Ulaanbaatar
Additional Financing Agreement Signed to Improve Access to Education
Society
Ulaanbaatar, 2024 March 1 /MONTSAME/
On March 3, 2024, The Government of Mongolia and the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) signed a USD15 million additional financing agreement to
help improve access to quality pre-primary,
primary, and secondary education in Mongolia. ADB East Asia Department Director
General Muhammad Ehsan Khan and Minister of Finance Javkhlan Bold signed the
agreement in Ulaanbaatar.
“Economic recession caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant cuts in the education budget,”
said Mr. Khan. “Unless we expand school facilities, we risk exacerbating missed
educational opportunities caused by the pandemic, especially for disadvantaged
children.”
The ongoing USD50 million Sustaining Access to and Quality
of Education During Economic Difficulties Project was approved in November 2017 to help the Government improve
access to and the quality of pre-primary, primary, and secondary education. The
project is constructing and expanding a total of 21 schools and kindergartens
in Gobi-Altai, Darkhan-Uul, and Gobisumber amiags,
and Ulaanbaatar city. It is also supporting curriculum and assessment system
reforms, supplying educational materials, and training teachers, school
managers, and local education administrators. The project is also strengthening
systems for planning and managing education services.
The additional financing project will scale
up the scope of the ongoing project by constructing, expanding, and furnishing
three more schools and six more kindergartens. With this, a total of 30 schools
and kindergartens will be built and expanded under the overall project,
benefiting more than 7000 children. The buildings will also incorporate
climate adaptation and
resilience measures to minimize climate-related disruptions, as well as increase
energy efficiency. The project is funded by ADB’s concessional ordinary capital resources
and is expected
to be completed in February 2027.
