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ADB Helps Reform of Secondary Education in Bangladesh

Nearly 10 million Bangladeshi students enrolled in secondary education during the next decade will benefit from improved quality of education, graduating with employable skills as a result of a US$60 million loan approved today by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the Secondary Education Sector Improvement Project.

The Project is aimed at assisting the Government in implementing its ten-year (2000-2010) Secondary Education Sector Development Plan (SESDP). The Project will cover six years of the Plan and will lay the foundation for a comprehensive and systemic reform of secondary education, including policy and institutional reforms and capacity building.

The Project will strengthen institutional capability of the Ministry of Education to plan, manage, and monitor the secondary education system and to improve the use of scarce resources. It will improve curriculum development, further privatize textbook production, reform the examination system, improve teacher education, and strengthen school management and supervision. A school improvement fund will be created to support community interest in upgrading existing schools.

To increase equitable access, new rooms or schools will be built in 115 underserved unions. This will redress current disadvantages and lead to more equity access to wage and self-employment income opportunities.

The ADB loan accounts for 70 percent of the estimated cost of $86 million for the project. The remainder of the cost will be borne by the Government. The loan, which comes from ADB's Special Funds resources, will be repayable over 32 years with a grace period of eight years. It carries an interest charge of one percent per annum during the grace period and 1.5 percent thereafter.

The executing agency for the project is Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education.

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