Country girls struggle to complete their studies

2007-11-23

For both cultural and practical reasons, many rural Moroccan families prefer to invest in educating boys rather than girls. New public and private projects hope to improve school opportunities for girls.

Text and photos by Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 20/11/07

Schooling for country girls often ends at the primary level

In rural Morocco, many girls receive no secondary school education while others never go to school at all. The school attendance rate for girls across the country is 60.3%, but in rural areas it is just 16.5%. The main reasons: rigid traditional attitudes, the isolation of some douars (settlements) and the lack of roads and public transport.

Families in the countryside often prefer to keep their daughters at home rather than sending them each day to a school many kilometres away. Classes are frequently set up in areas requiring dangerous travel for the students.

Samira Sellami, 12, studies at a school fifteen kilometres from Témara. She dreams of continuing her studies in secondary school, but the nearest of these is around 30 km from her home. She is keenly aware that her parents do not have the funds to pay for her travel every day.

"There's just one bus through here, and you have to wait ages for it. I’m prepared to put up with the transport misery to finish my studies. But, given that my parents are poor, my dream could turn into a nightmare. Let's hope there's a miracle to save my future," she said, her eyes full of tears. There are dozens of country girls like her, suffering in silence.

For cultural reasons, and in light of the difficulty of reaching schools, some families prefer to invest in educating boys rather than girls.

Jamal Hdidouche, a teacher in rural communities for ten years, told Magharebia that despite the development being witnessed in Morocco, attitudes have not changed. "Most parents feel their daughters should marry early and so deprive them of schooling despite the efforts of teachers. Some [girls] leave in the middle of the school year."

This is the situation of Touria Farahi, 16, who is in the third year of secondary school. Her parents obtained a judge's permission to marry her off, because the legal age under the Family Code is 18. Touria had hoped to finish her secondary studies.

Her mother, Kenza, is uncompromising. Working her way through a tub of dirty laundry, she told Magharebia the destiny of all girls from good families lies in marriage. "I never wanted my daughter to be a teacher or a doctor. I know that we don't have the means to reach these objectives, so she must marry as soon as possible. It’s by setting up her home that she will be able to face the future," she exclaimed, casting a worried glance in the teenager’s direction.

The girl, eyes brimming with tears, scrubs the floor in the hallway of the family home before exclaiming in desperation: "At least let me get my baccalaureate. I won’t wear myself out travelling the 10 kilometres between us and the school." But Kenza's mind is made up. "Even if she doesn’t marry this year, I won’t let her be exposed to the dangers on the road to go and study," she said.

Some families prefer to invest in educating boys rather than girls.

Civic groups, meanwhile, are playing a leading role in promoting education for country girls. Ahmed Charouf of the Olive Branches association says group members are travelling to rural areas of Morocco to encourage parents to let their daughters go to school. Sometimes, they manage to convince a few people. But usually they come up against inflexible attitudes.

"We have been able to persuade several family heads to send their daughters to school, but others would hear nothing of it." He added, however, that in recent years his group has "seen some progress in the level of school attendance among girls."

Charouf said the distances involved in getting to schools remain more of a hurdle than tradition.

To deal with the problem of distance, some associations are issuing bicycles to students so that they can get to school without too much difficulty. For example, following an appeal from education inspectors, teachers and parents' groups, the "Just for Them" association partnered with the Decathlon Foundation to offer 200 all-terrain bicycles to 200 female secondary school students in Tiznit province.

The state is also taking action. The Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity is building and equipping centres to accommodate and care for young girls from poor families who are attending school. This action is being led in collaboration with local communities, the National Order of Architects, the Public Testing and Study Laboratory and NGOs.

The girls’ hostels help to counter the tendency of country girls to drop out of school. The initial programme provided for the construction of nine such centres: Khmis Zmamra, Sidi Ghyat, Azilal, Taznakht, Brikcha, Tazarine, Aïn Leuh and Sid El Makhfi (Taounate). The ninth hostel (Adrej) is in its final phase. An additional programme provides for the construction of 20 other hostels in various regions around the country.

According to the national education ministry, the improvement of schooling for girls in rural areas is everyone’s business. The government is trying, within the confines of its budget, to build schools all over the countryside to reach its objective of making education available to all young women, not only those in urban areas.