WB official lauds Punjab govt efforts for better education

LAHORE:A five-member delegation of the World Bank headed by the Country Director called on Chairman P&D Abdullah Khan Sumbal here Wednesday.

The delegation was comprised of Country Director Najy Benhassine, Ehtesham-ul Haq, Koen Martijn Geven, Ayesha Tahir and Izza Farrakh. During the meeting, the Chair reviewed in detail about the World Bank project Getting Results: Access and Delivery of Quality Education Services (GRADES) in Punjab. It is a World Bank-funded project with a loan amount of US$150 million. He further discussed the importance and focus of the project, including retention and access, quality education, governance and school leadership. During the meeting, Secretary P&D Board Sohail Anwar briefed the Chair about the construction of 4,500 additional classrooms, establishment of 2,500 new schools and enrolment of 500,000 additional students under PEF model. Remedial learning is the key highlight of the project and it will be supported through smartphone and tablet applications based on existing applications and infrastructure, and will be mapped to the Single National Curriculum.

“The project will be a key step towards getting beneficial results in future in terms of better education,” said World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine. He appreciated the efforts of Punjab government and highlighted the importance of building schools and classrooms for accessibility of education across Punjab. The Secretary P&D Board, Member Education P&D Board and senior officials also attended the meeting.