Children, parents and teachers in Morocco on the role of school in the future development of vulnerable children

Abstract

Objective According to previous research, early education can be very beneficial for (vulnerable) children. Methods During January until Mai 2012 three primary schools in two Moroccan districts were visited. Gathering data was done by doing observations in schools, doing semi-structured interviews with teachers, and letting students, parents and teachers fill in a survey. Using data from a sample of 46 children, 68 parents and 15 teachers we examined whether school can be a good intervention for vulnerable children to provide them a better future. In this study is researched whether children, parents and teachers have the same opinion and which protective factors and risk factors can help or harm the child’s further development and career. Results According to the participants the education is good, but can be improved if there are the right means. Education is an important mean to provide children a better future. Poverty is a big risk factor given in almost every survey. Parents are not unwilling, but most of the time they have to work to afford their children to go to school. This results in parents not being involved because of lack of time. Communication between children, parents and teachers are mentioned to be an important protective factor. Also education itself was mentioned as a big protective factor. Finally, not all schools had a good relationship with the community and this can be explained by distance. When a school is located in the same neighborhood as where people live than the people who live there will be involved, but when the children go to school in another neighborhood, the community is less involved. Conclusion School can be a good intervention to help children to get a better future, but the quality of education has to be good and there have to be suitable jobs. Keywords Vulnerable children, school intervention, parents, teachers, community, future