Washington, DC (BBN)– The world Bank has approved two projects totaling US$550 million aimed at supporting Pakistan’s effort to strengthen the education and natural gas sectors.
The board of directors of World Bank approved the fund on Thursday to help for implementation of two projects, which are critical to Pakistan’s growth and development.
The $350 million Second Punjab Education Sector Project will support the government of Punjab’s education sector reform program designed to increase child school participation and student achievement.
The rest of $200 million for the Natural Gas Efficiency Project aims to enhance the supply of natural gas in Pakistan by reducing the physical and commercial losses in the gas pipeline system.
“Significant shortfalls persist in both school participation and student achievement in Punjab. To address these challenges, the government of Punjab is implementing the Punjab Education Sector Reform Program (PESRP), which aims to improve schooling outcomes through institutional development and strengthening, improved monitoring, and enhanced governance and accountability,” the World Bank said in a statement.
The Bank has supported this program since 2008. During this time, the reform program has put in place and strengthened important initiatives. Over 850,000 additional students – more than half of them girls – are now enrolled in low cost private schools supported under government subsidies tied to minimum school quality standards; some 400,000 female students receive quarterly stipends tied to school attendance; and free textbooks are provided to all students in public schools.
The new results-based project will build on these achievements and support the second phase of the reform program over the period 2012-2015, according to the statement.
The World Bank said the challenges in the gas sector are also significant. Pakistan faces severe scarcity of gas, with production failing to keep pace with demand.
“Other critical challenges include inadequate allocation of gas, inefficient end-use of gas, and high levels of unaccounted-for gas (UFG). More than 10 percent of gas supplied in Pakistan is unaccounted for, which is unaffordable and a major contributor to the current gas supply crisis. UFG is typically at 1-2 percent in OECD countries,” it noted.
The main focus of the Natural Gas Efficiency Project is to reduce UFG to about 5.0 percent by 2017 in distribution areas served by the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC). This includes Karachi, interior Sindh, and Balochistan.
BBN/SSR/AD-27Apr12-11:30 pm (BST)
