3:26:42 PM | 7/8/2005
World Bank's Board of Governors in Washington DC on June 28 approved a concessional credit of US$50 million for Vietnam’s Targeted Budget Support for National Education for All Plan Program.
The fund will help upgrade educational infrastructure and facilities as well as train teachers in Vietnam.
The program will also focus on making education accessible to poor children, ethnic minority children, girls and disabled children.
The money, granted by the WB’s International Development Association, is part of a total US$128 million which the WB, Belgium, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand and the UK pledged to support to Vietnamese education.
According to the Program Management Unit, the fund accounts for about 12 per cent of the program's combined cost.
“Improving Vietnam’s schools is a key aim of the country’s strategy to reduce poverty and improve its economy,” WB Country Director in Vietnam Klaus Rohland said, adding that this program is not only important to improve basic education in the country but also to build the management and oversight capacity in the government’s education program for all funds, not just funds coming from the World Bank.
Since 1993, the World Bank has committed a total of US$5.3 billion to Vietnam, of which more than US$2.7 billion has been disbursed. The WB's assistance has focused on business, education, hunger eradication and poverty alleviation.
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