Youth facing unemployment in Morocco are extremely vulnerable to a life of crime and drugs and USAID refuses to let this continue.

Issues in the education system have led to dismal circumstances for youth in Morocco, and this government agency is striving to help those already affected by the problems while simultaneously working to solve the root of them.

In the country of Morocco, most students enrolled in the first grade are not predicted to graduate. Drop-out rates are high although 97 percent of children are currently enrolled in school. Moroccan students rank as some of the lowest on international test scores.

Change has become necessary in order for the at-risk youth in Morocco to be properly educated and prepared to provide for themselves and their families.

USAID has partnered with government and nonprofit organizations to implement plans for reform. Research in 2015 suggested that poor and limited teacher training along with a minimal amount of additional reading materials for students were the two main causes of the students’ poor test results.

The Reading for Success-Small Experimentation program has the following three main focuses: a different approach to teaching Arabian phonics, new training guides for teachers and instructors and summer reading activities to cut down on the loss students encounter over the summer months when not in school.

The program began in September 2015 and is set to run until March 2018. It will introduce over 9,000 students in the first and second grade to a new approach to reading, have 180 teachers complete the reformed training and develop effective guidebooks as a resource for teachers, coaches and instructors as they navigate this new approach.

Working even harder to affect real and lasting change, the final goal of the program is to have 800 students participate in the summer reading programs. The Washington Post quoted First Lady Michelle Obama when she said, “research shows that if kids take a break from learning all summer, they not only miss out on new information and skills, they can actually lose up to three months’ worth of knowledge from the previous year.”

The new implementations for summer learning in Morocco will not only help students retain knowledge from the previous year but also equip them for another year of prosperous learning.

But what about the kids who have already finished elementary school?

USAID is also working to help the older youth of Morocco, who make up one-third of the country’s population. Of this one-third, 40 percent do not have jobs and/or are not currently enrolled in school.

The government has partnered with USAID in the cities of Tangiers and Tetouan to provide unemployed youth with vocational training. Their activity, the Favorable Opportunities to Reinforce Self-Advancement for Today’s Youth, began in 2012 and works to increase confidence by training youth in professional skills and giving academic support such as tutoring.

It is doing more than teach skills; this program is giving at-risk youth in Morocco purpose. One student participating in a sewing class in Tangiers told a USAID deputy assistant administrator that “if it wasn’t for this program, [I] would most certainly be on the street selling drugs.”

Morocco is making incredible progress as 12,000 youth are being mentored through this program, and those still enrolled in school are given more and more opportunities for success. The education and vocational skills given to one-third of this nation are sure to positively impact the other two-thirds as well.

– Rebecca Causey

Photo: Flickr