Kyrgyzstan to receive $25.25 mln for development of inclusive education

The Jogorku Kenesh has received a draft law on ratification of agreements between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Islamic Development Bank. The documents relate to the implementation of the Smart-Ed project, which aims to improve access to inclusive and quality education for all children, including children with special educational needs.

The total budget of the project is $25.25 million. Funding includes three sources:

• grant from the Global Partnership for Education - $15 million,
• grant from the Islamic Development Bank - $250 thousand,
• soft loan from the Islamic Development Bank and Islamic Solidarity Fund - $10 million.

The loan is issued for 25 years at 1.5% per annum, of which the first 7 years - a grace period without payments. It also provides for co-financing from the government in the form of taxes and fees in the amount of $1.06 mln.

The Smart-Ed project includes six components. They include construction and reconstruction of boarding schools, preschools and educational institutes, equipping of educational institutions, creation of media studios, introduction of inclusive classrooms.

Special attention is paid to training and retraining of teachers, development of new curricula and acquisition of laptops for teachers. In addition, it is planned to revise the educational policy, introduce pilot inclusive schools and organize seminars.

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