Out-of-school youth to benefit from $100-M ADB project

Out- of- school children in the Philippines are among those who will benefit from $100 million worth of joint projects by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Qatar-based Education Above All (EAA) Foundation to put them in quality primary education.

A five-year agreement was signed between Tomoyuki Kimura, director general of ADB’s Strategy, Policy and Partnerships department and Fahad al Sulaiti, foundation chief executive officer at a Special Side Event to the United Nations High Level Political Forum 2020.

The Side Event brings together experts from around the world to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on education and reflect how they can collaborate, exchange critical information, mitigate the impact of the pandemic, and address the financial requirements to build resilience in the education system to future shocks.

The event was organized by EAA, ADB, the State of Qatar, Qatar Fund for Development, and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development.

“The two organizations will implement projects in up to 10 countries to ensure that at least 320,000 out-of-school children, including refugees and internally displaced children, realize their right to a quality primary education,” Kimura said.

ADB noted that even before the coronavirus pandemic, there was a lack of financial resources to meet educational needs. In the wake of COVID-19, educational requirements are now competing with other critical needs for funds.

The 10 countries initially selected for projects are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Many countries in Asia Pacific have substantially improved access to schooling but student learning achievements have lagged behind.

“It is not only important to bring school-age children particularly from disadvantaged groups to school, it is equally important to ensure that all of them complete school education with foundational skills,” said Brajesh Panth, Chief of ADB’s Education Sector Group.

ADB and EAA will make available financing options for specific projects on the basis of joint cofinancing administered by ADB or parallel cofinancing where they will separately administer their funds in accordance with each own policies and procedures.