AMN / NEW DELHI

The Government of India and the World Bank today signed a 500-million US dollar Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Programme (STARS) to improve the quality and governance of school education in six Indian states.

These include Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan. Some 250 million students (between the age of six and 17) in 1.5 million schools and over 10 million teachers will benefit from the programme.

The STARS programme builds on the long partnership between India and the World Bank (since 1994), for strengthening public school education and to support the country’s goal of providing Education for All. Prior to STARS, the Bank had provided a total assistance of more than three billion US dollars towards this goal.