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Innovative Solutions for Governance Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP) Case Study: A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts Uwimana Basaninyenzi September 2011 CommGAP Discussion Papers

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Page 1: Case Study: A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s ...siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGOVACC/Resources/PP2EDUCOv1.pdf · A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO

InnovativeSolutionsfor�Governance

Communication for Governance

and Accountability Program (CommGAP)

Case Study: A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

Uwimana Basaninyenzi

September�2011

CommGAP

Discussion�Papers

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A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

©2011 The International Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment / The World Bank

Communication for Governance & Accountability Program(CommGAP)

External Affairs

1818 H Street NW, MSN U11-1102

Washington DC 20433

Telephone: 202-458-7955

Fax: 202-522-2654

Internet: www.worldbank.org/commgap

E-mail: [email protected]

All rights reserved

The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressedherein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflectthe views of the Board of Executive Directors of the WorldBank or the governments they represent.

The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the dataincluded in this work. The boundaries, colors, denomina -tions, and other information shown on any map in this workdo not imply any judgment on the part of the World Bankconcerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsementor acceptance of such boundaries.

Rights and Permissions

The material in this work is copyrighted. Copying and/ortransmitting portions or all of this work without permissionmay be a violation of applicable law. The World Bankencourages dissemination of its work and will normally grantpermission promptly.

For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work,please send a request with complete information to theCommunication for Governance & Accountability Program(CommGAP) at the address stated above.

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A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

i i i

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Consensus Building in Reform Efforts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Communication Campaigns in Reform Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Lessons Learned from the Consensus BuildingEfforts and the Communication Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Details on the Consensus Building Efforts andthe Communication Campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Communication Team and Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Spokespersons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Print Media and Promotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Radio and Television. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Survey Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Other Important Aspects of Education Reform Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Annex: Logic Model for El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Consensus Building Efforts and a Communication Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Illustrative Indicators and Means of Measurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

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A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

iv

I would like to acknowledge the valuable advice,suggestions, support, and feedback from AdesinaolaMichael Odugbemi, Anne-Katrin Arnold, AntonioJoselito G. Lambino, Fumiko Nagano, Darshana

Patel, and Naniette Coleman. Special thanks arealso given to Maria Madalena R. Dos Santos andHelen R. Garcia for their contributions andvaluable input into the discussion paper.

Acknowledgments

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A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

1

A well-designed communication plan proved to becritical in implementing successful education re -form efforts in El Salvador (World Bank 1998). ElSalvador’s experience with the Education withCommunity Participation Program (EDUCO)demonstrated that special emphasis on communi-cation strat egies can build consensus, inform com-munities, and improve public support for complexreforms.

During the 1990s, efforts to reform El Sal va -dor’s failing schools mobilized a number of actorsthat included rural communities, education stake-holders, and government officials. The country’seducation sector faced a number of challenges,includ ing low enrollment; high dropout and repeti-tion rates; inefficient management; and low fiscalallocations (World Bank 1995). According to thetask team leader of the EDUCO project, surveyswere administered to parents, teachers, and princi-pals that brought to light the state of El Salvador’spoorly run schools. The results revealed acuteshortages in basic resources that were largely tied toconditions caused during El Salvador’s civil war(1980–92). At that time, many public schools inrural areas were forced to close because of se curityconcerns and lack of public resources. The teachersthat were contracted were not paid consistentlyand often unable to teach in the impoverished con-ditions.1

Consequently, a number of citizens establishedtheir own community-administered schools to pro-vide basic education in areas where the governmentwas not providing this. Soon after the communitiescreated these schools, the government institutional-

ized the program that became formally known asEDUCO (Educación con Participación de la Comu-nidad). This project was financed by the World Bankalong with other multilateral organizations from1995 to 2007 (World Bank 2007). In this program,local school-based parent associations (communityeducation associations [ACEs]), given appropriatetraining, were granted control over the administra-tion of schools. This proved to be a challenge as lowliteracy rates were common among members of theACEs. A lot of parents—especially mothers—werenot able to read and write. Therefore, a training pro-gram was developed to improve literacy among par-ents and increase the participation among women.Financial management was also a part of these capacity-building efforts, where parents were trainedto manage the funds of the associations.2

The successful education reform effort in ElSalvador was facilitated by the political develop-ments in the country. At the time of the reforms,right after the civil war, the political system shiftedfrom an authoritarian military regime to a more ac-countable electoral system. This provided Salvado-rans with a more prominent political voice and thegovernment with a heightened sensitivity to thecountry’s social inequalities. For these reasons, thegovernment embarked on an aggressive program toextend basic education to its population.

Consensus Building in Reform Efforts Despite the enabling political environment, a num-ber of communication challenges threatened to un-

Case Study: A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

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dermine the education reform efforts. To beginwith, the reforms faced opposition from variousgroups, including the teachers’ unions—Andes 21de Junio and the Farabundo Marti National Libera-tion Front [FMLN]—who saw EDUCO as a move toprivatize education and a threat to the job stability ofteachers. “At the beginning of the project, a bigeffort was made to persuade people of the benefits ofthe EDUCO education reform program and mini -mize the propaganda of the opposition groups.”3 How-ever, there was a lack of widespread aware ness andsupport for the reforms within the widercommunity.4 To address this, El Salvador’s Ministryof Education worked alongside donors to embark ona consensus building effort to strength en support forthe education reforms (World Bank 2007).

According to the task team leader, “the res -istance of the guerilla movement and teacher unionsposed considerable risk to the reform efforts.”5

Specifically, the guerillas had their own com munityschool program called scholar communidad, whichwas formed to serve failing schools in the guerilla ar-eas. Unfortunately, these schools used very poorlytrained and unqualified teachers. Despite this, theguerillas fought to maintain these schools and sawEDUCO as a threat.

A critical part of the consensus building effortwas the early engagement of key education stake-holders, who shaped the development of a 10-yeareducation plan. A consultation process led by ElSalvador’s Ministry of Education from 1993 to 1995took place among teachers, parents, students, foun-dations, universities, and other members of civil so-ciety. This enabled the government to obtain andmaintain the trust of the participants and facilitatean inclusive process that made important actors feelincluded. Ultimately, the consensus building effortsstrengthened participation and built solid nationalconsensus around changes in education (WorldBank 2007).

Furthermore, negotiations and bilateral meet-ings with opposition groups was another keystrategy, and the World Bank played an importantmediating role. The task team leader met with the

guerillas and invited them for lunch and meetings.In describing this, she stated, “I held very open andfrank discussions about the developments and plansof the Ministry. The guerillas made it clear thatthey were not against the Bank. However, they hada number of issues with the government, whichmade it vital for the Bank to remain a neutral andconvening party in the matter.”6 The negotiationswith these opposition groups took a long time, butthey finally succeeded in persuading these groupsthat most parties shared the same goal—providingeducation to the poorest communities. All thewhile, the World Bank maintained a very goodrelation ship with the opposition and the government.7

The guer illas were treated as a critical stakeholder, andthe inclusion and participation of this group was akey part of the communication strategy.

Communication Campaigns inReform EffortsAlthough there was consensus that the educationsystem should be changed, fragmented informationflows within the Ministry of Education underminedthe rapid implementation of reforms (World Bank1995). Consequently, the ministry’s institutionalmodernization efforts put a special emphasis on in-ternal communication strategies that would improveinformation sharing and coordination.8 In addition,the external communication with teachers, super-visors, and principals was constant, but not neces-sarily efficient; and communication with otherstakeholders was very limited, despite the proveneffectiveness of the EDUCO program. This lack ofcommunication led to public misconceptions of thereforms and prevented the stakeholders from devel-oping a sense of ownership (World Bank 1995). Asa result, the ministry set out to establish betterchannels of communication among the communi-ties by creating an active communication campaignthat would increase public awareness and supportfor the basic education reforms (World Bank 1998).

The major components of the communicationcampaign9 consisted of an integrated media and out -

A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

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reach strategy with programming in print, radio,and television. Six thousand newly hired EDUCOteachers served as primary spokespersons.10 TheMin istry of Education also developed campaignspromoting community participation and held a se-ries of pedagogical conferences aimed at teachers andother education stakeholders (World Bank 2007).These efforts were part of the project’s institutionalstrengthening and modernization efforts, designedwith the goal of increasing public awareness andsupport for the reforms (World Bank 2007). Thecommunication interventions made an impact onstakeholder relations, including those originally op-posed to EDUCO. “Strengthened relations betweenthe government and members of the community dis -empowered some of the remaining opposition andthe communication campaign was largely responsi-ble for the stronger ties,”11 stated the task teamleader of the project.

Because of a more open media environment,EDUCO teachers and parents were able to estab -lish good relationships with the press. These effortsled to wider coverage. Regular reports were pub-lished on the education page of the weekly Sundaynewspaper, which had a short journal annex withinformation on the progress of projects and the re-sults of enrollment by region. This helped the com-munity stay informed about what was taking placein different regions; and, through competitive pres-sure, people could see that other regions were doingbetter.12 Additionally, televised debates on theEDUCO program provided the community with es-sential information that represented different viewsand gave viewers a chance to come to their ownconclusions.

Lessons Learned fromConsensus Building Efforts andthe Communication Campaign

• Engage stakeholders early in the process. Theproject preparation included participation ofcommunities and the consultation of key

stakeholders to ensure that their concernswere included in the design of the project.This is a critical example of how communica-tions was handled in an upstream way.

• Enable strong ownership of reforms. BecauseEDUCO evolved out of preexisting grassrootspractices, the community’s commitment andownership of the reforms was quite strong.Additionally, the government took strongownership of the reforms, in line with theirown national objectives of addressing thecountry’s social inequalities.

• Ensure negotiation and dialogue as key elementsof consensus building efforts. A key reason forthe successful implementation of the educa-tion reforms was the consensus buildingamong stakeholders. A series of meetingswere conducted with teachers’ unions andmembers of the guerilla movement, and themeetings brought them to agreement.

• Establish key messengers who can work asspokespersons for a campaign. The teacherswho acted as the key messengers in the cam-paign were critical voices who advocated thebenefits of EDUCO’s program to the widercommunity. Their advocacy was particularlyimportant because teachers were perceived tobe one of the most vulnerable groups in thereform. Therefore, this key role was an impor-tant way to reach out to other critical educa-tion stakeholders.

• Strategically highlight key aspects of a programinto succinct messages. Because of the partici-patory nature of the EDUCO project, parentsand other members of the community becamemore empowered and engaged in their chil-dren’s day-to-day educational activities. Thepublic awareness campaign, which resonatedwith target audiences, focused on this criticalfacet of the project. The messages that cen-tered on community participation evoked astrong sense of voice and shared responsibilityin the education reform process.

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Details on the ConsensusBuilding Efforts andCommunication CampaignAn extended interview with Maria Dos Santos, thetask team leader of the EDUCO project, revealedsome of the communication methods that were usedto reach the key audiences during the campaign. Thedetails surrounding these methods are provided here.

Communication Team and Resources

• El Salvador’s Ministry of Education had acommunications specialist on its team. Theministry also used firms to carry out variousparts of their campaign, including the adver-tising component. The ministry was also veryopen minded and willing to try various com-munication methods to address challenges.

• The communication activities, which startedduring project preparation, continuedthrough project implementation and coveredalmost five years. Initially, the project sup-ported the development of a communicationstrategy specifically for EDUCO from 1995 to1999, which is the primary focus of this casestudy. The total funds13 allocated for that pe-riod was $1.3 million (World Bank 1995). In1998, the total funds allocated for the follow-ing phase of the communication campaignwas $0.7 million, which covered the periodbetween 1999 and 2001 (World Bank 1998).During that period, a number of the effortswere focused on communicating about thelarger national education reforms.

• The World Bank team did not have a dedi-cated communications person working onthis project. However, the task team wasacutely aware of the importance of integrat-ing communications in the project. Whendealing with resistance, they worked along-side the ministry to develop a strategy to helpmitigate the risks involved in the project.

• The project also allocated funds14 to developcommunication efforts for the country’s com-prehensive education reforms.

Spokespersons

• There were six thousand recently hiredEDUCO teachers who served as spokesper-sons in media efforts. At times, this was diffi-cult because the teachers and parents had tobe carefully managed. There was a point inthe reforms where parents were pushing full-steam-ahead on implementing the campaign.They were very engaged, entrepreneurial, andoften wanted to take charge of situations; butthey had to slow down their efforts to get themessage across more effectively.

Print Media and Promotion

• There was a very open media environment inthe country, including three newspapers withwhich the parents established good relation-ships. When parents were disgruntled withteachers, they talked frequently to reporters.This provided them an opportunity to ex-plain any issues they had with teachers.

• Additional components of the program thatmay not have been documented in the proj-ect report were flyers produced as part of thepublic awareness campaign that were distrib-uted by the community to different groups.

Radio and Television

• The media outlets that were particularly use-ful in the communication efforts were televi-sion and radio. They were initially used as avehicle to counter the opposition groups—teachers unions and members of the guerillamovement. The six thousand recently hiredEDUCO teachers also served as spokesper-sons in media efforts.

• There were televised debates on EDUCO whereopposing sides would discuss their views.

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Advertising

• Advertising was another important area ofthe media strategy. The ministry madearrangements to place different advertise-ments, where supervisors would explain theprogram. Teachers were also featured. Theytalked about how happy they were with theprogram. The government contracted with afirm that ran the advertising campaign.

Survey Tools

• The primary purpose of the surveys was todemonstrate the state of education in El Sal-vador. When the government took over, itsaw a lot of problems with lack of supervisionand with absenteeism. The United NationsChildren’s Fund was one of the organizationsthat administered the surveys to reveal thestate of the educational system.

Other Important Aspects of theEducation Reform Efforts

• A number of similar decentralization effortsduring this period were approached from thetop down. However, EDUCO was one of theonly ones that did so in this period from thebottom up. The decentralized strategy usedhere had a strong framework in place. Itdemonstrated that the community can havean effect on the quality and provision of edu-cational services.

• In terms of lessons learned, it is important forthe World Bank to use caution when intro-ducing reforms. The World Bank has a ten-dency to be ambitious and try introducingvarious components all at once. It is more im-portant to approach reform efforts step bystep. With this in mind, the widespread re-forms for the EDUCO program only tookplace in its second phase. The first phase wasmore gradual.

• In their approach to these decentralization ef-forts, the three principles that this project fol-lowed were the following:1. It is important to be specific in the defini-

tion of roles; the roles and responsibilitiesof each actor were clearly defined, withno gray areas.

2. It is imperative that all the resources arein place.

3. It is critical to incorporate technical as-sistance at all levels. A lot of parentswere illiterate and relied on the teachers,so a great deal of capacity building had totake place there. The ministry also had toundergo this capacity building.

• In 2008, the task team leader went back to ElSalvador and found an EDUCO school stillbeing run by the community. This shows thelevel of institutionalization that has takenplace. At this time, it is unclear whether thenew government will continue to support theEDUCO model.

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A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

6

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A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

7

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A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

8

Illustrative Indicators and Means of Measurement

Outcome

Better support of education re-form efforts among key stake-holders, including oppositiongroups

Indicator

• Agreement on shared objec-tives between government andstakeholders (including oppo-sition groups)

• Satisfactory rating as a result ofgood teamwork and excellentcommunication with the bor-rower and stakeholders

• Number of productive consul-tations, focus groups, and bilat-eral meetings

Means of Measurement

• Key informant interview withtask team leader

• Project records (the WorldBank’s “Implementation Com-pletion and Results Report of2007”)

• Project records and key in-formant interviews with taskteam leader

Greater awareness among thelarger community on merits ofeducation reform efforts

• Percentage of citizens aware ofEDUCO program

• Survey administered to thepublic

Increased quantity and quality ofmedia coverage surroundingEDUCO schools

• Number of print, television,and radio stories on the posi-tive merits of the EDUCOprogram

• Media content analysis

Stronger community participa-tion and overall interest in edu-cation

• Number of teachers participat-ing in school-related decisionmaking

• Number of activities in supportof EDUCO schools and stu-dents

• Number of parents, teachers,and other members of the edu-cational community involvedin EDUCO school activities

• Opinions on attitude towardeducation among parents,teachers, and principals

• A special study conducted onlevels of engagement amongparents, teachers, and othermembers of the educationcommunity

• Survey administered to educa-tion stakeholders

• A special study conducted onlevels of engagement amongparents, teachers, and othermembers of the educationcommunity

• Survey administered to educa-tion stakeholders

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A Communication Approach to El Salvador’s EDUCO Education Reform Efforts

9

Notes01. M. Dos Santos, personal communication, March

23, 2010.

02. M. Dos Santos, personal communication, March23, 2010.

03. M. Dos Santos, personal communication, March23, 2010.

04. Compared with similar education reform efforts inCentral America, levels of awareness and engage-ment in El Salvador were higher. Community-based education reform projects that were similarin Guatemala and Nicaragua had considerablylower levels of engagement (Di Gropello 2006).

05. M. Dos Santos, personal communication, March23, 2010.

06. M. Dos Santos, personal communication, March23, 2010.

07. M. Dos Santos, personal communication, March23, 2010.

08. For more information on the internal communica-tions efforts, refer to World Bank (1998).

09. This communication campaign started withEDUCO reforms and then extended to support thebasic education reforms that the Ministry of Edu-cation was implementing across the country. Thesebasic education reforms had an overall goal of en-suring that at least 90 percent of the children in ElSalvador successfully completed basic education(grades 1–9) by the year 2005. The programsought to achieve this by (a) increasing access topreschool education for children in the poorest ar-eas of the country; (b) expanding the system to en-able enrollment of students in the full nine-yearbasic education program, with emphasis on thepoorest rural and marginal urban areas that haveno sufficient capacity to absorb all school-age chil-dren; (c) improving the quality of education at alllevels through initiatives that include curriculumdevelopment, provision of textbooks and instruc-tional materials, and teacher development activi-ties; (d) developing school-based managementstrategies to increase accountability and schoolperformance; (e) promoting an effective decentral-ized decision-making process through the partici-

pation of ACEs in rural areas and school councilsin urban schools; and (f) supporting institutionalstrengthening activities at all levels to increase ef-ficiency, equity, and quality in service delivery(World Bank 1995).

10. M. Dos Santos, personal communication, March23, 2010.

11. M. Dos Santos, personal communication, March23, 2010.

12. H. Garcia, notes from interview with M. Dos San-tos, task team leader of EDUCO Education Re-form Project, June 18, 2007.

13. These allocated funds included the contributionsof other multilateral partner institutions.

14. The total funds allocated for the communicationcampaign was $0.7 million. This covered the firstphase of the project that ran from 1999 to 2001(World Bank 1998).

ReferencesCommGAP (Communication for Governance and

Accountability Program). 2007. “EvaluationFramework for Governance Programs: Measuringthe Contribution of Communication.” WorldBank, Washington, DC.

Di Gropello, E. 2006. A Comparative Analysis of School- Based Management in Central America.WorkingPaper No. 72. Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Bank. 1995. “Staff Appraisal Report: El Sal-vador Basic Education Modernization Project.”World Bank, Washington, DC.

———. 1998. “Project Appraisal Document on a Pro-posed Adaptable Program Loan in the Amount ofUS$88 Million to the Republic of El Salvador foran Education Reform Project.” World Bank,Washington, DC.

———. 2007. “Implementation Completion and Re-sults Report (IBRD-43200) on a [sic] AdaptableProgram Loan in the Amount of US$88 Million tothe Republic of El Salvador for an Education Re-form Project.” World Bank, Washington, DC.

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Communication for Governance and Accountabil ity Program

Innovative Solutions for Governance

Communication for Governanceand Accountability Program (CommGAP)

The Communication for Governance & Accountabil-ity Program (CommGAP) seeks to promote good and accountable governance through the use of innova-tive communication approaches and techniques that strengthen the constitutive elements of the public sphere: engaged citizenries, vibrant civil societies, plu-ral and independent media systems, and open govern-ment institutions. Communication links these elements, forming a framework for national dialogue through which informed public opinion is shaped about key issues of public concern. CommGAP posits that sound analysis and understanding of the structural and pro-cess aspects of communication and their interrelation-ships make critical contributions to governance reform.

CommGAP is funded through a multi-donor trust fund. The founding donor of this trust fund is the UK’s De-partment for International Development (DFID).

Web site: http://www.worldbank.org/commgapBlog: http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere

CommGAP DisCussion PAPers

InnovativeSolutions for GovernAnCe

Global Norms: Creation, Diffusion, and Limits

Johanna Martinsson