Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 13 April 2025 – The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), supported by a major grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), has signed a landmark education project financing agreement with the Government of Uzbekistan aimed at significantly enhancing the quality, inclusiveness, and efficiency of the country’s preschool and school education system.

During the ceremony, IsDB President, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser signed the agreement with H.E. Dr. Khilola Umarova, Minister of Preschool and School Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The signing took place on the margins of the Human Capability Initiative (HCI) Conference in Riyadh and was attended by Ms. Laura Frigenti, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

The Smart Education Program, approved by the IsDB and GPE Boards on 15 December 2024 and 18 October 2023 respectively, marks IsDB’s largest investment in Uzbekistan’s education sector to date. The total project cost is US$220.25 million, with US$160.25 million financed by IsDB, a US$40 million grant from GPE, and a US$20 million contribution from the Government of Uzbekistan.

This project is fully aligned with Uzbekistan’s national education strategies and aims to improve the quality and efficiency of the education system and will contribute to the attainment of the SDG-4. The project also aligns with Pillar 2, “Inclusive Human Capital Development” of the IsDB Strategic Realignment 2023-2025.

Further, the 5-year Project implementation has already begun, with early priorities including school construction and the finalization of implementation agreements with UNICEF and UNESCO.

With a rapidly growing school-age population and pressing needs to expand infrastructure and improve education quality, this Smart Education (Smart ED) Project will improve learning environments and strengthen systems for sustainable, inclusive, and competency-based education. The project outcome includes the construction of 58 inclusive schools and 2,431 classrooms, all fully equipped with laboratories, furniture, and digital infrastructure in 11 regions of the country and the capital city Tashkent Beyond infrastructure, the project supports comprehensive system reforms, including the development of competency-based curricula, updated teaching and learning materials, enhanced teacher preparation systems, and improved student assessment and school evaluation mechanisms, with a strong emphasis on inclusion.

The project is expected to benefit over 72,930 students, including girls and children with disabilities, and will support the training of 36,115 educators and staff. SmartEd directly contributes to IsDB’s strategic goals for inclusive human capital development and expanding access to quality education across its Member Countries.