Two mega-projects at a cost of Rs 8.175 billion were approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) with the grant of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the World Bank (WB) loan to support the education system in Pakistan in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, the CDWP met with Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and Chairman of the P-Block Secretariat. The meeting was also attended by senior officials from the Planning Commission and federal ministries/ divisions, while members from the provincial governments took part in a video conference.
The World Bank will fund a $4.875 million loan for the Pandemic Response Effectiveness Project (PREP) for COVID-19 and Response, Recovery and Resilience in Education-Programming by Pakistan during COVID-19, projects with an exchange rate of Rs166.25= 1 US$.
At an estimated cost of $230 million, including a $20 million GPE grant, a $10 million grant from the Department for International Development (DFID), and a $200 million loan from the World Bank, the Design Clearance Committee / CDWP explained the concept plan.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this initiative will be signed by the Economic Affairs Division (EAD). At the CDWP conference, the Islamabad Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training proposed two mega-projects.
The meeting approved the first project, “Pandemic Response Effectiveness Project (PREP) for COVID-19” at a cost of Rs4.875 billion.
The completion period of the project will be 24 months, with the objective of planning and reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan, to tackle the major disruptive impact of holding children, teachers and administrators out of school for an extended period of time.
The project will focus on promoting distance learning programmes for schools and parents, online learning from TV / radio broadcasting, interactive networking and promoting policy reforms and their implementation to improve the capacity of the education system to resolve future crises leading to the closing of schools.
The GPE is committed to providing the project with a $19.85 million grant. Furthermore, the CDWP approved the second project, “Response Recovery Resilience in Education Programming by Pakistan during COVID-19,” valued at Rs3.30 billion.
