ADB provides $50m loan for training programs in China

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Monday that it has extended a loan of 50 million U.S. dollars to improve the quality of training programs for elderly health care services and pre-school education in Nanning, capital of Guangxi province in southwestern China. The Manila-based lender said the loan will be used to upgrade campus facilities and equipment and improve curricula at Nanning Health School and Nanning No. 4 Vocational and Technical School. The amount will also be used to build 18 buildings on the two campuses, develop elderly care curriculum for the nursing program, and establish pilot training bases in kindergarten teaching and rural health. By 2018, ADB expects that 95 percent of students from the two schools are expected to find jobs within six months of graduation. ADB said Nanning is one of the least-developed areas in China and that there is a "severe" shortage of qualified kindergarten teachers, schools, and medical personnel in the city.