World Bank Supports Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Learning in Mato Grosso, Brazil

WASHINGTON — The World Bank Board of Directors approved a project today to strengthen the entire education system in the state of Mato Grosso, in Brazil. The overall objective is to improve teaching practices, teachers’ digital skills, and the wider school infrastructures to create environments that are more conducive to learning and promote the recovery of learning losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This US$100 million project named Mato Grosso Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Learning Project will last for five years.

“The results in education occur in the medium and long term. Therefore, our effort with this funding is to accelerate these investments in education, especially in school infrastructure and technology. The focus is on having in all schools an environment conducive to improving learning and advancing strongly in the goal of being among the five best in the country in this area,” said Mato Grosso State Governor, Mauro Mendes.

The project is divided into four areas, which directly support the key objectives of the Mato Grosso State Education Plan: reducing learning inequalities and creating mechanisms to reinforce collaboration between state and municipal networks to deliver better education services to the population.

The activities supported by the project will benefit school principals, school administration staff, teachers, and students across municipal and state education networks, covering both primary and secondary education.The main areas of action are:

· Area 1: Strengthening teaching interventions and school management strategies for learning recovery (US$21 million). This component will support government efforts to reverse learning losses and accelerate learning progress in public schools. The goal is to benefit 549 school principals, 5,394 teachers, and 18,357 students.

· Area 2: Transforming digital infrastructure (US$20 million). The goal is to improve the digital infrastructure at schools and at the Mato Grosso State Education Secretariat (SEDUC). This component will improve school connectivity and expand the use of existing technologies, as well as provide targeted training to enhance the digital skills of teachers and students alike.

· Area 3: Creating sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and safer state schools (US$53 million). This component will support the rehabilitation of school infrastructures and develop strategies to create learning environments that are safer, more inclusive, more sustainable, and more resilient to climate change.

· Area 4: Managing, training, and monitoring and evaluating projects (US$6 million). This component will focus on coordinating the entire project, training the SEDUC team, and implementing monitoring and evaluation activities.

“By supporting system-wide activities to improve teaching practices and foster progress in terms of school technology and infrastructure, this project will promote the recovery of learning losses related to COVID-19 and accelerate learning in Mato Grosso,” said Johannes Zutt, World Bank Country Director for Brazil.