USAID is offering the ‘Bridge to Middle School’ grant to enhance educational outcomes in Morocco

Notice of Intent for the “Bridge to Middle School” Activity

THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

The purpose of this Notice of Intent (NOI) is to provide advance notification to potential bidders that USAID/Morocco is contemplating issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a program provisionally titled “Bridge to Middle School.” USAID intends to issue a future “Request for Information” (RFI) for the same program. However, interested organizations should continue to check grants.gov for the NOFO.

The “Bridge” activity will contribute to the Intermediate Result 4 of USAID Morocco’s CDCS: Learning outcomes and skills sustainably improved. The program will build on the notable successes of the current USAID-funded National Reading Program, which has reformed the way in which reading in Arabic is taught in the early grades.

In a subset of pilot schools (50-110) across select regions (3-4) of the country, the “Bridge” activity will support the Moroccan Ministry of Education to: a) analyze and remediate challenges in the upper primary grades in key subject areas (to include Arabic literacy, and, potentially, math and science); b) reform instruction in the middle school grades in both literacy (Arabic and English) and, to the degree possible, STEM-related subjects (math, sciences, and technology). Lessons learned from these pilot interventions will be used to support policy dialogue and the scale up of national education reforms. 

This new activity has an estimated cost range between $20 million and $25 million over the course of five years, with an anticipated start date in the second quarter of FY 2022. Interested organizations should note that approximately $5-6 million of the available budgetary resources are provisionally reserved for the work in middle school English language programming. They should also note that USAID/Morocco encourages, whenever possible, the inclusion of Moroccan expertise and formation of partnerships with local institutions for program implementation.

Release of this notice is for informational purposes only and does not obligate USAID/Morocco to release an RFI or a NOFO, to pay for any costs that may be incurred by interested parties for any action taken in response to the issuance of this NOI, or to make any awards.

Questions or comments regarding this Notice of Intent may be addressed in writing to Zachary Clarke at zclarke@usaid.gov and to Salya Yacoubi at syacoubi@usaid.gov

Please acknowledge receipt of this letter by signing and returning a copy of this NOI to Zachary Clarke at zclarke@usaid.gov with a copy to usaidmoroccocontracts@usaid.gov

Please acknowledge receipt of this letter below:

Organization’s Name:                                       _______________________________________

Authorized Individual’s name and title:            _______________________________________

Signature:                                                          _______________________________________

Sincerely,

Zachary Clarke

Agreement Officer