An unprecedented financial aid scheme to encourage mass education under the framework of the “Tayssir” proposal has been initiated in Morocco. Some 38,000 families with children enrolled in primary schools have already received financial aid ranging between 60 and 100 Dirham per month per pupil.
Eligible households identified by the Ministry of Education will also receive postal checks on bi-monthly basis for a period of two years. The amount allocated, according to official sources, will depend on the number of children per family. Fifty million dirhams has been allocated to the pilot phase of the “Tayssir” proposal.
Meanwhile, some members of the Moroccan government are, reportedly, advocating for the beneficiaries, consisting of an initial 38,000 shortlisted households, to be raised to 46,000.
To benefit from the programme, municipalities are expected to be among those targeted by the national initiative for human development, they should also have a poverty rate above 30% of the national average with no more than an 8% drop rate. 139 municipalities in 5 regions have been earmarked to benefit from the proposed project.
Purpose
The “Tayssir” proposal is directed towards the enhancement of the livelihoods of Moroccan citizens living in inaccessible areas of the country.
Its main aim is to target one of the major setbacks to rural development, identified as the consideration of children in rural households as a source of income.
The project is expected to positively impact the education of children from disadvantaged social strata and enable them be in tune with the rest of the population, while giving their families incomes that would, otherwise, be made by the children.
Official sources have indicated that, the bi-monthly 250 dirhams to be allocated to families represent one third of their daily incomes (per family). The targeted familes’ daily incomes is estimated at not more than 10 per day.
