COLOMBO, Dec 2 (NNN-SLNEWS) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Sri Lankan government, yesterday signed a 400-million-U.S.-dollar loan agreement, to support Sri Lanka, in transforming its secondary education system, to align with the demand for highly skilled and agile workers, who can compete in the rapidly changing global economy.
A statement from the ADB office in Colombo said, the agreement was signed between the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, S. R. Attygalle and ADB Sri Lanka Resident Mission Country Director, Chen Chen.
“We appreciate ADB’s support to Sri Lanka, in meeting critical development needs, while also assisting with the COVID-19 response programme of the country,” Attygalle said.
Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Professor Kapila Perera said, ADB had been a long-term and committed partner in helping to improve and modernise the education sector in Sri Lanka.
“We acknowledge and appreciate ADB’s support in building a skilled labour force, that can rise up to the challenges and opportunities posed by an advancing global economy and put Sri Lanka on a higher growth path,” Perera said.
Chen said, ADB was pleased to partner with the government, in its efforts to develop a knowledge-based economy and to address challenges facing the education sector in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Secondary Education Sector Improvement Programme, aimed to assist about 953,000 students annually, with skills that would benefit successive generations of students, Chen said.
The programme will equip the young population with knowledge and skills in science, technology, mathematics, and commerce (STMC) streams, which are fields of high economic relevance for Sri Lanka.
The programme also focuses on improving teaching quality and teacher training, given the importance of teaching quality method of instruction on learning.
More than 47,000 upper secondary education teachers will be trained on inquiry-based and interactive learning approaches, to increase student interest and engagement with subject content and inspire a love of learning, the ADB said.– NNN-SLNEWS
