The World Bank will provide a 600 million US dollar (2,88 milliarder DKR) loan to India to part finance a huge 10,7 billion education programme, the finance ministry in New Delhi said in a statement on Thursday.
The World Banks efforts have been supplemented by two other external development partners – Department for International Development of UK (det britiske Danida) and the European Commission with 375 million dollar.
The scheme mainly puts emphasis on improving quality and equity and universalising access to education. India has made significant progress in taking education to the targeted groups in recent years after launching the scheme. The number of out-of-school children has fallen dramatically from 2003 to this year
The transition rate from primary to upper primary also improved from 75 per cent in 2002 to 83 per cent in 2006. Many schools have been set up during this period as about 21 million children attended schools.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Bangladesh will receive 130,7 million dollar from the International Development Association (IDA- Verdensbankens bløde udlånsvindue) to improve the quality and performance of secondary education and ensure greater accountability at school level.
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.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
