Social Status in Morocco: The Have's and The Have-Not's

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I have been fortunate enough to live in many places in the US, being both a have and a have not. In the spirit of vulnerability, when I was born, my family was on food stamps. My parents had the opportunity to work their way up the level of success they have strived for. That is not always the case in America, but I noticed just how much more difficult that is in Morocco. Driving around, you see people of all ages, genders, and abilities begging for money or food on the side of the streets. In that same drive, you also see Porsches driving alongside the bus as you drive past one of the seventeen palaces the King owns, as well as the other palaces foreign diplomats and royal families have. 

The prevalence of begging is also something that cannot go unnoticed as it is everywhere in Morocco, whether is be coming up and asking for money or offering/forcing a product or service. It is not just to  tourists either. It is to anyone presumably wealthy. Something I found interesting was when we first got to Morocco and we were all convening outside the airport, when the van came up, guys just grabbed our bags and moved them to the cargo area. As they were dressed all the same, we assumed they worked at the airport or for the travel service and let them continue taking the bags to the van. When they were done, they asked for tip. As we were not able to grab cash, we had not yet gotten any money and were unable to tip. But more than that, it is very covert and easy to mistake when someone is just being kind and helpful or if they are expecting payment. 

The opportunity for education is interesting as well. ENA is a free public institution. Just under one million attended public university, where tuition is free, not including housing and amenities, with a total of 1.35 million in tertiary education (Galal 2024). When we visited Al Akhawayn University, the students gave us an inside view of student life and cost of attendance. In total, they pay the equivalent of around $12,000 in tuition and amenities to attend university in total. While this seems incredibly affordable compared to the tuition, fees, and amenities we pay to go to UGA, this is a clear indicator of the wealth difference in education. 


Galal, S. (2024, January 10). Topic: Education in Morocco. Statista. https://www.statista.com/topics/7523/education-in-morocco/#topicOverview

Comments

  1. Rose S.August 3, 2024 at 4:07 PM

    Hello, Katy!

    I liked your discussion points, specifically on the disparity between education prices in the US and across different universities in Morocco. I think an interesting comparison point between ENA and AUI is the fact that ENA is public funded and run and AUI follows the American structure of schooling (4 years, 8 semesters, charging tuition). This could help explain the motivation behind wealth disparity between students at both schools. That being said, besides appearances I noticed programs at each school that were designed to help students succeed in the future job field, such as the equivalent of the Career Resource Center at AUI and the internship requirement at ENA. I think Morocco is making progress in its attempts to close its wealth gap, and it largely rests on the capabilities of the education system to make a change from the bottom up.

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