The World Bank has approved $300 million in financing to improve learning outcomes for 26 million children from pre-primary to Grade 5 in Bangladesh.

The funding will support the Learning Enhancement and Acceleration in Primary Education Programme, which aims to strengthen foundational skills in reading, writing and mathematics and improve the quality of pre-primary and primary education.

The programme will support the government’s Fifth Primary Education Development Programme.

Despite achieving near-universal access to primary education, Bangladesh continues to face challenges in learning outcomes. Around 50% of 10-year-olds in the country cannot read and understand a simple, age-appropriate text, compared with 42% in Malaysia and 47% in Brazil.

“Quality primary education is one of the building blocks for a globally competitive workforce,” said Jean Pesme, World Bank Division Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

The programme will introduce foundational literacy and numeracy materials, structured lesson plans and teacher training. It will also provide leadership training for headteachers in 90% of government primary schools and strengthen school management systems.

Additional support will include remedial learning for struggling students, with particular focus on districts lagging behind in educational outcomes.

According to the World Bank, the initiative will also improve pre-primary education, strengthen teacher and school leadership, and promote better use of education data and budgets.

The financing comes from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s concessional financing arm for lower-income countries. The funding has a 25-year repayment term, including a five-year grace period.