World Bank approved a $400 million loan for Pakistan’s education sector

By Rizwan Khatik - Mon Mar 28, 4:44 am

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank approved a $400 million loan for Pakistan’s education sector on Friday.

The bank said $300 million would go to projects at the university (or tertiary) level and $50 million each for provincial reform projects at the

primary school level in Punjab and Sindh.

“Pakistan’s transition to a middle-income country in the global knowledge economy of the 21st century will depend critically on the

country’s intellectual and human capital,” said Rachid Benmessaoud, the bank’s country director for Pakistan.

“To achieve this objective, Pakistan needs to upscale its entire education system.”

The $300 million credit would finance the government’s tertiary education development programme and would leverage an estimated investment of $1.7 billion in additional resources from the government, said a World Bank press release.

About 1.2 million students and approximately 20,000 academic staff in 73 public and 24 private universities, besides about 800 affiliated colleges, would benefit from specific interventions under the project.