PRESTAM CONVENTIONS Decree 794/96 Approve the model of the Loan Convention to be signed with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the Decentralization and Improvement of Secondary Education and Development of Polymodal Education Project.

Bs. As., 16/7/96

VISTO the proposed model of the Loan Convention to be signed between the ARGENTINA REPUBLIC and the INTERNATIONAL BANK OF RECONSTRUCTION and FOMENT, for an amount equivalent to DOLARES ESTADOUNIDENSES CIENTO QUINIENTS MIL (U$ 115,500.000), or its equivalent in other currencies, and

CONSIDERING:

That, through the Convention, the International Reconstruction and Promotion BANCO concurs with the ARGENTIN REPUBLIC on the financing of the costs of the implementation of the DRAFT OF DISCENTRALIZATION and the improvement of the SECUNDARY EDUCATION and the development of the POLIMODAL EDUCATION, to be implemented under the overall supervision of the MINISTERIAL

That the project to which the funds are allocated is aimed to support the decentralization of secondary education and to improve the efficiency and quality of it through the institutional strengthening, the development of actions aimed at the improvement of the quality and optimization of the infrastructure building in the Provinces of BUENOS AIRES, CORRIENTES, CHACO, ENTRE RIOS, SALTA, SANTA CRUZ, T

The main actions related to institutional strengthening are the development of administrative rules and procedures, the development of the capacity for financial and educational planning, as well as the management of human resources and the implementation of information and educational quality assessment systems; the main actions aimed at improving the quality of education consist of the provision of textbooks and teaching materials, teacher training and curriculum development, and the subcomponents of the school infrastructure and the expansion of education units

That the general conditions, the periods of amortization, period of grace, the rates of interest, commissions of engagement and other clauses contained in the Loan Convention, proposed to be subscribed, are the usual ones adopted in this type of conventions and are appropriate to the purposes and objectives to which this Loan will be intended.

That the execution of the PROJECT will require the acquisition of goods, the hiring of civil works, as well as the hiring of experts and/or consulting companies and/or universities and/or research institutes, national or foreign, circumstances that are expressly contained in the Loan Convention for the DRAFT DECENTRALIZATION AND IMPROVING THE SECDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT.

Given the framework of restrictions on existing public expenditure, it is necessary to expressly authorize the MINISTERY of CULTURE and EDUCATION, to carry out such acts by itself or through the implementing agencies of the PROJECT.

It is a condition of effectiveness of the provision to sign subsidiary agreements with each of the provinces to which it is intended.

That the formalization of this operation requires that the ARGENTINA REPUBLIC, through the MINISTERIO OF ECONOMY AND ARTWS AND SERVICES PUBLICS subscribes to the Loan Convention for the DRAFT DECENTRALIZATION AND IMPROVING SECOND EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF POLIMODAL EDUCATION.

That the PROJECT is part of the tasks of the MINISTERY OF CULTURE AND EDUCATION, through the SECRETARIAT OF PROGRAMME AND EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION.

That the implementation of the PROJECT and the use of the financing resources established by this Loan Convention shall be carried out by the SECRETARIAT for EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME AND EVALUATION of the MINISTERY OF CULTURE AND EDUCATION.

That the Convention proposed to be signed is covered in the terms of Article 60 "in fine" of the Law of FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION and of the CONTROL SYSTEMs of the NATIONAL PUBLIC SECTOR No. 24.156.

That in accordance with article 16 of Act No. 11,672, COMPLEMENTARY PERMANENT OF BUDGET (T. O. 1995) and article 99, paragraph 1 of the NATIONAL CONSTITUTION, the NATIONAL EXECUTIVE POWER is empowered to adopt such operations and subject eventual disputes to the decision of the Arbitral Tribunals.

Therefore,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE ARGENTINA NATION

RIGHT:

Article 1 ), Approved the model of the Loan Convention for the DRAFT DECENTRALIZATION AND MEJORATION OF THE SECOND EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLIMODAL EDUCATION, in the English language, which consists of SIETE (7) articles and FOIS (6) annexes, to be signed between the ARGENTINE REPUBLIC and the INTERNATIONAL BANK The translation of the text of the aforementioned agreement into the Spanish language and the General Conditions Applicable to the Conventions of Loan and Guarantee of the INTERNATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION BANCO And FOMENT dated 1 January 1985, are an integral part of this act as Annexes II and III respectively.

Art. 2o . The acquisitions or contracting of works, goods and services to be carried out in the implementation of the DRAFT DECENTRALIZATION AND IMPROVING THE SECUNDARY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF POLIMODAL EDUCATION shall be subject exclusively to the rules, conditions and procedures provided for in the Loan Convention whose model is approved by article 1 of this decree, with due regard to the operations of this decision.

Art. 3o . Please refer to Mr. MINISTER OF ECONOMY AND ARTWORKS AND PUBLIC SERVICES, or to the official or officials designated by him, to subscribe on behalf of the ARGENTINA REPUBLIC, the Loan Convention and all the documentation relating thereto, in accordance with the model approved by Article 1 of this Decree.

Art. 4o . Please refer to Mr. MINISTER OF ECONOMY AND ARTWORKS AND PUBLIC SERVICES, or to the official or officials designated by him, to agree and subscribe in the name and representation of the ARGENTINA REPUBLIC, modifications to the Loan Convention approved by article 1 of the present decree, provided that the latter do not constitute substantial changes to the object and destination of the increase

Art. 5o . Facultase Mrs. MINISTRA DE CULTURA AND EDUCATION, in conjunction with Mr. MINISTER DE ECONOMIA AND ARTWORKS AND PUBLIC SERVICES, or the official or officials who respectively designate each of them, to subscribe Subsidiary Loan Agreements with each of the jurisdictions involved in the PROJECT, to whom the funds of the loan are allocated.

Art. 6th El The PROJECT will be executed by the SECRETARIAT for EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME AND ASSESSMENT OF CULTURE MINISTERY AND EDUCATION through the UNITY OF COORDINATION OF THE PROJECT (UCP), created by Decree No. 2288 of 23 December 1994.

Art. 7o . Authorize the MINISTERY of CULTURE and EDUCATION, to celebrate by itself or through the executing agencies involved in the DRAFT OF DISCENTRALIZATION and the improvement of the SECUNDARY EDUCATION and the development of the POLIMODAL EDUCATION referred to in article 1 of the present decree, contracts of location of works

Art. 8o . Communicate, publish, give to the National Directorate of the Official Register and archvese. . MENEM. . Jorge A. Rodriguez. Susana B. Decibe. . Domingo F. Cavallo.

NOTE: This Decree is published without Annexes. Unpublished documentation can be consulted at the Central Headquarters of this National Directorate (Suipacha 767, Capital Federal).