The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is
providing a US$ 20 million equivalent loan to help Mongolia improve the quality
of its higher education system and increase enrollment by youth from poor,
remote communities. The ADB Board of Directors approved the financing for the
Higher Education Reform Project on Friday. Along with strengthening the
relevance of existing higher education programs, it will also address issues
such as governance and management, financing, and access.

“The ultimate goal is to boost the
number of graduates who have the skills to match Mongolia’s changing economic
needs, and who can bring international standards to its labor markets,” said
Robert Schoellhammer, Country Director of ADB Mongolia Resident Mission.

Mongolia has over 100 higher
education institutions but only about 40 percent of graduates manage to find
employment. In response, the Government of Mongolia has drawn up a plan to
rationalize higher education which includes reducing the large number of public
universities from 42 to 16, and improving teaching and programs.

The project will aid the
government’s plan by funding research facilities, staff training, e-learning
centers and testing centers. It will aim to strengthen management capacity at
universities to improve accountability and transparency, and will support new
public-private partnerships and twinning arrangements with industry and foreign
institutions to develop labor market-ready graduates.

It will also seek to tackle current
imbalances in the system where few students from poor families in remote areas
take higher education courses, and boys—despite being strongly outnumbered by
girls—get the bulk of jobs on offer after graduation.

“Assistance will be given to increase
state support mechanisms for students who are poor or living in distant areas,
and for policies that can improve gender balance,” said Eisuke Tajima,
Education Specialist in ADB’s East Asia Department. “As part of this initiative
four rural institutions will be chosen to pilot distance learning courses to
reach out to more students.”

ADB’s loan from its concessional
Asian Development Fund has a 32-year term and will fund 90 percent of the
project cost with the government providing an additional US$ 2.2 million. The
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science will manage the project which is due
for completion by December 2016.