Manila, Dec 23, 2006 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Asian Development Bank (ASX: ATB) is lending US$50 million to help the Government of Indonesia improve the quality and sustainability of madrasah education.
The demand for madrasah education, which is particularly attractive to girls and poor rural students, is growing in Indonesia. However, quality is generally low, with many madrasah unable to meet the new national standards for learning outcomes and the teaching-learning environment without additional investment.
"Ensuring a better madrasah education system and its continued sustainability is pivotal to achieving the Government's key educational goal of universal 9-year basic education, as well as the Millennium Development Goals for education and gender equity," says Wendy Duncan, an ADB Senior Project Management Specialist.
The project will cover the transitional cost of meeting the new standards in 500 primary, junior, and senior secondary private and public madrasahs in 27 poor districts of Central Java, East Java, and South Sulawesi provinces, to benefit 120,000 students. More than half of the project funds will flow directly to the madrasah themselves, giving the madrasahs, parents and surrounding communities the major decision-making power over how and where the money will be spent, by choosing from a menu of options.
The project will upgrade the qualifications of teachers by allowing them to undergo degree programs and offering the opportunity to get professional certification. It will allow madrasah to improve resources by expanding textbooks and other learning materials, and upgrading facilities, equipment, software, and furniture.
To increase the internal efficiency of project madrasahs, the project will offer remedial and scholarship programs, particularly for poor and female students, aimed at increasing enrollment, decreasing dropouts and repetition rates, and increasing completion rates at all levels.
Finally, it will help strengthen madrasah management, governance, and financial sustainability. Advocacy programs to enhance the perception of madrasah education quality will also be supported.
A $995,000 technical assistance grant accompanies the project to independently monitor and evaluate its programs and activities.
The Government will contribute $21.4 million towards the project's total estimated cost of $71.4 million. The Ministry of Religious Affairs is the executing agency for the project, which is due for completion in 2012.
Contact
Floyd Whaley
Email: fwhaley@adb.org
Tel:+632 632 6848; Mobile: +63 920 938 6488
Graham Dwyer
Email: gdwyer@adb.org
Tel:+632 632 5253; Mobile: +63 920 938-6487
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