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implementation of employment and labor-intensive programs with the aim of shrinking informal-employment figures; and (d) seminars and other events as forums for discussion of these reforms . None of these measures could be expected to have an impact in the short term. In December 2000 the Bank approved a quickdisbursing project to help implement the labor code and lend support in other areas. 2.30
Social safety net: Even with the arrangements in place to shield “protected social programs” from spending cuts, the budget-trimming required by the fiscal adjustment is affecting a number of programs that serve low-income Argentinians. Though program targeting has improved considerably in recent years, progress still needs to be made in terms of creating and maintaining indicators of spending efficiency and implementing a system to identify the cost of social services, since many of the country’s programs do not collect the kind of information needed to gauge how effectively they are delivering benefits. Some have no information on beneficiary numbers or per-beneficiary cost. There are a plethora of social protection programs with heavy administrative costs but lackluster results. The government is already taking steps to consolidate these.
2.31
Action lines: Continue to work with the government to develop and operate social protection programs–the fight against poverty, Pro-Huerta, fiscal balance and social management—within the constraints of the fiscal adjustment, the aim being to achieve better targeting and more efficient spending. To this end: (a) continue to support the adoption and improvement of targeting and integration mechanisms (SISFAM—Master System for Identification and Registration of Families Eligible for Social Programs and Services, and SINTyS—Taxpayer and Social Services Identification System); (b) support the improvement of the impact assessment systems to gain a more accurate idea of program outcomes; (c) support the elimination of overlaps and duplications in the different social programs through coordination, consolidation, and restructuring; (d) fund studies to identify specific methodologies and systems to measure the efficiency of expenditure s and cost of social services; and (e) support equity enhancing and community participation and community development activities in urban and rural areas in the design, execution, and supervision of social programs.
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Education: Though Argentina has restructured much of its education system and quality is improving, reforms to enhance the quality of primary education are not yet complete in all provinces. Other problems still to be remedied are the low 33% secondary school completion rate, the lack of a cost-recovery system in postsecondary education, the fact that many provinces do not have the money or technical capability to implement the law mandating ten years of compulsory basic general education, and the teaching hours and leave system that makes for inefficiencies in teacher performance and administrative costs, particularly in secondary schools.