USAID and the Ministry of Education to launch the Program "ITQANE"

The launch will take place at the National Meetings Centre in Taqadoum, Rabat at 9am and will be marked by a conference open to the press, under the theme "Education and its place in the Emergency Program: Opportunities and Challenges, " hosted by Mr. Mohammed Dali, Director for the Central Unit for Professional Training. The call will be followed by two panel discussions on teacher education and training of school leaders.

The project ITQANE from USAID, with a budget of $14 million for four years, is an initiative of the bilateral cooperation between Morocco and the United States which aims to overcome failure and dropout in schools, improving the quality of the training system of educational staff, school leaders, and student learning.

ITQANE is part of the Emergency Program of the Ministry of Education (program NAJAH 2009-2012) and responds specifically to the program "Strengthening Competencies for Education Staff" (program P1-E3).

The program will support initial and ongoing training and management of teaching and school leaders, whose actions will strengthen the school's implementation of improved programs, and mobilize communities to provide support for quality of teaching. ITQANE also support the establishment of monitoring and evaluation, thus ensuring the continuous assessment of progress in training and continuing education.

The first two years of activities will focus primarily on the regions of Fez/Boulemane and Doukkala/Abda, a national extension proportional to 25% of establishments during the last two years of the project.

The project ITQANE is the result of accumulation of successful experiences and achievements developed by USAID and the Ministry of Education for 14 years working together since 1996 to strengthen the efforts of educational reform undertaken by the Moroccan government to improve the quality of training of teachers, student learning, and reduce the dropout rate.