INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Public Disclosure Copy Report No.: ISDSC8692 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 06-Aug-2014 Date ISDS Approved/Disclosed: 06-Aug-2014 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: Mexico Project ID: P149858 Project Name: Mexico Reducing Inequality of Educational Opportunity Project (P149858) Task Team Ciro Avitabile Leader: Estimated 23-Jun-2014 Estimated 22-Oct-2014 Appraisal Date: Board Date: Managing Unit: GEDDR Lending Investment Project Financing Instrument: Sector(s): Primary education (66%), Pre-primary education (31%), Public administration- Education (3%) Theme(s): Education for all (100%) Financing (In USD Million) Total Project Cost: 150.00 Total Bank Financing: 150.00 Public Disclosure Copy Financing Gap: 0.00 Financing Source Amount Borrower 0.00 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 150.00 Total 150.00 Environmental C - Not Required Category: Is this a No Repeater project? B. Project Objectives The development objective of the Compensatory Education Project is to improve access to ECD services at the national level and increase the retention rates in basic education schools in the 400 municipalities targeted by the Cruzada Nacional contra el Hambre. This objective would be achieved through the scaling-up of interventions at the early childhood and basic education levels. These interventions aim at strengthening the involvement and the collaboration of parents, community and teachers in the delivery of education services. C. Project Description The Project would seek to scale up two of the four interventions that were already included under the Mexico Compensatory Education Project: Early Childhood Development (ECD), API. At the same Public Disclosure Copy time, it would provide technical assistance to improve the design of Fortalecimiento Comunitario para la Educación (FORTALECE) intervention. The Project would continue following a multi-layer approach that recognizes the importance of multiple actors in improving student outcomes throughout the different education stages. The ECD intervention would promote the parent/child interaction as the main driver of the cognitive and non-cognitive development of children in the 0-4 age group. The API intervention acknowledges that students, parents, and teachers play a key role in the learning production function of students in basic education and will seek to strengthen the abilities of all of them. Finally, by strengthening the design of the FORTALECE intervention, the Project would contribute to the strengthening the role of community and increasing the accountability in CONAFE-administered schools. Therefore, it would complement the efforts to improve the school-based management model in the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) administered schools that the Bank is supported through the Mexico School-Based Management Project (PEC, P147185). Component 1: Supporting Early Childhood Development (US$120.0 million). This Component would finance community sessions aiming at improving the competencies and practices of parents, relatives and caregivers of children aged 0-4 in caring for children and contribute to the children's comprehensive development and school readiness. Activities under this component include, inter alia: a) Funding the salaries and per diems to attend training sessions for the ECD promoters, module supervisors, and zone coordinators; b) provision of technical assistance and training to ECD promoters, module supervisors, and zone coordinators to train parents, relatives and caregivers of children aged 0-4; c) provision of technical assistance to design training materials for the training of parents, Public Disclosure Copy relatives and caregivers of children aged 0-4. Component 2: The Asesores Pedagogicos Itinerantes (APIs) Intervention (US$25.0 million). This component would finance activities to provide services of mobile pedagogical support to under- performing students, teachers, and parents in under-performing community schools in the 405 municipalities of the Cruzada Nacional Contra el Hambre. Each mobile tutor is assigned two communities. Activities include: a) Funding the salaries and per diem to attend training sessions both for the APIs and their zone coordinators; b) Funding of the training sessions for the APIs; c) provision of technical assistance to design materials for tutors to provide the mobile pedagogical support Component 3: Technical Cooperation, Monitoring and Evaluation (US$5.0 million). This component would finance activities to strengthen the design and implementation of the three interventions. Activities include: a) Qualitative and process evaluations of the FORTALECE program b) Consultancies to improve the implementation and the design of the FORTALECE program c) Data collection to evaluate the impact of the API Intervention d) Consultancies to improve the information and monitoring system D. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard Public Disclosure Copy analysis (if known) The Compensatory Education Project (Loan 7859-MX, P101369) targeted the poorest 172 municipalities in Mexico. Following the new social protection priorities defined by the Mexican Government, the proposed Project would target the 405 poor and marginalized municipalities included in the program “Cruzada Nacional Contra el Hambre” (CNCH). Because many of the indigenous communities are marginalized and poor, this new focus would increase coverage of indigenous localities from about 27% in the previous Project to about 44% in the selected municipalities under CNCH; there is an indigenous population of 5.9 million in these localities, representing 53% of the national indigenous population. Coverage for ECD would be nationwide. It is important to note that although the CNCH program may incorporate additional municipalities in the future, it has been agreed with the Borrower that the Project would continue to focus only on the initial 405 municipalities. E. Borrowers Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies CONAFE has been implementing the Indigenous Peoples Plan (IPP) prepared for the previous operation. This institutional knowledge is expected to facilitate implementation of the IPP under the new operation. The proposed technical assistance component would provide information for and support this effort through studies such as the impact evaluation of the API Intervention, which should differentiate an impact assessment of the program on indigenous communities. The strengthened monitoring and evaluation system that would be developed with the technical assistance can further contribute to assess the implementation of the IPP. CONAFE’s institutional capacity could also benefit from a stronger coordination with programs such as Oportunidades, which operates in indigenous localities and supports community organization (Comités de Educación, for instance) and is also developing its own ECD program. Inter-insitutional Public Disclosure Copy collaboration between this Project and the School Based Management Project (P147185) would also be important, given that the School Based Management Project would be supporting some CONAFE schools and the links could be strengthened under the two new operations. The Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas (CDI), while leading the conceptual and analytical work on the identification and characterization of indigenous peoples in Mexico, is not involved inn any operational activity. F. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team Jose Vicente Zevallos (GURDR) II. SAFEGUARD POLICIES THAT MIGHT APPLY Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Assessment OP/ No The proposed Project seeks to improve BP 4.01 education outcomes in the schools of poor communities through activities such as early childhood development and special assistance to students and teachers in these schools. These types of activities do not cause any adverse impact on the environment. The Project has thus been classified as “C” and OP/BP 4.01 is not triggered. Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No The Project would only conduct activities Public Disclosure Copy intended to improve education outcomes in poor schools and therefore is not expected to cause any impact on natural habitats. Forests OP/BP 4.36 No The Project would not be situated near forests and would not have any impact on forests. Pest Management OP 4.09 No This Project would not finance any procurement or significant use of pesticides or any activity related to pest management in any way. Physical Cultural Resources OP/ No The Project would not include any activity that BP 4.11 may affect existing physical cultural resources or works that may result in chance findings of such resources. Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 Yes The Project would target the 405 municipalities under the Cruzada contra el Hambre. Approximately 44% of the localities in these municipalities are of indigenous descent; they speak their own language, maintain -at different degrees- their traditional organizations and identify and recognize themselves as indigenous. The indigenous population in these localities is 5.9 million, corresponding to 53% of the national indigenous population. The IPP prepared for the previous Project has been updated using the results of project evaluations Public Disclosure Copy and recently conducted consultation. Evaluations conducted from 2009 to 20012 indicate that the Project has adequate targeting and that its activities have widespread acceptance and are well-received by indigenous communities. The majority of the parents (90%) give a positive qualification to ECD, FORTALECE and APIs. Consultation was conducted in selected localities according to the following criteria: (i) localities under the CNCH; (ii) where all Project activities are implemented; (iii) in localities with a high representation of some the major indigenous peoples (nahuas in Puebla, maya varieties in Chiapas). Though the large number (62) of indigenous peoples in the country make it difficult to find a nationally-representative sample, the two entities where consultation was conducted can be considered to properly reflect the common characteristics of indigenous populations in Mexico in terms of factors that can explain the gaps in education attainments. Public Disclosure Copy Among these are geographic dispersion, difficult access, and monolingual prevalence. Moreover, Náhutal is the indigenous language with the highest number of speakers in 16 entities. Consultations unanimously corroborated support of the program and the positive effects of ECD and APIs. However, in extreme poverty conditions, language barriers and some traditions (job preference for men, for instance) may be hindering results. The IPP recommends: (a) revising the intervention model, taking into account language barriers, updating and improving educational materials and methods, and developing a true bilingual education model; (b) increasing support to APIs, including better accommodation conditions and incentives to remain in the program; (c) provision of better infrastructure to carry out Project activities; (d) offering concrete incentives to mothers to participate in ECD, taking into account indigenous culture (most women are monolingual) and competition from other social programs offering transfers; (e) strengthening linkages with other programs, such as Oportunidades and PEC, and indigenous Public Disclosure Copy education programs in the Secretariat of Public Education. Interventions targeted at addressing points a and d would be piloted in the states of Oaxaca and evaluated through a rigorous impact evaluation. Based on the results of a cost-benefit analysis, they would be scaled-up in the entire country. The team is actively promoting the dialogue between CONAFE and the authorities that manage PEC and Oportunidades, relying on the support of the Bank's teams working on both projects. Conditional on data availability, the take up of the Oportunidades program among CONAFE beneficiaries will be monitored. The Project could also benefit from a gender approach by strengthening the role of the “Promotoras Comunitarias” and engaging women that are traditionally responsible for the care of children within indigenous communities. Certifying promotoras (as has been done in some states) has proved to be positive. The possibility of increasing the number of female APIs would also help increase women's Public Disclosure Copy participation. Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP No The Project would not include any activity that 4.12 requires land acquisition or major construction that may cause any type of involuntary resettlement as defined in the policy. Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No The proposed Project would not involve any activity related to the construction or rehabilitation of dams and would not depend upon the operations of an existing dam. Projects on International No The proposed Project would not affect Waterways OP/BP 7.50 international waterways. Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP No The Project would not be situated in any 7.60 disputed areas. III. SAFEGUARD PREPARATION PLAN A. Tentative target date for preparing the PAD Stage ISDS: 23-May-2014 B. Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies that may be needed. The specific studies and their timing1 should be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS: An Indigenous Peoples Plan has been prepared, incorporating results from evaluations from the previous Project and consultations conducted during preparation of the new operation. The IPP includes recommendations to improve the Project's intervention model to further benefit indigenous children and their communities. These recommendations will be discussed and agreed upon with the Borrower and will be taken into account in the Project's final design. The final IPP Public Disclosure Copy will be completed and disclosed before Appraisal. IV. APPROVALS Task Team Leader: Name: Ciro Avitabile Approved By: Regional Safeguards Name: Francis V. Fragano (RSA) Date: 06-Aug-2014 Coordinator: Practice Manager: Name: Reema Nayar (PMGR) Date: 06-Aug-2014 1 Reminder: The Bank's Disclosure Policy requires that safeguard-related documents be disclosed before appraisal (i) at the InfoShop and (ii) in country, at publicly accessible locations and in a form and language that are accessible to potentially affected persons.