First Education Development Policy Loan

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The First Education Development Policy Loan Program for Morocco aims to support the implementation of the Government's Education Emergency Program 2009-20 12 to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery and educational outcomes. The Government has overseen an impressive political, economic and social transformation, with a marked acceleration of structural reforms in recent years. Improving the quality of outcomes in the education sector has become a key priority for the Moroccan Government. To overcome the challenges faced by the education sector, the Government embarked on a comprehensive reform of the education and training system, with the promulgation of the 1999 National Education and Training Charter (CNEF).' The CNEF, with strong national consensus, declared 2000-2009 the decade for education and training, and established education and training as a national priority, second only to territorial integrity. The reform program, as laid out by the CNEF, also received strong support from the donor community. Nevertheless, during the course of implementation, the reform program encountered delays. Through 2008 and 2009, joint technical and preparation missions were carried out by the five donors, known as the Technical and Financial Partners (TFP) Group. In the course of these missions, the TFP Group engaged in an active and coordinated dialogue with the Government on the new strategic framework. More specifically, the TFP Group and the Government discussed the various actions proposed to remedy the structural problems that were contributing to low education performance, especially at the basic and secondary education levels. This on-going dialogue led to the joint identification of priority reform areas and the definition of main results/outcome indicators, along with monitoring and evaluation arrangements.