Kim, speaking in Peru as part of the bank’s ‘Road to Lima’ initiative aimed at improving educational quality, said improved student performance and teacher training would ‘contribute to a better future for Peru’.

He said: ‘Better learning outcomes help to build a competitive labour force, to create jobs and to promote inclusive economic growth.’

Peru’s economy has managed to stabilise and strengthen since the 2008 global recession, thanks to a transparent and prudent macroeconomic framework, the bank said.

The government has done quite well in reducing poverty over the last 10 years, the bank noted. Just one-third of the country’s population lives in rural areas, but those same areas account for half of the poor and 80% of the extreme poor.

Kim travelled to Peru’s Pasco region with president Ollanta Humala and education minister Jamie Saavedra to meet recipients of the Beca 18 scholarships and students at a high-performing school in Chontabama in Oxapampa Province. The Beca 18 programme helps low-income youths access higher education.

He said the World Bank would continue to work closely with the government on the Road to Lima initiative.