Funding school drop-out rate reduction programme has had positive impact on schools (report)

Funding under the National Programme for the Reduction of School Dropout Rates (PNRAS) has had a positive impact on schools involved, especially those at high risk, reveals a World Bank report on the first stage of this programme (2022 - 2023).

According to the report, released by the Ministry of Education, developments in indicators show that the support measures implemented have led to significant improvements in the stability of the teaching staff, pass rates and the participation in the National Assessment.

The document is based on a comparative analysis of 1,402 eligible and funded schools compared with 1,255 eligible but unfunded schools in the first round.

"In unfunded schools, progress has been slower, indicating that the lack of additional resources can lead to educational vulnerabilities being preserved. Compared with the schools that did not get funding, the schools supported by PNRAS recorded more consistent improvements on all the indicators analysed, demonstrating the importance of continuing this type of funding. The results suggest that future interventions should be more personalised, taking into account the particularities of each risk category, and more focused on high-risk schools in order to maximise the impact on reducing school dropout rates and increasing academic performance," according to the report.

The document highlights that the better the results are the better the implementation and, consequently, the involvement of all eligible schools that have not yet accessed the available funds should be stimulated and the administrative and implementation procedures must be organised more efficiently.

"After two years of implementation of the PNRAS Grant Scheme, the impact on the receiving schools is important and positive, exceeding the value of the final target in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) of 625 schools with progress in educational results. Out of a total of 1,409 schools supported in the first round, 45% of them (634 schools) made progress, moving from high to medium risk or low risk and from medium risk to low risk, according to the Early School Leaving (ESL) Index.'