Information and consultation meeting with ministers and ministerial representatives of RAMAA II

“The development of public policies in the field of literacy depends on the existence of accurate and constantly updated data on learning and its impact on beneficiaries’ capacities. There is no point in continuing to implement literacy programmes ... without assessing learning achievements and measuring their effectiveness”, Mr Abdellah Benkirane, Head of the Government of Morocco

This meeting, organized by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) on 10 November 2016 in Marrakech, Morocco, in collaboration with the UNESCO Rabat office And the Moroccan National Agency for the Eradication of Illiteracy (Agence nationale de lutte contre l’analphabétisme, ANLCA), gathered ministers and ministerial representatives from the ten countries involved in the second phase of RAMAA – Burkina Faso, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Chad and Togo – along with partners - the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF). The closed meetings resulted in recommendations concerning the following subjects: mobilizing national resources for the implementation of the second phase of RAMAA, and sustaining RAMAA at the level of national systems. These recommendations may be summed up as follows:

Ensuring that a budget for RAMAA is included in the national budget lines attributed to assessment. RAMAA should not be viewed as a separate project but as an integral part of assessment.
Given the multi-sectoral issues at stake, placing literacy, including RAMAA, on a stable institutional footing.
Training RAMAA higher-education experts and sustaining RAMAA by creating a Masters module on measuring, assessing and monitoring learning outcomes.
Engaging reflection on the creation of a doctoral school encompassing the theme of RAMAA.

The organization of the meeting in Morocco was also an opportunity for the ANLCA to carry out large-scale national advocacy in favour of literacy and RAMAA. More than 100 national participants, including the presidents of Moroccan universities, the presidents of regional councils, university professors and researchers, heads of public departments as well as members of parliament attended the thematic sessions. This RAMAA information and consultation day also saw the signing of a partnership agreement between the Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Management Training and the ANLCA. The objective was to reinforce the involvement of Moroccan universities and scientific research institutes, as recommended by RAMAA.