Announcement of World Bank Approves Fifty Million Dollars Loan to Morocco for Fifth Education Project on May 24, 1982

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE . • world Bank 1818 H Street, N.W ., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 . ) BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 82/94 Contact: Melhem Salman May 24, 1982 (202) 477-5328 WORLD BANK APPROVES $50 MILLION LOAN .TO MOROCCO FOR FIFTH EDUCATION PROJECT Education for youngsters in Morocco is to be improved with the assistance of a $50 million World Bank loan. This is the fifth Bank loan for education in the country; previous lending supported projects for technical manpower training, teacher training, and secondary and primary education development. Some 450,000 primary school students in 700 schools will be provided with basic learning aids under the $94.5 million project, which will be implemented over the next five years. Items including maps, charts, dictionaries, science tools, and copying machines will be supplied to some of the poorest schools in the countr~. About 30% of the primary school students will be reached in this first phase of a government program to provide teaching aids to all primary schools. In areas that are now poorly served by educational facilities, 40 rural primary schools will be built and equ~pped. Housing will be provided to teachers and the school principal as part of an effort to encourage qualified teachers to serve in :e isolated regions. The project will further disseminate a revised curriculum, which was originally introduced on a pilot basis under the third project, focusing on simple manual skills and practical work, while allowing more time for mathematics and science. To help meet the need for qualified science and mathematics teachers at the senior secondary level, the project will finance the construction and equipping of four teacher training institutes. A flexible mix of alternative training programs will be offered by the institutes: a one-year program for university science and mathematics graduates, a four-year science teacher degree program for baccalaureate holders, and a two-year program for junior secondary science and mathematics teachers. The new institutes will increase the number of qualified Moroccan teachers needed to shift towards scientific studies at the secondary level, as part of a policy to give greater emphasis to training the scientific and techno- logical manpower needed for the country's development efforts. The World Bank loan is for 17 years, including four years of grace, with interest at 11.6% a year; the loan carries an annual commitment charge of 0.75% on undisbursed balances, and includes a front-end fee of 1.5% on the amount of the loan. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.