The Mohammed V University in Rabat launched on Friday, January 22, a series of activities for the benefit of inmates in 14 different prisons across Morocco.
Morocco’s General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) said the university will provide both remote and face-to-face lessons at the center for reform and education in Sale, Rabat’s twin city.
The initiative will allow inmates who were enrolled in universities before their prison sentences to continue their higher education from inside prisons, said Younes Jabran, DGAPR’s secretary general.
So far, 41 inmates from 14 different prisons have registered to attend lectures in various academic fields.
All lessons currently take place remotely, but the Mohammed VI University is set to appoint professors to give face-to-face lectures as soon as the local epidemiological situation allows it.
The President of Mohammed V University, Mohamed Ghachi, said the initiative falls within Morocco’s vision to turn prisons into a place of learning and training in order to prepare inmates for the outside world.
“It is also in recognition of the right of access to education and training, as well as the principle of equal opportunities,” he added.
In addition to lectures, Mohammed V University is providing several books and scientific papers for the inmates to read.
The Mohammed VI Foundation for the Promotion of Social Works of Education and Training, one of the initiative’s partners, considers the unprecedented move important in order to break stereotypes about prisons and inmates.
The initiative seeks to diversify the education offered to inmates in Moroccan prisons, allowing them to follow courses in academia and not only vocational training, which was implemented over a decade ago.
