Luxembourg, 24/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced a $45 million long-term loan for the educational component of the “Plan for Social and Economic Transformation” (PSET) of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, due to be implemented between July 2003 and July 2008. This loan will make a significant contribution to improving access to primary education and to underpinning the reform of the Kingdom's teaching methods by focusing on three main aspects of the PSET: upgrading the learning environment through construction of 160 new schools (including 140 classrooms for pre-school education) and 800 extensions and rehabilitation of 340 existing buildings; optimising pupils' access to information and communications technologies by installing IT equipment in schools and introducing IT programmes; and developing the Ministry of Education's capacity to design, set up and monitor educational programmes meeting the requirements of a modern economy and to manage the corresponding data. Cofinanced by the Jordanian Government, the EIB and the World Bank, this education plan will also be backed by grants from development agencies, specifically targeting teacher training and the definition of teaching programmes.