MANILA, Sept 24: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday it has approved a $75 million loan to improve public elementary education in Sindh.

The project will include the improvement of classrooms and the widening of access to free textbooks, student/teacher scholarships, teacher training and stipends, particularly for girls, the Manila-based bank said in a statement.

It will also support programmes to increase school attendance and reduce dropouts. Community groups and NGOs will help run these programmes, the ADB added.

The ADB loan will come from its special concessionary Asian Development Fund and will have a term of 32 years, including a grace period of eight years. It will have an interest charge of one per cent during the grace period and 1.5 per cent thereafter.—AFP