Near East Foundation - NEF Educational Reform in Rural Morocco Obtains Funding to Build Upon Advances Made in Cooperation with the Middle East Partnership Initiative

Near East Foundation (NEF), in collaboration with the US State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), has been working for more than a year to promote schooling for girls and to encourage educational policy reform in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains. Our gender-sensitive, participatory approach has significantly increased enrollment and retention of village children in primary school during the project's first year.

Some facts of which NEF is very proud:

School enrollment of boys has significantly increased and that of girls risen--in some villages from zero to nearly half of all children enrolled. And they have stayed in school. Retention rates have increased for both boys and girls.

Large numbers of adults, particularly women, have taken advantage of NEF's adult literacy classes and special extracurricular learning activities.

Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) have been developed, providing a very important outlet for community involvement supporting both national educational policies and local initiatives.

Following a review of progress made, happily MEPI has decided to continue and expand its support. Along with an additional $80,200 from NEF and its partners, MEPI's decision will increase project resources by almost $450,000, allowing for expansion to virtually two entire rural Moroccan communes.

A total of 12 satellite schools will be served in the second phase along with an additional seven mother schools. This covers virtually the entire primary education system in the area's two rural communes, providing a strong case for educational reform based on lessons learned. Further, the NEF project will focus additional attention on documentation and sharing approaches that work to build upon the advances achieved so far. The intention is to assure that enrollment and retention rates in phase one schools continue to increase, community involvement expands, and closer cooperation among local communities, school administrators, and teachers is encouraged.

According to NEF Project Director Abdelkhalk Andam, "This additional year will provide the project with critical time to reinforce and enhance learning among those involved during the first year. Participation in project activities was a 'first' for many villagers--something different and challenging. They now need time to internalize lessons learned from this experience.

"Sharing what they have learned with new project participants will not only help the project," he continued, "but also is a significant step forward for those now involved. We can only be excited about the potential emerging from these efforts."

PHASES 1 & 2

In the first year NEF focused on
* forming and developing PTAs;
* increasing community involvement and support for primary education;
* expanding the role of rural educators and improving teaching and school administration;
* providing classes for adult education;
* renovating school facilities--including access to latrines and potable water.

Now NEF will expand these activities
* developing more comprehensive extra-curricular and summer school activities that encourage continuing interest in education;
* providing participating schools with small libraries;
* expanding adult education classes;
* working with PTAs on income-generating activities capable of sustaining local financial support for primary education.

This income will provide a base for a broader program of local economic development to further underpin education, reinforce citizen participation in community decision-making, and encourage policy reform at governorate and commune levels.

During this next phase, NEF also plans to initiate formal discussions with the Moroccan Ministry of Education to encourage further application of the new approaches to teaching, administration, and educational supervision arising from the project. PTAs involved in phase 1 will be available to encourage education in these additional, new communities and to support the development of PTAs and other programs. And particular attention will be given to involving local women, in significant numbers, and in ways that substantially support girls' education.

"It's hard to overestimate the importance of this opportunity for women and girls in these isolated rural areas," says NEF Project Field Coordinator Hafida Agouze. "The project has lifted many women and girls from virtual obscurity and given them an opportunity not only for education, but in many cases helped communities to appreciate and support these efforts. This has positive implications not only for women, but for the community and society as a whole. Society is changing and we at NEF, as I'm sure those at MEPI, are proud to be a part of this tremendous process."

HEAT IN THE HIGH ATLAS

Earlier in preparing for winter, three schools in the Ghessate and Iminoulaoune districts that experience the harshest cold weather, received gas heaters. Their warmth improved conditions conducive to learning for 100 students and their teachers. The enterprise was launched in November with contributions from NEF and from the schools' PTAs, part of matching shares in the MEPI project and providing important local participation.

BACK IN JULY 2005

NEF organized a visit by a group of urban, French, middle school students, accompanied by their director, to three of these mountain communities. It was a completely foreign experience for most of the students and they learned about a world very different from their own; getting to know village pupils, their way of life, traditions, and gain some familiarity with the Moroccan educational system and how it works in rural areas.

Not incidentally, these student visitors brought school furniture with them for distribution to the communities. Also other urban-based, Moroccan nongovernmental organizations have provided the NEF project with school supplies and clothing to help some of the poorer families whose children otherwise would be unable to attend school.

OUTREACH & TRAINING

More recently training was provided for PTA members about school administration and financial management. PTAs have learned how to encourage school attendance and reduce dropout rates by involving community residents in education and prior to the beginning of the school year. Techniques included Friday speeches in mosques by the Imams and holding events for the entire community--men, women, children--promoting greater awareness of the importance of education.

Also consultations have been held with school staff to prepare and post promotional materials in villages. Additional training has been provided to women leaders with 18 recently participating in sessions focused on increasing their know-how and involvement. Using slogans like "schooling is the base for human development" and "all for encouraging education," awareness programs were organized in mother schools. They provided an opportunity to evaluate proposed PTA action plans developed during earlier training on community organization. PTA members, Imams, Sheikhs, local Mouqadem, women leaders, and elected officials participated in these activities.

They are some of the ways seven communities experienced an intensive awareness building during the NEF project's first year--and changed, leading to significant increases in the involvement of women in their communities and the enrollment of girls in school along with more boys and fewer dropouts all around. Schools were better equipped, staff better trained, and parents better able to manage their community schools and ensure quality education for their children.

During the coming year, NEF now has the wherewithal to strengthen and expand this progress made in cooperation with its partners. The U.S. State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) provides tangible support to reformers in North Africa and the Middle East so democracy can spread, education can thrive, economies can grow, and women can be empowered. It has committed more than $293 million in four years to advance freedom and opportunity in the region.