Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation Project

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The development objectives of the Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation Project for Bangladesh and Afghanistan are: (i) regionally, to strengthen the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response in higher education, improve connectivity, and quality of higher education for women; (ii) in Bangladesh, to enhance higher education’s governance, resilience to emergencies, and graduate employability; and (iii) in case of an eligible crisis or emergency, respond promptly and effectively to it. The project comprises of four components. The first component, South-Asian harmonious area for research and education supports regional integration in higher education in the areas of current demand. It consists of following sub-components: (i) strengthening of regional mechanisms for engagement in higher education; (ii) establishment and maintenance of a South Asian higher education portal; (iii) development of emergency response measures to create system resilience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; (iv) strengthening regional cooperation among the national research and education networks and supporting expanded access and connectivity for students; (v) construction of the Asian University for Women (AUW) academic center as a hub for a regional network of women’s universities and colleges; and (vi) establishing a regional network of women’s universities and colleges. The second component, transforming higher education in Bangladesh consists of following sub-components: (i) supporting business continuity under COVID-19; (ii) strengthening the market relevance of higher education programs; and (iii) improvement of the governance and quality of the higher education sector. The third component, enhancing project management results monitoring and communication supports project management capacities of the secondary and higher education division (SHED) of the Ministry of Education of Bangladesh (MOE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) in Bangladesh; and that of the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan (MOHE) in Afghanistan. The fourth component, contingent emergency response allows for rapid reallocation of project proceeds in the event of future natural or man-made disaster or crisis that has caused or is likely to imminently cause a major adverse economic and or social impact during the life of the project.