School admission due to high prices… The PPS, which calls on the government to take effective measures
Heba Press – Rabat
During its last meeting, the Political Bureau of the Party of Progress and Socialism discussed the multiple manifestations of the high cost of living and the high prices of most consumer goods and services, which cause constant concern among Moroccan families of all levels, particularly among vulnerable groups and the middle class.
In this regard, the Political Bureau renewed its alert to the government, in order to take urgent and effective measures, in order to stop the hemorrhage of the purchasing power of Moroccans, by taking strong measures having a tangible positive impact on the pockets of men and women citizens, particularly in light of the negative multiplier effects of successive years of drought and high unemployment rates.
In this context, the Political Bureau referred to the suffering of Moroccan families due to the extremely high cost of school entry requirements, which overwhelms them with expenses that exceed the limits of their capacity to bear, despite some important but insufficient government measures, such as the exemption from value added tax on tools intended for school use and the allocation of 200 to 300 dirhams as additional financial support to families benefiting from the direct social assistance system in the right to enter school.
These measures, the party added, despite their importance, do not constitute a satisfactory response from the government to the great financial difficulties faced by Moroccan families when entering school, especially in light of the government’s elimination of important previous social programs, such as the Million Purse Program and the Facilitation Program, and in light of their weak monitoring of the practices of the private education sector, also in light of the deep imbalances known in the textbook market, as recorded by the Competition Council.
In addition to the social repercussions of this worrying reality, the Party of Progress and Socialism expressed its fear that these financial constraints linked to current school attendance would lead to an exacerbation of the school dropout crisis, particularly in rural areas and among girls, and therefore widen the circle of young people in a situation of “without work, without training, without education” NEET.
The party called on the government to accelerate the pace of comprehensive reform of the education and training system, in order to achieve a public school that offers quality, excellence and equal opportunities, based on the efforts made, whether at the level of education, family living conditions, or at the level of infrastructure, or in terms of efforts to improve programs and curricula and to improve the learning level of students.
