Context

It is estimated that 300,000 adolescents and youth drop out of secondary school in Morocco every year. Three out of ten (1.7 million) youth are not engaged in employment, education or training, the majority (three out of four) of whom are girls. As of 2012, there were very limited opportunities for economic participation for the youth in Morocco, and most of the unemployed youth have less than secondary education or no education at all. To empower the youth to engage in the economy, it is essential to strengthen young people’s skills and support them in their personal and professional development. School dropout rates can be curbed by making school subjects more relevant, incorporating life skills education and career guidance, and supporting their transition from school to work.

Solution

The Personal Project is a structured, project-based learning intervention launched in 2014 to support career readiness and life skills development for students aged 11 to 18. The program begins in Grade 6 (end of primary) and continues through secondary school via a student portfolio system. It consists of 10 sequential activities that encourage students to reflect on the different opportunities and available education and vocational paths. The project blends in-school sessions with extracurricular engagement and provides students with the opportunity to gain direct exposure to professions through community-linked activities such as site visits and interviews (e.g., to fire stations). The intervention promotes skills such as critical thinking, self-management, collaboration, and decision-making.

The program design links schools with communities and involves parents, creating a participatory environment. Teachers received training manuals, and students received dedicated learning materials. The intervention is school-wide and designed primarily to benefit students in secondary school. The program offers support in the form of mentorship, structured exposure, and guided reflection to help students develop vocational goals aligned with local labor market needs. Work is underway to incorporate career guidance to support school-to-work transitions.

Impact

The Personal Project program has led to several positive outcomes across student, teacher, and school community levels. The project benefited 18,323 students (7,625 girls) over four years. Participating students demonstrated enhanced life skills, increased motivation, improved academic outcomes, and reduced dropout rates, especially among disadvantaged groups. Importantly, the program strengthened links between formal education and vocational training by integrating extracurricular exposure with classroom learning and reinforcing school governance structures.

In an evaluation of the rural area of Touama, 63% of students were able to define their future professional goals and adopt new vocational paths, while 61% discovered relevant jobs and required qualifications. The program was expanded to 300 schools across Morocco in 2018, reaching a total of 36,000 children. However, no data is available on the impact of the program after 2019.Further evaluations are needed to provide details such as the number of students who successfully secured employment or pursued higher education after completing the program in school.