The Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) on October 2 upheld a government-proposed bill providing for a ratification of a loan agreement signed between Government of Tajikistan and the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) in May this year.
Presenting the bill to lawmakers, the Minister of Education Nouriddin Said noted that the loan will be spent for construction of sixty-six high schools in Tajikistan.
He also noted that 124 schools will be built in the country within the next two years. The budget has earmarked 418 million somoni for construction of these schools, the minister added.
According to him, about 4,000 secondary schools now function in Tajikistan and 30 percent of them require renovation.
Recall, a loan agreement for 131.3 million Saudi riyals, equivalent to 35 million U.S. dollars, was signed in mid-May in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between the Government of Tajikistan, represented by Abdusalom Qurboniyon, Minister of Finance, and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by Yousef Ibrahim Al-Bassam. Vice President & Managing Director, the Saudi Fund for Development.
The amount of this soft term loan is allocated for co-financing the Construction and the Equipment of Schools Project, Phase 4.
The project aims to support enhancement of the education sector in Tajikistan by means of construction and equipment of a number of schools in the districts of Muminobod, Khovaling, Baljuvon, Danghara, Shamsiddin-Shohin, Kulob, Vose, Dousti, Jomi, Devashtich, Istaravshan, Panjakent, Asht, Konibodom, Mastchoh, Varzob, Roudaki, Vahdat and Nourobod.
The project is expected to be completed in 2023.
