DHAKA, Dec 2, 2018 (BSS) – Japan will provide 500 million Japanese yen or approximately Taka 36.89 crore as grants to Bangladesh for the Fourth Primary Education Development Program aimed to impart quality education to all children from pre-primary to grade 5.
“In this regard, ‘Exchange of Notes’ and ‘Grant Agreement’ will be signed on December 10 at the NEC-2 Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area,” said an official at the Economic Relations Division (ERD).
The official told BSS that ERD Secretary Monowar Ahmed will sign both the documents, while Japanese Ambassador to Dhaka Hiroyasu Izumi will sign the ‘Exchange of Notes’ while Chief Representative of JICA, Bangladesh Office Hitoshi Hirata will sign the ‘Grant Agreement’.
Officials at the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education said the program will strengthen the capacities of institutions at all levels of primary education offices and increase the support for schools and upazilas with more resources linked to their needs and performance.
The program is expected to directly benefit 18.6 million students, about 340,000 teachers, and more than 65,000 schools that are under the management of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.
The government will provide $13.2 billion of the total $14.7 billion program cost, while the other co-financiers are the World Bank, ADB, UNICEF and European Union.
Bangladesh achieved almost universal access to primary education by 2016 with a 98 percent net enrollment rate. The efficiency of primary education has also improved.
The funding will help the government to improve the quality and equity of primary education through the Fourth Primary Education Development Program.
The program aims to reduce double-shift operations at schools by recruiting more teachers and building more classrooms, step up teacher education and provide needs-based training for teachers and teacher educators, reform examinations and assessments, as well as enrich teaching and learning resources such as with digital materials.
It will also expand education services for out-of-school children through learning centers, bring more children with special education needs and disabilities to schools, improve school-level performance and management, and strengthen institutions.
To improve the learning environment, the program will provide gender-segregated and disability-accessible sanitation and safe water in almost all schools. New construction and major retrofitting will meet disaster risk resilience requirements, especially in disaster-prone areas.