More than 3.3 million Moroccan have benefited from the program since its launch in 2000.
Rabat – More than 290,000 people have benefited from remote literacy courses since Morocco’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs launched the program on March 18.
The figure represents 95% of the people enrolled in the ministry’s program for the fight against illiteracy, according to a recent press release from the ministry.
Around 10,000 tutors are accompanying the program’s beneficiaries through various electronic means due to the suspension of face-to-face classes, the statement added.
The remote learning initiative substitutes the literacy classes previously offered in mosques. The classes were suspended on March 16, after Morocco’s Supreme Scientific Council decided to close all mosques to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Following the suspension, literacy tutors remained in contact with their pupils through smartphone applications and continued to supervise their learning. Literacy classes also became available on the Assadissa (the Sixth) television channel and on the internet.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs launched the illiteracy combating program in 2000. The program has benefited 3.3 million people since its launch, including nearly 315,000 learners in the 2018-2019 school year alone.
Like the literacy program, regular schools have also suffered the suspension of face-to-face classes due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Since the suspension of classes on March 13, the Ministry of Education started offering courses on the fourth national television channel Athaqafia (culture).
The ministry also uploaded video lessons on their online platform TelmidTICE. The platform receives regular updates to its database to allow continuity in the curricula of all education levels.
On April 2, the ministry announced that the TelmidTICE website has reached an average of 600,000 users per day since its launch on March 16. The platform currently contains over 3,000 educational videos.
