The World Bank Morocco Education Support Program (P167619) Program Information Documents (PID) Appraisal Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 19-Apr-2019 | Report No: PIDA174644 Apr 19, 2019 Page 1 of 9 The World Bank Morocco Education Support Program (P167619) BASIC INFORMATION OPS_TABLE_BASIC_DATA A. Basic Program Data Country Project ID Program Name Parent Project ID (if any) Morocco P167619 Morocco Education Support Program Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH 19-Mar-2019 20-Jun-2019 Education AFRICA Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Program-for-Results Financing Kingdom of Morocco Ministry of Education, Minister of Economy and Finance Proposed Program Development Objective(s) To establish an enabling environment for quality ECE service delivery, support improved teaching practices in basic education, and strengthen management capabilities and accountability along the education service delivery chain in the Program Areas. COST & FINANCING SUMMARY (USD Millions) Government program Cost 19,000.00 Total Operation Cost 500.00 Total Program Cost 485.00 IPF Component 15.00 Total Financing 500.00 Financing Gap 0.00 FINANCING (USD Millions) Total World Bank Group Financing 500.00 World Bank Lending 500.00 Apr 19, 2019 Page 2 of 9 The World Bank Morocco Education Support Program (P167619) B. Introduction and Context Country Context After two decades of rapid progress in reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity, Morocco is at risk of sliding into a middle-income trap. Morocco has made significant social and economic progress since 2000, thanks to political stability, large public investments and political, institutional, and sector reforms. Accelerated economic growth led to the eradication of extreme poverty, a sharp decline in the national poverty rate, increased life expectancy, greater access to basic public services (including universal access to primary education), and significant public infrastructure development.1 Despite these achievements, heightened aspirations by Moroccans, especially youth, remain unmet. Economic growth has slowed in recent years, job creation remains vastly insufficient resulting in a large inactive population, and the labor force participation rate is low. Pockets of poverty remain across the country and territorial disparities reflect deep social and economic inequalities. Despite dramatic progress, Morocco is at risk of sliding into a middle-income trap, unless it can overcome structural impediments to growth and boost job creation through private-sector led growth and accelerated productivity and competitiveness gains. For Morocco to propel toward a trajectory of faster growth and improved opportunities for all, achieving stronger human capital outcomes will be key. Human capital in Morocco is estimated to contribute 41 percent to wealth per capita, a level substantially lower than in countries with a similar level of development.2 Indeed, weak human capital outcomes are hindering productivity— with a Human Capital Index (HCI) of 0.5, Moroccans born today will only reach fifty percent of their productivity potential. Large inequalities in early childhood outcomes, including a high level of stunting in rural areas, and low learning outcomes contribute to hampered human capital accumulation. For most women and youth, weaknesses in human capital formation are compounded by the existing limitations on returns to human capital in the labor market. Youth unemployment is high, averaging 22 percent for men and 27 percent for women, and, while women tend to score better on the HCI, their economic participation remains severely constrained.3 Morocco’s future social and economic trajectory is therefore conditioned by its ability to accelerate progress in human capital accumulation and distribution. Sectoral and Institutional Context The story of education in Morocco over the last two decades is that of a rapid expansion resulting in dramatic improvements in access for most children. In the early 2000s, Morocco’s education outcomes were lower than most developing countries: the adjusted net enrollment rate was 76 percent in primary education, gender inequalities were pervasive (the gender parity index was 0.85 and 0.77 in primary and secondary education, respectively), 1.2 million primary-school-aged children were out of school, and only 1 With an average economic growth rate of 4.2 percent during the period 2007-2015, poverty has reduced significantly (from 15.3 percent in 2001 to 4.8 percent in 2014). Life expectancy increased from 68.7 to 75.8 between 2010 and 2016. 2 Lange, Glenn-Marie, Quentin Wodon, and Kevin Carey. 2018. The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018: Building a Sustainable Future. Washington, DC: World Bank 3 The female labor force participation (as a percentage of total labor force participation) is 27 percent in Morocco. Source: The World Bank, World Development Indicators (2018). Labor Force Participation Rate (% of female population ages 15-64). Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.ACTI.FE.ZS Apr 19, 2019 Page 3 of 9 The World Bank Morocco Education Support Program (P167619) 30 percent of women were considered literate. In less than 20 years, the country has achieved remarkable progress in reaching universal access for girls and boys. Thousands of schools were built, millions of textbooks and other learning materials were distributed, and a considerable number of teachers were trained and hired. This remarkable expansion was achieved thanks to strong and consistent political commitment, backed by massive public investments, since 2000. Commitment to education translated into substantial public funding for the sector. Between 2001 and 2015, the Government of Morocco (GOM) allocated, on average, about 30.4 percent of its total budget—6.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — to education and training. Today, the Moroccan education system operates with an annual budget of MAD 48 billion (US$5 billion) a year, about 25 percent of total public expenditure and 5 percent of GDP. In sum, the development of the education system in Morocco has been guided by consistent policies and strategies and has enjoyed high-level political commitment backed-up by substantial public funding. While impressive, the transformation of the education system remains incomplete: gender and location-based inequalities are substantial and learning outcomes are stubbornly low . Inequality of opportunity starts early: in 2017, 50 percent of the 4-5-year old attended preprimary education and there was a 24 percentage point difference between rural and urban areas (36 vs. 60 percent). Only 26.4 percent of rural girls and 44.6 percent of rural boys attended preprimary education. Inequality in access to primary education has dramatically reduced as a result of the government’s massive investments. However, a gap reappears again at the lower secondary level with a 38 point difference in the net enrollment rate (NER) in rural compared to urban areas (37 vs. 75 percent in 2017). The government’s efforts to improve access to education are hampered by major retention issues, with 2.3 million youth dropping out from school between 2008 and 2017. Moreover, results of recent international and national student learning assessments show that Morocco ranks among the bottom three countries (TIMSS 2015, PIRLS 2016) and suggest that an average student does not reach the country’s benchmarks in mathematics, science, or basic languages at any of the key cycles of basic education (PNEA 2008, 2016; SDI 2016). For the education system to be able to produce stronger learning outcomes, it needs to overcome two key challenges: a lack of readiness to learn and a lack of preparedness to teach. Only a few Moroccan children are exposed to early stimulation and early learning and most are therefore not prepared to learn when they enter primary school. Access to early childhood education (ECE) is limited and the quality of existing preprimary services is inconsistent, with multiple providers, lack of coordination and supervision, and therefore various pedagogical models, and unequal standards of quality. The teaching and learning process is also undermined by poor teacher preparation and lack of professional development support. Teachers enter the profession without much practical training and they do not receive adequate support and professional development opportunities thereafter. The Ministry of Education (MOE) completely phased out a one-time in-service teacher training in 2012 and currently most teachers do not receive more than one supervisor’s visit in five years. In absence of prepared learners and equipped and motivated teachers, the Moroccan education system currently lacks the most fundamental ingredients of learning. Despite the Government’s willingness to reform, considerable public investments and sustained efforts to produce reform strategies, a large implementation gap persists that is hampering progress . Various factors explain this disconnect. On the one hand, institutional instability and political turnover have diluted the ownership and consistency of reform efforts, as immediate gains are uncertain, resistance from within the education system has been strong at times resulting in weak coalition around key reforms. Apr 19, 2019 Page 4 of 9 The World Bank Morocco Education Support Program (P167619) The implementation gap can also partly be traced back to weak coordination and cooperation among key stakeholders at the central and subnational levels. Coordination is challenged by the slow implementation of the decentralization agenda, including by the mismatch between the high level of responsibilities devolved to subnational entities and their low levels of financial and management autonomy and capacity. Poor cooperation stems in part from a lack of trust and motivation, in a context characterized by top- down decision-making processes, and an uneven culture of information and transparency (including monitoring and performance evaluation). Finally, implementation suffers from weak capacity, especially at decentralized levels. There is a large mismatch between the managerial, operational, pedagogical capabilities of Regional Academies for Education and Training (AREF) and Provincial Directions (DP) and the functions they are expected to assume. PforR Program Scope The proposed Program for Results is anchored in the Government’s Education Strategic Vision 2015 - 2030 Pour une école de l’équité, de la qualité et de la promotion (ESV 15-30) and the MOE’s performance Plan 2019-2021. The Program will support the Government in translating its vision into concrete outcomes by focusing on the key elements and realistic targets that will transform the education system, ensuring a robust monitoring and strong implementation support. The results areas (RA) of the Program are embedded within the government program themes pertaining to the quality of preprimary and basic education, as well as to the successful achievement of the decentralization process. The results areas fall under the two main programs of the Performance Plan, namely Program 1: steering, governance and leadership strengthening, and Program 2: compulsory education ensuring equity and quality. C. Proposed Program Development Objective(s) The Program Development Objective (PDO) is to establish an enabling environment for quality ECE service delivery, support improved teaching practices in basic education, and strengthen management capacity and accountability along the education service delivery chain in the Program Areas. An enabling environment for quality ECE service delivery in the Moroccan context is defined through the following elements: (i) a workforce with relevant skills and qualifications to teach young children, (ii) a framework defining the quality standards and the tools available to measure the quality of preschool education according to this framework, and (iii) adequate capacity to manage the expansion of ECE at central and local levels. These critical elements contribute to anchor quality standards and allow for continuous improvement of preschool service provision in the country and as such make the environment conducive to quality ECE. Improved teaching practices means that teachers actions, strategies beliefs, attitudes and behaviors in the classroom with students are implemented in a way which increase student learning outcomes. Teaching practices include, among others, teacher clarity, classroom discussions, socio-emotional development, classroom culture, feedback and assessment. Apr 19, 2019 Page 5 of 9 The World Bank Morocco Education Support Program (P167619) Management capacity is defined as the ability of various administrative levels (AREFs, Provincial Offices and schools) to autonomously plan, implement and flexibly adjust work programs that facilitate the achievement of education results. Accountability is defined as the relationship between means, responsibilities and results. To achieve those objectives, the Program will support three result areas.  Result Area 1: Establishing an enabling environment for quality ECE service delivery. The proposed Program will support the implementation of the recently launched initiative to universalize preprimary education, focusing on strengthening governance and quality of the preprimary education provision to ensure that expansion of access has a tangible and sustainable impact on learning.  Result Area 2: Support improved teaching practices in basic education. The Program will support the new preservice training/induction model into the teaching profession and the development of a solid, attractive and coherent professional teacher career. The Program will contribute to increasing the supply of qualified new teachers by targeting institutional weaknesses, including at the AREF level, and boosting in-situation support for active teachers.  Result Area 3: Strengthening management capabilities, autonomy and accountability along the education service delivery chain. To support the transition of the education system, the Program will reinforce AREF’s and Provincial Directorate’s (DPs) management capacity, autonomy and accountability by progressively introducing performance contracts. Moreover, at the school level, the Program will strengthen school management capacity and school accountability mechanisms. The proposed Program includes Technical assistance (TA) activities that will use an adaptative approach to address capacity gaps at the MOE, strengthen monitoring and evaluation, and support course corrections in the different results areas. Targeted interventions will include leadership and change management activities. D. Environmental and Social Effects Given the nature of the program’s activities, which are meant to give equal access to quality preschool education and develop citizen participation and accountability, the Program is expected to generate positive social impacts, including notably in: i) allowing children, particularly girls and the most vulnerable children to have equal access to quality preschool and early education; ii) narrowing socioeconomic and geographical disparities, particularly in rural areas, remote locations, semi-urban areas, and regions particularly lacking in educational infrastructures. The Program will considerably improve the quality of knowledge and learning among young children, thereby also contributing to enhanced early-childhood development, a resulting reduction in grade repetition and dropout rates, establishing a solid basis for skills development that offers long-term potential for improvements in technical and technological skills, and consequently higher graduation rates and greater employability among the young boys and girls. In addition, the Program will boost the effectiveness and governance of the education system at central and local levels in view to ensure schools' responsiveness and accountability to parents and local communities. Adverse environmental and social risks stemming from the Program’s supported activities are anticipated to be negligible to low. There are no social and environmental risks associated with land acquisitions since the Program finances no classroom or school renovation or construction work and thus causes no physical or economic displacement of any population. Furthermore, the government program aiming to provide universal preschool education involves no acquisition of private land since classroom renovation or construction concern Apr 19, 2019 Page 6 of 9 The World Bank Morocco Education Support Program (P167619) only existing public schools and will primarily be carried out as part of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH phase 3). Communities and individuals who believe that they are adversely affected because of a Bank supported PforR operation, as defined by the applicable policy and procedures, may submit complaints to the existing program grievance redress mechanism or the WB’s Grievance Redress Service (GRS). The GRS ensures that complaints received are promptly reviewed to address pertinent concerns. Affected communities and individuals may submit their complaint to the WB’s independent Inspection Panel which determines whether harm occurred, or could occur, because of WB non-compliance with its policies and procedures. Complaints may be submitted at any time after concerns have been brought directly to the World Bank's attention, and Bank Management has been given an opportunity to respond. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank’s corporate Grievance Redress Service (GRS), please visit http://www.worldbank.org/GRS. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank Inspection Panel, please visit www.inspectionpanel.org. Morocco has several institutions responsible for grievance handling and resolution. The available national GRS mechanisms and institutions have been recently elevated to constitutional bodies to provide them with more independence and financial autonomy, which is necessary to validate their power of self-referral. The World Bank’s GRS mechanism does not affect the efficiency of the Moroccan complaints and resolution system. E. Financing The PforR Program is estimated to cost US$500 million within the broader US$19 billion government program over a five-year implementation period (2019-2023). Program Financing (US$15 billion) Source Amount % of Total (USD Million) Government 18,200 95.9 IBRD/IDA 500 2.6 Other Development Partners 300 1.5 Total Program Financing 19,000 100 . . Apr 19, 2019 Page 7 of 9 The World Bank Morocco Education Support Program (P167619) CONTACT POINT World Bank Name : Fadila Caillaud Designation : Program Leader Role : Team Leader(ADM Responsible) Telephone No : 5360+4241 / Email : fcaillaud@worldbank.org Name : Anne-Lucie Lefebvre Designation : Sr Public Sector Spec. Role : Team Leader Telephone No : 5360+4230 Email : alefebvre@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Borrower : Kingdom of Morocco Contact : Title : Telephone No : Email : Implementing Agencies Implementing Ministry of Education Agency : Contact : Youssef Belqasmi Title : Secretary General Telephone No : 212537777303 Email : youssef.belqasmi@men.gov.ma Implementing Minister of Economy and Finance Agency : Deputy Director, Direction of Contact : Youssef Farhat Title : Budget, Ministry of Finance Telephone No : 212673995319 Email : Farhat@db.finances.gov.ma FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects Apr 19, 2019 Page 8 of 9 The World Bank Morocco Education Support Program (P167619) Apr 19, 2019 Page 9 of 9