World Bank Group Approves USD 500 Million under STARS Program
On 28th June 2020, the World Bank Group has announced that a loan of USD 500 million (approx Rs 3700 crore) was approved by its Board of Executives on 24th June 2020 for improving the quality and governance of school education system in India. The loan approved will benefit 10 million teachers and 250 million school students across 1.5 million schools in 6 states of India. The loan was approved as a part of the STARS Program. The 6 Indian States are Rajasthan, Odisha, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
About the Loan
The loan of USD 500 million will be sanctioned by the lending arm of the World Bank Group- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development(IBRD). Including a grace period of 5 years, the loan has a final maturity of 14.5 years. With this loan of USD 500 million, the World Billion Group has approved total financial assistance of more than USD 3 billion for improving the education system in India to date.
STARS Program
STARS stands for Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program. Since 1994 the program has helped in establishing a long partnership between India and the World Bank. Through the program, the World Bank Group has provided greater flexibility to the vision of the Indian Government to provide ‘Education for All’. The Government of India has made significant strides in its vision over the years as the number of students going to school has increased to 248 million from 219 million between the 2004-05 to 2018-19 period.
The program will have a series of reform initiatives that will help in addressing the leaning outcome challenges that exist in the educational system in rural parts of the country.
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Month: Current Affairs - June, 2020