WASHINGTON, July 8, 2010 – Today the World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a US$ 29.2 million loan for the Technical and Vocational Education Modernization Project for the Republic of Kazakhstan in support of improved workforce productivity in key sectors and enhanced skills development capacity to meet the demands of key industries as well as the needs of small and medium businesses in Kazakhstan.
The Project with the total amount of US$ 33.23 million, including Kazakhstan Government co-financing of US$ 4 million, will be implemented from 2010 to 2013 by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The World Bank extends its loan at the interest rate equal to 6 months LIBOR with a four-year grace period.
The Project will assist the Republic of Kazakhstan in improving the quality, relevance and efficiency of technical and vocational education through an improved policy framework and institutional capacity for technical and vocational education.
“We hope the project becomes a laboratory of innovation that introduces proven good practices, pilot tests new approaches, and informs future policy development and investment in continuing raising the competitiveness of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” said Dingyong Hou, the World Bank Project Team Leader.
The Project supports in particular:
- Industry led development of occupational standards, linked with a national qualification framework and institutional accreditation for quality assurance;
- Modernization of the governance, management and financing for technical and vocational education; and
- Enhancement of institutional capacity of lyceums and colleges for delivering competency based programs to satisfy the demand for new skills for sustained economic growth and accelerated industrial development and innovation.
The World Bank’s overall mission in Kazakhstan is to help the Government in achieving diversified and sustainable economic growth and improving the living standards of population. To date, the Bank has provided 35 loans to Kazakhstan for the amount of more than US$ 5.2 billion since July 1992.
