Rural education faces challenges in Morocco

Under-equipped and overcrowded rural schools in Morocco cause concern among educators, parents and officials.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 26/11/10

Moroccan rural schools are suffering from classroom congestion and lack of facilities, National Education Minister Ahmed Akhchichine admitted to the Chamber of Councilors on Tuesday (November 23rd).

MPs questioned the minister on the state of education in the Moroccan countryside, drawing particular attention to overcrowding and a severe shortage of equipment. The ruling Istiqlal party criticized the practice of placing different year pupils in the same class and teaching them at the same time.

Hamid, a fifth- and sixth-year primary school teacher, faces this problem. He has to deliver lessons to one group while the others are completing exercises and vice versa.

"My classroom is very overcrowded. Three pupils have to share tables made for two. Those who arrive late even have to sit on the floor. It’s sickening. What’s more, the room doesn’t have a door we can close, or windows," he said bitterly.

He told Magharebia that while he is determined to fulfill his duty to help these children receive a good education, the reality can be sometimes be too much for teachers, pupils and parents to handle.

Girls in particular are missing school because of a lack of toilets. Ahmed Mechtioui told Magharebia that his brother stopped his 11-year-old daughter from going to school because of this problem.

"On top of that, it was really bad for her in the winter when it rained, because the school roof was leaking," he said.

Salwa, who has been teaching in rural schools for more than six years, emphasized that the difficulties with providing equipment, packed classrooms and combined classes affect the quality of teaching.

"It’s obvious that a teacher is not going to be able to deliver lessons of the same quality to pupils from different year groups studying in the same class. Even if you make a huge effort, the situation remains tough. Sometimes, even a class with pupils from a single year group can have more than fifty students," she said.

Akhchichine admitted to MPs that the situation remains depressing due to years of underdevelopment.

"We’re dealing with a backlog which dates back several decades. It’s obvious that good teaching requires a certain number of conditions. But this isn’t just the government responsibility alone. Civil society and local authorities must work with us on this," the minister said.

Still, he underlined that considerable efforts have been made over recent years to improve conditions in rural schools.

Classes with more than 45 pupils constituted 2.1% of all classes in 2008, and dropped to 1.7% in 2009, Akhchichine noted. The ministry hopes to create some 1700 primary school classrooms in rural areas between 2009 and 2012.

The Education Ministry is keen to overhaul "the whole school infrastructure in rural areas, to overcome the problem of self-governing classes scattered around the villages", he said, promising that the difficulties will be progressively resolved over the next ten years.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/11/26/feature-01.