The network of social and educational services of the National Mutual Aid in Essaouira benefits more than 9,000 beneficiaries for the 2013/2014 social year. A network that covers the territory of the province and includes 31 social protection establishments, several education and training centres, kindergartens, as well as the citizen's house, whose number of members amounts to 932.

The social protection establishments governed by Law No. 14-05 relating to the conditions of opening and management of these establishments occupied the bulk of the meeting of "Libé" with Khadija El Bazi, delegate of the National Mutual Aid in Essaouira. The latter highlighted the efforts made by her department to upgrade the said establishments with a view to adapting them to the conditions imposed by Law 14.05. She also confirmed that 9 of the 31 establishments managed by her institution still do not meet the required criteria. A file that currently requires priority for her administration.

The provisions of Law 14.05, which made the opening of any establishment subject to prior authorisation from the administration, apply to social protection establishments whose purpose is to take charge, permanently or temporarily, totally or partially, of any person of either sex who is in a situation of difficulty, precariousness, or indigence, notably abandoned children within the meaning of Article 1 of Law No. 15.01, women in a situation of family abandonment or exclusion, elderly people without support, and disabled people by ensuring them accommodation, food, paramedical care, and socio-educational monitoring, while respecting their physical integrity, dignity, age, sex, and physical, mental, and psychological capacity.

The establishments targeted by Law 14.05 concern homes for abandoned children, children's homes, student homes, student residences, homes for the elderly, establishments for the protection, re-education, or requalification of disabled people, social centres for the fight against vagrancy and begging, and establishments for the reintegration of people in difficult situations.

Standards that call into question the situation of certain student homes which have been experiencing problems for several years linked to their modest human and financial means and their reception capacity, which is largely exceeded by the great demand from rural students.

"We cannot replace the national education sector because the categories supposed to be taken care of by student homes have been clearly defined by Law 14.05. Unfortunately, social protection establishments are turning into boarding schools, knowing that the resident students do not all benefit from the MEN's food pension," Khadija El Bazi told us.

The case of the Tidzi student home is a glaring example of the critical situation that the officials of certain establishments in Essaouira continue to bear. It currently hosts 486 boarders, while the number authorised based on its reception capacity does not exceed 240. A precarious situation that largely affects the quality of reception for students, many of whom do not receive a food pension from the MEN.

"The establishment's officials manage the situation with the means at hand, because the fight against school dropout and the generalisation of education remain the priority of priorities. But what about the quality of education? Are we forced to generalise education by rooting images of misery and the culture of precariousness?", asks an association member, commenting on the image of a good number of students who spend the night in the meeting room at the Tidzi rural commune.

Yet Law 14.05 is as clear as can be regarding the conditions of care by social protection establishments, which must ensure human and material resources according to very precise standards.

We contacted Ibrahim Jabrane, president of the Had Dra Student Home association; the latter confirmed the difficult situation of the establishment, whose problems his association has been managing for several years.

"We suffer first of all from a serious shortage of human resources in qualitative and quantitative terms; the establishment's reception capacity is doubly exceeded, the subsidy is derisory, knowing that only 153 students receive the MEN's food pension. Admittedly, our establishment has been authorised in accordance with Law 14.05 since last season, but we are still waiting for the subsidy from the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family, and Social Development," declared the president of the Tidzi Student Home Association, confirming that his association received 60,000.00 DH from the Sidi Jazouli commune, 35,000.00 DH from the Sidi Ahmed Essayeh commune, 70,000.00 DH from the Sidi Ahmed Ouhamed commune, and 100,000.00 DH from the Tidzi commune. While the Sidi Kaouki commune, whose number of students taken care of by the establishment reaches 144, has not paid a penny to the association!

Contacted by "Libé", Ahmed Ghannami, MEN delegate in Essaouira, welcomed the role played by student homes in the fight against school dropout and the improvement of schooling indicators in the province. However, he wanted to specify that the quality of management of certain establishments leaves something to be desired at several levels.

To this end, the MEN delegate reiterated his call for the adoption of specifications for the rational management of these establishments, which are experiencing high demand in rural areas. Ahmed Ghannami welcomed the multisectoral cooperation that has allowed for the improvement of schooling indicators, particularly for girls, while insisting on the important role that the INDH continues to play in the creation and equipment of several dozen student homes and the purchase of school buses.

Abderrahmane Naciri, president of the Had Dra Student Home Association, which houses 160 middle school girls, is still waiting for the opening authorisation for which he submitted the application and the complete file in 2009. His establishment in turn suffers from overcrowding and a worrying shortage of human, material, and financial resources in the absence of any form of support from officials. Naciri raised a very interesting aspect concerning the employees of social protection establishments who must in turn benefit from social coverage.

"We have managed the middle school girls' file with difficulty; currently we are also forced to manage the problem of those at the Al Khawarizmi high school, whose construction work has still not started! For lack of the required resources, we will be forced to close down, because we depend essentially on patrons to solve our countless problems," he says with regret.

Still concerning the problem of the Al Khawarizmi high school, we contacted the MEN delegate who confirmed the restart of work delayed due to administrative procedures initiated with the Urban Agency and the municipal council.

Admittedly, the stakes are enormous and the constraints multiple, but the objectives set did not take all factors into consideration. The situation observed at several establishments calls on all stakeholders to get on the same page, starting with the education sector, local and elected authorities, the National Mutual Aid, civil society, and especially the APTEs.

A provincial commission chaired by the governor of Essaouira is in charge of monitoring the management of social protection establishments, but measures are needed to resolve these problems.