|
$ 130 m from ADB to boost education, SME development
The
Government of Sri Lanka and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed
two agreements yesterday for US $ 130 million to improve quality,
relevance, effectiveness and equity of access to secondary and tertiary
education under the Education for Knowledge Society Project (US$
80 million) and accelerate the development of Small and Medium Enterprises
located outside the western province under the Small and Medium
Enterprise Regional Development Project (US$ 50 million).
The total investment for the Education for Knowledge Society Project
is US$ 105.3 million and it comprises of US$ 65 million loan and
US$ 15 million grant from the Asian Development Bank and US$ 25.3
million from the Government of Sri Lanka.
These funds will be utilized for upgrading 150 provincially administered
secondary schools in the poorest administrative divisions under
the “Isuru” schools programme of the Government enabling
them to offer advanced level science streams. Facilities for teaching
in key subjects such as Information and Communication Technology
(ICT), English and Technical subjects will be improved. Computers
and internet facilities for 2125 schools and 15000 scholarships
for poor students will also be provided.
In addition, the project will support Government reforms in competency
based education through the development of curriculum, instructional
materials, performance standards and teacher training. The Center
of Excellence in English Education (CEIEE) will be established in
Peradeniya to improve the quality of English language teaching while
Sri Lanka institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE)
will be upgraded to deliver more market responsive tertiary education.
Integrating the HIV/AIDS and Health Education in the secondary school
curriculum and Training of trainers and secondary school teachers
in HIV/AIDS and Health Education will also be funded under the project.
The project will be executed by the Ministry of Education through
the Ministry of Higher Education, Provincial Department of Education
in all provinces, National Institute of Education and National Evaluation
and Testing Service. All project activities are expected to be completed
by 2012.
The total investment for the Small and Medium Enterprise Regional
Development Project is US$ 88.89 million. Of this amount, the Asian
Development Bank provides US$ 50 million. The Participating Financial
Institutions and Small and Medium Enterprises will finance US$ 16.67
mn and US$ 22.22 mn respectively.
These funds will be used for on-lending to Small and Medium Eenterprises
(SMEs) located outside the Western province, through the DFCC, NDB,
Commercial and Sampath Banks in order to accelerate SME’s development
by improving their access to credit, creating SME value chain clusters,
mainstreaming best practices in SME financing and improving access
to business development services for SMEs.
The project will be executed by the Ministry of Finance and Planning,
through Central Bank of Sri Lanka and expected to be completed by
31st December 2010.
|
