MOROCCO - unicef.org€¦ · MOROCCO Learning; Adolescent Education and Skills; systems...
Transcript of MOROCCO - unicef.org€¦ · MOROCCO Learning; Adolescent Education and Skills; systems...
MOROCCO
Learning; Adolescent Education and Skills; systems strengthening, innovation – The Personal
Project in Morocco
Problem: In Morocco, every year an estimated 300,000 adolescents and youth drop out of secondary
school. Three out of ten (1.7 million) youth are not in employment, education or training. Of these, three out
of four are girls.
Solution: With 9 million adolescents and youth, aged 10 to 24, there is clear recognition of the need to
address these challenges through education, and empower youth to engage fully in the economy, society
and public life, as well as to campion their own interests. To this end, Morocco is focusing on strengthening
young people’s skills in schools and providing them with support for their personal and professional
development, including life skills education, career guidance, and support for their transition from school to
work. An example of this approach is the Personal Project programme which aims to prepare children to
understand different professional options better and equip them with the skills needed to pursue their future.
Advancing life skills and citizen education
in Morocco
The Personal Project consists of 10 activities
beginning for students at the end of primary in
Grades 5 and 6. These activities take students
through a journey of learning and professional
development by reflecting on the different
opportunities and available education and
vocational paths available. This reflection links
schools with surrounding communities and
fosters active participation of children and
parents.
Each student’s journey continues in secondary
school through the adoption of a student
portfolio by which students develop vocational
project linked to local labour market needs.
Work is underway to introduce a promising
career guidance programme to help ensure a
swift transition from school to work.
An innovative approach for integrating
life skills
The Personal Project began in 2014. Its
underlying methodology is project-based
learning and includes a blend of dedicated
sessions in schools as well as related extra-
curricular activities. As part of the programme,
teachers received training manuals and
students learning resources.
An example of an exercise as part of the
Personal Project is that children are introduced
to the work of firefighters. They discuss in
groups the nature of the profession. They
engage in activities that foster a set of personal
skills that resonate with the skills needed in this
profession. They receive information about the
pathway and training requirements that are
required to become a firefighter. They learn
about job specifications, salaries, and career
development by exploring and discussing
together the opportunities to become firefighters
in their area.
The teacher organizes a visit to a fire station.
Children will have previously prepared
questions for the firefighters they will meet.
During the visit, the students reflect on their
assumptions about this career through their
interactions with the firefighters.
Preliminary results and lessons learnt
The Personal Project programme has shown
tangible results for children, teachers, and
school communities. The programme changed
parents’ and students’ attitudes toward what the
school could do for children to help them pursue
their dreams. This approach has also
strengthened linkages between formal
education and vocational training systems as it:
• connected school-based and extra-curricular
activities,
• reinforced existing school governance
structures (school committees); and
• enabled students to plan better for their
future careers and adopt relevant vocational
pathways.
For participating children, results show
acquisition of critical life skills, the ability to make
more informed career decisions. The
programme has also increased participation,
decreased dropout, particularly among
disadvantaged children and improved learning
outcomes. Furthermore, the programme
introduced teachers to active learning
methodologies and provided concrete examples
to make subjects more relevant to their students.
An evaluation of 150 students in the rural area of Touama showed a positive impact.
63% Were able to define
future professional
development and
adopt new
vocational pathways
61% Were able to discover jobs
and the qualifications
needed in relation to their
academic and vocational
pathways
Next steps
After the successful piloting of the model, the
Personal Project is now being updated and
expanded to start a year earlier in Grade 5. A
larger-scale pilot was launched in 2018,
covering 300 schools across Morocco, reaching
a total of 36,000 children. The evaluation of the
results will inform future scale up aiming to
reach all schools in Morocco in 2019.
The Personal Project, a life skills and career guidance programme, improved learning,
including acquisition of critical skills such as communication, collaboration, problem
solving, and decision-making. It promotes active engagement among students and makes
school subjects more relevant to students’ lives and plans, and, as a result, reduced
dropout. It is a successful example of how innovative approaches to teaching and learning
contribute to the goal that “Every Child Learns”.
For more info, please contact:
Khalid Chenguiti, Education Specialist, UNICEF Morocco [email protected]
Vina Barahman, Education Specialist, UNICEF MENA [email protected]
September 2019
Cost effectiveness:
For US $345,000, the Personal Project benefitted 18,323 students (7,625 girls) over four years.