Education

World Bank approves $510m for improving education sector

The World Bank has approved $510 million for Bangladesh to improve secondary education system and students’ performance, reports BSS.

The Transforming Secondary Education for Results programme will benefit 13 million students in grade 6-12.

The programme will enhance quality of teaching and learning as well as improve access and retention of students, especially girls and children from poor households, said a WB media release.

The credit is from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional lending arm. The credits are interest-free and repayable in 38 years, including a 6-year grace period, and carry a service charge of 0.75 percent.

The release said to improve quality of education, the programme will support modernization of curriculum and ensure professional development, management, and accountability of teachers. It will also support learning assessments and reform examinations.

“In 1993, the World Bank started supporting the secondary education sector through an innovative and a globally renowned stipend project that dramatically increased girls' enrollment,” said said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

He said Tuesday, Bangladesh is among a few low and low middle-income countries to achieve gender parity in secondary education.

“The next challenge is to improve quality of education and to ensure that poor children, both boys and girls, complete grade 12,”