Morocco

Education and Training

The Zakoura Foundation

Picture of students at the Zakoura Foundation

Founded in 1995, the Zakoura Foundation, is a non-governmental organisation which was set up by a small group of Moroccan businessmen who wanted to improve conditions for the rural poor of the country. They set out to create employment opportunities through the granting of micro credit loans. The success of this initiative among women, who organized small cottage industries in rural communities, led to a further initiative - the provision of "informal" education for the children in these areas.
With a 48% illiteracy rate, the educational task is a considerable one. It is the aim of the Zakoura Education Foundation to offer opportunities to children in underprivileged rural regions, especially the girls. The goal is to enable these young people to become active citizens capable of participating in their country’s development. By setting up schools designed for the particular needs of its pupils, the Foundation brings schooling to those who, for a variety of social or economic reasons, or because of distance, cannot enter the public system.
The programme lasts three years and includes civic education and an introduction to artistic and scientific areas. Children who have not attended schools before (and this is often the case for young girls) are taught first to read and write in Arabic, to count, to look after themselves and to understand their surroundings with the potential these offer for development. Emphasis is given to the child’s development within the community. There are thirty pupils per class, aged from 8–11 and from 12–16.
During the second year, French language teaching is introduced. The curriculum uses the official system text-books, themselves based on the French programme, but uses a different type of teaching method which encourages maximum personal expression for the children. Singing and improvised theatre reinforce the children’s sense of confidence and enjoyment.
The attendance rate is phenomenal, one school claiming not a single absence over the entire eight-month period. The teachers are young graduates who might otherwise remain unemployed, but who return to their villages to teach. Their salaries are paid by the Foundation. There are many obstacles to schooling in rural areas. The incomes of families are low and formal schooling costs increase regularly—under the Zakoura scheme school materials and books are provided free. Long distances from public schools are another obstacle—the schools run by the Zakoura programme are situated well within reach of the homes of the children. Another “plus” for the scheme is that the teachers in the informal schools come from the same communities (Douar) as the children.
The partnership between Nestlé Morocco and the Zakoura Foundation has been a decisive step in bringing this educational project into being. The former Managing Director of the Company is one of the founder members of the Foundation and two other Nestlé managers, one of them in his capacity as Secretary General for the NGO, were instrumental in setting up the system. In close collaboration with the child-psychologist who is in charge of the Education section of the Foundation, the team worked to develop the schools with the education authorities on the one hand and the milk farmers and their families on the other.