Maputo, 8 Mar (AIM) - The World Bank has approved a loan of 40 million US dollars to support implementation of the Mozambican government's Higher Education Science and Technology (HEST) project.

According to a World Bank release, the objective of the project is to support the government's policy goals of economic development and poverty alleviation "by increasing the number and quality of graduates at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and improving the country's national research capacity".
 
"The quality of human resources is an essential ingredient for long-term, sustained development. This project will help address that," said Luiz Pereira da Silva, the Bank's Country Director for Mozambique, cited in the release. "It will tackle the well-identified issue of a rather modest research output in Mozambique, by creating incentives for research and development through support to researchers and institutions, as well as by supporting actions aimed at increasing the quantity and improving the quality of higher education graduates and education institutions in the country."
 
More specifically, HEST is intended to strengthen the National Council of Accreditation and Quality as well as the National Institute of Distance Learning through training and capacity building.

The release claims that "It will also help the Government's implementation of the accreditation and credit transfer pilot systems; develop the national higher education qualifications framework; and pilot and evaluate higher education financing reforms. Other areas of support include the revitalization of the National Academy of Science, as well as support to the Government's "Scientists for Tomorrow" program, which is designed to interest youth in math and other science-based careers".
 
Under a separate component, the project "will tackle the issue of quality of teaching, learning, and research through the provision of competitive funding that will provide grants and loans to qualified public and private higher education institutions. This includes grants and loans in the areas of information and communication technology applications, postgraduate programs, and teaching/learning innovations".

The project will also "provide scholarships for undergraduate studies for poor and needy and qualified students from the provinces, as well as scholarships for master's and PhD levels in strategic areas".

There are expected to be around 350 undergraduate scholarships a year paid for from these funds.
 
The credit comes from the World Bank's soft loans affiliate, the International Development Association (IDA), on the usual IDA terms of a commitment fee of 0.5 percent, a service charge of 0.75 percent, and a 40 year maturity which includes a 10-year grace period.
(AIM)