The Ministry of Education in Myanmar, with support from the World Bank, will organize a second public consultation meeting on March 19th to inform and consult with the public and stakeholders on the Ministry’s revised programs for school grants and student stipends.

These programs will continue to be implemented and funded by the government of Myanmar, but will also benefit from additional top up financing and technical assistance from the World Bank and Australia.

This consultation is the second of a series of consultations on the school grants and stipends programs, and hopes to seek feedback from participants on provisions for community participation, and key design and implementation issues.

Through the school grants program, about 43,000 government schools will benefit from increased funding for operational spending. New school grants operational guidelines will also encourage schools to undertake school improvement planning and to increase community participation and transparency in the school. Under the revised stipends program, approximately 200,000 poor students in grades 5-11 will receive stipends that will promote increased enrollment, retention between grades and regular attendance. New operational guidelines for stipends will establish the procedure for targeting schools and students in poor or disadvantaged areas, and to increase community participation, fairness and transparency in the school. The stipends program is expected to be rolled out to 40 townships in all States and Regions over three years. The principles of Community Participation Planning Framework are embedded in both programs' guidelines. Each of these new programs will also be supported by the training of township education officials and school headmasters to be organized by the Ministry of Education.

There will be two sessions.

The meeting with local NGOs and Civil Society Organizations will be held from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm on March 19 (Wednesday), 2014 at Sedona Hotel in Yangon. 

The meeting with international NGOs and Development Partners will be held from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm on March 19 (Wednesday), 2014 at Sedona Hotel in Yangon.

Please see the following project documents: Project Information Document, draft Community Participation Planning Framework (CPPF), the draft preliminary Social Assessment Report (both in English and Myanmar languages), and the Ministry of Education’s presentations on revised School a Grants program and revised Stipends program (in Myanmar language).

Aside from face-to-face consultations, participants are encouraged to send feedback and suggestions by email to myanmar@worldbank.org.

Consultation participants should confirm via email to Khay Mar San, ksan1@worldbank.org, or by phone at 01-654824 (EXT 319) by Friday, March 14, 5:00 pm (Yangon time).