COLOMBO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka will get a 100 million U.S. dollars concessionary loan from the World Bank to diversify and upgrade the general education system in the country to global standards, the Finance Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
The General Education Modernization Project will modernize and diversify the curriculum of general education in keeping with the transformation taking place in Sri Lanka's society and economy, the statement said.
Greater emphasis will be on strategic subjects that are key for economic development such as English and Mathematics.
Learning material for English language and Mathematics will be developed digitally and the focus will be on children from schools located in more disadvantaged regions.
"Sri Lanka has made impressive progress in expanding access to education. However, to reach the status of an Upper Middle-Income Country, it needs to further improve the overall learning outcomes," Idah Z. Pswarayi-Riddihough, World Bank country director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives said.
"Sri Lanka's education policy makers recognize that a high-quality general education system will enable students to meet the demands of 21st century jobs," Idah added.
The World Bank said the project will benefit school students both at the primary and at the secondary levels.
Technical education and vocational training institutes, academic and managerial staff of the schools will also benefit from this project.
World Bank lead economist and task team leader for the project Harsha Aturupane said the project will support the Sri Lankan government to modernize primary and secondary education in line with international standards that have been established in middle-income and high-income countries.