World Bank gives Bangladesh $700m to improve primary education

Dhaka   :  The World Bank approved $700 million on Friday to improve the primary education in Bangladesh.

The Quality Learning for All Programme (QLEAP) will benefit more than 18 million children studying in pre-primary level to grade 5. It will finance implementation of the government's Fourth Primary Education Development Programme, the Washington-based lender said in a statement cited by Xinhua news agency.

The project will help improve quality and equitable access to primary education. It will help assess and improve learning outcomes for Bangla and mathematics for Grade 3 students.

"At birth in 1971, Bangladesh had a very low education base. From there, the country has made remarkable progress in improving access to education. Today almost every child steps into a classroom and 8 out of 10 children complete primary education," said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

The project will bring about one million out-of-school children to learning centres that would follow national curriculum and thus help them integrate with the formal education system.