Moroccan students in earthquake-affected areas, with the support of their parents, are continuing to fight to attend school, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) article.
The earthquake caused damage of varying degrees to 530 schools and 55 boarding schools in the provinces of Al Haouz, Chichaoua, and Taroudant. Morocco has built 32 tent schools, or “provisional schools” to host 2,800 students as a temporary measure to keep students in school and studying as the authorities search for a more permanent solution.
Hundreds of students – of mostly high school age – from the Ouirgane province have been transferred to boarding schools in Marrakech to continue their education.
Brahim El Berd, the father of one of these students, walks with his 13-year-old son from Tinghar village to a tent school in Asni, over 14 kilometers away.
El Berd told AFP that he is doing this for his son because he does not want him to drop out of school. He added that he hopes the authorities will think about providing buses to make things easier for children and parents alike.
Samira Ait Achichaou, 15, leaves every day at dawn with her father, hitchhiking from the town of Ousserterk, more than 50 kilometers east of Asni.
Ait Achichaou is studying and living at a regional boarding school, which was partially destroyed by the earthquake. Ait Achichaou expressed she was happy to go back to school, despite the difficulties she faces.
French teacher Abdellah Zahid explains that although classes did not resume immediately after the earthquake, mostly for “organizational reasons,” students arrived in large groups. He said that for the first few days, teachers tried to “focus on listening to our students and giving them psychological support” before resuming classes by reviewing schedules and figuring out the best way to help their students succeed.
Khadija Aït Ali, 17-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a teacher in the Al-Haouz region, told AFP that she still feels shaken by the earthquake, “but going back to school, even in a tent, surrounded by my friends, is a relief.”
For children and teenagers like her, school has become a place where they can feel normal, and forget, for a while, the earthquake and everything they went through.