10 percent of children don’t attend school

Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane said on Wednesday that the government were focusing on improving school attendance. This declaration comes after concerning statistics on Moroccan education were released by UNESCO.

The report revealed that Morocco was one of the worst countries in the Arab world for school attendance.
In 2009, 10 percent of children who should have attended a primary school were not in education. Tunisia on the other hand, achieved an estimated 100 percent of children attending school.
Countries such as Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon and Zambia are all ranked above Morocco according to the UNESCO report.
Prime Minister Benkirane said that the country had seen a remarkable increase in school attendance in the last four years, asserting that the figure rose from 91 percent to 98 percent. According to him, this increase is the result of the government’s efforts put into education and social life.
The prime minister also pointed out that most of the children who don’t attend school are nomadic, homeless or have special needs. These are the ones difficult to keep in education, he said.
Benkirane promised that a new education strategy would fall into place in 2015. The scheme would prioritise equal opportunities and the creation of new schools.
Benkirane admitted that achieving 100 percent of literacy among people aged 16 -24 remained a real challenge.

Picture: Adam Jones