Chasing Bright Spots: Day 6: International Organizations

We headed into our first meeting of the morning, with the Higher Council of Education. There was some confusion about the day we were meeting with them (which the World Bank representatives later informed us is 100% par for the course), so the Secretary General was in another meeting. However, his team greeted us and ran the meeting.

The HGE gives advice on training and education programs in response to requests for help submitted by the king, Ministry of Education or specific schools/organizations. A general assembly meets three times a year. They work on questions that are of interest to all levels (preschool through university) and all components of the education system (formal, non-formal, technical schools, and literacy programs). They aim to provide an exhaustive, objective evaluation of the system.

There is a general secretary who oversees the Director of Study and Research that coordinates information in response to requests for help from the Ministry or other schools. There is an evaluation team that evaluates the state of education and every two years produces a report. It was the 2008 report from this organization that sparked the Emergency Plan that has been the impetus for all the reforms we have been hearing about.

Getting down to educational quality business.

The new constitution has mandated a new role for the HCE, including completing more in-depth scientific research while continuing to provide training and their previously outlined duties. The organization is autonomous, and unrelated to the MoE. They do not produce the frameworks for the Moroccan education system, but they do consult on work that has already been done or questions that has been raised. Right now the Council is working on several projects, including producing a midterm report on equity and quality of primary and secondary schools nationally. This report will be released soon and we are looking forward to reading it (in French!) and seeing that their impressions are. The HCE is also working on an evaluation of learning acquired in professional programs and another regarding the issue of educated unemployment.

Aside from producing reports based on their mandated evaluations, the HCE also consults on issues like civic education, non-formal education, religious education, and private school offerings within the Moroccan education system. They have also produced a profile of the most common Moroccan teacher, and completed a study on all of the languages taught within the education system here (including but not limited to Tamazight). A colloquium was formed to share best practices for teaching languages and receive feedback from teachers. Workshops discussed methodologies for learning languages and investigated how the mind processes language learning. Surveys were also completed to find out what people in civil society think about linguistics and the learning of foreign languages within classrooms. This helped them understand popular public opinion while framing their research.

The HCE was instrumental in the program used to create the series of preschools like the one we had visited the previous night. The HCE worked with McKinsey to research and produce a report urging preschool education, which led to the creation of a pilot program of preschools like the one we visited. It was really interesting to see how their work has been put into practice. The Council also encouraged the implementation of a conditional cash transfer program that nearly eliminated the drop out of female girls in rural primary schools by providing roughly 100Dh a month to their mothers. Prior to the program there was a 62% drop out rate in the targeted areas. Now other organizations (World Bank, etc) are looking to fund the expansion of the program to new areas.

Learning what a watchdog organization does.

Sameera, Sohia and Julia wanted to better understand how the HCE chooses the topics that they take a deeper look at, if they are paid to do their consulting work, and what their personnel numbers looked like. They reported that they try and examine the most pressing issues in education, including language acquisition, educated unemployment, and non-formal opportunities within learning. The HCE does not charge to consult for different organizations, and the main budget (provided by the government) is used to pay salaries for the roughly 60 people who work on the council. There are also 105 members that are either experts that are appointed by the king or voted in by groups such as teachers' unions. They may be stakeholders in the education system or members of the general public. Much like the American Congress, there are also permanent committees formed with the members. These specialize in strategies regarding the reform, including curriculum material development and partnerships with outside institutions and organizations. These committees generate suggestions for research, and produce informational documents. A voluntary committee also acts as a sort of presidential cabinet and handles matters such as public affairs.

We were wondering how the organization actually does its evaluation. They do not collect their own data, but instead access the information provided by the MoE, Bureau of Statistics, and reports from international organizations like UNESCO. They have created a longitudinal database containing statistics that have been collected since the HCE's creation in the 1970s. While doing research, there is a committee of consultants (both Moroccan and international) that ensures that their work reflects both international expectations and the public policy with which the products must align.

Mark raised the concern that suggestions or evaluations might be ignored due to outside political pressure. They agreed that it has the potential to be a problem, as politicians may have different opinions and priorities that conflict with the results presented, but it has not been a problem yet. Brian asked about other "watchdog" committees in Morocco, and they told us that there are currently some in operation such as the Economic and Social Council, Human Rights Watch Council, and Council for Moroccans Residing in Foreign Countries. In the future, more will be created to address other issues, such as a Council for Women's Rights, etc. After the meeting was over we headed out for the next in our line-up on this very busy day.

We debarked the preschool bus and headed into UNESCO, stopping to turn in our IDs and pick up visitor badges on the way. Fairly plain looking from the outside, the inside of the UNESCO building is absolutely stunning...nearly every inch is covered by beautiful mosaics and big windows. Jealous!

Pretty hallways!

I want this office.

UNESCO's Rabat office aims to ensure access to quality education for all the Maghreb Region (Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia and Morocco). They have four main functions: 1) research, studies, analysis and evaluation, 2) technical assistance and advice, 3) capacity building through provision of training, and 4) exchange of best practices and sharing of successes between countries and projects.

The education division of the Rabat office has a number of projects and publications that they work on each year. Annual reports like the GMR (Global Monitoring Report) are produced yearly to support Education For All (EFA) national forums and monitor progress towards the EFA goals. UNESCO also tries to integrate technology into classrooms and train teachers to use it effectively. The office also organizes symposiums that are used to evaluate how higher education is changing and expanding in North Africa and stimulate discussion about how to make improvements. They work to evaluate preschool programs in the Maghreb and try to determine best practices and how to expand services to all children. They hope to provide member states with the tools, skills, and strategies necessary to work towards meeting that country's needs in the field of education. They use an internal tool (UNESS) to evaluate the greatest needs for each country, and ensure that their actions are controlled, consistent and coherent across nations. UNESS also allows them to determine whether the needs of the country are aligned with the office's mission and capabilities, and structures their work.

There are a few main focus areas of UNESCO's Rabat Office, including literacy, citizenship, and HIV/AIDS awareness. Functional literacy is needed in order to speed progress in agriculture, handicraft manufacturing, and other fields that are being encouraged especially in rural Morocco. Community Learning Centers (CLCs) have been created to help women develop literacy and locally applicable income generating skills. New strategies are being developed and implemented that will provide non-formal primary education for out-of-school children and adults. Each country has their own projects that are targeted to the specific needs apparent at a national or regional level. Citizenship education is a sometimes hard to define area describing how a student understands their nation and its relation to others. One strategy UNESCO used to measure this was a research project that evaluated national identity in the western Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco and Tunisia). Symposium were initiated by the UNESCO office in order to discuss the effects the Arab Spring had on citizenship education in the region. Tunisia was a focus of these symposium: they required a new system of civic education, which UNESCO (in partnership with UNICEF and other organizations) helped to design. They examined countries with similar backgrounds (conflict and reorganization of educational systems) such as Spain and Croatia in order to determine best practices and provide examples of successful past cases. This research was presented to the EU in hopes of raising a budget that can be used to help Tunisia rebuild their civic education system. Across the Maghreb, HIV/AIDS awareness is a key part of UNESCO's role. They completed an analysis of the responses of education systems to HIV/AIDS, and created a module that can be implemented by teachers in classrooms across the region. These will be released in the near future.

Marisa and the two UNESCO representatives we met with.

Jane asked a very interesting question about the challenges and frustrations faced as an outside partner coming in to provide advice and implement programs. Each one of the members of the Rabat UNESCO team works on a specific project, and covers a specific country. One major concern in the Maghreb is institutional instability and inconsistency, which one of the representatives described in some Mauritanian examples. Officials are constantly moved from one position to another, which makes it difficult to enact programs in the field. Also, sometimes there is government resistance to collaboration with outside agencies, or even allowing UNESCO to work with NGOs and non-profits from within the country. Much of the job is creating relationships and this can take a long time.

Sameera (and I think all of us) wanted to know more about the logistics of the literacy program that has been put into place for rural women in Morocco. Programs are usually conceptualized during close collaboration with the MoE of each country. UNESCO brings extra support to public policies based on key priorities for each country. In Morocco and Mauritania, there is big problem with literacy. Right now, roughly 30% of rural females remain illiterate. UNESCO has moved beyond simple program design, and are working to sustain and transfer programs that have proven successful. Local collaboration with NGOs, associations, civil society, and communities is very important when trying to combat a problem. Five years ago, as regionalization was cemented in policy, a foundation of skills and resources began to be built in rural ares. UNESCO is now working to branch out and involve more communities, especially in Moroccan regions like Ouarzazate, Zagora, Errachidia, Azilal and Tinghir. UNESCO also tries to coordinate networks of small, focused NGOs in order to increase efficiency and efficacy. Women have shown a great deal of motivation as they work with UNESCO's Rabat staff members to develop literacy skills and learn effective income generating activities. The skills that are taught are locally applicable and targeted to specific types of women. Implementation is, of course, not without challenges. Tribal communities have strong cultural ties that make it more complex to provide the same program nationwide. These communities require modified programming to meet their needs.

This was definitely the pretties room we met in.

Sophia brought up citizenship and asked what skills and values are emphasized in the civic education programs implemented by UNESCO. We have found in meetings that the ministry especially struggles with issues such as language of instruction. UNESCO, obviously, cannot totally challenge the values of a specific areas, however they stand up for internationally held values, such as the rights of women and children. When thinking about language issues being faced by Morocco, it is very difficult for UNESCO to challenge policies, but they try to provide expertise and support. UNESCO supports local languages worldwide, however they must also work within political constraints of the country where they are located. This can be very challenging, and sometimes the team members feel that UNESCO is only viewed as stamp on quality, without much of a say on policy. The Rabat team members work the the ministry and try to act as advocates for things they think are important, such as philosophy courses in school, objectivity of history lessons, and child-centered learning.

It was great to talk to the team about their personal experiences that led them to working for UNESCO and though there are big budgeting problems and little hiring now (thanks, America) they encouraged us to be persistent in looking at both the overall UNESCO website and the websites for regional offices and just be vigilant for job postings. The bus whisked us away from UNESCO and on to our meeting with Tricia (a woman I have been corresponding with for a while) at USAID. She had also invited one of the consular agents from the state department that works at the embassy in Rabat, as well has her incredibly cool and well traveled boss, so that was great. It was a lovely, relaxed meeting in the garden which was a change from the cold board rooms where we spent most of our time.

They started by sharing a little information about the new USAID Forward program. USAID has been doing business for 50 years, but recently they have changed their business policy in order to be more effective. The program is called USAID Forward and it hopes to do a better job bringing the governments together and working better with local organizations to get work done. In the past, USAID has just given money to US owned/run organizations, but now they are shifting to work with the local governments. They have to build capacity and increase transparency so that they can support the government to do what they are supposed to do and they find ways to effect change within the education system. You can't simply change one school, you have to change the institution. That is how you get impact sustainability and long-term effectiveness. USAID has had to really expand a lot more and coordinate with other donors, governments, organizations and the private sector. This leveraging of funds is so important as funds are limited and needs are so great. One of the project directors pointed out one example of using businesses to help aid workers. Coca Cola is available in hundreds of thousands of rural villages around the world, villages in which other organizations have difficulty delivering important supplies and medications. Leveraging Coca Cola's already existing delivery structure and system, they are able to ensure to supplies such as HIV medications are distributed to these remote areas. USAID Forward is about building local government capacity and partnerships.

Meeting in the garden.

Tricia discussed how many other international organizations implementing programs around the world use this strategy and its really just new to USAID. She used to work for the World Bank and of course you met with governments. A lot of changes are coming down the pike and its getting more and more likely that the organization will work with other donors and governments. The government to government strategy is "in the kindergarten stages...no at the toddler level..." in this process.

Those we met with, especially those from the state department, expressed their feeling that it is an exciting time to be in this region and see how things are changing and growing. It is certainly a time of transition with new governments (31 new ministers and cabinet members were just sworn in the week before our visit) led by the moderate Islamist political party (11 of these new ministers and cabinet members are alumni of former US government exchange programs like the Fulbright). Morocco has a different political and social dynamic than other countries in the MENA region, though. If the Arab Spring occurred 20 years ago under King Hasan II, the State Department believes that the reaction within the country would have been very different. The current king is very well liked and has done a lot more within the country. Rather than simply focusing on foreign policy (like his father), this king has reached out to populations and regions that were intentionally ignored in the past. Moroccan residents are interested in fighting corruption and securing jobs, but almost all are in support of the king (90-95% protesters during the Arab Spring demonstrations were carrying a photo of the king to show their support of the royal family).

One thing that as interesting to me was the State Department's strategy of reaching out to people who aren't currently in power but are seen as rising stars and might be in power in the future. The State Department works within the education sector, but do their projects without collaboration with the MoE. They have a budget of $10 million a year, but 75% of that budgeted is spent on exchange programs and never makes it to the actual embassy here. The remaining money is used to run programs at schools across Morocco. One example of a program run by the state department is the Youth Science Caravan which traveled through 8 cities in 2 weeks, serving 1000 kids. For this program, the State Department went straight to teachers associations to work out logistics, rather than the ministry. They feel that this elimination of the "middle man" makes the whole process more streamlined and effective.

Talking with the rep from the State Department.

There were some questions about the job market that will be awaiting us when we graduate from HGSE. The State Department has drastically reduced their number of employees since the 1970s. That being said, they are still looking to fill positions as people leave/retire. As for USAID, there are a few things to keep in mind. Education is not the main focus of USAID, they also work on health, development, and other issues. There is cross over between other parts of the organization (health, etc) if you look for it. You need to be a jack of all trades, and build your resume and portfolio and you re-present yourself every few years as you search for a job at a new embassy or mission.

Development theory says higher quality learning = less drop out. So, the USAID education program in Morocco focuses on increasing quality. The main focus is a few million dollar project for middle schoolers since that is an area where there is a big drop out problem. It aims to:

1. Work closely with teacher training institutes to develop modules that are standardized, upgraded and relevant.

2. Provide e-learning training that gives teachers more up to date materials that can be used in the field to gather resources, information, and lessons.

3. Encourage direct contact between USAID and middle schools who are given a little bit of money for teachers/staff to evaluate problems at their school and determine how to change it. It also supports clubs in the schools that may be academic or work on the development of life skills, job readiness, etc. This program has made teachers very excited and many are interested in volunteering. It is a relatively young program, so USAID is still determining what effect that had on drop out rates/retention.

One major challenge in evaluating educational quality in Morocco is trying to determine what the actual issue is with early grade literacy. Are the low results on international benchmarks accurate, or is the testing flawed? Different forms of Arabic, for example, may partially explain low scores.

We also spent a while just discussing programming challenges and triumphs in international development work. It was great. One quote that really resonated with me was the statement "We never go on stage alone" Team work, whether inter- or intra-organizational, is absolutely imperative to the work that is being done to increase educational access and outcomes worldwide.

Walking off to the World Bank.

Our next meeting was at the very swanky, very difficult to find World Bank office. Fancy with a capital F. This office covers Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Malta. The World Bank works as part of a multi-donor approach to supporting the MoE's Emergency Plan. Many countries are moving from a teacher based approach to one that involves students and makes them a part of the learning and teaching process. Teachers are, obviously, still important, and must be supportive of the programs. Morocco consistently participates in TIMSS and PIRLS, even in the face of poor results. Not a single country in the MENA region has had students score in the high proficient or advanced level on the TIMSS test. Nearly 70% of Moroccan students didn't even make the lowest benchmark. Morocco is directly in the middle of the score distribution, scoring higher than Kuwait and Qatar, and their educational spending is equal to Singapore.

Why does it make sense for everyone to work together in a multi-donor approach? For the government is much easier, as they are able to speak with a united voice (when possible) and it is far less time consuming. Before this system was in place, the government was able to play one organization off another. Donors are able to provide more coherent financial and technical support, use resources as wisely as possible, and allot more weight to their combined opinions/voice. The donor consortium was developed in November 2007 by the former Under-secretary of Education. The seven separate agencies practice parallel financing, rather than co-financing. They have joint meetings every six months and produce documents as a follow-up in order to continue presenting a united voice.

International testing scores on the board in the front.

There is a strong governmental support in the central government, and they are working on increasing buy-in from the regional, provincial, and local areas. Once again we discussed that on paper the Moroccan government has great ideas, but implementation is an issue, especially in this great time of change. Teachers being told to do something (with little or no training) does not by any stretch of the imagination mean that they will do it. There is a major disconnect between primary and middle school, with many students dropping out in lower secondary school. Enrollment rates are especially bad amongst rural girls, with little hope of speedy improvement. If the trend continues as it is now, it will take decades for rural girls to catch up to urban boys.

Since we have spent a great deal of time on this trip discussing measures of success and quality, questions were raised about how the World Bank evaluates their programs and projects. The World Bank has a system in place to evaluate programs at the end of their cycle on at least two levels: report written by a colleague from within the organization or a consultant who used to work for the World Bank, as well as an internal audit by an evaluation group answerable only to the board of directors. The evaluation group completes a desk review of the project, and sometimes (infrequently) they will do field evaluations.

One example of project monitoring and evaluation is the funding of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program that was implemented in cooperation with the MIT Poverty Action Lab. It was a targeted initiative to keep girls in class: the pilot was just run for primary education, but now its being expanded geographically to the rest of the country, and also into middle schools for some cohorts of children. There are always questions of sustainability when it comes to CCTs. The World Bank looks to the PROGRESSA program, which has been successfully operating for more than 10 years as evidence that they can be sustainable. Though many studies have been completed about why girls are dropping out of Moroccan schools, it remains unclear how to address these issues and make a real impact on attendance rates. Reasons range from economic (opportunity costs) to socio-cultural (unwillingness to let girls walk long distances to school). One proposed solution here is the establishment of K-12 schools with dormitories that allow students to stay during the week.

The World Bank admitted to loving bright spots (as do we) and sharing from one region/project to another. In fact, they consider that one of their strong suits. When we asked what skills are needed to get hired/do well at the World Bank, they replied that yo should "Do what you like; do what turns you on. There is no checklist of skills. You just need to be able to learn, read, ask questions, think and write clearly. That is what will make you successful."

Soaking it all in.

Once we finished at the World Bank, we headed back to the training center to do some packing and rest before drinks and schmoozing at Tricia's house. When Tricia has invited us to her home for drinks and networking we jumped at the opportunity and we were not disappointed. Her house as beautiful, the food as delicious, her children were adorable, and the conversation was enlightening. There were representatives from USAID, the State Department, and local NGOs, as well as scholars from Morocco and the US. It was a wonderful evening and we were so pleased that Tricia opened her home to us. We returned home stuffed with food and wine to spend our final evening in Rabat before heading to Casablanca in the morning.