RFI - USAID/Morocco Bridge to Middle School Activity

To All interested Parties:

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development in Morocco (USAID/Morocco), is in the process of determining how a potential program provisionally entitled “Bridge to Middle School” might further its stated strategic goals of improving the efficacy and efficiency of the Moroccan education system.

The main purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to determine the soundness and robustness of the general design for a systems strengthening and capacity building intervention for the Ministry of Education in Morocco. Information provided will assist USAID/Morocco to make planning decisions. Areas of particular interest to USAID/Morocco under this RFI include:

1) reactions from USAID partners and the public to the draft, potential, proposed theory of change;

2) information about documented strengths and weaknesses of the Moroccan upper primary and middle school education system in the public schools, and;

3) any other information experienced members of the public believe would be important for USAID to take into account in its continued program development efforts for systems strengthening in the Moroccan education system.

Attachment 2 includes guiding questions, not all of which need to be answered in respondents' feedback. Incorporation of any feedback is subject to internal USAID discussions and approval. Respondents will not be invited to elaborate upon them after submission.

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does NOT constitute a solicitation and in no way obligates the US Government to issue a Notice Of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and/or award or pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. If a NOFO is issued, all necessary information will be supplied at the time it is posted at https://grants.gov. Questions/requests for information will not be responded to until NOFO issuance.

Interested parties are advised to periodically monitor the above website for updates concerning this procurement.

Submissions must: utilize the response template (Attachment 3), be in English, be in a Microsoft Word or a searchable Adobe pdf format, and should not be longer than six typed pages using the following formatting requirements: single-spaced, Times New Roman font (or similar size typeset), size 11, 1-inch margins, pages numbered consecutively in the bottom margin. Although we will accept up to six pages of text, USAID values concise, issue-specific comments. Any additional information appended to the submitter’s response, such as a report or infographic, will only be reviewed by USAID/Morocco if it is included in the body of the response as an embedded link. Please also provide your name, title, organization, and contact information in your response.

Individual responses to this RFI will be held confidential. However, respondents must refrain from sending proprietary information or other protected information in response to this RFI. Please do not submit applications or resumes as they will be discarded.

USAID/Morocco reserves the right, but is not obligated to, incorporate any, some, or none of the comments received into any subsequent Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted by email only to Salya Yacoubi at syacoubi@usaid.gov and usaidmoroccocontracts@usaid.gov no later than June 23, 2021 by 12pm (noon), Rabat, Morocco time. The email subject line and file name should be as follows: “Responses to Morocco RFI: Bridge to Middle School”. Responses received after this deadline will not be read or considered. Submission by email is required; phone calls or hard copy delivery will not be accepted. You may receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response.

USAID/Morocco values input from our potential partners, and we thank you for your interest and assistance in developing potential future programs.

Sincerely,

Zachary Clarke

Regional Agreement Officer

USAID/Morocco