The implementation of strategic plans and programs to combat illiteracy, by the various actors, has not yet produced the expected effect to eradicate this scourge, the First President of the Court of Auditors underlined on Wednesday in Rabat. , Zineb El Adaoui.
Speaking during a joint plenary session of the two chambers of Parliament devoted to the presentation of a presentation on the action of the Court of Auditors for the period 2023-2024, Ms. El Adaoui indicated that the assessment carried out in the area of the fight against illiteracy “remains unsatisfactory” despite the various strategies and the overall envelope of nearly 3 billion dirhams which has been mobilized for the benefit of the National Agency for the Fight against illiteracy. illiteracy between 2015 and 2023.
She noted, in this regard, that the proportion of illiterates remains high among citizens aged over 15, with more than 9 million and 240 thousand people registered in 2021, the equivalent of an illiteracy rate approximately 34.2% compared to 47.7% in 2004.
In this sense, Ms. El Adaoui pleaded for the promotion of the effectiveness and efficiency of programs to combat illiteracy, in particular through a program contract between the State and the Agency in order to define the strategic objectives and quantitative measures to be achieved according to an appropriate timetable, as well as to put in place mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of planned programs and projects, as well as the evaluation of their results and their impact on reducing the illiteracy rate .
The Agency, she continues, has carried out programs to combat illiteracy in partnership with civil society organizations, noting the absence of a classification system for associations working in the field of literacy, which would allow to encourage them to specialize and organize themselves, on the one hand, and to facilitate the evaluation of their performance and the taking, during the selection process, of decisions based on precise information, thus helping to guarantee their sustainability, other leaves.
“The Court also noted the absence of concrete measures to ensure the adequacy of the training spaces offered by partner associations, which could impact the quality of the training provided, the degree of attractiveness for beneficiaries and the overall profitability of projects,” said the First President of the Court of Auditors.
In this regard, Ms. El Adaoui noted that certain training spaces consist of apartments, residential houses and garages not equipped to accommodate literacy training, stressing that the proportion of public spaces dedicated to these training courses has not exceeded 18% of the total locations reported for the 2022/2023 school year.
And to continue, in the same context, that a low rate of presence and attendance of beneficiaries of literacy programs provided by civil society organizations was observed.
“Indeed, the average attendance index reached around 40% in a sample of 14,263 classes, spread over 52 prefectures and provinces, inspected in the field by design offices hired for this purpose, during the 2019 period. -2022,” she said, adding that the average attendance index did not exceed 43%, which risks limiting the impact of efforts deployed to combat illiteracy.
To do this, the Court recommended that the Agency improve the effectiveness and efficiency of programs to combat illiteracy carried out in partnership with civil society organizations, in order to strengthen their effective impact on the reduction of the illiteracy rate, in particular through the classification of organizations active in this field and the adoption of criteria and procedures making it possible to select serious associations and cooperatives, having the specialized human resources and professional skills necessary to provide training in literacy.
