A/HRC/20/26/Add.2 half (49.2 per cent) in 2009; only 16.2 per cent of rural girls attended secondary education (2009).31 61. The Independent Expert is concerned by the high drop-out rates of children, particularly girls, from primary schools. She was pleased to learn during the mission that the Government was making a number of efforts to combat this phenomenon by, for instance, providing cash transfers to rural families as an incentive to send their children to schools, and arranging for their transportation to schools. Similarly, in 2009-2010, a national programme on non-formal education benefited 38,197 children and helped to reintegrate 7,770 children in formal or professional education. The Independent Expert considers the work of the Centre régional de documentation, d’animation et de production pédagogique in Marrakesh to be a remarkable Government achievement. By its work, the Centre has managed to halve school drop-out rates in a short period of time, supports the self-expression of students through various media, engages children in the cultural life of their community and increases their participation in cultural life in an imaginative and effective manner. For instance, one project implemented in 2009, with the support of an international non-governmental organization, focused on reorienting traditional ways of teaching to use a human rights-based approach. The Centre also organized a short-film competition for children, and additional classes for children are given by teachers on a voluntary basis. Importantly, the work simultaneously engages in synergy with families, schools and the public sphere. One challenge is that such an initiative relies to a large extent on the goodwill and volunteer work of teachers who do not receive paid leave to participate in training exercises or to do extra-curricular activities. The Independent Expert encourages the Government to allocate the financial and institutional resources necessary to support and promote this initiative, and to extend it beyond Marrakesh. A good practice to be possibly implemented throughout the country also is the establishment of children’s parliaments in Marrakech, which provides an avenue for children to discuss and participate in community development processes and raise awareness on, for instance, human rights and cultural heritage issues. For example, in 2010, 23 children parliamentarians had a discussion on the right to water and prepared a draft plan of action for their communities, which they shared with high-level national authorities. 62. The Independent Expert took note of other good practices that should be further supported, such as the production, by the Ministry of Social Development, Family and Solidarity, of excellent trilingual manuals (in Arabic, Amazigh and French) on the rights of the child, the new Family Code and the rights of persons with disabilities. It also includes the governmental initiative of teaching human rights to students at all stages of the school system and to members of the national legal service and public officials, including law enforcement officers.32 In this regard, some interlocutors emphasized that cultural rights were not included in such teaching or training. The Independent Expert recommends the inclusion of cultural rights in all human rights education programmes. Another positive example is initiatives supported by INDH, such as the Ben Youssef cultural complex in the Fès medina, and the youth centre of Aourir in the vicinity of Agadir, which offer extracurricular art, music and drama education for children and young adults. 63. The Independent Expert commends the efforts of civil society to combat illiteracy. She was informed of a project of a non-governmental organization that runs a mobile library for the poor in the Fès medina, where the drop-out rate is reportedly very high. Stopping at various places, the library engages children in storytelling and games, and 31 32 See the national report for 2009 on the Millennium Development Goals, March 2010. Available from www.hcp.ma/file/111464/. E/C.12/MAR/CO/3, para. 9. 15