The COVID-19 has threatened to make education outcomes worse and without aggressive policy, the outbreak across the world will have immediate costs on both learning and the health of children and youth, warns the World Bank.
Tag: World Bank
World Bank representative Dr Graham Harrison said that World Bank would fund those research projects that would bring socio-economic development in the country and achieve sustainable development goals.
Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood on Thursday met a delegation led by World Bank President David Malpass to discuss possible ways about how Pakistan’s learning poverty could be addressed.
Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project was successfully negotiated between the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the World Bank in May 2019, for a $400 Million IDA credit support. Subsequently, the project was approved by the World Bank Board in May. The formal signing ceremony of the Agreement took place on Tuesday at the Finance Division, Pakistan Secretariat Islamabad. The financial agreement was signed by EAD Secretary Noor Ahmed, on behalf of the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and the World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Patchamuthu Illangovan. HEC Executive Director Lt. Gen. (R) Muhammad Asghar singed the project agreement of HEDP project.
The ceremony was presided over by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. Senior officers from HEC and EAD were also present during the occasion, including Dr Fateh Marri (HEC Member O&P), Awais Ahmad (Director General HEC), Adil Akbar Khan (Joint Secretary EAD) and Azam Khan (Deputy Secretary EAD). Dr Shaikh in his closing statement, emphasized the resolve of the government to support higher education sector development; particularly in instituting research excellence, improving teaching and learning at affiliated colleges and universities and strengthening governance in the higher education sector of Pakistan.
The project has five components. The Component-1, Nurturing academic excellence in strategic sectors, will help promote relevant and cutting-edge research in universities in Pakistan, through competitive research, innovation, and commercialization grants to researchers and potential entrepreneurs from among faculty members, and current students.
Component-2, Supporting decentralized HEIs for improved teaching and learning, aims to improve the quality of education delivered by Tier 2 universities and affiliated colleges through strengthening affiliation systems and technological interventions.
The objective of the Component-3 is to leverage technology to improve the teaching, learning and research environment in Pakistan and strengthen the existing IT resources available to institutions for research and higher education in Pakistan.
Component-4, Higher education management information system and data-driven services, aims to improve the collection and use of data for national level policy-decisions while automating business processes in higher education institutions.
The fifth component will support HEC in strengthening its core functions of regulation, capacity building, and funding of Pakistan’s higher education sector through strategic and targeted technical assistance, including the establishment of National Higher Education Academy.
Related: Pakistan Ranks Far Below Average on World Bank Human Capital Index
Pakistan has scored a disappointing but expected 0.39 on World Bank’s first ever Human Capital Index released on Thursday. The index ranks 157 countries for the first time on the basis how they develop their human resources and what a child in that country today could expect to achieve by his or her 18th birthday.
Education without learning. The situation is all but too familiar in Pakistan. Students going through the grind of sub-standard education, grade after grade, without ever learning anything constructive.