The New Idea

Andaloussi initiates collaborations between the business sector, schools and their communities, and the government to improve the educational system in Morocco. He created Al Jisr (the Bridge), which seeds and nurtures these collaborations, emphasizing society’s collective responsibility to enhance the educational system in Morocco.

Andaloussi moves the business sector beyond charity or philanthropy to true engagement with civil society. Business organizations agree to partner with a school, providing their expertise and tools to upgrade the school’s education and services and equip the students for professions and trades in an increasingly globalized market. Business leaders join with principals, teachers, students, and parents to form a School Support Committee to assess the quality of a school and remedy any shortcomings. The school community and business collaboration aims to make schools more capable of providing higher quality education that leads to change, progress, and development.

The Problem

Although the Moroccan government spends approximately 26 percent of its budget on education, the quality of education remains low. In 2004, 14 percent of primary school students and 19 percent of secondary school students failed. In the same year, the dropout rate reached 6.5 percent in primary schools. In Morocco’s 8,722 public schools, the facilities, classrooms, and equipment are subpar and, most important, the quality of the education is poor. Fossilized school management structures are generally far removed from and not prepared to assess and tackle the root causes of poor performance. Even the Ministry of Education has consistently failed to offer a structurally sustainable solution to these problems.

Teachers ignore the world of enterprise and enterprises overlook education, except for few charitable donations for school construction. Success in school is based on memorization, and the curriculum does not encourage initiative, imagination, teamwork, or an entrepreneurial spirit. Consequently, students are not well prepared for the labor market and the private sector in Morocco struggles. Despite these challenges, businesses have generally been reluctant to get involved in social issues.

The majority of students do not link their studies with future employment. Fearing low grades, secondary level students choose theoretical or liberal arts studies over science and mathematics courses, which are often far more rigorous. Only 1.6 percent of secondary school students study mathematics. Because their qualifications do not match the requirements of the labor market set by the business sector, an estimated 300,000 graduates are unemployed. Nor have these students developed an entrepreneurial spirit that would help them overcome this challenge.

In general, Moroccan schools are conservative regarding interaction with the outside world. Fully aware of their responsibility to inform young people’s character, schools have been extremely cautious about incorporating external social factors that might negatively affect their students. Teachers often use methods from 30 or 40 years ago. They do not receive continued professional development and operate without reference to technological and scientific advances (with which their students may be already more familiar than the teachers). Schools appear rigid and isolated, which decreases student motivation. They fail to graduate youth able to cope in the society where they must work.

The Strategy

As a businessman, Andaloussi spent much of his free time working with young people and encouraging them to succeed in school. He realized their problems were endemic to students all over Morocco. At an international conference, he learned about the effects that public-private partnerships were having on education systems elsewhere in the world and became charged with the idea of creating indigenous Moroccan partnerships all over the country to fix the educational system.

Andaloussi began with the business sector, where he had a background and connections. When he spoke with business leaders, their first question was often, “How is this good for us?” Andaloussi convinced them that engagement with schools would be good for their image, their competitiveness (by increasing the skills of those joining the labor force) and the stability of the country because a more skilled, entrepreneurial labor force is a precondition to creating the stable middle-class Morocco lacks. He convinced a national federation, the Association of Businessmen, to sign an agreement of support for his citizen organization (CO), Al Jisr, which enabled him to secure support from a large number of business support organizations (BSOs). BSOs working with Al Jisr sign an agreement to commit to a school for 3 to 5 years. They pledge to assist in school upgrades and modernization and to offer their expertise in the classroom, helping students realize their potential. Businesspeople introduce project management to schools, insisting on best practices that yield demonstrable results.

As Andaloussi reached out to schools, he often found that they were unable or unwilling to engage a BSO as anything other than a donor. Andaloussi’s solution was to establish School Support Committees, mechanisms involving business leaders, administrators, teachers, youth, and parents as partners in assessing and improving a school. Under this arrangement, BSOs agree to help lead the School Support Committees and to finance the improvements identified by the School Support Committee. Schools agree to open their practices to new ideas and engage in self-examination and change. Together, all partners in a School Support Committee are responsible for collaborating in activities that improve the quality and relevance of the education offered by the school.

Andaloussi begins the partnership by asking the BSO to develop a needs assessment of the school. The School Support Committee uses the assessment to develop an action plan to address identified needs and implements it jointly with the school community. Thus, the school administration, parents, and students are trained in how to develop plans using business tools and skills.

Al Jisr helps the committees implement the action plan. Often, teachers are trained in enhanced teaching methodologies; computer labs are set up from donated equipment; play spaces and buildings are renovated and refurbished; and extracurricular activities are designed and implemented. Committees are encouraged to empower students to help select the projects. Performance assessments are conducted systematically so the committees can continue to refine their efforts to improve the school.

Andaloussi began his partnership program in Casablanca by inviting companies to support schools of their choice, create success stories about the benefit of private sector involvement in education, and motivate other companies to do the same. Realizing that the Ministry of Education fixes a national curriculum, Andaloussi worked with the Ministry from the beginning. The Ministry sponsored a conference that Andaloussi staged for businesses and schools to learn about the potential of public-private partnerships. He met almost daily with the director of the Academy, who supervises all of Casablanca’s 1,000 schools. He put the director on the board of Al Jisr, and the director reciprocated by asking Andaloussi to join the board of the academy, whose chair is the minister of education.

Andaloussi is collaborating with a number of international organizations including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Youth Foundation. Along with Moroccan banks and companies, these organizations finance Al Jisr’s activities, such as training teachers and refurbishing schools. Through Al Jisr, Andaloussi has forged partnerships for 110 public schools around Casablanca’s marginalized poor areas: 97 in Casablanca and 13 in other areas chosen by the BSO partners. Up to 10 schools a day contact Al Jisr with requests to be part of the collaborations. Some of the BSOs who have joined Al Jisr’s efforts have expanded their partnerships from one school to four or five.

Al Jisr has opened an information technology (IT) training center where it offers advanced training-of-trainers to teachers on new learning/teaching methodologies. One hundred teachers trained at the center have been able to train 1,000 more. In addition, Al Jisr organized 13 training workshops for teachers and a workshop for the benefit of local education authorities to promote the use of IT in education.

To expand his idea, Andaloussi works on three pillars: Continuing to link BSOs to public schools; promoting his unconventional idea through conferences, publications, and other outreach activities; and, establishing Al Jisr field offices around Morocco. Andaloussi published a manual explaining his concept of partnership between the business sector and school community, which was widely distributed under the name, Enterprise and Education: How to Help. He also constructed an Al Jisr website that highlights its activities and initiatives and, above all, its philosophy. He produced a documentary about Al Jisr showing testimonies from participating schools and BSOs, as well as students in their new classrooms.

Over the next five years, Andaloussi plans to sponsor 600 schools in Morocco. In 10 years, he expects to reach 1,275 schools through Al Jisr and its field offices. Andaloussi plans forums for School Support Committees around Morocco to exchange expertise and ideas and foster collaboration to support larger scale projects.

To legitimize his efforts in the education community, Andaloussi secured a decree from the Minister of Education to directors of academies in Morocco encouraging them to help Al Jisr implement its activities. Directors of academies were asked to invite school directors to cooperate fully with BSOs willing to sponsor their schools by establishing School Support Committees. The decree also stated that every official and school should support this initiative by investing time and effort, as it represents a crucial step toward Moroccan educational system reform. Moreover, the Ministry of Education appointed some of its own employees to support the work of the School Support Committees. Andaloussi considers this decree a passport to expanding his idea in Morocco. Additionally, Andaloussi obtained His Majesty King Mohammed the Sixth’s agreement to assume the honorary presidency of Al Jisr, a key step to gain credibility and support across Moroccan society. The young king, in turn, has appointed Andaloussi as a volunteer member of the Moroccan Higher Council of Education, which is a constitutional consultative council for educational reforms. Such a position will enable Andaloussi to influence and advocate for reform in the educational system. He has been asked to chair a subcommittee on institutional issues and partnerships. In this role, Andaloussi is getting committee members to address the mobilization of civil society around a national project to improve education and to take steps to better link education with the skills needed for professional success.

The Person

Andaloussi was born in Fez to illiterate parents of modest financial means; his father owned a small carpentry workshop. His four brothers and two sisters left primary or secondary school to help support the family. Andaloussi, the youngest son, was the only member of the family who had a chance to go to a university. At 15, he started working in summer agricultural camps in England where he was able to save money to co-finance his studies.

All his school colleagues came from similar financial backgrounds. Those who came from the countryside often suffered from living so far from their families. Andaloussi created student associations to help them support each other and to give them space to share their dreams, fears, and experiences.

He started his professional life at the age of 23, and at 25, joined the Rotary Club of Agadir to serve his community. Two years later, he joined the Rotary Club of Marrakech where he became President. During his professional life, Andaloussi’s main concern was to inform, train, motivate, and support his associates and collaborators. He organized weekly meetings to exchange information about achievements and difficulties and provide support. When Andaloussi was forced to retire due to health complications, all his coworkers, higher management, and junior employees expressed their deep regret and sadness. He had been a mentor to many of them.

Andaloussi’s commitment to education stems from his concern with the development of his country. His initiatives contribute to the modernization and improvement of Morocco’s educational system and the creation of job opportunities. In 1990, he helped establish a CO called Al Ikram, which helped hundreds of students with difficulties finish their schooling. For 15 years, as vice president, he coordinated the activities of social workers who identified potential dropouts who then received support from teachers, extra courses, and extracurricular activities. In 2004, he created Réseau Maroc Entreprendre which supports youth who wish to create their own businesses. This initiative launched an extensive program of collaboration with universities sponsored by Attijariwafa Bank Foundation.

From his expertise in the banking sector and passion to participate in student associations, Andaloussi observed the gap between demand and supply in Morocco’s labor market.

In May 1998, Andaloussi represented the Moroccan private sector at a Washington D.C. conference, Educating Girls: A Development Imperative, cosponsored by USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNICEF, the World Bank, the Delegation of the European Commission, and the Lewis T. Preston Education Program for Girls. Forty-three countries participated. Many speakers focused on public-private partnerships to support girls’ education. Andaloussi said he experienced a turning point as he listened to the speakers and decided he wanted to crown his endeavors to support Moroccan students by getting the private sector to support a dramatic improvement of Morocco’s educational system.