Fondation Zakoura Education

Zakoura Foundation is a recognized Moroccan non-profit association which strives for human development in Morocco. Founded in 1997, it has an extensive experience in educating children, training youth and empowering women, especially in rural areas and with disadvantage populations. Zakoura’s programs’ and projects’ are conceived to spread a gender equality approach, to build local capacities and to work for sustainability. Zakoura’s innovating projects aim to bring a proof of concept in order to scale up successful models and transfer best practices to other organizations across the country and the region. 1. OUR MISSION Fondation Zakoura main purpose is to ensure equal access to a free and high- quality education to children aged 4 to 6 in rural areas of Morocco. Free access to the best practices in pre-school cares, on a nation-wide scale, is a massive impact plan designed by Fondation Zakoura to lift up rural population, which represents 38,6% and is the most vulnerable, out of poverty and exclusion. As we say « it takes a village to raise a child »……and raising a child with high- standards and inclusive programs’ will simultaneously raise left-apart and remote villages….That’s our mission. 2. OUR APPROACH To make our free and high-quality preschooling offer sustainable, we develop several programs and projects targetting parents, youth, associations and local teachers that we train and recruit. Our comprehensive approach is founded on the assumption that rural communities have to own the process of pre-school development as fast as possible (within 2 years) and that each member of those communities is an actor and a condition of success. We therefore foster innovation (state-of-the-art learning methods and equipment) through a strategy based on rural population empowerment and active intake. Our community-based approach relies on blended learning programs through digital access & literacy. Many tools and games are also introduced, at each program’ stage and for each targeted population, to remind that gender unbiaised assumptions and constant measures to protect the environment are at the core of a sustainable human development. Gender equality and the environmental protection are cross-cutting themes in FZ programs. Our trained teachers are constantly sensitized to be the first advocates for these causes. 3. OUR OFFER Our comprehensive offer takes in charge the whole process required to lift up marginalized rural populations. It goes from the identification of the most vulnerable « douars » or remote villages to the implementation of custom- developped and innovative programs while making sure the selected learning environements have adequate facilities. Each launching initiative lasts two years. We ensure school creation, monitoring, evaluation and expertise guidance throughout and after the two years thanks to Fondation Zakoura Education, Fondation Zakoura Academy and Fondation Zakoura Lab.