World Bank Offer $100 Million Education Finance to Tanzania

World Bank

THE World Bank has pledged to support the Government of Tanzania to improve the quality of primary and secondary school education by injecting some 100 million US dollars (about 160bn/-) starting next year.

The Director of Human Development for the World Bank (Africa Region), Ms Ritva Reinikka, said the funding will be made through a plan dubbed "Programme for Results" to support the government's "Big Results Now (BRN)" initiative in the education sector.

"Tanzania and Africa in general have made progress in sending many children to schools. The issue is now on improving the quality of education provided to the students," Ms Reinikka said at a press conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

She added: "The World Bank and other partners will provide both technical and financial support to the Government of Tanzania towards improvement of the quality of education through the BRN."

The Programme for Results will run starting next year to 2018. The funds will be used for training of teachers, ranking of best performing schools as well as providing incentives to schools.

It will be a results-based financing. She noted on the other hand that while teachers are crucial elements for quality education, they are not teaching as required. A World Bank's Lead Education Specialist for Africa Human Development, Mr Arun Joshi, said a service delivery indicator survey conducted in 2010 revealed that teachers perform less than they are supposed to.

"In the survey we found out that teachers spend an average of just two hours in classes as opposed to the required five hours and 20 minutes. The situation is even worse in urban areas," the specialist said. The World Bank has been instrumental in supporting many sectors of the economy.

In the education sector, it has been conducting various programmes to improve access to education and quality. Among such projects is the Secondary Education Development Programme (SEDP), which its co-financed with the government of Tanzania. The Breton Wood institution provided 150 million US dollars, while the Government of Tanzania provided US 300 million dollars.