Bursary Program Supports Vulnerable Students Working for a Second Chance

In Morocco, education is a primary means for students to secure a stable future. Some children see their schooling interrupted, though, and end up in vulnerable situations. These children are in a cycle of poverty and danger, with no way out.

The Barzilai Foundation is partnering with AICEED to provide these children a path back to education and a stable future. AICEED is Morocco-based organization dedicated to children’s natural rights to survival, protection, development, and participation. The organization works with children who are in situations of extreme, out of school and living on the streets or in group homes and helps them re-integrate into society through education. AICEED’s education programs get students back on track to re-enter public schooling or into vocational training programs and recapture the potential for a stable future.

Barzilai Foundation Team Distributing Books and Course Materials to Students

AICEED supports over 150 children per year in Tangier, Morocco, seeing them through second-chance school program that lasts 1-2 years, and prepares them for public school reintegration, while also teaching life skills and establishing a newfound sense of psychological safety. In addition, for students who may be too old to rejoin schooling, AICEED provides vocational training for in-demand professions such as plumbing, tailoring, and electrical work.

AICEED’s funding covers basic elements such as classrooms, and instructors, but core needs for the students to be successful are missing. The Barzilai Foundation is sponsoring a bursary program that provides these students with essentials such as instruction books, uniforms, and classroom supplies. In addition, the program will be providing a transportation solution for students who live far from campus or who require travel to vocational training sites via bus cards. This will eliminate any risk that the barrier of travel or financial cost of transportation becomes an obstacle to their ongoing education.

“AICEED takes children who have been removed from their best pathway to a decent future and provides them paths back to school,” said Brandon Sosa, CEO of the Barzilai Foundation. “These children are thinking about survival today, not about being stuck in a poverty cycle. The work AICEED does gives them a chance to break out of that cycle. We want to make sure that chance is their best chance by giving them the tools they need.”

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