$100m WB grant for primary schooling

The government yesterday signed an agreement with the World Bank (WB) for a $100 million grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) for the ongoing Third Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP3). The grant will help 1 crore 95 lakh children in primary school to receive education and complete grade 5. Currently over 97 per cent children enroll in primary schools while nearly 80 per cent of these children complete their primary education, thanks to PEDP3 and its predecessor programmes. The PEDP3 also helped mainstream one year of pre-primary education in public primary schools. Nearly 20 lakh poor children attended pre-primary education in 2014.
"The World Bank has been a long standing partner of Bangladesh in the education sector. PEDP3 and its predecessor programmes have been designed to ensure that every primary school-age child in Bangladesh is able to come to school, receive quality education, and complete the primary school cycle," said Iffath Sharif, Acting World Bank Country Head for Bangladesh. The number of primary schools receiving textbooks within the first month of the school year has also increased from 32.0 per cent in 2010 to over 90 per cent in 2014. The programme also ensures merit-based teacher recruitment and helps fill in vacant positions. The government has recently introduced a university-level diploma in primary education as part of a comprehensive Teacher Education Development Plan.
"PEDP3 contributes to realise the government's vision of 'Education for all'," said Kazi Shofiqul Azam, Additional Secretary, Economic Relations Division, government of Bangladesh. He said the grant adds additional support to scale up PEDP3's ongoing efforts to ensure inclusive and equitable quality primary education, including instituting pre-primary programme to enhance the learning experience of the poorest children; standardising teacher training; and, modernising textbook distribution. Through this grant, the Global Partnership for Education joins the World Bank and nine development partners who already support PEDP3, a government-led programme. With the $100 million grant, the PEDP3 programme stands now at $9.9 billion. The World Bank's current contribution to the program is $700 million. "Pre-primary and early primary education are key to getting children ready for a successful school life," said Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education. She said the $100 million grant would help strengthen Bangladesh's education system and support the government to ensure equal access and learning for all children and reduce the number of out-of-school children. The financing agreement was signed by Kazi Shofiqul Azam and Iffath Sharif, on behalf of the government of Bangladesh and the World Bank, respectively, at the Economic Relations Division.

$100m WB grant for primary schooling

The government yesterday signed an agreement with the World Bank (WB) for a $100 million grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) for the ongoing Third Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP3). The grant will help 1 crore 95 lakh children in primary school to receive education and complete grade 5. Currently over 97 per cent children enroll in primary schools while nearly 80 per cent of these children complete their primary education, thanks to PEDP3 and its predecessor programmes. The PEDP3 also helped mainstream one year of pre-primary education in public primary schools. Nearly 20 lakh poor children attended pre-primary education in 2014. The World Bank has been a long standing partner of Bangladesh in the education sector. PEDP3 and its predecessor programmes have been designed to ensure that every primary school-age child in Bangladesh is able to come to school, receive quality education, and complete the primary school cycle, said Iffath Sharif, Acting World Bank Country Head for Bangladesh. The number of primary schools receiving textbooks within the first month of the school year has also increased from 32.0 per cent in 2010 to over 90 per cent in 2014. The programme also ensures merit-based teacher recruitment and helps fill in vacant positions. The government has recently introduced a university-level diploma in primary education as part of a comprehensive Teacher Education Development Plan. PEDP3 contributes to realise the governments vision of Education for all, said Kazi Shofiqul Azam, Additional Secretary, Economic Relations Division, government of Bangladesh. He said the grant adds additional support to scale up PEDP3s ongoing efforts to ensure inclusive and equitable quality primary education, including instituting pre-primary programme to enhance the learning experience of the poorest children; standardising teacher training; and, modernising textbook distribution. Through this grant, the Global Partnership for Education joins the World Bank and nine development partners who already support PEDP3, a government-led programme. With the $100 million grant, the PEDP3 programme stands now at $9.9 billion. The World Banks current contribution to the program is $700 million. Pre-primary and early primary education are key to getting children ready for a successful school life, said Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education. She said the $100 million grant would help strengthen Bangladeshs education system and support the government to ensure equal access and learning for all children and reduce the number of out-of-school children. The financing agreement was signed by Kazi Shofiqul Azam and Iffath Sharif, on behalf of the government of Bangladesh and the World Bank, respectively, at the Economic Relations Division.