The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) Project Information Document (PID) Concept Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 19-Sep-2019 | Report No: PIDC27650 Sep 19, 2019 Page 1 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data OPS TABLE Country Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Project Name El Salvador P171316 El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) LATIN AMERICA AND Jan 06, 2020 Mar 16, 2020 Education CARIBBEAN Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Investment Project Financing Republic of El Salvador Ministry of Education Proposed Development Objective(s) The Project Development Objectives are to: (i) improve ECCE teaching practices nationwide; (ii) upgrade physical learning environments of selected ECCE Centers; and (iii) strengthen MINEDUCYT’s institutional capacity for educational assessment. PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY-NewFin1 Total Project Cost 250.00 Total Financing 250.00 of which IBRD/IDA 250.00 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) 250.00 Environmental and Social Risk Classification Concept Review Decision Substantial Track II-The review did authorize the preparation to Sep 19, 2019 Page 2 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) continue B. Introduction and Context Country Context 1. During the last decades, El Salvador has been stuck in a vicious cycle of low growth, high migration, and high crime. Economic growth has been lackluster since 2000, averaging just 2.3 percent during the last five years.1 This weak performance has hindered the creation of economic opportunities for some at-risk populations, which have ended up engaging in criminal activities. Despite the reduction in crime during the last years, El Salvador has been one of the top- five most violent countries in Latin America, with a murder rate that is almost three times that of the region. 2 Perhaps unsurprisingly, around one in three Salvadorans lives abroad and sends home remittances worth 16 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The two most significant factors correlated with the decision to migrate are age—with those aged 16-29 being more likely to migrate—and violence victimization. This situation generates a vicious cycle: low growth fuels violence, and both fuel migration. As a result, the economy has become incapable of generating jobs3 and of dampening the impact of external factors on poverty rates over the last decades. 2. This vicious cycle has created a crisis in human capital accumulation that has been transmitted across generations, affecting the most vulnerable children in the country.4 Results from the 2019 Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) show that human capital accumulation in El Salvador is still weak, with important differences by income. For example, a Salvadoran born in the country today will be only 50 percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health.5 This undermining in the accumulation of human capital may have affected the contribution of skills to economic growth during the last years, which declined from 1.4 percent in 2000-04 to -0.3 percent in 2015-17. In addition, the share of jobs intensive in high-order skills, such as analytical and interpersonal skills, have declined since 2000.6 This cycle is creating a persistent intergenerational transmission of (low) human capital and productivity: Salvadoran children living in poor and poorly educated households have preprimary school enrollment rates lower than those living with non-poor parents.7 3. Social violence is affecting family structures and patterns of caregiving, hindering children’s development, and leading to negative long-term impacts on their mental health, including post-traumatic stress, social dissociation, anxiety, and depression. Social violence has intensified existing migration dynamics, affecting the already deteriorated family structure and exacerbating the care crisis. In El Salvador, 43 percent of children live without one or both parents because of migration, death, or abandonment, and around 52 percent of children between 1 and 14 years old are disciplined in a violent manner, such as through physical punishment or psychological aggression.8 A recent study shows that sexual violence is present in both public and private middle schools, exercised mainly by male students and teachers 1 World Bank Systematic Country Diagnostic, 2019. 2 InSight Crime, 2019. The economic consequences of these high levels of violence could be dramatic. Estimations indicate that violence cost El Salvador 6 percent of GDP in 2014 (IDB, 2017), equal to almost 73 percent the same annual budget allocated to both public health and education. 3 World Bank Systematic Country Diagnostic, 2019. 4 “Vulnerable or disadvantaged children� refers to children who, by virtue of their age, gender, ethnicity, religion, physical, mental or other d isability, social, civic or health status, sexual orientation, gender identity, economic disadvantages or indigenous status, and/or dependence on unique natural resources, are not receiving quality ECD services. See Bank Directive, Addressing Risks and Impacts on Disadvantaged or Vulnerable Individuals or Groups, 2016 5 World Bank Human Capital Index, 2018 6 Job Diagnostic, World Bank, 2019 7 World Bank Systematic Country Diagnostic, 2019. 8 UNICEF. El Salvador country Program Report. Sep 19, 2019 Page 3 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) against women. According to the survey, 82 percent of all students are aware of some situation of sexual violence against girls, 78 percent of girls report sexual harassment in school by boys, and 27 percent of girls report sexual harassment from male teachers, which reflects a sexist context within schools.9 This exposure to violence can hinder their full development; at school, it leads to lower academic performance, increasing absenteeism and dropouts.10 At home, it affects their mental health or perpetuates the cycle of violence in homes and communities as they become adults that perpetrate or are victims of violence.11 In this sense, keeping children in school since the early years is a crucial tool for violence prevention and to break the intergenerational transmission of violence. 4. In addition, El Salvador is among the countries most affected by weather-related events and other hazards, ranking second for risk exposure to two or more hazards, and highest for the total population at a relatively high risk of mortality.12 The Salvadoran National Council of Environmental Sustainability and Vulnerability report recognizes that the country has been included among the 15 most vulnerable countries because it is exposed to threats of natural origin such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, droughts, and the El Niño and La Niña phenomena. It is estimated that 88.7 percent of the national territory, which concentrates 95 percent of the population, constitutes a risk zone.13 According to the Socioeconomic Vulnerability Index (IVS) and the Municipal Manifest Risk Index (IRM), 115 (44 percent) of the 262 municipalities are in a situation of medium, high and extreme vulnerability, with 63.3 percent of the country's population living in these municipalities.14 5. Improving the access to quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) services15 for the most vulnerable children has a strong potential to positively impact human capital accumulation, reduce social violence and climate risks, and help break the vicious cycle. National statistics show important challenges for most Salvadoran children since the first months of life: 14 percent of children are stunted and thus at risk of cognitive and physical limitations,16 the infant mortality rate is 15 deaths per 1,000 live births—higher than Costa Rica and Panama—and less than 34 percent of children 0-6-years-old have attended educational and developmental services. All these factors influence the poor life-course outcomes of older children and adolescents.17 Work to address these challenges must take a broad approach, focusing on families as a whole, and investing mostly during the early years, when many brain functions are particularly sensitive to change. International evidence shows that access to quality ECD services has positive impacts on children's development and their full learning trajectories, especially for the most vulnerable. Accordingly, a number of early interventions— including nutrition, adequate health and nurturing, protection from stressors, parenting services, and early stimulation and learning opportunities—have been shown to effectively enhance cognitive and socioemotional skills, such as positive behaviors, higher probability of school completion, lower criminality, higher earnings, and work performance.18 As a result, high quality interventions in the early years have a high benefit-cost ratio—around 6 to 1 in low- and middle-income countries19—than interventions directed at older cohorts.20 9 FOMILENIO II and MINEDUCYT (2019). “Estudio nacional de la situación de violencia de género y violencia sexual que enfrenta el estudiantado de tercer ciclo y educación media de los centros educativos públicos y privados para la propuesta de mejoras a los mecanismos de actuación.� Unpublished manuscript. 10 Dropouts are particularly relevant in the case of teen pregnancy, mainly caused by sexual abuse. 11 Alicia Summers 2006. Children’s exposure to domestic violence. A guide to research and resources. NCJFCJ. 12 CCKP, 2018 13 GFDRR, 2010 14 Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources MARN, 2015 15 ECD includes complementary services in education, health, and parenting programs, aimed at improving 0-to-6 years-old children’s development 16 World Bank Human Capital Index, 2018 17 UNICEF (2017). “Early Moments matter for every child.� 18 Cueto et al. (2016), Rao et al. (2012), Cascio (2015), Berlinsky et al. (2008), Tansini (2008), Almond and Currie (2011), and Cunha et al. 2006. 19 Richter et al. (2017). “Investing in the foundation of sustainable development: pathways to scale up for early childhood development.� Lancet. 20 In addition, besides the positive direct effects of some ECD interventions, such as parenting training, they can also generate positive spillovers on older siblings, which in turn increase the total—and often unaccounted for—benefit from these interventions. Sep 19, 2019 Page 4 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) Sectoral and Institutional Context 6. Access to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)21 in El Salvador is low and unequal, particularly affecting children from vulnerable groups. The average preprimary enrollment rate is just 34 percent, against 50 percent worldwide and 21 percent in low-income countries. Pre-kindergarten (PreK) and Kindergarten (KG) enrollment rates are below 8 and 69 percent, respectively, with important differences in access to preprimary education based on family income and area of residence. Specifically, enrollment ratios in PreK and KG between households in quintile 5 and quintile 1 of the income distribution are 3.3 and 2.4, respectively and preprimary services are mostly concentrated in municipalities with greater economic activity, which increases inequality in access for vulnerable households. There are also important inequalities for vulnerable groups. Despite differences that have not been properly measured due to data discrepancies,22 estimations indicate that indigenous peoples’ access to schooling overall is low, especially for those living in rural areas, and even lower for indigenous women.23 This low and unequal access to ECCE services is leading to costly inefficiencies in the education system as disadvantaged and under-prepared children are more likely to repeat grades and drop out of school before primary education. 7. A key constraint to the expansion of ECCE programs in the country is the low public investment in these interventions compared to other educational levels and to other countries in the region. El Salvador invests only 4.1 percent of total public spending in ECD programs—such as ECCE, health, and parenting interventions— below Peru, Honduras, and Guatemala, which invest between 5.2 to 9.1 percent in ECD services.24 Specifically, only 6.7 percent of the annual educational budget was allocated to ECCE, equivalent to 13 percent of the total budget assigned to primary school. In terms of per capita investment, the cost of education per each 0-6-year-old child was US$83.81, while the amount per each primary student reached almost US$458.25 This low investment in ECCE contributes to the low access and high variation in the quality of programs. 8. In addition, there are several demand-side constraints affecting preprimary enrollment. Qualitative evidence26 shows that poor parents of children 0-3 years old do not appear to have enough information on the need for adequate cognitive and socioemotional stimulation for their children and on the availability of local PreK services. Most of these parents also prefer home-based care led by the child’s mother, even when she lacks the skills to provide adequate stimulation for the child.27 This also reflects a discriminatory gender-based social norm that indirectly affects women’s economic empowerment and participation in the labor market. For parents of children 4-6, constraints are different. First, they do not send their children to KG because of their misinformation on the returns to KG compared to those of primary education. In addition, these parents report important direct and indirect costs associated with enrolling students in this level, such as transportation, materials, and exposure to school-based violence and to risk outside school. A final issue that affects enrollment in all ECCE levels is the continued seasonal migration of families—parents with their children—to find employment opportunities. 9. Low ECCE quality is affecting children’s readiness for school, especially for those living in rural regions and from households of lower socioeconomic status. Although El Salvador does not have a learning assessment system, indicators show the urgency to improve ECCE quality. For example, the Early Grade Reading Assessment shows that the reading 21 ECCE (or preprimary education) includes services of care, stimulation, and education for children between 0-3 years (pre-kindergarten, PreK) and 4-6 years (kindergarten, KG). 22 Direccion General de Estadisticas y Censos, 2007 and UNHCR, 2011. 23 EHPM (2017), as cited in Política Pública de las mujeres rurales, indígenas y campesinas de El Salvador 2019-2030. ONU MUJERES and MAG. 24 SIPI (2015). “La inversión en la primera infancia en América Latina. Propuesta metodológica y análisis en países seleccionados de la regió n.� 25 Estimations using data from MINEDUCYT (2018) budget and total enrollment by cohort, including direct and indirect costs per student. 26 UNICEF (2019). “Escuchando la voz de niñas, niños y adolescentes de El Salvador. Fase 2: la voz de madres y padres.� Unpublished report. 27 Estimations using EHPM (2018) indicate that having an inactive mother in the labor market reduces the probability of attending KG by 52 percent. Sep 19, 2019 Page 5 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) component of children’s readiness for school is low:28 only 34 percent of second grade students and 40 percent of those in third grade of primary education (9 years old) read according to the standard for their age, with the reading level being significantly lower for children from rural regions and lower socioeconomic status.29 Moreover, despite the gross enrollment rate in first grade of 90 percent, a third of those children are overaged. This last result may be explained by demand-side preferences of parents to not send their children to ECCE. Most overaged children in first grade are also repeating courses because of their lack of cognitive or socioemotional components of readiness for school. 10. Weak governance and lack of a quality framework for ECCE provision is driving the low quality in ECCE services. The legal framework for ECCE is particularly strong in El Salvador;30 however, the country still lacks an effective institutional framework and coordination to guarantee high-quality public and private ECCE services. The public supply suffers from many deficiencies: a weak, non-articulated curriculum that lacks gender-equality components; low coverage in the center- based modality due to lack of infrastructure, which is particularly severe at PreK level; lack of and deficiently trained teachers; and undersupplied learning resources. The private supply is offered by countless actors and most offer programs without developmental components. The low monitoring capacity of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Ministerio de Educacción, Ciencia y Tecnología, MINEDUCYT) and the absence of quality standards limit the mandate of high-quality performance of public and private centers. 11. The current ECCE curriculum includes components to develop cognitive and socioemotional skills, but still has important limitations. The current PreK and KG curricula (i) does not define the children’s expected achievements in the mid- and long term; (ii) includes activities without considering the limitations of existing infrastructure in the educational system; (iii) does not clearly state the nurturing care principle,31 which has been proven to be the most formative experience for young children;32 (iv) is not articulated among educational levels; (v) does not include activities or define responsibilities for monitoring and following-up on child development, which generates the inputs for a development warning system; and (vi) lacks topics related to specific groups, such as gender equality, children with special needs and disability, and ethnicity. These limitations expand to curriculum and materials for children with special needs and limits inclusivity of ECCE. In addition, pregnancy among girls and adolescents is a public health problem in El Salvador; in 2017, 19,190 pregnancies were registered among girls between the ages of 10 and 19, generally as a result of sexual violence. These pregnancies violate the rights of mothers and children. Working through the ECCE school curriculum with teenage mothers and their children is central to ensuring good parenting practices and protect these mothers and children from further violence. 12. Expansion and quality of in-service training for the ECCE workforce is narrow and the educational system overall lacks a well-structured teaching career.33 Only 16 percent of teachers are specialized in KG, which translates into a national deficit of 39 percent of preschool teachers. In addition, community-based PreK services are implemented mostly by Early Childhood Technical Assistants (Asistentes Tecnicos de Primera Infancia, ATPI)34 without any degree or specialization in ECCE. Lack of a well-structured teaching career is one of the critical reasons for the shortage in the ECCE 28 School readiness might include the following core domains: language skills, emergent literacy skills, emotional understanding and social-cognitive skills, social behaviors, learning engagement at school, and learning engagement at home (Bierman et al., 2008. Promoting Academic and Social- Emotional School Readiness: The Head Start REDI Program) 29 USAID, 2018 30 In 2009, the Congress approved the Política Nacional de Educación y Desarrollo Integral de la Primera Infancia, which aims to protect and guarantee children’s adequate education and development rights. 31 Nurturing care is defined as a stable environment created by parents and other caregivers that ensures children's good health and nutrition, protects them from threats, and gives young children opportunities for early learning, through interactions emotionally supportive and responsive. 32 Lancet (2016). “Advancing Early Childhood Development: from Science to Scale.� 33 El Salvador has a Plan Nacional de Formación de Docentes en Servicio en el sector publico 2015-2019, an in-service training program that includes different modules to enhance teachers’ practices and aims to overcome the lack of technical preparation of ATPI. 34 Staff working with PreK children, especially in community-based care centers. Sep 19, 2019 Page 6 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) workforce. Another key constraint is the limited expansion of quality in-service training, along with a lack of performance measurement and incentives to perform. For example, of a total of 14,000 in-service teachers, only 4,700 teachers and 262 ATPI have attended in-service training.35 Finally, current training does not build the ECCE workforce’s socioemotional skills, capacities to implement non-sexist and free of gender-based violence teaching practices, and capacities to identify children with special needs or at risk from exposure to violence. 13. Moreover, the educational system lacks a measurement and information structure to assess ECCE quality — through both services and children’s development and learning outcomes. The MINEDUCYT has an instrument to measure the development of children under 6 months old, but results from this assessment are not recorded into a coordinated system that warns of the potential risk for poor development and allows follow-up of children’s performance. Standardized tests for cognitive performance exist only for higher educational levels. MINEDUCYT also lacks a national system of monitoring and evaluation for ECCE but is launching a pilot with Whole Child International to assess service quality in existing PreK programs. Results from this pilot will inform the current quality of PreK centers and could present an opportunity to extend this evaluation process to KG centers. 14. The poor quality of the existing learning environments is not only limiting children’s learning potential, but also risking their security and lives. Of the total of MINEDUCYT budget, an average of 2 percent (US$18 million) was invested in school infrastructure during the last four years, and only 0.7 percent (US$700,000) was for ECCE Centers in 2019. As a consequence, school infrastructure is not prepared to face potential natural events, which risks children’s live.36 According to Bank estimations, the education sector faces a high seismic risk with a probable maximum loss of US$164 million (only direct economic losses). The associated diagnosis indicates that 830,000 students learn in spaces with high seismic vulnerability: 16 percent in learning spaces with high potential of collapse and 84 percent in learning spaces with high potential of structural damage. Access to basic services is also an issue: only 80 percent has access to drinkable water services, with substantial differences between rural and urban areas (74 and 96 percent, respectively). The system also lacks regulations for space flexibility, luminosity, ecological sustainability, safety, and comfort, especially for children with special needs or disability. Most public ECCE centers lack critical recreational infrastructure for play. Furthermore, these centers are not gender-friendly: 13 percent of centers lack restrooms separated by gender, increasing girls’ exposure to sexual abuse. Overall, this low quality of physical learning environments is hindering the provision of quality ECCE, especially in the poorest areas.37 15. To tackle several of these challenges, the Government of El Salvador (GOES) has embarked on the development of the new CRECER JUNTOS ECD Policy and a new Education Sector Plan 2019–2024, with which this operation will be fully aligned. CRECER JUNTOS is the flagship ECD policy, designed under the leadership of the First Lady’s office and inspired by the Chile Crece Contigo program.38 CRECER JUNTOS aims to enhance the development of children 0-7 years of age by improving the quality of ECD services nationwide. This policy will begin in 2020 with a cohort-based implementation structure. In addition, the MINEDUCYT is currently preparing a new Education Sector Plan (ESP), aligned with the current national Strategy Plan Cuscatlán, which prioritizes ECCE improvements under the Nacer-Crecer Program. The Bank is actively working with the MINEDUCTY to design the ESP and ensure that this operation is fully aligned with it. Relationship to CPF 16. The proposed Project is in line with the World Bank’s twin goals of eliminating poverty and boosting shared 35 MINEDUCYT (2019). Source: https://www.mined.gob.sv/img/boletinFormacionFull.jpg 36 For example, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, floods, among others. In case of an earthquake, from a total of 14,450 school buildings, 8 percent (1,184) has a high risk of collapse and 65 percent (9,417) has moderate risk of collapse (World Bank 2018). 37 “Suficiencia, Equidad y Efectividad de la Infraestructura Escolar en América Latina según el TERCE .� IDB y UNESCO (2017). 38 The CRECER JUNTOS policy is being designed with technical assistance from the World Bank’s Social Protection and Jobs team. Sep 19, 2019 Page 7 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) prosperity, helping El Salvador accelerate progress towards the achievement of integral and quality early education and development. It is also aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which stress the importance of obtaining a quality education as the foundation for improving people’s lives and sustainable development. The proposed Project is also consistent with the Priority Directions of the Education Global Practice and aligned with the World Bank’s Human Capital Project, which calls for countries to make more and more effective investments in health and education to improve the productive capacities of their populations. The Project is also aligned with the Pillar I Building and Reinforcing Foundations to Promote Inclusive Growth of the El Salvador Country Partnership Framework for FY2016-2019 (Report No. 95185-SV), and the objective of improving school attainment. C. Proposed Development Objective(s) 17. The Project Development Objectives are to: (i) improve ECCE teaching practices nationwide; ii) upgrade physical learning environments of selected ECCE Centers; and (iii) strengthen MINEDUCYT’s institutional capacity for educational assessment. Key Results i. Increased number of 0 to 3-year-olds participating in public PreK centers and community- based programs accredited by the Government. ii. Number of in-service Kindergarten teachers with improved teaching practices nationwide. iii. Quality measurement and information system used by the MINEDUCYT. iv. Improved school-readiness from KG to first grade (Tentative). D. Concept Description 18. The proposed Project would be organized in four components: Component 1: Develop and implement the CRECER JUNTOS Early Childhood Education Quality Model would set the guidelines for the quality of provision of ECCE services, as well as support its rollout nationwide by private and public providers. In support of MINEDUCYT’s implementation of the ECCE Quality Model (QM) in public ECCE services, Component 2: Strengthen the ECCE workforce’s development will seek to improve the workforce’s quality with a special focus on in-service ECCE personnel nationwide. Component 3: Upgrade ECCE physical learning environments would increase access to quality ECCE physical learning environments in selected municipalities. Finally, Component 4: Strengthen MINEDUCYT capacity for education sector and project management would focus on ensuring that MINEDUCYT has the key capacity for education sector and project management. 19. Component 1: Develop and Implement the CRECER JUNTOS Early Childhood Education Quality Model (estimated financing: US$20 Million). The objective of this component is to support the GOES in developing and implementing an ECCE QM that will cover all types of ECCE supply, including public and private providers. The main objective of the QM will be to define the learning objectives and milestones for each age and minimum quality standards that will serve as a framework for all ECCE services and modalities nationwide, including in the areas of: (i) ECCE curriculum; (ii) ECCE workforce competences and skills; (iii) teaching and learning processes; (iv) physical infrastructure and learning environments; (v) family and community engagement; and (vi) children’s development or educational assessment, among others. 20. Component 2: Strengthen the ECCE Workforce’s Development (estimated financing: US$50 Million). Building on the development of the ECCE QM and the revised ECCE curriculum through Component 1, the Project would focus on developing cognitive and socioemotional skills of the public ECCE workforce according to the challenges of the context: urban/rural, deprivation of liberty, ethnic diversity, or special needs. Special attention would be given to building capacity for non-sexist, free of gender-based violence teaching practices and to identifying children at risk from exposure to Sep 19, 2019 Page 8 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) multiple forms of violence. The Project would also build care and socioemotional skills under established quality standards for non-teaching staff working in ECCE in institutional and community-based modalities and from both public and private providers. Both teacher and non-teaching staff training would develop skills to promote—along with families (e.g. parent, school, community circles)—processes of deconstruction of masculinities and self-care of women in the community to promote a better environment for girls and changes in gender relations. Training would be carried out by combining several learning strategies: traditional group training, in-classroom training, peer learning and the modeling of good practices. In addition, teachers would be prepared to face the pedagogical challenges of multi-grade classrooms, ethnic diversity, and children with special needs. 21. Component 3: Upgrade ECCE Physical Learning Environments (estimated financing: US$150 Million - TBC). The objective of this Component is to improve public ECCE learning environments and make use of the quality standards developed by the CRECER JUNTOS QM to ensure that PreK and KG physical learning environments meet international standards and the latest evidence on child-centered, learning oriented, inclusive, with gender considerations, and resilient to natural hazards infrastructure. 22. Component 4: Strengthen MINEDUCYT Capacity for Education Sector and Project Management. (estimated financing: US$30 Million). The objective of this component is to strengthen MINEDUCYT’s capacity in three areas: (i) education sector governance; (ii) monitoring and evaluation systems; and (iii) project management. Legal Operational Policies Triggered? Projects on International Waterways OP 7.50 No Projects in Disputed Areas OP 7.60 No Summary of Screening of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts . The proposed environmental risk classification is Moderate, based on the investments under Component 3 that will finance expansion and / or rehabilitation of existing PreK and KG buildings. The potential environmental impacts and risks associated with these activities are deemed to be moderate as they are expected to be i) predictable, temporary and/or reversible or easily mitigable; ii) low in magnitude and site-specific; iv) occurring in already-intervened areas. The proposed social risk classification is Substantial. The project is mainly expected to have positive social impacts from increased quality of ECCE service delivery. Social risks of the project may include exacerbating existing inequalities if potential impacts to and barriers to access for girls, children with disabilities, indigenous peoples, children living in poverty or geographical isolation and other vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals or groups are not properly identified and addressed; and risk that indigenous peoples may not receive early childhood education in their mother tongues, as well as prejudice or discrimination towards individuals or groups in the provision of services and resources. In addition, high levels of contextual violence, including gender-based and domestic violence, as well as gang related violence, constitute a significant access barrier to project benefits. In addition, the client has gained recent experience in environmental and social management and oversight under a previous World Bank financed project that included school infrastructure rehabilitation types of investments. This existing experience and capacity will be built upon and further developed and embedded under the proposed project. Sep 19, 2019 Page 9 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) Based on the scope of the project's activities, which include technical assistance, capacity building, and infrastructure interventions for which the exact locations and extent of the work are not yet known, the Borrower will be asked to prepare, consult with main stakeholders, and disclose both in country and on the Bank’s website prior to appraisal, an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF). The ESMF will include: (a) an Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA) describing baseline social and environmental conditions, identifying potential environmental and social risks, impacts and opportunities associated with the proposed activities; evaluating design alternatives and formulating generic mitigation, management and monitoring measures to address the expected likely impacts and issues, and (b) the principles, guidelines and procedures for carrying out site-specific screening and assessment, confirming and incorporating appropriate management and mitigation measures into contract documents, and ensuring effective implementation and monitoring at the subproject level. The project will be asked to prepare and disclose, both in country and on the Bank’s website, and as soon as possible and prior to appraisal, a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) describing project stakeholders, timing and methods of engagement with key stakeholders throughout the life of the project, measures to ensure participation of vulnerable or disadvantaged individuals or groups, and the project’s grievance redress mechanism. In addition, the borrower will be asked to prepare and disclose Labor Management Procedures (LMP) identifying and describing the different types of workers that are likely to be involved in the project and set out the way in which they will be managed, in accordance with the requirements of national law and ESS2. The LMP will assess any Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risks involved for different activities and will provide linkages to the ESMF to ensure that OHS measures are also identified at the site- specific level and incorporate into site-specific ESMPs for contractors. The LMP will describe a GRM accessible to project workers. Given that the specific sites for infrastructure interventions will not be known during project preparation, the borrower will be asked to prepare a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) prior to appraisal to clarify resettlement principles, organizational arrangements, and design criteria to be applied to subprojects that may include land acquisition, restrictions of land use, or involuntary resettlement, including procedures for the preparation of Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs). As the project is national in scope, Indigenous Peoples will be beneficiaries. In addition, some of the selected municipalities for the infrastructure interventions may be in areas where indigenous peoples fitting the definition of ESS7 may be present or have collective attachment to the project area. The Borrower will be asked to prepare, consult, and disclose an Indigenous Peoples Planning Framework (IPPF) which will focus on identifying barriers to access and ensuring project benefits are culturally pertinent, describe how indigenous people's issues will be integrated in the different technical assistance and training products, and outline how subproject specific IPPs will be prepared in cases where infrastructure interventions are carried out where indigenous peoples are present or have collective attachment to the project area, per the criteria in ESS7. . CONTACT POINT World Bank Enrique O. Alasino Massetti, Katia Marina Herrera Sosa Senior Education Specialist Sep 19, 2019 Page 10 of 11 The World Bank El Salvador Early Childhood Care and Education Project (P171316) Borrower/Client/Recipient Republic of El Salvador Implementing Agencies Ministry of Education Lic. Carla Hanania de Varela Minister of Education carla.hanania@mined.gob.sv Lic. Brunilda Peña de Osorio Directora Nacional de Educación de Primera Infancia brunilda.pena@mined.gob.sv FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Enrique O. Alasino Massetti, Katia Marina Herrera Sosa Approved By APPROVALTBL Environmental and Social Standards Advisor: Practice Manager/Manager: Country Director: Sep 19, 2019 Page 11 of 11