World Bank delegation comprising five members, Country Director Najy Benhassine, Ehtesham-ul Haq, Koen Martijn Geven, Ayesha Tahir and Izza Farrakh, called on Planning & Development (P&D) Board Chairman Abdullah Khan Sumbal, here at the P&D Complex on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the chair reviewed in detail the WB project ‘GRADES’ (Getting Results: Access and Delivery of Quality Education Services) in Punjab. It is a World Bank funded project with a loan amount of US$150 million.
He discussed the importance and focus of the project including retention and access, quality education, governance and school leadership.
P&D Board Secretary Sohail Anwar briefed the chair about the construction of 4,500 additional classrooms, establishment of 2,500 new schools under the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) model and enrollment of 500,000 additional students under the Foundation programme over five years. Remedial learning was the key highlight of the project and it would be supported through smart-phone and tablet applications based on existing applications and infrastructure, and would 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 WB Country Director Najy Benhassine.
He appreciated the efforts of the Punjab government and highlighted the importance of building schools and classrooms for accessibility of education across province.
The meeting was also attended by the P&D Board secretary, Member Education P&D Board and senior officials.
