KUWAIT, March 29, 2015 – The Kuwait Ministry of Education and the National Center for Education Development (NCED) and the World Bank have launched today a five-year technical cooperation agreement focused on education reforms. The program which will support capacity building, improve the quality of the teaching and learning, and monitor impact on schools and students builds on earlier work that focused on systemic improvement of education.
The second phase of the School Education Quality Improvement Project being launched will focus primarily on implementing reforms geared towards improving teaching and learning as well as monitoring the progress and impact of implementation on schools and students. It will also aim to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Education and the NCED in policy, decision-making and implementation of integrated reforms.
“The World Bank’s relationship with Kuwait dates back for more than 40 years,” said Dr. Merza Hasan, World Bank Group Executive Director and Dean of the Board. “The work on the education program is a clear example of how strategic long-term collaboration can be effective in setting the stage for meaningful and effective reforms. This is a reform developed by Kuwait for Kuwait.”
The program is grounded in the Kuwait National Education Development Plan and is aligned closely with the ministry’s Integrated Education Reform Program. The World Bank has provided support on a series of quality-related reforms in the first phase of the School Education Quality Improvement Project. The project focused on learning outcomes, curriculum enhancement and development, effective teaching and school leadership, strengthening the education development center and its capacity for national assessment, and developing national education standards.
“Despite facing many initial and then field-level challenges, a solid foundation for assessing and tracking system and student performance has been developed through our collaboration with the World Bank,” said Dr Ridha Al Khayyat, Director General of Kuwait’s National Center for Education Development (NCED). “This Integrated Education Reform Program (IERP) will allow us to further develop the system and boost the quality of education leading to more graduates with better competencies.”
The first phase of the project, which closes end of March, focused primarily on assisting the Ministry of Education and NCED in identifying and assessing variables associated with improving the quality of education in Kuwait, building technical capacity to carry out those reforms, and providing guidance on the reform designs. The second phase, starting 2015, will focus on implementation and capacity building.
“This new program marks a significant next step in the reform of Kuwait’s education system. The integrated approach developed in the second phase of the program will allow Kuwait to develop a truly comprehensive 21st century education system,” said Amit Dar, World Bank Director of the Education Global Practice.
