World Bank approves $19.8m aid to Pakistan for education sector

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has pledged on Wednesday to provide US$19.85 million to Pakistan for the country’s response, recovery, and resilience in the education sector amid the Covid-19 outbreak, ARY News reported.

According to the agreement materialized today in the presence of economic affairs minister Makhdum Khusro Bakhtiyar, the country director of World Bank Najy Benhassine signed the funds to Pakistan for the education project.

The project of WB is aimed at strengthening federal and provincial actions towards the education sector so a proper response can be concreted and to support the country’s short term recovery in this sector from the COVID-19 crises.

The project is set to help the government to continue providing education and learning opportunities in the country especially in the far-flung areas through an expansion in the national distance-learning program and the distribution of learning material in areas lagging behind.

READ: Smart lockdown to save 80pc Pakistani informal labor from famine: PM Imran

On the other hand

earlier today, Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a Pakistan Strategy Dialogue session organized by the World Economic Forum (WEF) said the national economy has embarked on the right track with stability.

The PM said that his government while trying to curb the Covid spread, ensured people don’t fall victim to famine and guaranteed financial aids to daily wagers whose sustenance was in question amid the lockdown.

The dialogue today was held via a video link wherein PM Imran Khan underlined Pakistan’s fight with the novel coronavirus which he said was different than in other countries in terms of smart lockdown steps taken to give space for economic subsistence of lower-income-class people and in terms of results and the first pandemic wave was controlled.

About 80 per cent of the Pakistani labor class belongs to informal sectors that is why we preferred smart lockdown over across-the-board lockdown like in other countries to address the economic woes of our informal workforce, he said.