Aisha Zeeshan
Islamabad, PK: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) understood a long time ago that education, skill development, and lifelong learning are foundational to inclusive and resilient communities, even before the globe started to face the full extent of the learning crisis of the 21st century.
Throughout its long history, ADB has supported several initiatives that seek to empower people and enhance the social and economic aspects of developing nations. These programs range from classroom scholarships to professional fellowships and global alliances.
Financial and strategic considerations are the bedrock of ADB’s commitment to learning. The bank has invested billions of dollars in education programs throughout the whole education landscape, with the goal of expanding opportunities for high-quality education from pre-K through college and beyond.
In line with ADB’s own records, the bank has allocated around $7.4 billion for elementary, middle, and high school programs, and around $1.6 billion for general education programs that encompass adult education and capacity development, demonstrating its conviction that education ought to encompass more than just the conventional classroom setting.
Programs like visiting fellowships, internships, and scholarship schemes that draw academics, students, and professionals into the bank’s sphere of influence are examples of efforts that may not get as much attention as blockbuster loans but are still quietly revolutionary.
One such program is the ADB Visiting Fellow Program, which pairs ADB economists and experts with PhD students and researchers in Manila for a limited time. Here, fellows get practical experience in international development operations while contributing novel research to pressing global economic issues including climate change, inequality in the workplace, and employment markets.
Approximately 135 graduate students from developing member nations are supported each year to earn master’s degrees at top institutions in Asia and the Pacific via the ADB-Japan Scholarship Program, another cornerstone of ADB’s portfolio.
Scholarship programs like this one are often ignored when people talk about worldwide fellowship programs, but they are really ADB’s longest-running attempt to train leaders who would bring about change in their home nations after they graduate.
Although these initiatives are significant on their own, what really stands out is how ADB collaborates with other groups to increase the number of learning opportunities on a large scale. In a recent example, the bank partnered with the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation to invest around $250 million in education and skill development throughout Asia and the Pacific.
This investment consisted of $150 million in loans from ADB and $100 million in matching funds from EAA. The shared goal of this collaboration is to improve the educational opportunities, career development opportunities, and job prospects for disadvantaged youngsters and children.
In a larger sense, the ADB and the IFED have been collaborating to reach a goal of lower-middle-income nations receiving $500 million in concessional education funding. This novel strategy aims to raise more funding for education (including continuing education and skill development) and lower borrowing costs for poor countries by combining grant funding with guarantees.
The comprehensive financial structure of ADB is the driving force behind these many endeavors. Education and human capital development are designated as strategic priorities in the bank’s Work Program and Budget Framework for 2024–2026. The bank is increasing its yearly financing envelope to over $36 billion, with a large portion going toward education commitments.
In this story, ADB is playing several roles, including those of a catalyst, an organizer, and a funder. Contributing to a global learning ecosystem that values opportunity and fairness, ADB runs its own fellowship and scholarship programs, forms relationships with foundations and global education institutions, and provides large-scale finance to support national education systems.
The experiences of the many academics, visiting researchers, and young professionals who have passed through ADB’s doors bear witness to a subtle shift: a shift in which information serves as a means of individual growth and as a communal resource for communities working toward a brighter tomorrow.
