Abstract
In Morocco, hundreds of thousands of children aged between eight and fiteen years, boys and girls, either have never been to school or dropped out from it, too soon. They live in very difficult conditions, wandering in the streets, or working early in farms or in the city. This sad phenomenon is the first and principal source of illiteracy in the country, and constitutes a huge obstacle to economic growth and social development.
Decreasing illiteracy, giving a second chance to children in age of schooling, is therefore a priority that results from a global and deep vision we do have of the Moroccan educational landscape. We have been involved in the International Convention for Children's Rights, we have engaged in the Millennium Development Goals, and been part of the Education for All Policy.
Non Formal Education has come as a proposed alternative to this critical situation. It aims at reinserting children in the economic cycle and training them at being good citizens. It was launched in 1997, but the results have not been positive enough and the idea has not appealed to enough moroccans, even though a tremendous number of them actually need it. This memorandum is above all a call for a much more effective design and implementation of the non-formal education policy in Morocco.
