W/Bank approves $42.3m for Eko Project

Despite Lagos State’s debt profile which stands at $242.3 million (N38, 768,000,000), the World Bank has approved another $42.3 million loan to the Lagos Eko Secondary Project, otherwise called Lagos EKO Project)

In a statement signed by its Country Director for Nigeria, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, the organisation which confirmed the approval of International Development Association (IDA) facility said the money was an addition to the original credit of $95 million.
Marie-Nelly said the credit facility benefited over 620,000 students each year in 667 public secondary schools in Lagos State for the period 2009-2013.

She noted that the Lagos EKO Project had achieved significant results both in terms of the quality of education received as well as the pass rates in examination in the schools.
To confirm its position, the Bank noted that the effect was seen in students’ scores from beneficiary schools going up from 30 per cent to 70 per cent in English Language; 31 per cent to 45 per cent in Mathematics and from 27 per cent to 65 per cent in Basic Sciences.

It further remarked that the results of the June 2013 West Africa School Certificate (external) Examination showed that 41 per cent of students from beneficiary schools passed in five credits and above, compared to just over 18 per cent before the Lagos EKO Project was implemented.
“The project has built a critical pathway for students from low-income backgrounds to gain access to good-quality secondary education,” said Marie-Nelly.