A considerable and crucial contribution in the fight against this unfortunate problem through, among other things, the upgrading of school infrastructure and free or subsidized school transport, which shortens distances and spares students the daily chore of the long and winding way to school, especially in rural and peri-urban areas. Which difficulty represents one of the main causes of school dropout.
As is the case in the peripheral districts of Lemkanssa, Drabna and Sidi Massoud where students have school transport buses thanks to the INDH, which has made it easier to access schools and increase the school enrollment rate.
School transport in rural areas also contributes significantly to improving their learning conditions, promoting the schooling of girls in rural areas and reducing the expenses of disadvantaged families.
In a statement to MAP, Abdelillah Bekkach, head of department at the Social Action Division at the Ain Chock District Prefecture, indicates that the school transport projects, supervised by 10 local associations in Lemkanssa, Drabna and Ouled Haddou, have had a direct impact in solving many problems related to the difficulty of access to education services for residents of these areas, in addition to improving the quality of learning for students.
With figures to support this, our interlocutor specifies that the number of school buses financed by the INDH is 29 vehicles benefiting 2,752 students including 1,766 in primary school, 595 middle school students and 391 high school students, noting that Lemkanssa has half of the buses compared to 29% for Drabna and 21% for Sidi Massoud.
The same positive observation was made by the associative actors and the associations of parents and guardians of the students who underline the important role of these INDH projects in reducing the school dropout rates.
The president of the Al Ismaïlia association, Mohamed El Badoui, welcomed the contribution of the INDH to the acquisition of school transport buses which made it possible to shorten the long kilometers separating students’ homes from their schools and thus reduce the school dropout rate.
El Badaoui, who is also the president of the parents’ association of Al Adarissa school, insists that school buses have freed the parents of students from heavy burdens and big worries related to the mobility and safety of their children, who go back and forth to school in comfort and serenity.
And for good reason, he explains, the students traveled more than seven kilometers every day to go to school, on foot or using unsafe means of transport, noting that thanks to the INDH, the school enrollment rate has increased significantly, especially for girls.
A satisfaction also expressed by Mohamed Yaâkoubi, father of two children enrolled at the Al Adarissa primary school, who confided to MAP that before the mobilization of a fleet of school buses thanks to the INDH, the populations residing in Lemkanssa 5 endured unbearable suffering and unbearable expenses due to the prices of taxis and mixed transport, which forced many students from disadvantaged families to reluctantly abandon school, the engine of social mobility.
The INDH has made the development of primary education a priority objective within the framework of its phase III, with particular emphasis on the rural world, aware of its importance in the development of the child, and its impact on the improvement of the cognitive capacities, social and emotional capacities of the pupils.
2024-09-20 12:44:24