The Minister Delegate to the Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, Abdelaadim Guerrouj, accompanied by the governor of the province of Berkane, Abdelhak Haoudi, proceeded, Saturday in the rural commune of Rislane, to the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the first community school at the provincial level, which constitutes the basic foundation for the development of education in rural areas.
The goal of building this school, which will be carried out for a financial cost of more than 7.830 million dirhams (MDH) on a total area of approximately 9,050 m², is to encourage schooling in the commune, particularly that of girls, and the fight against school dropout, as well as the improvement of the quality of teaching through the reduction of the number of common classes and the gathering of students within an educational space where sanitary and educational conditions are available.
This school, which will welcome approximately 219 male and female students from 15 douars falling under the same commune, also aims at optimal management of human resources and facilitating the internal and external communication process of the establishment, as well as making the latter an institution that aspires to play an effective role in local sustainable development and in improving the working and housing conditions of teachers.
It consists, in particular, of 6 classes for general education, a multimedia class, an administrative pavilion, a library, a director's residence, 4 housing units, a teachers' room, and a sports stadium, as well as a kitchen, a dining room, a reading room, and a dormitory with 80 beds. These components will contribute to lightening the burden on low-income families and qualifying additional human capital in the region.
In a statement to MAP, Abdelaadim Guerrouj stressed that the main objective of this pilot project is to strengthen educational infrastructure and reduce school dropout, bring the school closer to students, and improve the quality of their schooling.
He specified that this community school makes it possible to ensure compliance with schooling standards, contribute to improving the quality of teaching, and welcome children in an appropriate school space, adding that all these characteristics will make it possible to improve educational performance and the school enrollment rate for children in rural areas.
For his part, the director of the Regional Academy of Education and Training of the Oriental region, Mohamed Dib, indicated that this project is part of the expansion of the educational offer at the regional level, in particular, the experience of community schools which currently reaches 25 community establishments, 6 of which are under construction.
Mohamed Dib specified that the goal of this project is to generalize schooling, fight against the phenomenon of school dropout, improve the level of schooling indicators, in particular, the school enrollment rate in the commune, which represents 92%, as well as to offer care to the school space and the situation of primary education.
In this context, he noted that the academy's work plan in this area aims, by 2020 and with the combined efforts of all partners, to promote a community school for each rural commune in the region, in order to overcome the geographical, economic, and social particularities, which are the main cause of the phenomenon of school dropout in the rural areas of the region.
For his part, the president of the rural commune of Rislane, Aziz Latrach, stressed that "in addition to the establishment of this community school, the commune has an urgent need for a middle school, especially since the commune of Rislane is the largest commune at the regional level, with an area of 364 km²".
