The ALEF Project

MTDS is currently a subcontractor to the Academy for Educational Development for a 4 year, 25 million dollar USAID project in the education sector known as ALEF. ALEF is designed to assist the Government of Morocco (GOM) to boost its competitiveness by increasing the quality and relevance of its secondary school education and vocational training. MTDS is responsible for introducing ICT to reinforce the project objectives.

The MTDS piece of the project is especially timely and relevant as the GOM is currently embarking on its own ambitious program to generalize ICT in the education system known as GENIE. ALEF is acting as a pilot activity of the GENIE Project, developing and validating approaches and content for eventual adoption to ensure that the nationwide diffusion of computer hardware is accompanied by thoughtful, consistent, and disciplined use of the technology for improved teaching and learning.

MTDS’ key contributions to the ALEF project include:

Infrastructure – Installation of multimedia labs in 16 pilot middle schools and 4 regional teacher training facilities.

Training – Design and delivery of training to help educators and managers operate the lab facility, to use ICT to strengthen teaching and learning in the classroom and to promote vibrant professional interaction.

Content – Development of www.tarbiya.ma and collab.tarbiya.ma, online information and e-learning platforms where Morocco’s education community can find and share information and resources to strengthen their teaching, their students’ learning and their community involvement. Tarbiya.ma is online since March 2006; over 2800 teachers have subscribed to the site and in early 2007 it receives over 1000 visitors daily.

An additional education and training portal is currently in the planning stages: www.takwine.ma is a portal focused on supplying youth aged 12-25 with resources and information to help them select a career orientation, find and enroll in appropriate professional training programs and transition into productive employment.

For more information about the USAID/ALEF project: see www.alef.ma