The Inter-American Development Bank yesterday approved a US$48.75 million loan to Trinidad and Tobago for the first phase of a programme to improve the quality and equity of education, with a focus on early childhood.
A release from the Bank said the IDB will support a three-phase programme to transform Trinidad’s education system along the lines of its national strategic plan, Vision 2020, which seeks to capitalize the country’s strong potential for economic growth and ensure its future competitiveness.
A vital component of the programme’s first phase seeks to increase the access to quality early childhood care and education for three- and four-year-old children from disadvantaged families and to strengthen the capacity of primary schools to provide quality education to students with a wide range of learning needs.
The programme will finance the construction, upgrading and equipping of 50 early childhood care and education centres and the development and implementation of a training programme for their staff.
Resources will also be provided to revise the curricula in seven subject areas in primary education and to produce and distribute new teacher guides and instructional materials.
The loan will also support Trinidad’s efforts to introduce Spanish as the first foreign language for its students, providing immersion training for teachers in selected primary schools and other activities to improve language instruction. The Bank release said that the total cost of the first phase of the programme is US$62.5 million. Trinidad and Tobago will contribute US$13.75 million to its execution.
The IDB loan is for 20 years, with a four-year grace period and an interest rate based on LIBOR.
