EDITOR’S NOTE: World Bank knows that most of the money will go into the pockets of Meles Zenawi and gang. The rest will be used to buy weapons for terrorizing the people of Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (APA) The World Bank (WB) announced on Wednesday that its Board of Directors has approved US$ 50 million credit to help finance a General Education Quality Improvement Program (GEQIP) in Ethiopia, APA learnt here.

The WB said the “credit is the first part of a two-phase Adaptable Program Loan, and will leverage an estimated collective investment of US$ 417million in additional resources from the Government and other development partners.”

Accordingly, around 15.9 million students in primary and secondary schools will benefit from the Program, together with about 225,000 teachers.

Ethiopia is expected to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the education sector by 2015, and it is undertaking a multi million investment on education since the past few years.

“Between 2000 and 2007 the gross enrolment rate in primary education increased from 62 percent to 91 percent and net enrolment increased from 52 percent to 78 percent,” said WB, which is one of Ethiopia’s partners in the education sector.

At higher education level, the average annual growth rate was 28.5 percent since 2002, increasing enrolment from about 58,000 in 2002 to 203,000 in 2007.

However, Ethiopia’s education sector faces a number of key challenges, including, inequitable access to education opportunities for females and other vulnerable groups, especially in remote areas, among others.

The GEQIP will support, among other things, improvements in teaching and learning conditions in primary and secondary institutions, and management planning and budget capacity of the Ethiopian Ministry of Education and Regional Education Bureaus.

The credit is provided with a commitment charge of 0.10 percent per annum and a service charge of 0.75 percent per annum (on the disbursed credit balance) over a 40 year period of maturity which includes a 10-year grace period.