Rabat – Morocco is set to launch its first National Reading project to encourage school-aged children as well as adults to read more.
Morocco’s Ministry of Education will launch the project in collaboration with the Scientific Research Foundation.
A ceremony for the project will take place on Monday, at the Center for Reception and Seminars at the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Advancement of Social Work for Education and Training.
The ministry emphasized in a statement that the project seeks to benefit all Moroccans in both Arabic and Amazigh, two of Morocco’s official languages.
The 10-year plan aims to encourage all school children, university students and school teachers to read and to “enhance the effectiveness of civil institutions to play their societal role in supporting reading, as well as to contribute to educational reforms.”
The project has been described as an “effective contribution to the shift towards leadership in reading projects” by the ministry, who also touted its capacity to help sustain cultural authenticity and “improve Morocco’s position in competitions at the Arab, regional, and international levels.”
The launch of the program comes at a critical time, when civil societies and NGOs are calling for urgent reforms to tackle the crisis in the education system in Morocco.
A recent report from the World Bank found that an average of 70% of children under the age of 10 are unable to read a simple text in the MENA region. Morocco is not an exception, as the average of children under the age of 10 who are unable to read a simple text stands at nearly 65%.
In 2019, Morocco’s Social Economic and Environmental Council (CESE) published a report urging for a concerted national strategy to promote reading.
CESE proposed that local authorities across Morocco set aside a budget to promote reading as well as to promote the production and distribution of books by putting in place incentives to support the publishing sector.
Read Also: CESE: Promoting Reading in Morocco is an Urgent Necessity
