Morocco

Donor: USAID • Partner: FHI 360 • Timeframe: November 2022 – July 2027

Terminated by DOGE February 2025

Bridge to Middle School

The USAID-funded Bridge to Middle School program in Morocco sought to build the Ministry of Education (MEN) capacity to implement new, student-centered curricula that had measurable learning impacts in Arabic and selected STEM subjects for grades 4 – 9 and in English for grades 7 – 9. The Bridge program aimed to improve the performance of the MEN central directorates, education academies (AREFs), provincial directorates (DPs), and schools by employing evidence-based pedagogies that promote continuous learning in select content areas, emphasizing strengthened critical thinking skills.

IDP supported FHI 360 in cross-cutting programmatic areas to improve learning outcomes and ensure that Bridge pedagogical activities for select upper primary and lower secondary subjects were gender and disability inclusive. IDP also supported building the MEN, local schools, and community capacity to create and sustain a safe and inclusive environment. IDP work supported policy and capacity-building to guide the scale-up and sustainability of successful practices.

Project Highlights

  • Developed a Gender and Social Inclusion Analysis and Action Plan that highlights the needs of girls and learners with disabilities.
  • Supported project research and needs assessment.
  • Ensured newly developed curricula and teaching and learning materials for English, Arabic, and Science subjects are grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
  • Supported the development of training modules, capacity-building plans, and policies that are gender and disability inclusive.
  • Developed a gender and UDL toolkit.