The State Bank of Vietnam and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Dec. 22 signed a loan agreement of 71 million USD to support a programme on Viet Nam 's secondary education system reform.

According to the agreement, the ADB will provide 60 million USD to the Secondary Education Sector Development Programme (SESPD). The remaining 11 million USD will be contributed by the Vietnamese Government.

ADB loan package will comprise a policy-based loan of 20 million USD with a term of 24 years and a project loan of 40 million USD with a term of 32 years. Both loans have a grace period of eight years with an interest rate of 1 percent per year and 1.5 percent for the rest of the term.

The Ministry of Education and Training is the executing agency of the project, which is due for completion in June 2015.

“As the context for Vietnam's socioeconomic development is changing and it is changing rapidly, enhancing the quality of the Vietnamese labour force is a critical prerequisite for sustained economic growth,” ADB Country Director Ayumi Konishi said at the signing ceremony.

According to education experts, enrolment levels for secondary schools have grown sharply in recent years, reaching over 90 percent at the junior level, but there have been widespread inconsistencies in the quality of education across the country, as well as persistent inequalities in access.

The SESDP is expected to address these concerns by updating Vietnam’s Secondary Education Sector Master Plan, developing new national standards for secondary schools, upgrading the curriculum, improving the quality of secondary teachers, establishing a national accreditation board and a new learning assessment system, and expanding continuing education./.