The World Bank has granted Ukraine an $86.6 million loan to support the nation’s reforms in the education sector.
The World Bank has granted Ukraine an $86.6 million loan in the first step of a broader initiative to support the nation’s reforms in the education sector, according to a statement.
The project, Equal Access to Quality Education in Ukraine, was approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors last May, and ratified by Ukraine’s parliament last December. The goal of the project is to help Ukraine achieve equal access to quality education and improve the efficiency of its education system, which suffered significant setbacks during the years of economic deterioration in the country following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“About 22,000 schools, of which 70 percent are located in rural areas, half a million teachers, and more than 6 million students will ultimately benefit from the project’s support of Ukraine’s ongoing education reforms,” said Ana Maria Jeria, the project’s program team leader.
The loan will be primarily used to support three main initiatives: the professional development of Ukraine’s teachers, improved teaching and learning conditions in secondary schools, and the strengthening of policy development for educational institutions, Jeria said.
For these initiatives to bear fruit, the funds will be spent on raising the qualifications of secondary school teachers, financing assessment policies for schoolbooks, equipping computer classes in around 500 schools, mostly in rural areas, and providing study materials for foreign-language classes.
Jeria said that a large share of the project’s funds will go toward rehabilitating schools in priority areas and increasing efficiency through the optimization of the Ukrainian school network.Olena Bekh, head of education at the World Bank’s country office, said that the Bank is currently in the process of choosing 12 qualified specialists from Ukraine’s Education Ministry who will be in charge of implementing the project over a four-year period.
