ADB Helps Mongolia's School Children Cope with Global Economic Crisis

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – A quarter of a million students in Mongolia will have access to preschool feeding programs and secondary school textbooks as part of an ADB-funded project to prevent high dropout rates as a result of the global economic crisis.

"The project will ensure that children from poor families continue to have access to education even as the country faces pressure as a result of the economic crisis," said Jazira Asanova, Education Specialist of ADB's East Asia Department.

ADB will provide a $17 million grant and the Government of Mongolia will extend $9.36 million to fund the project designed to safeguard gains made in the education sector, which are now being threatened by the crisis.

Around 150,000 preschool children aged 2-5 years old will benefit from feeding programs, while 100,000 secondary school students from poor households will receive free textbooks. Operation and maintenance block grants will also be initiated for cash-strapped schools.

The project will also support capacity building at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in financial management, budgeting, and monitoring and evaluation to enable the ministry to better deal with budgetary constraints amid the economic crisis.

Without assistance, and in an attempt to save money, poor households may stop sending their children to school, and revert to inadequate diets, resulting in malnutrition. There is also the risk that students will not return to school after economic conditions improve or that they may not be able to catch up with peers if they do.

In recent years, the country has managed to rank high among comparator countries in education expenditure, enrollment figures, and completion rates as a result of the combined efforts of the government and development partners such as ADB.

In 2006, the country's gross enrollment rate stood at 95% for primary and secondary education, and the adult literacy rate was steady at 97%. From 2002 to 2007, annual public expenditure on education accounted for 6%-7% of gross domestic product, much higher than in many other developing countries.

The adverse impact of the global economic crisis, however, is now threatening those gains, as both the government and poor households curtail education spending. The government has already cut its education budget by 8.3% for this year.

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