EU grants Rs3.52b to improve education in Sindh

European Union (EU) has committed Rs3.52 billion to the Sindh Education Sector Support Programme to improve the quality and access to public education in the province.
The financing agreement granting this amount to the provincial government of Sindh was made public by the EU Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark and Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division, Dr Waqar Masood Khan on Thursday.
Speaking at the occasion, EU Ambassador said EU firmly believes improved quality and access to public education is essential for the youth of Pakistan. The overall objective of EU funding to this provincial education sector support programme is to promote quality and access in primary and secondary education. It should also assist Sindh in achieving the education-related Millennium Development Goals.
EU’s support will furthermore, assist the government of Sindh to improve its management and service delivery in the education sector. EU is providing support for a similar programme for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The expected results and main activities of Sindh programme are approval of a coherent education sector policy and plan by the provincial government for which it will conduct a structured and inclusive sector review and dialogue with all education donors and civil society.
Sindh will implement a school consolidation plan with quality and access indicators and improve service delivery through more efficient teacher management, effective student-teacher ratios, reduction in teacher absenteeism, strengthened governance of the education system at school level, and improved reliability of education statistics for planning and management purposes.
Sindh will improve education service delivery in the province through technical cooperation focusing on strategic capacity development for policy formulation, improving sector financial management; performance based monitoring, access to quality education services, and donor coordination. The level of this grant indicates the importance EU attaches to education for the further development of Pakistan. EU support is provided in the context of the overall EU-Pakistan Development Cooperation Programme, through which EU has granted over Rs46.4 billion to Pakistan.