King Mohammed VI Officially Opens Female Student House and Training Center

Last Friday, King Mohammed VI celebrated the opening of a new female student house and training center in Marrakech. The new facility cost around 4.55 million dirhams. It was financed by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity and the MAMDA-MCMA Construction Foundation, according to an article in the Agence Maghreb Arabe Presse.

Dar Attaliba, the student house, provides courses and accommodation for young women from poor rural areas. It was created in order to combat the dropout rate among this demographic. It can house up to sixty young women, and includes all of the usual amenities of student housing, plus an on-site infirmary, kitchen, and reading room.

The new training center will offer classes in literacy, dress-making and crafts (to help the women earn an income), and training to encourage children’s education. An on-site daycare will also be offered at the training center.

In addition to the new opportunities for women in the fields of education and trade, the Minister of Social Development, Family and Solidarity recently gave an interview to the Global Post where she highlighted the achievements of the Moroccan government and King in helping to improve the lives of women. Nouzha Skalli discussed the new Family Code. This law helps to provide equal rights and responsibilities for husbands and wives. There is also a criminal code, which makes sexual harassment in the workplace illegal. These laws were created to help combat violence against women, a subject that, until recently, was considered taboo in Morocco.

To read about, and to discuss King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan Royal Family, please visit this thread.

Filed under Morocco
Tagged Education, Mohammed VI of Morocco, Women's Rights.