New improvements mark start of Moroccan school year

2008-09-05

The Moroccan government is launching the new school year with promises to improve school facilities and reduce overcrowding. More schools will be built and underprivileged families will receive aid to send their children to schools.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 05/09/08

[Sarah Touahri] National Education Minister Ahmed Akhchichine said a new government programme to improve school facilities will particularly target rural areas which lack basic infrastructure.

On September 11th, the 2008-2009 academic year will begin in Morocco, with a 4% increase in the number of registered students and new efforts by the government to improve the education system and the living standards of school faculty all over the country.

From increasing school meals and the number of students in boarding facilities to building new schools, the government is budgeting millions of dirhams to step up the pace of development projects as part of the emergency plan of 2009-2012, according to Latifa Labida, Secretary of State for Higher Education and Training.

"We are talking about giving schools the attention they deserve," Labida said in an interview, "and bridging the confidence gap between schools and their social surroundings."

The government has long expressed its desire to improve the education system. Officials promised to provide better housing for teachers in rural areas and to reduce overcrowding, so that the quality of education can be improved.

With over seven million students attending some 9,400 schools all over Morocco this year, controlling school drop-out rates is a priority on the government's agenda. The hope is to introduce an integrated strategy to reduce school drop-outs by 50%, and to counter the problem of teacher absences, particularly in rural areas.

The government will also provide training for more than 8,600 school principals and officials in an attempt to improve the managerial capabilities of education administrators.

Particular attention will be paid to rural areas, said National Education Minister Ahmed Akhchichine. According to his records, 80% of schools in rural areas do not have toilet facilities and lack other infrastructure like water and electricity.

Already, 3,000 schools are under rehabilitation, Akhchichine said. The government plans to build about 1,000 new secondary and high schools.

But some people are still critical of the government's efforts to improve public education. Ahmed Maâdoumi prefers to send his daughter to a private school although he can barely afford the fees.

"I pay a quarter of my salary every month to cover her school fees," Maâdoumi said, "but I cannot send her to the local state school because the classes are crowded," he said.

According to the education minister, however, a new initiative will be launched this year to provide aid to underprivileged families to encourage them to send their children to schools.

"In other words", said Akhchichine, "we are going to help families financially so that they can keep their children in school."

"My experience as a teacher in a rural area has shown me that school drop-outs are due first and foremost to poverty," said teacher Mohamed Bahloul. "The children have to work to help their parents. So the state has to look after these students so that they do not leave education."

The budget for the new initiative is 50 million dirhams, with a possibility to increase as needed, Akhchichine said. Other international experiences were taken into consideration while preparing the initiative, he said, citing countries like Mexico, Bolivia and Brazil as successful examples.

"We shall also be trying out other arrangements to change the thinking of some families, who prefer to send their children to work at a very early age," Akhchichine said.