity of access to secondary education.

El Salvador - Excellence and Innovation in Secondary Education (EXITO) Project
The Excellence and Innovation in Secondary Education (EXITO) Project for El Salvador, begun in November, 2005, will increase equitable opportunities for young people to complete their secondary education with high quality general and/or relevant specialized competencies. Project components include: promoting high-quality relevant, secondary education by supporting measures to improve learning in core subjects, teaching-learning environments, and the relevance of technical education through stronger linkages with tertiary education and the private sector; promoting broad-based coverage in secondary education; and, enhancement of the effectiveness of all the project's interventions by developing solid evaluation, certification and accreditation systems, and by improving school management and decentralization.

Bosnia - Herzegovina - Education Restructuring Project
The overall objectives of the Education Restructuring Project in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which began in June 2005, are to: (a) increase participation in general and broad-based secondary education programs; and (b) improve the efficiency of education delivery, especially in secondary education. The project consists of three components. The first, the Secondary Education Grants Program will provide grants to schools to facilitate the development and implementation of broad based curricular programs and technical and professional curricular families for secondary education, and enable certain schools to expand so that students are able to study revised four-year programs or attend general education. The second, education finance and management, will facilitate the design and implementation of more transparent formula-based financing mechanisms for publicly-provided general education. The third, project implementation, will provide consulting services and training to support project implementation.

Ukraine - Equal Access to Quality Education Project
The Equal Access to Quality Education Project for Ukraine, which was approved in May of 2005, aims to provide equal access to quality education and improved efficiency of the education system to prepare Ukraine's graduates for the knowledge society. The project has the following three components: Component 1) will raise the awareness, professional knowledge and competences of teachers and school directors in order to implement the reforms underway in teaching and learning in general education. Component 2) will support ongoing efforts to improve the conditions of teaching and learning in secondary schools in Ukraine, including curriculum issues, evaluation of education outcomes, teaching and learning resources, and school improvement initiatives for classroom level education reform. Component 3) will improve the efficiency of the general education system and strengthen the policy development capacities of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES) and other institutions responsible for general secondary education, as well as to support the Government plans to optimize the school network and provide assistance for the rehabilitation of schools.

Turkey - Secondary Education Project
The Secondary Education Project, begun in March 2005, is aimed at improving the quality and economic relevance of secondary education in Turkey. The project supports (a) curriculum reforms in general and vocational education, including increasing the use of information and communication technologies, to meet the needs of Turkey’s emerging economy, (b) strengthening career guidance and counseling programs to help students place themselves effectively in Turkey’s labor market and learn effective skills to cope with life’s challenges, and (c) assessing and benchmarking Turkey’s education programs and institutions to national and international norms to improve the quality and relevance of secondary education in Turkey. 

Tanzania - Secondary Education Development Program
In June 2004, the World Bank approved a loan to support the development of secondary education in Tanzania.  The project is aimed at promoting policy reforms to improve access and equity in secondary education, notably through the provision of grants to schools for recurrent and development expenditures, setting up of a scholarship scheme for qualified but poor students, and attracting and retaining qualified teachers. The program is designed to tackle three main challenges facing secondary education in Tanzania: increasing access, raising quality, and strengthening management.

OECS Education Development Projects for Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
The overall objective of the horizontal APL program is to build human capital in the OECS— Organization of Eastern Caribbean States—which, in turn, will contribute to the diversification of their economy, and more sustainable growth. The program supports the education development of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis. The first component seeks to increase equitable access, through an absolute enrolment in secondary education. The second component will improve quality of education, by improving teaching and learning. In order to strengthen management and governance, the third component supports technical assistance to train school principals, parents and teachers in the design and implementation of school development plans. Finally, the fourth component will support project management, to improve coordination of donor-financed activities, and benefit from, and strengthen an existing Project Coordination Unit (PCU). 

Grenada  |  St. Kitts and Nevis  |  St. Lucia  |  St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Selected Active World Bank Projects in Secondary Education

Argentina - Second Secondary Education Project - Province of Buenos Aires

Cambodia - Education Sector Support Project (ESSP)

Croatia - Croatia Education Sector Development Project

Bangladesh - Female Secondary School Assistance Project II

Egypt - Secondary Education Enhancement Project

Jamaica - Reform of Secondary Education Project II

Jordan - Education Reform for Knowledge Economy I Program

The World Bank maintains a searchable database of all Bank projects since 1947, accessible at
http://www.worldbank.org/projects

Tips for searching the World Bank Projects Database for secondary education:

• Search on “secondary education” (rather than high school).
• Add other key words to narrow the search, such as country, region or year.
• For information about girls’ education, try searching on “gender.”
• Most recent projects are listed first in the search results.
• Check the basic information chart for percentage of funding for secondary education.
• For a short project overview, consult the Project Information Document (PID).
• Click on “advanced search” to search for active projects or other categories
• Check out the Help/FAQ for further questions about the Project Database