The World Bank (WB) has approved two loans worth 150 million USD to help Vietnam maintain its higher education reform programme and prepare five-year-old children for school.

The WB is pleased to support education in Vietnam to improve its economic competitiveness, said WB Country Director Victoria Kwakwa.

The first loan will fund the third phase of the higher education development policy programme. The programme aims to implement policies to strengthen higher education management, finance and quality by enhancing the system’s capacity, financial transparency, sustainability and effectiveness, and improve the quality of education organisations.

The second loan will aim to strengthen children’s readiness to enter primary education, particularly for disadvantaged children by supporting selected elements of Vietnam ’s national programme on universal access to early education for five-year-olds in the 2010-2015 period. The project will expand the full-day preschool programme, and improve teachers and principles’ professional skills.

Both loans come from the International Development Association, an affiliate agency of the WB for low income countries.-VNA