Bengaluru: Department of school education and literacy has appointed nodal officers to ensure that the conditions are met for the results-based lending (RBL) programme under which it has taken a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).As per plans, over the next four years (up to academic year 2029-30), the state govt will invest Rs 2,500 crore to develop 500 Karnataka Public Schools. For this, ADB will provide assistance of Rs 1,750 crore. The remaining Rs 750 crore will be borne by the govt.Under the RBL programme, nine indicators have been adopted as disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs).The govt notification, dated Sept 30, 2026, named senior officials from the school education department, DSERT, KSEAB, PUE and Samagra Shikshana Karnataka to coordinate and ensure timely achievement of the nine indicators.The DLIs cover learning outcomes, student transition and retention, gender parity, infrastructure, teacher capacity, STEAM education, assessment systems, employability skills and CSR partnerships.Among the targets, the department aims to ensure that by 2030, the proportion of Class 8 students in KPS and programme schools achieving grade-level proficiency in English, mathematics, science and social science increases by at least three percentage points over the established baseline.Another target is to increase the transition rate of students from Class 10 to Class 11 in KPS and programme schools by at least five percentage points by 2030. For girls, the department has set a target of increasing the percentage of female students passing the Class 12 examination by at least three percentage points by 2029.The programme also envisages establishing at least 500 new KPS by 2030, with improved, safe, gender-responsive, socially inclusive and climate-resilient learning environments.The department has assigned the director, DSERT, as the nodal officer for strengthening the professional capacity of teachers and school leaders, including subject knowledge, gender-responsive and socially inclusive pedagogy, instructional leadership and school governance.There is also a clause to improve the efficiency and transparency of CSR partnerships through implementation of strategic CSR guidelines.The notification states that the nodal officers will hold fortnightly meetings to coordinate departmental efforts towards achieving the targets. A meeting of all nodal officers will also be held in the last week of every month at the secretariat to review the department’s efforts and results.“The loan will be released in multiple transactions over the next four years. For every level, there is a criteria that needs to be met – in terms of infrastructure, academic outcomes, etc. The next transaction would depend upon how we strive to achieve this. All these are educational parameters that the department even otherwise strive for. I don’t see a scenario where we do not reach these in the next four years,” said Vikas Kishor Suralkar, commisioner, department of school education and literacy.The repayment period of the loan spills over 20 years.