World Bank’s STARS project

• World Bank has approved a new project worth $500 million to improve learning outcome and governance of government schools in six Indian states.
• The project, named STARS (Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program), will be implemented through the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
• The project, ‘STARS’ will be implemented in Himachal, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.

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• STARS will help improve learning assessment systems, strengthen classroom instruction, and remediation, facilitate school-to-work transition, and strengthen governance and decentralized management.
• STARS will support India’s renewed focus on addressing the ‘learning outcome’ challenge and help students better prepare for the jobs of the future – through a series of reform initiatives.
• The program will also support individualized, needs-based training for teachers that will give them an opportunity to have a say in shaping training programs and making them relevant to their teaching needs.
• The STARS program builds on the long partnership between India and the World Bank, since 1994, for strengthening public school education and to support the country’s goal of providing ‘Education for All’.
• However there are concerns that instead of building state capability, the World Bank education project gives a larger role to non-state actors and use of technology.

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