WASHINGTON: The World Bank has approved a USD 400 million assistance package to help Pakistan improve the access, quality and relevance of education at every level.

The projects are designed to improve conditions for teaching, learning and research for enhanced access, the Bank said in a statement.

The projects will aim at quality and relevance at the tertiary level across the country, while continuing to increase enrollment rates and reduce gender and rural-urban disparities in primary education in Punjab and Sindh Provinces, the Bank said.

Pakistan's transition to a middle-income country in the global knowledge economy of the 21st century will depend critically on its intellectual and human capital, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, Rachid Benmessaoud said.

To achieve the said objective, Pakistan needs to upscale its entire education system so that it can produce skilled, innovative and enterprising graduates as well as improve research and innovation capacity capable of promoting dynamic economic development.

In a statement, the Bank said USD 300 million equivalent Credit for the Tertiary Education Support Project will finance the Government's tertiary education development programme and will leverage an estimated investment of approximately USD 1.7 billion in additional resources from the Government.

The additional financing for the Punjab Education Sector Project (USD 50 million) will continue to build upon both projects' success through attracting more children to school by providing free textbooks, stipends to secondary school girls and subsidies to low cost private schools.

The additional financing for the Sindh Education Sector Reform Project (USD 50 million) targets improvements in service delivery and system performance by supporting government efforts in preparation of school-specific nonsalary budgets, teacher rationalisation across schools, allocation of teaching posts to schools and expansion of district education management reforms, the Bank said.