WB okays $400m for education sector
ISLAMABAD- The World Bank approved on Friday a package of assistance worth of $400 million to help Pakistan improve the access, quality and relevance of education at every level of education.
The World Bank said that the projects were designed to improve conditions for teaching, learning and research for enhanced access, quality and relevance at the tertiary (University) level across the country while continuing to increase enrolment rates and reduce gender and rural-urban disparities in primary education in Punjab and Sindh provinces.
‘Pakistan’s transition to a middle-income country in the global knowledge economy of the 21st century will depend critically on the country’s intellectual and human capital’, said Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan.
‘To achieve this objective, Pakistan needs to upscale its entire education system so it can produce skilled, innovative and enterprising graduates, as well as research and innovation capacity, capable of promoting dynamic economic development’, he said. According to figures from the World Bank, an amount of $300 million would go to the projects at tertiary (university) level education of the country whereas the remaining amount ($50 million each) would be reserved for the Punjab and Sindh Education Sector Projects at primary level. In primary education, Pakistan has made significant gains in education in the past decade with net national primary school enrollment jumping 14 per centage points, from 42 to 56 per cent between 2001 and 2007.
Source: The Nation
Date:3/26/2011
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