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Rabat – A Moroccan judge in the Ighrem region of the Taroudant province in southern Morocco, sent official correspondences to parents of 24 female students, who were preventing their daughters from continuing their high school education.
The judge delivered the initial order in the form of a verbal instruction to the parents.
The students’ parents have failed to respond to the verbal warning, thus, they were given 48 hours to comply with the law and allow their children to continue their high school education, otherwise they are to face serious legal consequences.
Local authorities had given the parents 48 hours to deliver an initial written approval to the office of the commanding officer and the judge, so that the female students could complete their studies.
The judge warned the parents that legal measures will be taken if they refuse to comply, in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 20 of the Moroccan Criminal Code.
This is an unprecedented initiative from the judge, who intervened after discovering the heads of the families were preventing their daughters from completing their secondary school studies for the purpose of marrying them off at an early age.
The court stated that these reasons are “flawed and unacceptable”, considering that most of the female students achieved good results and grades, and demonstrated willingness to continue their studies.
A Promising Precedent
The intervention proved to be successful as the parents gave their written consent after facing pressures from local authority and the judge, warning them of the looming consequences of their actions.
The girls come from 13 different villages in the Ighrem area, located in the rugged mountainous areas, where schools are sparse.
They will enroll in the “Ark” high school in Ighrem, a boarding school that will facilitate their access to education and reduce costs to their families.
Middle-schools and high-schools are rare in such areas, and only a few families are willing to let their children, especially girls, take the risk of walking alone for long distances every day for an education.
In the case of available boarding schools, this argument loses in strength.
Statistics dating back to 2018 show that Morocco has 107 active primary boarding schools, benefitting 6,679 students, 2,757 of which are girls.
In addition to 413 secondary boarding schools accommodating 47,517 students, with 23,588 female students, and 369 boarding schools with 57,125 beneficiaries, among them are 28,253 girls.
The Invisible Majority
The reasons for preventing girls in this particular region from completing their studies are primarily due to cultural and customary reasons, as early marriage is considered by many rural Moroccans as the ultimate goal for women and girls.
Women who lack education suffer a host of devestating consequences, including: poverty, child labor, early marriage, pregnancy, and higher mortality rates due to birth related complications.
The High Commission for Planning surveyed girls in rural Moroccan areas on matters including education, early marriage, and access to opportunities back in 2017.
Girls represent almost half (49.1%) of the population under 19-years old in Morocco out of a total of 6.12 million.
Despite the progress made in enrolling children in school, one out of ten girls between the ages of 7 and 12 are not enrolled in school in rural areas, and 14.8% of girls aged 15 to 24 are illiterate compared to 7.2% of boys of the same age.
Another finding is that 24.6% of girls aged 15 to 17 do not work, are not in school, and are not receiving any training, compared with only 5.1% of boys.
Moroccan ‘Girl Power’ is Real
Morocco is actively implementing programs to support school enrollment, and combat educational wastage, especially among young rural girls.
Morocco ratified the 1989 International Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993, the 2011 Constitution ensures the protection of children and guarantees his or her right to access basic education, under article 32 .
Morocco has also implemented a law on compulsory education on children until the age of 15, in addition to the mass literacy policy, the “One million school bags” project, the Tayssir program (scholarship conditional on the attendance of children in primary and secondary school) or the creation of boarding schools, especially for girls (Dar Taliba).
There are a wide series of measures set in place that are associated with progress towards addressing the problem of the lack of education for young girls in rural areas. Results: For girls, the dropout rate has fallen to 1.7% in primary school, 8% in secondary school, and 8.6% in qualifying secondary school.
It has been well documented that education is key to female empowerment.
This year, female students dominated the list of the highest baccalaureate exam results in Morocco.
Academic achievement and success are consistently greater among girls, as compared to the boys, from elementary school through high school.
Moroccan girls and women continue to break records and barriers and ascend to astonishing new heights across a variety of fields, beyond academia.
No evidence, however, suggests that they are smarter. These differences can likely be explained by several factors, including girls’ higher levels of discipline, studious devotion, and focus in class.
There can also be underlying factors stemming from girls’ vital need to assert themselves in a society that still favors boys, and discriminates against them in more ways than one.
