Higher Education Partnership - Morocco

Morocco needs 200,000 qualified teachers to ensure a sufficient supply of educators by 2030. In 2017, the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports (MOE), and the Ministry of Higher Edcuation, Scientific Research and Innovation (MOHE) launched the National Strategy for Training Educational Staff to meet this demand. However, an initial situation analysis on the status of teacher training and higher education has indicated that the current pre-service teacher training programs are not reflective of current international best practices for effective teacher preparation.

USAID RESPONSE

In 2019, USAID partnered with the MOE and MOHE to launch the five-year Higher Education Partnership for Morocco (HEP-M) program, which aims to improve pre-service teacher training by:

• Helping to revise and enhance a comprehensive undergraduate degree program to prepare teachers to teach in primary schools;
• Enhancing institutional and human capacity to administer the new bachelor’s degree;
• Supporting the MOE to develop and pilot processes for quality assurance, certification, and national recognition of the new degree; and
• Providing capacity development opportunities for faculty members in online course creation to acehieve systemic digital integration and transformation in teaching and learning.

RESULTS

• Established key management structures, including Steering, Monitoring, and Management Committees led by the MOE and MOHE, which are composed of critical ministry actors and education leaders from all regions of Morocco.
• Convened faculty and instructional designers to develop modules for Regional Centers for the Professions of Education and Training (CRMEFs) and university programs.
• Engaged approximately 300 faculty members and trainers across Morocco to date to create 11 content-focused Research and Development groups in primary teacher preparation.
• Enbabled the production of a total of 65 syllabi, including 27 new syllabi for the CRMEFs and 38 improved syllabi for the universities through the Research and Development groups.
• Provided strategic capacity strengthening activities for faculty and trainers, including the Technology Integration in Teacher Training in November 2022, which was attended by 255 instructors.
• Organized and hosted the First Research and Practice Conference in Primary Teacher Preparation in May 2022, bringing together stakeholders in primary teacher preparation from across Moroccan institutions and regions, with the participation of 245 professors and the presentation of 54 papers and posters.

FACTS & FIGURES