The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided Vietnam with two loanstotalling 165 million USD to improve secondary education for ethnicminority students in the country’s poorest areas, and upgrade ruralinfrastructure in six central provinces.

The loansare part of ADB’s response to the Vietnamese Government’s need inprioritised areas, matching the bank’s Country Partnership Strategy forVietnam in the 2012-15 period, said Tomoyuki Kimura, ADB CountryDirector in Vietnam at a signing ceremony for the loans in Hanoion January 23.

The first loan, valued at 80 millionUSD, will be used to support the second phase of a project to improvesecondary education for students from ethnic minority groups in mostdisadvantaged areas.

Building on the success of thefirst phase, which was completed in 2014, the second phase aims to raisethe enrolment rate at secondary schools in the targeted areas by 5percent by 2020 by building 660 additional classrooms, 350 semi-boardingfacilities, 250 houses for teachers, and training 24,000 teachers. Some344 new schools will also be built during the six-year period.

The second loan of 85 million USD will be injected into a project toboost integrated rural development in six central localities of BinhDinh, Binh Thuan, Ha Tinh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen and Thua Thien-Hue.

The ADB earlier funded 90 million USD to this 168.17 million USD project, which was approved by the bank in 2007.-VNA