Mongolia, ADB Sign Project to Improve Access to Quality Education

ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA (3 March 2024) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Mongolia today signed a $15 million additional financing agreement to help improve access to quality pre-primary, primary, and secondary education in Mongolia. ADB Director General for East Asia Muhammad Ehsan Khan and Minister of Finance and ADB Governor Javkhlan Bold signed the agreement at a ceremony in Ulaanbaatar.

“Economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant cuts in the education budget,” said Mr. Khan. “Unless we expand school facilities, we risk exacerbating missed educational opportunities caused by the pandemic, especially for disadvantaged children. This additional financing will expand the number of schools and kindergartens built and rehabilitated, improving opportunities for more than 1600 children.”

The ongoing $50 million Sustaining Access to and Quality of Education During Economic Difficulties Project was approved in November 2017 to help the government improve access to and the quality of pre-primary, primary, and secondary education. The project is constructing and expanding a total of 21 schools and kindergartens in Darkhan-Uul, Govi-Altai, and Govisumber provinces, as well as Ulaanbaatar city. It is also supporting curriculum and assessment system reforms, supplying educational materials, and training teachers, school managers, and local education administrators. The project is also strengthening systems for planning and managing education services.

The additional financing project will scale up scope of the ongoing project by constructing, expanding, and furnishing three more schools and six more kindergartens. With this, total of 30 schools and and kindergartens will be built and expanded under the overall project, benefiting more than 7,000 children. The buildings will also incorporate climate adaptation and resilience measures to minimize climate-related disruptions, as well as increase energy efficiency. The project is funded by ADB’s concessional ordinary capital resources and is expected to complete in February 2027.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.