WASHINGTON, December 4th, 2012 – More than one million Peruvian students in higher education, universities and technical institutes will benefit in the next decade from a US$25 million loan approved today by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors for the Higher Education Quality Improvement project – “PROCALIDAD”.
This financing will help more than 250 Higher Education institutions manage their accreditation process and access information relevant to the continuous quality improvement.
One of the first objectives of the project will be a substantial increase in activities related to the self-evaluation and external evaluation of results. It also intends to gather information — via graduated student surveys — on current higher education conditions in the country to guide future reforms.
“PROCALIDAD arrives at an important juncture, as it will have a bearing on university, institute and higher education school improvements through accreditation,” said Patricia Salas, Peru’s Minister of Education.
In recent years, Peru has advanced significantly in economic terms, growing at rates above the regional average and this project will contribute to medium-term sustainability by providing an educational platform for developing competitiveness.
Because of this, “we need to balance access and quality to sustain growth, stop the replication of inequality within the system, and furnish the advanced human capital that the country is going to need in the next few decades,” said Susan Goldmark, World Bank Regional Director for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
The educational quality improvement plan includes:
- Human Resource Formation, via internships, short-term training or professional exchange experiences, in order to train teachers and administrative staff.
- Technical assistance to drive academic reforms such as curricular modification, update of study plans, pedagogical organization, etc.
- Procurement of relevant materials such as software or multimedia equipment.
The National Educational Quality Evaluation, Accreditation and Certification System, SINEACE, will contribute to this process through PROCALIDAD.
“This project will promote continuous investment in higher education and will also contribute to improving the employability of youth,” maintained Peregrina Morgan, President of SINEACE’s Higher Council. While the project depends on legislative backing, Morgan added that “the Congressional Education Commission shares the priority assigned to higher education.”
The US$25 million loan has a variable margin and an 18-year maturity period with a 17.5-year grace period.
