The World Bank has approved a $47.9 million grant to overhaul Punjab’s education sector, aiming to improve access and learning outcomes for millions of children. Funded by the Global Partnership for Education, the initiative targets pre-primary and primary students, with a strong emphasis on both enrollment and quality learning.
The project focuses on critical areas such as expanding early childhood education, re-integrating out-of-school children, and strengthening teacher training and support systems. A significant component of the plan is to make Punjab’s education sector more resilient to external shocks, including climate-related disruptions and other emergencies.
According to official details, the program will directly benefit over 4 million children across the province. Among its key goals are re-enrolling 80,000 out-of-school children, supporting 140,000 differently-abled learners, and enhancing professional development for more than 100,000 teachers and school leaders. World Bank representatives described the grant as an essential step toward combating “learning poverty” and laying the groundwork for long-term human capital development.
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While the funding offers a promising opportunity to address chronic challenges in education, critics caution that similar initiatives in the past have often struggled with weak implementation, corruption, and lack of sustained political will. Without robust oversight, effective monitoring, and genuine commitment from provincial authorities, the grant risks becoming yet another temporary patch on a deeply flawed system.