In a bid to boost enrollment levels at pre-primary and primary levels in Punjab, the World Bank (WB) has approved a grant totalling $47.9 million, translating into approximately Rs135 billion. According to reports, the program will be funded by the Global Partnership for Education Fund.

 

As per the details, funding could increase the level of remedial learning support available to elementary students and could improve learning outcomes for primary school students. The funds will be directed to the “Getting Results: Access and Delivery of Quality Education Services and System Transformation in Punjab Project”, which intends to boost teacher support, improve childhood education outcomes, and bring out-of-school children back into the education system. 

 

Reports reveal that the project will accommodate the most vulnerable and financially weak segments of the population. The project’s aims align with those of the World Bank, namely the promotion of shared prosperity and the eradication of poverty.

 

The WB has set these goals for Pakistan under the Country Partnership Framework (CPF). According to the World Bank’s Country Director for Pakistan, Punjab’s project will serve to reduce the gap in access to quality education. He believes that the project could improve human capital development outcomes and economic growth prospects “by strengthening foundational learning, enhancing system capacity, and promoting behavioral change”.

 

Once in effect, the project will help four million children and three million children attending School Education Department (SED) schools. Data from reports indicates that an additional 850,000 students in the non-formal sector, along with 140,000 differently abled students enrolled in Special Education Department (SpED) schools, will benefit from the program. 

 

As per reports, all students in SpED, SED, and non-formal schools will benefit from system reforms. Moreover, more than 100,000 members of schools’ staff, community members and parents are expected to undergo professional development, making them beneficiaries of the program as well. 

 

Reports suggest that the WB’s Task Team Leader for the project outlined that the project was in line with the Government of Punjab’s objective of creating “a more effective, accountable, and inclusive education system”. The task team leader believed that the project would further the provincial government’s goal of improving capacity, governance and management in education.