The Foundation for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage of Rabat, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, held the annual ceremony for its “I discover my Heritage” educational program in Taroudant for the 2023-2024 school year on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
The educational program, carried out in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports, the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication and UNESCO and in collaboration with INRA, INBA, and other partners, involved the creation and implementation of an educational kit, to discover Taroudant’s local heritage, designed by the Foundation and education and heritage professionals. The educational kit enabled pupils to discover the cultural heritage of their town, as well as its components and forms of expression in architecture, town planning and landscape.
In addition to classroom activities, the Foundation’s educational program organized outings and visits to heritage sites for pupils and teachers, supervised by heritage experts and specialists. Over 700 schoolchildren and teachers took part in this edition of the educational program.
Since its launch in Rabat in 2022, the “I discover my Heritage ” program has benefited more than 10,000 students.
“I Discover my Heritage ” is being implemented in Taroudant for the first time since its creation on the sidelines of the Al Haouz earthquake, to raise awareness among young people of the importance of safeguarding cultural heritage in all its forms of expression.
The contextualization of the kit to the local heritage of the city of Taroudant also enabled teachers to benefit from training and capacity-building sessions on knowledge relating to the region’s cultural heritage and all its forms of representation.
At the closing ceremony held at the Centre Cultural of Taroudant, participants in the educational program were invited to attend cultural performances highlighting the plastic creations of young schoolchildren, as well as various artistic performances in a festive atmosphere celebrating the cultural heritage of the city of Taroudant.
These activities, carried out as part of the educational program, testify to the Foundation’s commitment to facilitating access to culture and heritage through contextual education, and to reinforcing the place of cultural and artistic education in educational processes.
At the ceremony, participants from the 20 middle schools, as well as teachers, and members of the monitoring committee, received certificates of encouragement for their participation in the “I discover my Heritage” educational program, and their successful efforts in making this year’s edition a success.
The “I discover my Heritage” program aims to raise awareness among secondary school pupils and teachers of the importance of safeguarding tangible, intangible and landscape cultural heritage, and to develop approaches and methods linked to arts and culture education.