Kathmandu, September 11
The board of directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan and grant package totalling more than $160 million to improve schools’ resilience to disasters in three provinces of Nepal.
“The project will help the government of Nepal meet a share of the financing gap to reconstruct schools heavily damaged by the devastating earthquake of 2015,” the statement issued by ADB Nepal Resident Mission quoted ADB Country Director in Nepal Mukhtor Khamudkhanov as saying. “The newly constructed schools will not only be quake resilient but also provide a safe learning environment for children with improved facilities and systems.”
The country faces a significant funding gap for reconstruction of schools following the quake, reads the statement. “More than 2,200 of the schools are so heavily damaged that pupils are limited to makeshift shelters without adequate facilities or services such as electricity, water, and sanitation. Another 3,500 partially damaged schools are still in use but require work to shore up the buildings to protect against future quakes.”
The statement said that the project will help fill the funding gap to rehabilitate 174 heavily damaged schools that will improve the quality of school education, access to education, and school management.
Under the project, school buildings will be reconstructed to earthquake-resilient standards and equipped with science laboratories, information and communications technology rooms, libraries, water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities that are segregated, as per the statement.
“Off-grid and on-grid solar power systems will be installed in 130 of the targeted schools. The project will strengthen education management information systems by enhancing school building inventory, which will support in identifying vulnerable schools and prioritise disaster preparedness,” the statement adds. “It will also pilot an innovative approach to community-based retrofitting in three selected schools to create local institutions’ capacity to operate and adequately maintain schools using local funding.”
The statement further reads that the project complements the work of other ADB projects, including an Earthquake Emergency Assistance Project and Disaster Risk Reduction and Livelihood Restoration for Earthquake-Affected Communities Project – both approved in 2015 – that are reconstructing 162 schools in Nepal. Both of these are due for completion in June 2019.
The total project cost is $198.86 million, for which ADB will provide a concessional loan of $148.86 million and grant of $10 million. A co-financing grant of $5 million will be administered by ADB from Clean Energy Fund under Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility funded by Australia, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, as per the statement. “This will cover costs of designing and installing solar power systems and address climate change mitigation. The government will meet the remaining cost of $35 million for the project, which is due for completion in September 2022.”
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Written by Sandeep
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