The World Bank on Tuesday said the board of executive directors has approved a USD 300 million loan to help expand and improve the quality of education in government-run schools in Chhattisgarh.
The project aims to benefit about 4 million students, mostly from poor and vulnerable communities in the state.
Almost 86 per cent of schools in the state are run by the government.
While enrolment at the elementary school level is 95 per cent, it is only 57.6 per cent at the senior secondary level and the enrolment for boys is 10.8 per cent lower than that for girls, it said.
This is due to the non-availability of science and commerce education across many senior secondary schools, a shortage of trained science and mathematics teachers, and the lack of necessary infrastructure like laboratories and facilities, it said.
The Chhattisgarh Accelerated Learning for a Knowledge Economy Operation (CHALK) aims to improve access to education across all grades, and also address the growing demand for science and commerce studies at the senior secondary level, it said.
For schools in remote locations, it will also provide access to residential facilities for male students and teachers, it added.
The project will help develop and operate around 600 model composite schools — from Grades 1 to 12 — and offer science and commerce at the senior secondary level, it said, adding, these schools will provide a quality education through trained teachers, strong school leadership and management, and adequate infrastructure facilities for learning.
The support will also include climate-proofing school infrastructure using environmentally sound construction practices, it said.
The USD 300 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) uses the Program-for-Results (PforR) financing instrument that links disbursement of funds directly to the achievement of specific programme results, it said.
The loan has a maturity of 18.5 years with a grace period of 5 years.
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