Announcement of One Hundred Thirteen Million Dollars for Fourth Education Project in Morocco on April 12, 1979

' . ... . _· FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" eWorldBank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-i 234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 79/69 April 12, 1979 $113 MILLION FOR FOURTH EDUCATION PROJECT IN MOROCCO The World Bank has approved a $113 million loan to the Kingdom of Morocco for a Fourth Education Project. The $216.6 million project will help in meeting part of Morocco's urgent manpower needs through expansion of secondary and post secondary technical education and technical teacher training. It consists of construction, furnishing and equipping of 11 technical lycees (secondary schools), a technical teacher train- ing college, two higher institutes of technology, an institute of applied engineering and an extension of Mohammedia Engineering College; technical assistance associated with the project items and for strengthening the Project Implementation Unit in the Ministry of National Education; and pre-investment designs. • The project will establish the first Moroccan technical teacher training insti- tution for the expanding system of technical lycees designed to produce middle level technicians. It will provide training of teachers for the "Introduction to Technol- ogy" course in the lower secondary schools which aims at increasing the practical content of the secondary curriculum. Further, it will significantly increase the supply of middle and higher level technicians and engineers to help meet urgent manpower needs and allow for the progressive replacement of expatriates in line with the government's policy of rapid growth, modernization and self-reliance. Through the proposed institutions, the project will create 10,160 new places for training middle level technicians, 660 for technical teacher trainees, 1,150 for higher level technicians and 2,430 for engineers. The $113 million Bank loan to Morocco is for 20 years, including five years of grace, with interest at 7% per annum. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents . • FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T EC HN I CA L D A T A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Fourth Education Kingdom of Morocco $216 .6 mi 11 ion • MN K FINANCING: $113 million for a term of 20 years, including five years of grace, with interest at 7% per annum. OTHER FINANCING: Government of Morocco, $103.6 million IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Ministere de 1 'Education Nationale et de la Formation des Cadres Rabat, Morocco PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project consists of: (a) construction, furniture and equipment for 11 technical lycees, a technical teacher training college, two higher institutes of technology, an institute of ap~lied engi- neering and an extension for Mohammedia Engineering College; (b) technical assistance associated with the project items and for strengthening the Project Implementation Unit in the Ministry of National Education; and (c) pre-investment designs. The pro- posed institutions wi 11 create 10,160 new places for training middle level technicians, 660 for technical teacher trainees, 1,150 for higher technicians and 2,430 for engineers. PROCUREMENT: Civil works contracts (amounting to $136 million including • . contingencies) would be awarded on the basis of interna- . tional competitive bidding (ICB). Contracts of less than $200,000 for civil works supplementary to main contracts would be awarded on the basis of local competitive bidding procedures which are acceptable to the Bank. The total contract amount to be awarded under the latter procedures would not exceed an aggregated amount of $5 million. Equipment and furniture items (amounting to $67 million including contingencies) would be grouped, to the extent possible, in large packages to permit bulk procurement. Con- tracts for furniture and equipment in excess of $50,000 would be awarded on the basis of ICB. Small items or groups of items estimated to cost less than the above amount or items of a specialized nature for which ICB would not be practical, would be pro- cured under normal government procedures which are satisfactory to the Bank and would include, to the extent possible, quotation from at least three manufacturers or sup- pliers. These items would not exceed an aggregate total of $4.0 million. Local manufacturers of furniture would be allowed a margin of preference equal to the exist- ing rate of customs duty applicable to competing imports or 15% of the c.i .f. price, whichever is lower. CONSU~TANTS: ·A total of 28 man-years of technical assistance will be provided for experts to assist the institutions during the crucial start-up period and additional experts to strengthen the project unit. For the institutions, 20-man years will be· provided for course/equipment specialists to super- vise the installation of equipment, train local operators and prepare workshop teaching programs. To cope with the additional workload of the proposed project, the project unit will be strengtnened through the provision of 8 man-years of expert services for • an engineer and an architect. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: Not applicable ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1984 - 0 -