Teachers adapt to realities of the rural environment

23/03/2007

Education is no less important in rural communities in Morocco than in cities. For young teachers, however, such assignments pose unique challenges. Nearly half of all Morocco’s teachers work in these areas, under a government campaign to provide education to the nation’s most disadvantaged citizens.

Text and photos by Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat—23/03/07

Despite obstacles, students in rural areas show a strong desire to continue their education

Rural education in Morocco is not as developed as its urban counterpart. Difficulties range from a lack of schools and roads to a high drop-out rate due to the demands of agricultural life. Several grades often share one classroom and there is an almost total lack of pre-school education in rural areas.

Over the past few years, however, the government has endeavoured to extend education programmes to the remotest corners of the country. Many newly trained teachers are sent to rural areas to start their teaching careers. According to the national education ministry, there are some 93,788 teachers working in rural areas, out of a total of 205,787.

Magharebia visited a rural school in Ouled Amrane, 100 km from the coastal city of El Jadida. Set upon a stretch of flat prairie land, the building consists of three classrooms surrounded by a concrete wall.

At 8:00am, teacher Karim Kataoui ushers around forty pupils into the class. Kataoui, 32 years old, has been teaching in a rural setting for 11 years. At the age of 21, he was teaching on his own in an isolated classroom in the middle of a forest of argan trees in a rugged mountain area of Essaouira.

Kataoui is thankful for the transfer that brought him here five years later, where he at least has some neighbours to talk to. "I’ve always lived in the city. Teaching is a choice; I don’t regret my decision, even though some teachers might feel trapped. It is necessary for all Moroccans, wherever they may be, to have access to education. If young people don’t take it on voluntarily, rural people will be marginalised," he declared.

Most students help their parents at home and have to do their homework in class

The students in his class seem to be well-disciplined. They carefully open their satchels and take out their schoolbooks. Wearing outdated clothes and plastic sandals, most of them have a thousand and one plans for the future. Barely ten years of age, Kenza says she hopes to become a doctor so that she can help people living in her douar (village). For the time being, they have to travel dozens of kilometres to the nearest clinic. "I know I can do it, because I’m prepared to work. The teacher told me so," she declared, her eyes sparkling with defiance.

Little Ali is no less ambitious. He has not chosen a job yet, but he wants to serve the douar by continuing his studies.

Kataoui is proud of his pupils, and points out that their burning ambition is to be able to continue with their studies, despite the obstacles. Most of the students help their parents at home. Girls are responsible for collecting wood and fetching water while boys take care of the livestock and help the men in the fields. Some of them are absent on "weekly market" days, so they can look after the sale of fruit and vegetables. The majority of the children travel many kilometres on foot to get to school.

The young teacher knows each one of them. To make things easier for them, all homework is done in class. "These little ones do not have a moment to themselves. Over the years, I've learned that it's impossible for them to study at home. They wouldn't have time to go over their work," he said.

Kataoui recognises that the task facing teachers in a rural setting is by no means an easy one. When he was in Essaouira, for example, his pupils did not know a single word of Arabic. Amazigh was their only language. Communicating with them was very difficult. As a new graduate of a teacher training programme, he faced real challenges getting the pupils to learn how to read and write. "I drew sketches, I used a lot of mime and gestures...I managed to pull it off, even though I had never expected to be in a situation like that," the young teacher told Magharebia. For many years, he lived in the classroom where he taught, since there was no other option. All the douars were far from the classroom, and no-one had even a bedroom to let.

Like Kataoui, Ahlam Kitssi is another teacher in the countryside. She says that teachers are obliged to adapt the syllabus to the realities of country life. She thinks that the Ministry of Education should think about special teaching programmes for rural areas. "For example, the reading course mentions towns, beaches, zoos and so on, but many of the children fail to see it as relevant. They would rather hear about fields and harvests, et cetera. The teacher tries to find an easier way to explain the course to them."

Students have to travel long distances to get to school

Kitssi, who lives a few kilometres from the school, hopes that one day she will be transferred to a town so that she can continue to answer her calling in another way. "Certainly, teaching must be made more generally available. But the infrastructure in the countryside must also be developed." The young woman, who grew up in a town, has not managed to adapt to the realities of her job, even though she already has nine years of service behind her. Nevertheless, she buckles down to the task: her pupils are among the best in the region.

Sarhane Jamal, another young teacher, pointed out the problem of mixed classes, where several levels are taught at once. Unfortunately, addressing that issue "calls for much greater teacher availability. This problem comes down to the lack of infrastructure and human resources," he said.

An increasing number of young people are finding themselves in rural areas because the Ministry of Education is building more schools there now than in the past. This year, the state has set up 439 middle schools and 120 high schools in rural areas. In primary education, rural areas now account for nearly 200,000 of the 3.9 million pupils. Middle schools have some 300,000 pupils studying in rural areas. Some 53,000 of the country's more than 650,000 high schools are located in rural areas.

Kataoui and other teachers like him hope the development of infrastructure in the countryside will make daily life less difficult. To begin with, the construction of accommodation for teachers and boarding facilities for pupils would make life easier for the educators, said Ahlam. Meanwhile, Sarhane suggested assigning teaching staff who come from the same region as the pupils, to make communication easier.

Jamal Khellaf, Director of Evaluation, School Life Organisation and Inter-Academy Training, pointed out that the Ministry is determined to improve the quality of schools in rural areas by launching a number of programmes, particularly waste water treatment and drinking water projects for 12,000 rural schools. To facilitate public school transportation, the Ministry is in the process of distributing school buses to remote areas. Significant resources are required to roll out these initiatives to all country areas.