The World Bank approved US$250 million in additional financing for the Education Support Program in Morocco, adding to the initial US$500 million Program approved in 2019. This financing is intended to support the Government of Morocco in delivering on a highly ambitious education reform agenda that includes expanding quality early childhood education services, supporting primary and secondary education teaching practices, and strengthening management capacity and accountability for better learning outcomes.

Since its inception in 2019, the Education Support Program has contributed to improving the quality of early childhood education, enhanced the capacities of the teaching workforce, and management capacity and governance, particularly at the regional level. This additional financing aims to achieve more ambitious results for the sector while enabling accessibility and resilience of education more comprehensively and effectively in the post COVID-19 era.

"This Additional Financing supports the operationalization of the New Development Model (NDM), specifically, the Strategic Education Roadmap led by the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports. The roadmap uses a tripartite approach that includes students, teachers, and schools to deliver reforms with a tangible impact on the learning environment, governance, and ultimately on learning outcomes," says Jesko Hentschel, Country Director for the Maghreb and Malta at the World Bank.

The additional financing will allow for more ambitious goals related to assessing learning for better learning outcomes.

"This program will benefit 100,000 children enrolled in preschool units that will receive a quality label and will develop more professionally qualified teachers using innovative pedagogical approaches, e.g., 10,000 educators will complete a pre-service preschool training program, 10,000 an in-service preschool training and 12,000 new students will enroll in the 1st year of the 3-year specialized Bachelor of Education Specialty Cycle (CLE) program for the 2023/24 academic year," relayed Louise Mengue Mvono, Senior Education Specialist and Program Co-Leader at the World Bank.

The additional financing also introduces an Investment Project Financing (IPF) into the Program, providing technical support to the Ministry of National Education, Preschool, and Sports to implement key reforms leading to better results in education.

"The program's strategic framework is based on strengthening human capital and supporting sectoral decentralization for clear accountability on results and service delivery," said Abel Bove, Senior Public Sector Specialist, and program Co-Leader at the World Bank.

Among the reforms to be supported by the Program is the contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. In this regard, the Program will foster a change of mindsets, promote behavioral change, develop skills needed for a green economy transition, and ultimately contribute to people's resilience to shocks.

"At the global level, the program aligns with the World Bank's strategic objectives by helping address learning poverty through multiple dimensions and supporting education system resilience and governance," relayed Kaliope Azzi-Huck, Senior Operations Officer and Program Co-Leader at the World Bank.