In the Moroccan countryside, literacy courses are a recipe
Despite the daily toil, they are dozens of women who meet each evening with the fierce desire to learn, read and write: near Marrakech in southern Morocco, a country with a long way to go, the literacy center is the recipe.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/In-the-Moroccan...
Over the past decade, more than six million people have benefited from the programs implemented. In a majority of cases (80%), these beneficiaries are women, often from a rural area.
Of the 16 regional academies, 11 are funded by the European Union, which has devoted 1.5 billion dirhams (130 million euros) since 2008.
At Saïdate commune south of Marrakech, where agriculture is the main activity of the village, all ages,scramble
to attend classes which take place several times a week in the small classroom of the Annawat Association
( "the core").
"Most of these women work on rugs,the home or in the fields alongside their husbands and fathers," Abdelmajid
Aït Mekki, a senior regional program against illiteracy told AFP
The atmosphere is studious and the women present, mostly in djellabas, are very concentrated. Ban disturbances ! That day, a simple word is on the large blackboard: "khoukh" (fishing). The students decipher and transcribe the name of this activity on their slates.
"This is a program focused on daily life and aims to enable beneficiaries to gain responsibility with their families and in society, to use new services (including health, but also to produce" says Mr. Ait Mekki.
"Their eyes shine again"
Amina Nouizi, president of the "core" association, which is part of a dozen other centers struggling against illiteracy, the courses "have transformed the vision that these women have in their difficult daily lives."
"Their eyes shine again. They can now decrypt some things which seemed riddles," she said.
Faced with this opportunity offering to open a new page in their lives, "they remain motivated and do not miss any session, despite exhaustion after a day's work," comments Ms. Nouizi .
In Morocco, more than 735,000 people in total were received in the 2011-12 literacy classes, a record number, according to official figures.
Thanks to the efforts of the last ten years, the illiteracy rate of more than 10 years, particularly high, was reduced from 43% to nearly 30%.
But the burden still weighs on the economy of the kingdom - it cost 1.5% of GDP according to official sources - as well as its modest ranking (130th out of 181 countries in 2011) under the Human Development Index (HDI).
Expert on education, Mohamed Bouguidou, also deplores the financial participation as "too low" - "only 3%" - of economic actors.
Within the education budget, the percentage devoted to this fight is 0.5%, while the international standard is at least 3%, he says.
The existing program, according to the ministry, some 360 million dirhams (approximately EUR 32 million) are needed to achieve the 2015 goal of one million people per year.
In response to criticism, the Islamist government also promised to lead the project to create a National Agency discussed since 2007 which should better coordinate the efforts of different actors.
Of the 16 regional academies, 11 are funded by the European Union, which has devoted 1.5 billion dirhams (130 million euros) since 2008.
At Saïdate commune south of Marrakech, where agriculture is the main activity of the village, all ages,scramble
to attend classes which take place several times a week in the small classroom of the Annawat Association
( "the core").
"Most of these women work on rugs,the home or in the fields alongside their husbands and fathers," Abdelmajid
Aït Mekki, a senior regional program against illiteracy told AFP
The atmosphere is studious and the women present, mostly in djellabas, are very concentrated. Ban disturbances ! That day, a simple word is on the large blackboard: "khoukh" (fishing). The students decipher and transcribe the name of this activity on their slates.
"This is a program focused on daily life and aims to enable beneficiaries to gain responsibility with their families and in society, to use new services (including health, but also to produce" says Mr. Ait Mekki.
"Their eyes shine again"
Amina Nouizi, president of the "core" association, which is part of a dozen other centers struggling against illiteracy, the courses "have transformed the vision that these women have in their difficult daily lives."
"Their eyes shine again. They can now decrypt some things which seemed riddles," she said.
Faced with this opportunity offering to open a new page in their lives, "they remain motivated and do not miss any session, despite exhaustion after a day's work," comments Ms. Nouizi .
In Morocco, more than 735,000 people in total were received in the 2011-12 literacy classes, a record number, according to official figures.
Thanks to the efforts of the last ten years, the illiteracy rate of more than 10 years, particularly high, was reduced from 43% to nearly 30%.
But the burden still weighs on the economy of the kingdom - it cost 1.5% of GDP according to official sources - as well as its modest ranking (130th out of 181 countries in 2011) under the Human Development Index (HDI).
Expert on education, Mohamed Bouguidou, also deplores the financial participation as "too low" - "only 3%" - of economic actors.
Within the education budget, the percentage devoted to this fight is 0.5%, while the international standard is at least 3%, he says.
The existing program, according to the ministry, some 360 million dirhams (approximately EUR 32 million) are needed to achieve the 2015 goal of one million people per year.
In response to criticism, the Islamist government also promised to lead the project to create a National Agency discussed since 2007 which should better coordinate the efforts of different actors.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/In-the-Moroccan...