Guyana World Bank Loans US $ 13.5M
Kaieteur News – Guyana’s development partner, the World Bank, announced Monday that it is approving a US $ 13.5 million loan for Guyana’s education sector. He stated that the funding was for the ongoing Secondary Education Improvement Project. The Bank said Guyana’s funding from its International Development Association (IDA) was interest-free, with a maturity of 40 years, including a 10-year grace period.
“The project,” said the Bank, “which aims to improve teaching in mathematics and increase enrollment in secondary schools, will provide tools and training to support innovative technology-assisted delivery of education. The extra money will also be used to complete the construction of two secondary schools, the supply of resources for those schools, and the construction of a new secondary school. ”
The World Bank quoted its own Resident Representative for Jamaica and Guyana, Ozan Sevimli, as saying “Guyana’s education sector has made significant progress in the last decade; however, strengthening learning outcomes remains a priority and the pandemic is hitting the education sector hard. Through the ongoing project, we are pleased to support the government in piloting the use of technology and innovative ways of teaching, which are particularly relevant during distance learning. The new funding will support the pilot of a “smart classroom” initiative to help the sector build back better from the pandemic. ”
The Higher Education Improvement Project page on the World Bank website shows that it dates back to June 4, 2014, when the Bank approved a US $ 10 million loan for Guyana. He notes that US $ 9.12 million of that commitment was paid as of December 31, 2020.
The original project, according to the Bank, has already developed math standards for secondary school teachers, supported mathematics training for over 600 teachers, and distributed 200 maths teaching packages.
The additional funding has similar objectives to the first, extending the project to 2023. In addition, the Bank said it will provide additional resources to an existing pilot program using adaptive tablet learning software for mathematics education.
“The project emphasizes the use of technology and higher quality math education, both of which are important in preparing Guyanese students for future employment,” the Bank noted.