Dhaka: The government on Monday signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a $120 million loan in additional funding for a six-year government-sponsored programme to improve the quality of primary education in Bangladesh.

Senior Secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) Mohammad Mejbahuddin and Country Director for ADB's Bangladesh Resident Mission Kazuhiko Higuchisigned signed the agreement at the ERD on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB respectively.

ADB's original financing was a $320 million loan, and in 2011 it agreed to make more funds available if implementation was successful. This was confirmed by a joint midterm review by the government and its development partners completed in September 2014, which called for a greater focus on results.

The assistance will be complemented by additional co-financing from the World Bank and the Global Partnership for Education. Other development partners are also considering additional financing.

The additional funds are expected to raise key performance indicators relating to student achievement, access and efficiency in Bangladesh, which has one of the largest primary school systems in the world with over 19.5 million children enrolled in about 106,000 primary schools.