The World Bank is pumping $400 million of additional funds into the ongoing Third Primary Education Development Program (PEDP3) to help ensure quality learning and completion of rudimentary schooling for 19.5 million children.
A loan agreement between the government of Bangladesh and the Washington-based lender was signed at Economic Relations Division (ERD) on Sunday with regard to the additional financing.
WB’s Country Director Johannes Zutt and ERD Senior Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin inked the deal on behalf of their respective sides.
Under the additional financing, the WB will scale up support for improving primary education from grade 1 to 5. PEDP3 will also continue the rollout of one year of pre-primary education with trained teachers and quality materials, with a focus on public primary schools in disadvantaged areas.
Additionally, the programme will expand efforts to bring out-of-school children into the school system.
“Today, nearly every child in Bangladesh attends primary school, thanks to successive government programs to bring all boys and girls into the classroom,” remarked Zutt.
“To build on these achievements, the World Bank and other development partners are stepping up their longstanding support to further strengthen quality, access, and equity, and to establish an effective assessment system in primary education sector. An educated work force will be critical for Bangladesh’s aspirations to achieve middle-income status,” he added.
The credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the WB’s loan arm, has a 38-year maturity with a 6-year grace period and a service charge of 0.75 percent.
PEDP3 is considered a landmark programme globally, which along with its predecessor programmes have helped Bangladesh increase the primary education enrolment rate to over 97 percent and completion rate to about 79 percent.
The number of primary schools receiving textbooks within the first month of the school year has increased from 32 percent in 2010 to over 90 percent in 2014.
The programme has been supporting merit-based recruitment of teachers and the filling of vacancies to reduce the teacher-student ratio. PEDP3 also supports the development and expansion of an 18-month Diploma for primary school teachers.
Facilitated by the programme, the Primary Education Completion Exam has been reformed to address testing competencies instead of rote learning. The additional financing will continue to enhance the quality of school facilities and infrastructure, including use of Information Communications Technology.
“The additional financing would ensure access and equity by bringing the poorest children into pre-primary education, enhancing their learning experience and boosting their earning potential as adults,” said ERD Senior Secretary.
PEDP3 is a government-led programme, supported by nine development partners. It has introduced the use of country systems for financial management and audit, and harmonised external financing to primary education in Bangladesh under a single programme.
The World Bank is the largest external financier in the education sector in Bangladesh. Its current commitment in the education sector is over $ 1.5 billion, which spans primary, secondary, tertiary, vocational education and also includes programs for out-of school-children.