Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Implementation of the Basic Education Project - Phase 2 (BEP2) has been started in Uzbekistan. BEP2 is the second phase of a two-phased APL financed by IDA in the amount of US$28 million. The total project cost is estimated at US$36 million.

The government of Uzbekistan (GoU) counterpart contribution will be US$8 million, which will finance taxes and duties, the distribution of learning materials to school, training under two components, study tours to countries involved in implementing similar reforms, and social contributions for local consultants.

The design of BEP2 is tightly tied to the first phase, building upon the capacity developed and lessons learned in implementation of BEP1 to help the Ministry of Public Education (MoPE) to implement new activities and foster broader education reform.

BEP1 has helped to make significant progress in capacity building in several key areas. Community involvement in school decision making increased at project schools through the training of school boards and their active involvement in needs assessment and selection of learning materials; per capita financing was designed and implemented in two regions and Tashkent City; the pilot of a national standardized student assessment was implemented and analyzed for grade 4; a standardized assessment of student learning was recently carried out for grade 8; and most teacher training materials have been developed and facilitators and experts trained.

The project development objective of BEP2 is to continue supporting GoU’s efforts to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning through: (1) targeted interventions in selected general secondary education schools and preschools in poor, rural areas (1501 general secondary schools and 598 preschools in Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Navoii, Samarkand, Syrdarya, Surkhandarya, and Khorezm regions); (2) development of institutional capacity to assess student learning; and (3) adoption of predictable and transparent school budgets in selected regions.

BEP2 will build on the capacity developed under BEP1 by increasing further community participation in school decision making and efforts to improve quality of education through a new program of competitive grants for selected schools to finance sub-projects; improving through school-based teacher training the skills and competencies of teachers to use child centered teaching strategies; expanding the availability of learning materials to grades five to nine in project schools in poor, rural areas; enhancing transparency, predictability, efficiency, and equity in school education financing through expansion of per capita financing to three additional regions; assessing learning of students over time through periodic standardized national assessments of student learning in grades 4 and 8; and developing results-based managerial and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity in the MoPE. BEP2 includes the following components:

• Component 1: Providing Learning Materials and Resources for Grades Five through Nine of General Secondary Schools (Total estimated cost US$ 29.9 million of which IDA is US$ 22.8 million). The objective of this component is to improve the quality of teaching and learning in project schools through effective use of learning materials and resources acquired under the project.
• Component 2: Strengthening School-Based Training for Teachers and Directors in Preschools and General Secondary Schools (Total estimated cost US$ 1.4 million of which IDA is US$ 1.0 million). The objective of this component is to change teaching in project schools and preschools towards a more interactive, student-centered approach to improve learning outcomes.
• Component 3: Strengthening School Boards and Providing Competitive Grants to Selected Schools for School Improvement (Total estimated cost US$ 2.7 million of which IDA is US$ 2.7 million). The objective of this component is to increase further the involvement of school boards in project schools and provide competitive funding for school improvement.
• Component 4: Improving Education Financing, Budgeting and Management (Total estimated cost US$ 0.5 million of which IDA is US$ 0.3 million). The objective of this component is to improve education financing, budgeting and school management in selected regions.
• Component 5: Supporting Project Management and Results Management (Total estimated cost US$ 1.5 million of which IDA is US$ 1.2 million). The objective of this component is to support project management, implement national standardized assessment of student learning, and evaluate project effectiveness.

BEP2 will be implemented over a period of four years. To ensure continuity of reform the two phases are scheduled to overlap for at least of six months.