Funding boost for primary education

The World Bank on Wednesday announced its approval of a US $150 million interest-free credit to support the government's efforts to improve education quality, expand school access and increase school retention at the primary level.

Under the Primary Education Development Programme project for Tanzania, measures are to be introduced to increase resource availability and improve their allocation and use; improve educational inputs; and strengthen institutional arrangements that ensure quality primary education.

Poor quality, inefficiency and inadequate access are key problems in the Tanzanian education system, and underlying these are disparities across regions, economic groups and gender, according to the World Bank.

Health and nutrition problems also constrain children's learning and achievement, while HIV/AIDS also poses a serious and growing threat to educational development.

"The government has allocated a large amount of domestic resources to support the PEDP but the enrolment surge following the abolition of school fees and added school resources will put a strain on government's domestic revenue," according to the World Bank.

"That's why external funding is critical particularly at the early stage for effectively tackling the sector issues," it added.

The new World Bank credit is intended to support major policy measures in Tanzania, including: capitalisation and development grants for primary schools; the provision of funds for further development of educational inputs; and, institutional capacity building at central, district and school levels.

Numerous bilateral donors are also active in the education sector, as well as in public sector capacity building, civil service reform and governance projects.

[For more information on the PEDP, go to:http://www4.worldbank.org/sprojects/Project.asp?pid=P071012]