Supporting Fourth Primary Education Development Program-Additional Financing

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The Fourth Primary Education Development Program (PEDP4) is the government's flagship initiative in the education sector aiming to provide quality education to all children. To support this program, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a concessional loan of $500 million from ADB's ordinary capital resources on 27 September 2018. The loan closing date is 31 January 2024. The Government of Bangladesh, ADB, and five other development partners jointly finance the program via a sector-wide approach. The impact of the results-based lending (RBL) program is strengthened human capital formation. The outcome is improved quality and equity of primary education for all children from pre-primary to grade 5. The outputs are (i) improved quality of primary education, (ii) enhanced access and participation to primary education, and (iii) improved governance and management of primary education system.The ongoing program is performing well. Despite the challenges of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the closure of primary schools for over 18 months, the program is on track with solid progress to meet its outcome and outputs. As of 31 December 2022, 22 out of 39 sub-indicators of disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) have been achieved. This will increase the ongoing program cumulative disbursement to 65%, while program time lapsed is at 70%. The PEDP4 midterm review conducted jointly by government and development partners assessed that the remaining sub-indicators of DLIs have progressed well and are on track to be achieved before the program completion date despite the impact of COVID-19. The government remains committed to accelerating efforts for achieving all program results with continued supports by development partners. Compliance with fiduciary and safeguard policy requirements for the ongoing program is satisfactory. The risk management plan is being complied with and has been successful. The project performance rating has been on track' throughout implementation of the program.