MedNC alongside the Moroccan network of 2nd Chance Schools

In the 2019/2020 school year, it is estimated that nearly 10% of students in Morocco dropped out of school: what represents nearly 300,000 young people*. Even if this figure tends to improve compared to previous years (12% in 2018), it nevertheless depicts an alarming situation, yet similar to many other Mediterranean countries.

Among the causes of this phenomenon, we obviously find the consequences of the pandemic and the closure of face-to-face classes, but also the poverty that forces these young people to work, the lack of school transport that particularly penalizes those who come to rural areas, or the feeling of failure that many face**. 

It is in response to this observation that a network of associations of Moroccan 2nd Chance Schools (RAE2C Morocco) has been formed last December, under the impulse of the Ministry of National Education – and more particularly its Direction of Non-Formal Education – and of UNICEF in Morocco. In fine, it aims at bringing together the 123 schools, spread over the 12 regions of the country. Together, they welcome more than 9,000 young school dropouts, aged between 13 and 22, in order to support them towards a return to formal education, sustainable integration on the labor market or self-employment.

RAE2C Morocco gives its member-schools the opportunity to collaborate in a more fluid way, to identify and promote internally pioneering solutions, to share their best practices in terms of training and integration, and thus to generate a strong dynamic of exchange at the national level.

Among other, the emergence of such an entity will make possible a better recognition of the solutions carried by the various actors composing it, by the public authorities of the Kingdom.

A strong dynamic, welcomed by the MedNC network

It is because it wishes to support this approach, that the MedNC network wanted to engage with RAE2C Morocco through this agreement. Initially, the support offered by MedNC will focus on strengthening the advocacy skills of associations that are members of the Moroccan network, as well as on its structuring: in particular, with the drafting of a charter and the enunciation of clear membership criteria.

To do this, the MedNC network will be able to count on the expertise of some of its member structures, and in particular the E2C Francee and E2O España networks.

The creation of RAE2C Morocco, as well as the new perspectives it offers to Moroccan youth, will be part of the themes addressed during the 3rd annual conference of the MedNC network, next July. 
 

* - Figures presented in January 2021 by Mr. Saïd Amzazi, Minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, cited here, here, here and here.

** - For more figures on early school leaving in the Mediterranean: consult the MedNC literacy review.