ZCZC
BCN-19
LIBERIA-FINANCE-WORLDBANK
World Bank grants Liberia 43 mln USD to improve secondary education
MONROVIA, July 20, 2019 (BSS/Xinhua) – The World Bank on Friday offered to
finance the improvement of secondary education in Liberia, with a grant of 43
million U.S. dollars.
The grant was offered as part of the World Bank’s support to the
government-proposed “Improving Results In Secondary Education (IRISE)”
project.
The project takes a system-based approach to addressing some foundational
issues and challenges facing the secondary-level education in the West
African country. The grant will focus on improving the quality of secondary
education services, especially for adolescent girls.
At a signing ceremony in Monrovia, the World Bank’s country director Pierre
Laporte said the IRISE project was important because it will contribute to
improving Liberia’s human capital base and be critical to the development of
the country.
According to Laporte, secondary education not only enables individuals to
further enhance their learning, but it also makes them more productive and
increases more qualified labor to better meet the growing needs of the
modern-day labor market.
He said the World Bank funded the project to further provide the foundation
to enable young people to further their professional careers in life.
Liberia’s education minister Ansu Sonii, who signed the agreement on behalf
of the government, said the grant will bring about transformation to the
country’s education sector.
With the grant, Sonii noted, over 3,000 girls from grades 9-12 will have
the opportunity to remain in school.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1400