Detailed description of project Back
Morocco has developed a New Development Model (Nouveau Modèle de Développement – NMD), the report of which mentions the weak development of scientific research that higher education suffers from and the limited openness to the socio-professional environment.
Among the strategic choices proposed in the NMD is one for a performance-based higher education and research system, supported by autonomous and empowered governance, and the objective to make Morocco a “pole of higher education, research and of innovation”, through:
- Reformed and empowered higher education establishments of renown, existing or new (supported by non-profit foundations), and the emergence of a new generation of universities (criteria of excellence, reformed governance, adequate means);
- Theoretical academic and practical professional student-centred training focused on their personal development and insertion in the labour market;
- A university at the heart of the territorial ecosystem, rooted in the regions and open to the world; action research linked to the field and associating local and national development issues.
In addition, the 2021 government wants to invest in the development of higher education and scientific research. It intends to review how university orientation is implemented, and also intends to set up an investment plan aimed at strengthening the attractiveness of Moroccan universities through the rehabilitation of infrastructures and the development of a real university campus culture. It also foresees the establishment of a scholarship program dedicated to doctoral studies in national and international universities, which scholarships will be conditional on the candidates’ commitment to teach in a national university, and the implementation of effective measures aimed at creating innovative business incubators within universities.
In this context and as part of its cooperation with Morocco, the European Union is planning an investment plan with “flagships” which include:
- Flagship 1: the EU will support higher education reform, aiming to modernize higher education and strengthen its link to the labour market;
- Flagship 7: in the context of the Morocco-EU digital partnership, the EU will support Morocco to become an associate member of Horizon Europe. Together with financing its digital infrastructure, improving its reliability, capacity and security, the EU will support its digital / innovation ecosystem.
Within this general framework, the objective of the assignment is to contribute to the implementation of the Partnership between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco in the sector of higher education and research and innovation. More specifically this involves:
- Supporting the central directorates of the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation (Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, la Recherche Scientifique et l’Innovation – MESRSI) in the budget programming of reform indicators and their translation into Performance Projects (Projets de performance – PDP);
- Strengthening the capacities of the MESRSI in terms of monitoring and evaluation of Performance Projects (PDP), of PACTE-ESRI (Plan d’accélération de la transformation de l’écosystème d’enseignement supérieur, de la recherche scientifique et de l’innovation – Plan to accelerate the transformation of the higher education, scientific research and innovation ecosystem) projects.
Type of services provided
- Transcription of the PACTE-ESRI and the ministerial strategy in the ministerial performance project;
- Refining the national program framework: contribution to budget programming at central and decentralized level through their involvement in the budgeting process;
- An update of the performance project’s matrix of indicators in order to introduce indicators for measuring and monitoring the implementation of PACTE-ESRI considering the multi-annual aspect, and its realignment with the provisions of PACTE-ESRI in the context of multi-annual budget programming;
- Support to the organizational structures of the MESRI in preparing the implementation and governance of the program and the subsequent evaluations of the results within the framework of the budget support program;
- Design of an integrated dashboard for monitoring performance projects and PACTE-ESRI considering the asynchronous nature of reference data.
Main staff provided:
- Team Leader – Expert in Governance and Public Finance Management (110 w/d);
- Expert specialized in higher education, and research and innovation (60 w/d)
