Lahore (TDI): The World Bank has approved a $47.9 million grant to support primary education in Punjab, with a focus on early childhood schooling, bringing out-of-school children back into classrooms, and strengthening teacher training and support systems.
The funding, announced in a World Bank press release, comes through the Global Partnership for Education Fund. The project is expected to directly benefit around four million children, including 80,000 out-of-school children, over three million in School Education Department (SED) schools, 850,000 enrolled in the non-formal sector, and 140,000 children with disabilities in Special Education Department (SpED) institutions.
In addition, more than 100,000 teachers, school leaders, parents, and community members will benefit from professional development opportunities and awareness initiatives.
The initiative also includes measures to enhance the education sector’s resilience to climate change and emergencies.
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The announcement follows the completion of the 12th and final review mission of the Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project, jointly carried out by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and World Bank teams last month.
The Bank noted that Pakistan has received more than $48.3 billion in assistance since joining in 1950, while the International Finance Corporation (IFC), its private-sector arm, has invested around $13 billion since 1956 across sectors including energy, healthcare, agribusiness, and infrastructure.
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Currently, the World Bank’s portfolio in Pakistan includes 54 active projects with total commitments of $15.7 billion.
The new Punjab project follows the Bank’s June approval of $100 million for the GRADES-Balochistan program, which aims to improve enrolment and literacy for around 250,000 students.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
