WB loan to improve weather services, college education
The World Bank (WB) has approved a loan of USD 213 million for two projectsone to improve weather and climate information services, and the other to strengthen college educationin Bangladesh. The loan was approved on June 3, a WB statement said yesterday. A loan of USD 113 million for the Weather and Climate Services Regional Project will help Bangladesh to provide reliable weather, water and climate forecasts, and enable communities, especially farmers, to easily access weather information services. The USD 100 million College Education Development Project will help improve the teaching and learning environment of government and non-government colleges affiliated with the National University.
To reach the middle-income country status by 2021, Bangladesh needs to focus on priority areas that include creating a skilled and competent workforce, and helping weather-dependent sectors cope better with climate uncertainties and natural disasters, said Qimiao Fan, WB country director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
Modern hydro-meteorological forecasting services will improve disaster preparedness, while a stronger college education system consisting of 1.6 million students will help university graduates become more employable. These two projects, in turn, will help raise income-levels and reduce poverty, the WB official said.
The Weather and Climate Services Regional Project will strengthen hydro-meteorological monitoring and forecasting, and improve early warning systems. The project will help develop agro-meteorological services for farmers and provide tailored weather and climate data, and services. The project will also support community level early warning systems for extreme weather events in the districts of Netrakona, Sunamganj, Rajshahi and Naogaon.
By providing access to weather and climate related information, the project will help the farmers cope with weather and climate extremes and increase agricultural productivity, said Poonam Pillai, task team leader of the Weather and Climate Services Regional Project, World Bank.
The project will set up agro-meteorological information kiosks in 487 upazilas and agro-met display boards at 4,051 union parishads, enabling at least 300,000 farmers adjust to weather variability at the farm level, she added.
In Bangladesh, over two-third of the students at the tertiary level are enrolled in government and non-government colleges. The College Education Development Project will support better education for graduate and masters students in the National University affiliated colleges. It also aims to strengthen the strategic planning and management capacity of the colleges. In addition, the project will help fill vacant teacher positions at the government colleges and provide training for around 8,000 college teachers and managers.
As the first donor-supported intervention in college education, the project will support an improved teaching and learning environment and contribute to creating a globally competitive workforce, said Yoko Nagashima, task team leader of College Education Development Project, WB.
The credits will come from International Development Association (IDA), the WBs grant and low interest arm. They have 38 years of maturity with a 6-year grace period and carry a service charge of 0.75 per cent.
