Contacts
In Kabul: Abdul Raouf Zia (93) 700 280800 Azia@worldbank.org In Washington: Erik Nora (202) 458 4735 enora@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, January 31, 2008 ─ The World Bank today approved two grants totaling US$50 million to increase equitable access to quality basic education, especially for girls, and provide vocational education and training opportunities. The Second Education Quality Improvement Program (US$30 million) is an expansion of the World Bank’s ongoing Education Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP), which provide teacher training and grants directly to communities. These funds are used for the rehabilitation of school buildings and for accessing quality inputs such as teaching and learning materials through Provincial Education Departments. Since inception in 2004, the program supported the establishment of some 2,480 School Management Committees. These committees, which consist of parents and community representatives, have used block grants to rehabilitate over 500 school buildings in ten provinces. In addition, these committees, with technical support from relevant education departments, have implemented quality improvement activities such as teacher training, additional teacher support supervision, educational materials and supplies, supplementary readers’ toolkits, workshops and seminars. “Beyond the major achievement of enrolling almost six million children in school, the challenges in education sector remain daunting,” said Scherezad J. Monami Latif, World Bank Senior Education Specialist and Project Team Leader. “An estimated 11 million Afghans are illiterate and nearly half the school age population remains out of school with significant gender and provincial disparities. A massive skill deficit cuts across all institutions in Afghanistan, from principals to teachers, and from managers to skilled labor force. These projects will help reduce this skills deficit and support the Government’s goal of having at least 60 percent of girls and 75 percent of boys enrolled in primary school by end 2010. The Afghanistan Skills Development Project (US$20 million) is designed to increase the number of skilled Afghans and create a high-quality technical vocational education and training system that is equitable, market responsive, and cost-effective. More specifically, the project will develop a demand-driven vocational education and training system, and give training institutions autonomy to plan and customize their programs and establish partnerships with experienced national and international training providers. “The project aims to transform existing educational institutions to correspond to the skills that individuals, businesses, and government in Afghanistan need,” said Venkatesh Sundararaman, World Bank Economist and Project Team Leader. “By focusing a major component of the project on market linkages with a rural focus, the project will help build economic linkages in rural areas, and support the most vulnerable groups – the most difficult issues in Afghanistan to address.” The overall project cost of Second Education Quality Improvement Program is estimated to be US$187 million of which US$30 million grant assistance is provided by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm and the remaining funds will be provided by bilateral donors through Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). The overall project cost of Afghanistan Skills Development Project is estimated to be US$35 million of which US$20 million grant assistance is provided by IDA and the remaining funds will be provided by bilateral donors including United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Government of Norway. |
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