The Al Akhawayn University solidarity association, Hand in Hand, has just launched an initiative for the creation of “smart schools” in the rural communes of the Ifrane province.

In partnership with “Samsung”, the association has equipped a number of primary schools in the Ifrane province with 70 computers, 30 electronic tablets, and air conditioning units with the aim of encouraging schooling in rural areas.

In a statement to the MAP agency on the sidelines of the university's annual “Fun Run” event held on Saturday evening, the association's president, Meriem Dayti, reported that 1.5 million DH was raised during the gala evening.

She specified that these funds, provided by the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH) and Al Akhawayn University, will be dedicated to the restoration, supply of drinking water, electricity connection, and equipping several schools with modern IT tools, as well as the acquisition of heating ovens and the digging of wells.

The objective, according to her, is to improve the quality of education, encourage schooling, and combat school dropouts, particularly among rural girls.

For his part, the association's general coordinator, Bouya Mohamed, indicated that this event is part of the organization's annual activities aimed at meeting the needs of students, specifying that this event is organized in collaboration with the INDH to strengthen school infrastructure in the mountainous areas of the province.

On the sidelines of this 19th edition of the association's Fun Run, marked by visits to a number of schools, a partnership agreement was signed between Al Akhawayn University, the Ifrane province, the provincial directorate of the Ministry of National Education, and the “Hand in Hand” association.

This agreement, concerning the equipping and rehabilitation of a number of school establishments in rural areas, is part of a global approach aimed at combating school dropouts and improving the attractiveness of schools, as well as encouraging the local population to support development projects launched in the region.

Through its annual Fun Run, an essential and necessary event for fundraising, “Hand in Hand” aims to provide students in the province with a place conducive to education, as well as to finance the digital literacy project which aims to equip schools in the region with computers.

Created in 1996, the “Hand in Hand” association has the mission of promoting the schooling of young girls in rural areas and contributing to the improvement of the living conditions of the destitute populations of Ifrane and its region, through social actions such as building schools, distributing school bags, or creating cooperatives.

Thanks to the funds collected during previous Fun Runs, the association has undertaken the purchase of 5 school buses for children in the Ifrane region and 1 for the disabled, the construction of a community school in Ain Khil and a non-formal education centre in Azrou, as well as the installation of central heating at Dar Taliba in Dayet Aoua.