A loan agreement relating to the additional financing of the program “Support to the education sector” was signed, Wednesday in Rabat, by the Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, and the Director of the Maghreb and Malta, Middle East and North Africa Department at the World Bank, Jesko Hentschel, in the presence of the Minister of National Education, Preschool Learning and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Lekjaa said that this additional funding amounts to 250 million USD, which will bring the total funding of the program to 750 million USD.
He also stressed the importance of this agreement which aims to continue to accompany the achievements of the educational reform in the Kingdom, as well as to meet the challenges of this reform.
This additional funding will also provide $12 million in technical support to help Morocco achieve the ambitious goals of the strategic roadmap.
For his part, Benmoussa highlighted the importance of this loan agreement which perfectly supports, he said, the implementation of the strategic roadmap 2022-2026 of the Ministry of National Education, Preschool Learning and Sports.
He added that the program aims to establish an enabling environment for the delivery of quality early childhood education services, improve teaching practices in basic education and strengthen management and accountability capacities along the education service delivery chain.
Hentschel noted that the agreement aims to support the Kingdom’s efforts in improving the learning environment and capabilities of children.
This additional funding will make it possible to focus on quality while counting on important results on the quantitative side with “100,000 additional preschool children and 12,000 teachers,” he said.
The program is structured around three components: the first is the establishment of an environment conducive to the provision of quality preschool education services through the implementation of a training program for preschool educators, the deployment of a training system for 20,000 preschool educators, and the development of a framework and implementation of tools to measure the quality of preschool learning environment.
The second component is meant to support the improvement of teaching practices in basic education by enhancing models of teacher selection, recruitment, induction and deployment; consolidating a coherent, coordinated and comprehensive training model; and implementing online training courses and a technological platform for knowledge sharing.
Finally, the third aspect aims to strengthen management and accountability capacities along the education service delivery chain by digitizing data collected at the school level in the education management and information system (MASSAR), through setting up an evaluation and assessment mechanism for the implementation of school projects including guidelines, rules for monitoring and feedback, and creating an evaluation system at provincial and regional levels.
Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse