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Increased support for education in Bhutan

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Media Release

MEDIA RELEASE

Australia will work with the Royal Government of Bhutan to ensure school children have access to basic facilities and education throughout their student lives.

The announcement was made today by the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, the Honourable Bob McMullan MP, during his visit to Bhutan. The special event was also attended by the Honourable Minister for Home and Cultural Affairs of Bhutan, Lyonpo Minjur Dorji, UNICEF Representative in Bhutan, Dr Gepke Hingst, and other senior members of the Royal Government of Bhutan and the United Nations agencies in Bhutan.

In conjunction with UNICEF, Australia will provide $1 million over three years to reconstruct basic school services affected by the September 2009 earthquake.

'This support will help rebuild sanitation facilities at 50 schools, water supply schemes at 40 schools and enable the complete reconstruction of 13 community primary schools," Mr McMullan said.

Schools and their communities will see long term benefits from training to manage the new water and sanitation facilities and to conduct health and hygiene sessions. School principals and teachers in all 20 districts of Bhutan will also be trained in emergency disaster preparedness and risk reduction.

Australia will also provide $500,000 to the World Food Program's school feeding program in 2009-10.

"This program encourages poor households to send their children, especially girls, to school. It provides at least one nutritious meal each day, can help boost enrolment and promote regular attendance, giving children an education and a future," Mr McMullan said.

Mr McMullan congratulated the Royal Government of Bhutan for its strong progress towards Millennium Development Goal Two, which aims to give all children access to primary education.

"Once students finish high school we want to support children to continue their education. In 2009-10 Australia provided two additional scholarships to study at Australian universities. This will bring the total number of Australia Awards scholarships for Bhutan to more than 40 annually," Mr McMullan said.

"In my discussions with senior members of the Royal Government of Bhutan I was very pleased to hear of the important contribution that Australian scholarships have made over 40 years in developing the skills and capacity of the Bhutanese people."

Australia is also funding the Queensland University of Technology and the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources to strengthen technical and vocational education in Bhutan.

Mr McMullan is in Bhutan to represent Australia as Head of the Australian Observer delegation at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit.

Last Updated: 25 February 2013
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