Bangladesh: Programmatic Education Sector Adjustment Credit

CREDIT AMOUNT: US$100 million
TERMS: Grace period = 10 years; Maturity = 40 years
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This credit, the first in a proposed series of three support packages for education, will assist the Ministry of Education in pushing through the first phase of a long-term, ambitious reform agenda aimed at building a more skilled labor force. This will make the country more competitive in the global marketplace and better able to tackle poverty at home. More specifically, this credit aims to: provide more equitable access to secondary education through the construction of more schools in underserved areas; reduce teacher absenteeism and build teacher efficiency through improved training; provide greater student enrollment, and higher completion rates and exam results; and improve textbook quality through competitive production. Finally, by raising the quality of service delivery and improving equity of access to secondary education, this credit will also improve governance, which has repeatedly been identified as the largest development challenge currently facing Bangladesh. For more information, please call Benjamin Crow  at (202) 473-5105, or email:bcrow@worldbank.org  For project information documents, visit: http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=104231&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P077789