WASHINGTON, DC, March, 2009 ─ The World Bank today approved a US$81 million interest-free IDA credit to Bangladesh, designed to improve the quality and relevance of teaching and research in the country’s higher education institutions.
The Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project will support both innovation and accountability within universities and enhance the technical and institutional capacity of the higher education sector.
Bangladesh’s achievements in the education sector are many. Gross primary school enrolment rate is around 90 percent, and secondary school enrolment has more than doubled since independence. Gender parity has been achieved at both levels. However, similar progress has not been realized at the higher education level. Bangladesh’s tertiary enrollment rate is one of the lowest in the world at 6 percent and the sub-sector faces significant challenges when it comes to funding, quality, governance, and management.
“Higher education is vitally important to energize Bangladesh’s economy and to boost its investment climate,” said Xian Zhu, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh. “This project will fund activities which can bring rapid and visible benefits to the academic community, and help more Bangladeshi youth enroll in universities.”
The project’s main component is to establish conditions that will stimulate teaching, improve learning, and boost research in universities, and introduce an efficient instrument for the allocation of public funds to universities with an emphasis on innovation and accountability.
“The project will help establish a mechanism – the Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) - that will allocate resources based on performance,” said Yoko Nagashima, World Bank task team leader for the project. “The project’s goal is to reward universities that demonstrate vision, innovation, and discipline. AIF resources will be made available as a grant for all eligible public and private universities on a competitive basis.”
The project also aims to integrate Bangladesh’s universities in the globalized world of knowledge. In this regard, the project will establish a Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN), a high performance Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) network providing connectivity among education and research institutions in both public and private sectors to enable academics, scientists, and researchers to communicate with their peers within the country and globally.
The credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary arm, has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period; it carries a service charge of 0.75 percent.
The Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project will support both innovation and accountability within universities and enhance the technical and institutional capacity of the higher education sector.
Bangladesh’s achievements in the education sector are many. Gross primary school enrolment rate is around 90 percent, and secondary school enrolment has more than doubled since independence. Gender parity has been achieved at both levels. However, similar progress has not been realized at the higher education level. Bangladesh’s tertiary enrollment rate is one of the lowest in the world at 6 percent and the sub-sector faces significant challenges when it comes to funding, quality, governance, and management.
“Higher education is vitally important to energize Bangladesh’s economy and to boost its investment climate,” said Xian Zhu, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh. “This project will fund activities which can bring rapid and visible benefits to the academic community, and help more Bangladeshi youth enroll in universities.”
The project’s main component is to establish conditions that will stimulate teaching, improve learning, and boost research in universities, and introduce an efficient instrument for the allocation of public funds to universities with an emphasis on innovation and accountability.
“The project will help establish a mechanism – the Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) - that will allocate resources based on performance,” said Yoko Nagashima, World Bank task team leader for the project. “The project’s goal is to reward universities that demonstrate vision, innovation, and discipline. AIF resources will be made available as a grant for all eligible public and private universities on a competitive basis.”
The project also aims to integrate Bangladesh’s universities in the globalized world of knowledge. In this regard, the project will establish a Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN), a high performance Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) network providing connectivity among education and research institutions in both public and private sectors to enable academics, scientists, and researchers to communicate with their peers within the country and globally.
The credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary arm, has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period; it carries a service charge of 0.75 percent.
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