Last month King Mohammed VI of Morocco inaugurated a new 3.6 million dirham (about $441,000) center for women’s education and training as part of the World Bank’s National Human Development Initiative (INDH) program. The project aims to address the disparity of education in Morocco, where the literacy rate for women stands at about 58 per cent (about 90 per cent in rural areas), and about half of girls drop out of school at the secondary level.
The center, with a capacity of 130 women, will provide literacy courses and teacher training, as well as programs in sewing, hairdressing, and computer science to those young women who need new skills or have dropped out of school.
The INDH program was launched in 2007 and targets 15 urban areas and 49 villages. It is an indication of continuing support for Morocco. The World Bank has twice loaned Morocco more than $100 million since 2010 for development projects as part of the INDH. The INDH included more than 511 projects to be carried out between 2005 and 2013, of which 446 have been completed.
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Written by Alex Leedom