Evaluates phase I of the Morocco Education for Girls (MEG) project, aimed at increasing attainment of basic education among girls in selected rural provinces in Morocco. Interim evaluation cover the period 1997-2001. MEG, which is scheduled for completion in September 2004, continues the work of three predecessor projects, which are also evaluated in the report: Training for Development (TFD), 1996-1999; Girls’ Education Activity (GEA), 1997-2001; Computer-Assisted Teacher Training (CATT-Pilot), 1999-2001. The current evaluation has confirmed the existence of products, processes, and methods developed over the last 4 years that deserve extension beyond the pilot schools of the project. These elements have contributed significantly to the enrollment and retention of girls in the project zones. The most important challenge facing MEG lies in the prospects for replicating its accomplishments and in the degree to which the Ministry of National Education (MNE) will take ownership of the tools produced — tools that are likely to help the MNE operationalize the educational reforms contained in the National Charter for Education and Training. Despite getting off to a slow start, the MEG project has now reached cruising speed and has put into place numerous pedagogical, community mobilization, and management innovations. The three MEG components — improving teaching skills, increasing community support to its schools, and strengthening provincial educational management — constitute a single approach centered on improving the school environment. That this improvement has increased enrollment levels in general and those of girls in particular is confirmed by the data collected by the provincial education administrations. The innovations, processes, and products emerging from the MEG experience constitute a whole that deserves the title of MEG model. It behooves the MNE to examine closely their possible replication, whether as a package or separately. It is recommended that, for phase 2, the MEG project adopt a strategy of limited extension of its most important activities within the eight provinces where it is currently operating. This limited expansion will constitute a test of the replicability of the most successful elements of the MEG model: five training modules and training for teachers, school directors, inspectors, and teachers in the teacher training institutes (CFIs); and activities linked to the creation, strengthening, and management. (Author abstract, modified)
