Education/Public Support: Correcting anomalies

Chakib Benmoussa seized the opportunity of question time at the House of Representatives to take stock of the social support programs that are within the remit of his department. The Minister of Education wants to increase the number of beneficiaries, particularly children from poor and destitute families, while linking these programs to the targeting operation based on the Unified Social Register. The aim is to improve the services provided and the financial allowances, especially in a context of soaring prices. In this regard, the Minister noted that the 2022-2026 roadmap emphasizes the development of the social support system, through the establishment of a system to ensure the quality of the support provided, which includes the definition of the required standards and the granting of a quality label to the actors. The idea is also to establish a model of territorial governance of social support for an integrated management of these services. Moreover, the Minister listed several measures aimed at establishing these programs.

• The royal “1 million schoolbags” initiative

The overall cost of this operation amounts to 549 million dirhams (USD 54 million) for this school year. The number of beneficiaries in the current academic season has reached about 4.718 million, i.e. an increase of almost 3% over the previous year. In this total, the rural world represents 62% of the beneficiaries. In terms of education levels, primary education comes first with 83% of the total. In this context, the Ministry endeavored to strengthen the process of prior coordination with the services of the Interior Ministry and of the INDH (National Initiative for Human Development) to decide on the estimated number of beneficiaries, which resulted into the signing of public procurements in advance in order to avoid delays in the receipt and distribution of school kits.

• The Tayssir program of financial transfers conditional on the schooling of children 

The total annual cost of these transfers is estimated at 2.598 billion Dirhams (USD 260 million) for this academic year. According to forecasts, these transfers will benefit nearly 2.357 million students – 48% of whom are girls – during this school year. This represents nearly 1.685 million beneficiary families. To speed up these operations, the Ministry is working on improving the services of this program, by simplifying the procedures through digitalisation, by reducing payment times, and by improving the conditions of payment for these subsidies. An agreement has been signed for the outsourcing of the program to the National Pensions and Insurance Fund (CNRA) under management by the Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG). The financial transfer operation for the current academic year was to begin on Thursday, April 20, 2023. This operation will be carried out by bank transfer for people with a bank account, and from Tuesday, April 25 for the rest of the beneficiaries who will have to withdraw their money from community counters. 
Mohamed CHAOUI