March 26: The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved US$120 million in financing to support the implementation of the Government of Nepal’s flagship School Education Sector Program.

Issuing a recent statement, the World Bank said that the School Sector Transformation Program operation builds on the Government of Nepal’s previous school education sector programs and puts a greater focus on quality learning by establishing a teacher mentoring system at the local government level and ensuring a full complement of subject teachers (English, Math, and Science) at upper-basic and secondary levels.

“Investing in quality education is key to developing human capital which goes to the heart of ensuring greater equity and economic growth,” the statement quoted Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank’s country director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as saying.

“This operation supports the Government of Nepal’s vision to enhance quality of and equitable access to education to fulfill the ambitions of the new federal state.”

According to the World Bank, the operation focuses on improving foundational skills by implementing the national integrated curriculum in early grades.

To address the learning losses as a result of school closures due to COVID-19 and other disasters, the operation supports the government’s program through the development and implementation of the Recovery and Accelerated Learning Plan, construction of green and resilient classrooms, and strengthening digital teaching and learning materials, added the statement.

The operation also supports improving the equity of the school sector by including girls, disabled students, and those of lower socio-economic status, and by expanding targeted scholarships to students in grades 6-8 (upper-basic level) to help disadvantaged students.

“School closures had the largest impact on students of lower socio-economic backgrounds and deprived communities, as they have even more limited access to teachers and remote learning opportunities,” stated Karthika Radhakrishnan, World Bank’s program task team leader.

“This new operation supports the implementation of the Recovery and Accelerated Learning Plan and supports children from poorer socio-economic backgrounds through targeted scholarships.”