The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh will receive US$130.7 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to improve the quality and performance of secondary education and ensure greater accountability at school level.

To this effect, Bangladesh government and IDA, World Bank's soft-lending window, signed a credit agreement Thursday.

Mohammad Mejbahuddin, Additional Secretary, Economic Relations Division, and Vinaya Swaroop, Acting Country Director of the World Bank, signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank at the Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance.

The Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project is built upon the success of its predecessor 'Female Secondary School Assistance Project' which is universally acknowledged as a pioneer in improving access for girls to secondary education.

Female enrollment in the secondary level increased from 1.1 million in 1991 to 4.4 million in 2006 after that project was launched in 1993.

"Despite these achievements, completion rate at the secondary level is still low and many poor children, especially boys, are still left out of the secondary school system," says a WB release to justify the fresh lending to the country's education sector.The Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project covering 121 Upazillas will provide targeted stipends to poor girls and boys to increase access and retention.

One of the main objectives of the project is to improve secondary school educational performance, with emphasis on English Language and Mathematics.

"The project will assist in strengthening the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Education both at central and local levels, and establish an effective monitoring and evaluation system," says the release.

The credit from the World Bank's concessionary arm has 40 years to maturity, including a 10-year grace period, and carries a service charge of 0.75 percent.