Al Haouz earthquake: the emergency program ensuring educational sustainability in affected areas includes two financial and educational components (Benmoussa) – Media7

Monday, October 16, 2023 at 7:15 p.m.

Rabat – The Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports has adopted an emergency program to ensure educational sustainability in areas affected by the Al Haouz earthquake, the Minister of Education said on Monday in Rabat. National Education, Preschool and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa, specifying that this program includes two financial and educational components.

Regarding the financial aspect, the diagnosis and evaluation of the material damage of the earthquake led to the classification of educational establishments according to the extent of the damage and the degree of danger, into establishments which require demolition and total reconstruction. or partial, and others which require renovation and rehabilitation, underlined the minister in response to an oral question concerning “the emergency plan for the rehabilitation of the education sector in areas affected by the earthquake”. An inventory of around 1,000 educational establishments has been drawn up, in addition to a group of boarding schools and primary education units, he said.

The ministry has adopted a set of alternatives and field solutions to ensure the immediate resumption of studies in these establishments, in particular the transfer of students from one class to another within the same establishment, or to nearby and safe establishments. , he noted, noting in this sense that around 7,000 secondary students were transferred while others were hosted in equipped tents, as mobile schools or classrooms to be temporarily occupied in areas that are difficult to access, in addition to the establishment of sanitary facilities, particularly in the provinces of Al Haouz, Chichaoua and Taroudant, where the number of tents will reach around 1,200.

Among these measures, adds Mr. Benmoussa, is the provision of prefabricated composite teaching units over a period of two months, which will have approximately 1,400 classrooms, in addition to the provision of sanitary facilities and administrative offices. These measures also include supporting the schooling of students through adaptation to temporary residential gatherings in affected areas. They also consist of ensuring school transport for students, in coordination with regional councils and the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH) and paying particular attention to the question of housing for teachers working in schools. Douars.

The minister assured, in this sense, that the efforts to develop reception spaces, accompanied by educational aspects, have favored the gradual return of students, in different classrooms, from Monday September 18.

Regarding the educational component of the emergency intervention program, Mr. Benmoussa noted that it includes a set of educational measures, including the opening of communication channels with families with the aim of registering their children who have not been enrolled in educational establishments, the adaptation of timetables concerning students whose classrooms have been closed, as well as the implementation of the option of reducing the duration of educational courses within three months of the earthquake. This component is also based on the increase in sporting and artistic activities to reduce psychological pressure, in addition to preparing for a return to the normal situation before the earthquake.

These measures also concern the psychological support of students in addition to intensive training for 250 psychological and social coaches organized in cooperation with the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection. These training courses opened the way for numerous cultural, artistic and sports associations to ensure the organization of joint activities with executives of educational establishments, and subsequently distribute new school bags, books and school supplies aimed at compensation losses caused by the earthquake.