This project is an important element of the Indonesian government's efforts to strengthen human capital and improve the quality of its educational system.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors gave its approval to a loan of US$250 million to enhance the quality of elementary and secondary schools in Indonesia under the aegis of the Religious Affairs Ministry.

"This project is an important element of the Indonesian government's efforts to strengthen human capital and improve the quality of its educational system," Head of the World Bank Representative for Indonesia and Timor Leste Rodrigo Chaves noted in a written statement released on Friday.

Chaves highlighted the significance of enhancing the quality and efficiency of educational spending for Indonesian children to ensure better education and greater success in the labor market.

"Finding ways for schools to spend budget more properly is very crucial to help Indonesian children derive better educational gains, so they will be more successful in the labor market," he stated.

Indonesia, the world's fourth-largest educational system, has until now offered educational services for 53 students of state and private schools, of which eight million study in religious schools.

With the new loan being approved, the government project "Realizing Education's Promise" will help in overcoming obstacles in gauging educational performance by building a national-level electronic planning and budgeting system to promote more efficient spending.

The next is applying a school grant system to enhance the performance of students, particularly those of schools under the aegis of the Religious Ministry, in terms of the national education standard, particularly for schools with limited resources.

To weigh the performance, this project will help to assess fourth-grade students of schools under the aegis of the Religious Affairs Ministry nationwide and finance training courses for teachers to aid in improving the quality of teaching and learning activities.

Moreover, the project will invest in the gathering and examination of data to streamline the management of educational system at different schools to ensure improvement in the quality of human capital, as a whole, in Indonesia.

Director General of Islamic Education of the Religious Affairs Ministry Kamaruddin affirmed that efforts to help students of religious schools achieve the objective of human capital development will ensure that Indonesian students receive quality education.

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Translator: Satyagraha, Suharto
Editor: Eliswan Azly
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