Shortage of youth clubs exists in Morocco
2006-11-15
Morocco is beset by a shortage of youth clubs, their uneven distribution across the country and their inadequate infrastructure. Some researchers are concerned about the effects of youth having limited entertainment outlets
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 15/11/06
 [File] Youth clubs seem to be haphazardly placed across Morocco. |
Demographic researcher Berrouyne Mustapha feels the 303 youth clubs in Morocco are not enough to meet the country's needs. Only one youth club exists for every 20,888 people in the 15-24 demographic in the country.
"Some of them lack basic infrastructure and are therefore incapable of meeting young people's demands," adds Mustapha.
Education researcher Mohamed El Aouad notes youth club attendance is hindered by the distance between them, the overall lack of clubs, lack of information, and absence of programmes and activities for young people.
He also points to a problem with the distribution. The distribution of clubs do not seem to follow any particular pattern, as El Khémissat has 16 youth clubs, while the much larger city of Tangier has only three.
El Aouad also points to a shortage of sporting facilities, as only 638 sporting grounds exist in Morocco.
"We've got nowhere to let off steam and have fun. All we've got is the street. That's not our fault," asserts 17-year-old Hafid Boukerracha.
Sociologist Ali Chaâbani agrees that young people have nowhere to relax and spend their leisure time.
"Young people in Morocco cannot live out their youth as they should because of this disappointing state of affairs, along with other constraints. They are confronted by other challenges when it comes to their integration into the life of society. They are reliant on their families or other institutions."
Mustapha states the shortage of infrastructures for leisure and entertainment leads young people to spend most of their time in cafés or mosques.
Chaâbani worries that the lack of entertainment areas leads many young Moroccans to turn towards television and video games. He is concerned that "television channels can have a dangerous influence in shaping tastes and minds".
El Mounabih Alami, a youth director at one of the centres, believes such facilities are a better option for young people because they are aimed at character-building and helping young people adapt to modern life by giving them the means to express themselves and develop their skills and knowledge. He adds that the objective is to bring them together to exchange ideas in an atmosphere of co-operation and understanding.
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mustam Posted 2006-11-17
Thanks to various interventions of the king, several actions are on their way in the field of human development. But unfortunately, results are lacking. And you know why ? Simply because jobs have been given to incompetent people.
nour Posted 2008-03-26
The condition of Youth centres in Tunisia is the same. The whole system has to be reviewed. Less than 300 centres for a population of 10 million people… without mentioning the discrepancies between the regions as to their number and condition This achievement only bears the indication of the figure without looking at its reality and fact Field officers are just a chandlery on which are held all the mistakes and shortcomings of the sector. I say this from my experience with these institutes as a beneficiary for a long time then from my associative work at a later time. These vary from structural and timely problems. I will address in a succinct way some of these problems and without preferential classing. The absence of an internal law fixing the obligation with precision and preserving rights, this has made of this sector assuming or called to assume (by the administrative, political and social bodies) intricate and sometimes contradictory duties and roles. Sometimes they are known as entertainment institutes and other times they are training and employment centres… We shouldn’t forget of course the political roles represented in celebrating major political events, i.e. propaganda which represents the major resources of these institutes for the service of the goals of some categories or opportunists… They complain, like other cultural institutes, of the stereotyping programmes explained by many factors including the lack and limitation of necessary financial resources and the obsolete forms of financial management, considering that these institutes don’t have a financial independence. Non-functionality of spaces either for their limited area, narrowness or obsolescence… Inadequate human resources and this makes the person who supervises their management also assume the role and duties of director, animator and worker without guaranteeing the least advantages; on the contrary, the administration is transformed from an advantage or benefit, if it is possible to describe it so and as it is supposed socially, to an indignation or burden without merit required by the necessities of the mission or a conscious or unconscious will for some to achieve a positive social image given that the administration is a source of notability or a method of political and social escalation in some other cases… Some of the problems of timing are that these informal educational institutes are managed in a formal way, more clearly, these institutes work in the parallel time for the work of the institutes.
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