Education in Morocco
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The education system in Morocco comprises
pre-school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary scho ...
, primary, secondary and
tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
levels. School education is supervised by the Ministry of National Education, with considerable devolution to the regional level. Higher education falls under the Ministry of Higher Education and Executive Training. School attendance is compulsory up to the age of 13. About 56% of young people are enrolled in secondary education, and 11% are in higher education. The government has launched several policy reviews to improve quality and access to education, and in particular to tackle a continuing problem of
illiteracy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...
. Support has been obtained from a number of international organisation such as
USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
,
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
and the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
. A recent report after the new government being formed in 2017 has made Arabic as well as French Compulsory in Public School.


History


Islamic

In the year 859, Fatima al-Fihri established Al-Qarawiyiin mosque in Fes, and its associated madrasa is considered by some institutions such as
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
and
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
to be the oldest existing, continually operating
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
al institution in the world. The Moroccan historian wrote that schools in Morocco were first built under the Almohad Caliphate (1121–1269). For centuries, public education in Morocco took place primarily in
madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
s and ''
kuttab A kuttab ( ar, كُتَّاب ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab ( ar, مَكْتَب) is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, a ...
s'' ()''—''or as they were called in Morocco, '' msids'' ()''.'' Education at the ''msid'' was Islamic and delivered in Arabic. In addition to teaching
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
ic exegesis ( ''tafseer'') and Islamic jurisprudence (''
fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
''), Islamic schools often taught a wide variety of subjects, including literature, science and history. The
Marinids The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ar ...
founded a number of these schools, including those in Fes,
Meknes Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th c ...
, and
Salé Salé ( ar, سلا, salā, ; ber, ⵙⵍⴰ, sla) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Founded in about 1030 by the Banu Ifran, ...
, while the Saadis expanded the Ben Youssef Madrasa in Marrakesh.


Jewish

In the aftermath of the sacking of the ''
Mellah A ''mellah'' ( or 'saline area'; and he, מלאח) is a Jewish quarter of a city in Morocco. Starting in the 15th century and especially since the beginning of the 19th century, Jewish communities in Morocco were constrained to live in ''mellah' ...
'' in the Hispano-Moroccan War, the
Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU; he, כל ישראל חברים; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jew ...
, a French organization working to empower Jews around the world through a French education, founded its first school in Tetuan in 1862, followed by schools in
Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...
(1864), Essaouira (1866), and Asfi (1867), eventually reaching a total of 83 schools—more than all of the AIU's schools in the rest of the world. Before the French Protectorate, Jewish girls' schools were teaching reading and writing, as well as vocational workplace training through skills such as tailoring and laundering, and later reading, writing, and shorthand. In 1913, the French authorities replicated this system for Muslim girls in Salé and later other cities.


French Protectorate

Following the
Treaty of Fes The Treaty of Fes ( ar, معاهدة فاس, ), officially the Treaty Concluded Between France and Morocco on 30 March 1912, for the Organization of the French Protectorate in the Sherifien Empire (), was a treaty signed by Sultan Abd al-Hafid o ...
of 1912 and the establishment of the French Protectorate, France established public schools in which education was delivered in French. Protectorate officials were hesitant about education for general public, afraid that an educated populace would become a source of opposition to the colonial regime. Resident General Hubert Lyautey's elitism shaped the educational system under the French Protectorate, and access to a modern education depended on a student's ethnicity and class, with separate educational opportunities for Europeans, Jews, and Muslims. Only a percentage of the children attending school were Muslim, and of these, most attended the traditional Quranic schools, or '' msids'', which were beyond the purview of the Protectorate''.'' Most Muslim students studying within the Protectorate's educational system received a
vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
to work in various manual trades. Five schools for the "sons of notables" were established after 1916 for boys from elite Moroccan families. There were also two founded in Fes (1914) and Rabat (1916). These boarding schools, which Susan Gilson Miller likens to
Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
, served to create Lyautey's vision for a class of bicultural Moroccan "gentlemen"—imbued with traditional ideals yet efficient in navigating modern bureaucratic systems—to fill roles in the country's administration. In 1920, Lyautey founded the , located within the next to the colonial headquarters in Rabat, for colonial administrators who wanted to learn more about Moroccan history and society. After 1920, French , who were rigorously prepared in an Amazigh dialect and trained as teachers and intelligence gatherers, were assigned to schools in rural areas for speakers of Amazigh languages. The , one of these schools that was developed into a , was one of the instruments for the implementation of a Berber Dhahīr and to "help form an Amazigh elite that would help France implement its divide and rule policies." It trained its
Amazigh , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...
students for high roles in the colonial administration, as well as forming "a Berber elite steeped in French culture, in an environment where Arabic influences were rigorously excluded." This hierarchical educational system was designed to "guarantee an indigenous elite loyal to France and ready to enter its service," though its permeability in practice made it a "vehicle of social mobility." The inadequacies of traditional education at the ''msid'' became apparent, and private Moroccan citizens, particularly of the bourgeois merchant class, started to found what would later become known as "free schools"—with modernized curricula and instruction in
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
—independently of each other. The teaching quality at these free schools varied greatly, from "uninspiring fqîhs, scarcely removed from their ''msîds''" to "the country's most distinguished and imaginative '''ulamâ''." Many of the young teachers in Fes were simultaneously taking classes at
al-Qarawiyyin University The University of al-Qarawiyyin ( ar, جامعة القرويين; ber, ⵜⴰⵙⴷⴰⵡⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵇⴰⵕⴰⵡⵉⵢⵉⵏ; french: Université Al Quaraouiyine), also written Al-Karaouine or Al Quaraouiyine, is a university located in ...
, and several would go on to lead the Moroccan Nationalist Movement.


Independence

In the 44 year period of the French Protectorate, a total of only 1415 Moroccans had earned baccalaureate diplomas, 640 of whom were Muslims and 775 of whom were Jews. Additionally, under the Protectorate, only 15% of school-age children were in school. It was necessary to develop the educational system and a university network out of the limited resources left by the French in order to face the challenges awaiting the newly independent nation-state, such as "creating and consolidating state institutions, building a national economy, organizing civil society and the nascent political parties, ndestablishing social protections for a needy population." Arabization became an imperative. published (, "''Read''"), the first series of Arabic textbooks in Morocco, in 1956, 1957, and 1958. In 1957, attempted to Arabize first grade, but this attempt was not successful. The
Institute for Studies and Research on Arabization The Institute for Studies and Research on Arabization (, or ) is an institute dedicated to Arabization in Rabat, Morocco created by decree January 14, 1960. History In 1960, the Moroccan government created the Institute for Studies and Researc ...
was established in 1960 and the first Congress of Arabization was held in Rabat in 1961. The Cultural Agreement of 1957, signed by the Moroccan and French governments, allowed for the continuation of French education in Morocco administered by a body known as the (which was replaced by
AEFE The Agency for French Education Abroad, or Agency for French Teaching Abroad, (french: Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger; abbreviation: AEFE), is a national public agency under the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ...
in 1990). In 1958, Muhammad al-Fasi's successor, , established a blueprint for education reform in four goals: # unify the traditional and modern systems # Arabize all subjects # generalize literacy # Moroccanize, i.e. train nationals to replace foreign teachers It was in 1963 that education was made compulsory for all Moroccan children between the ages of 6 through 13 and during this time all subjects were Arabized in the first and second grades, while French was maintained as the language of instruction of
maths Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
in both primary and secondary levels. In 1965, demanding the right to public higher education for Moroccans, the National Union of Moroccan Students (, ) organized a march starting from Muhammad V Secondary School in Casablanca, which devolved the following day into the 1965 Moroccan riots.Miller, ''A History of Modern Morocco'' (2013), pp. 162
168
169.
King
Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People * Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...
blamed the events on teachers and parents, and declared: "Allow me to tell you that there is no greater danger to the State than a pseudo-intellectual, and you are pseudo-intellectuals. It would have been better if you were all illiterate.” In the aftermath, teachers were persecuted. Under Hassan II, the Institute of Sociology () run by Abdelkebir Khatibi was dissolved in 1970. In 1973, the humanities at government-controlled universities were Arabized, in which the Istiqlal leader
Allal al-Fassi Muhammad Allal al-Fassi (ⵄⵍⵍⴰⵍ ⵍⴼⴰⵙⵉ) (January 10, 1910 – May 13, 1974), was a Moroccan politician, writer, poet and Islamic scholar. Politics He was born in Fes, Morocco. He studied at the University of Al-Qarawiyyin. F ...
played a major role, and curricula were substantially changed. Arabization was instrumentalized to suppress critical thought, a move which Dr. Susan Gilson Miller described as a "crude and obvious attempt to foster a more conservative atmosphere within academia and to dampen enthusiasm for the radicalizing influences filtering in from Europe." The Minister of Education Azzeddine Laraki, following a report conducted by a committee of four Egyptians including two from al-Azhar University, replaced sociology with Islamic thought in 1983. To meet the rising demand for secondary education in the 1970s, Morocco imported French speaking teachers from countries such as France,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, and
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
to teach maths and sciences, and Arab teachers to teach
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
and social studies. A 1973 article in ''
Lamalif ''Lamalif'' was a monthly Moroccan political and cultural magazine published in French between 1966 and 1988. History and profile Lamalif was launched in 1966 by Zakya Daoud and her husband Mohamed Loghlam. It took its title from two Arabic ...
'' described Moroccan society as broken and fragmented, with misdirected energy from a discouraged and ashamed elite contributing to low standards of education. By 1989, Arabization of all subjects across all grades in both primary and secondary public education was accomplished. However, French remained the medium of instruction for scientific subjects in technical and professional secondary schools, technical institutes and universities. The government has undertaken several reforms to improve the access of education and reduce regional differences in the provision of education. In 1999, King Mohammed VI announced the National Charter for Education and Training (). In the same year, a committee for education was established with the goal of reforming the educational system in Morocco. On July 15, 2002, decree number 2.02.382 established the Ministry of National Education, Early Education, and Athletics. The King announced the period between 1999–2009 as the "Education Decade." During this time the government’s reform initiative focused on five main themes to facilitate the role of knowledge in economic development; the key themes were education, governance, private sector development, e-commerce and access. The
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
and other multilateral agencies have helped Morocco to improve the basic education system. Under Said Amzazi, Morocco passed the framework-law 51.17 summer 2019.


French schools

To this day, French schools—which are colloquially referred to as "''la mission''," whether they’re actually related to the
Mission Laïque Française Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
or not—still have a major presence in Morocco. In these schools, French is the language of instruction, and Arabic is only taught as a second language if at all. The schools are certified by the Agency for French Education Abroad, and administered by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the student body is typically composed of the children of Morocco’s elite and well-to-do classes. These schools, such as
Lycée Lyautey In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
in Casablanca, are typically located in big cities such as Casablanca, Rabat, Fes, Marrakesh,
Meknes Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th c ...
, and Oujda. France is the number 1 destination for Moroccan students leaving the country to study abroad, receiving 57.7% of all Moroccans studying outside of Morocco. Moroccan students also represent the largest group of foreign students in France, at 11.7% of all international students at universities in France, according to a 2015
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
study.


Structure of the education system

The education system in Morocco comprises pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Government efforts to increase the availability of education services have led to increased access at all levels of education. Morocco’s education system consists of 6 years of primary, 3 years of lower-middle / intermediate school, 3 years of upper secondary, and tertiary education. The education system is under the purview of the Ministry of National Education (MNE) and Ministry of Higher Education and Executive Training. The Ministry of National Education decentralized its functions to regional levels created in 1999 when 72 provinces were subsumed into 12 regional administrative units. Then the responsibility of the provision of education services has been slowly devolving to the regional level. This decentralization process will ensure that education programs are responsive to regional needs and the budget is administered locally. Each region has a Regional Academy for Education and Training and a regional director who is senior to provincial delegates within the region. The regional academies will also be responsible for developing 30 percent of the curriculum so that it is locally relevant. The central level of the MNE continues to manage the other 70 percent. Also the delegations are charged with providing services for education in their regions.


Pre-school

According to the National Charter, preprimary education is compulsory and available to all children under the age of 6. This level is open to children of ages 4–6 years old. There are two types of pre-primary schools in Morocco: kindergarten and Quranic schools. The kindergarten is a private school that provides education mainly in cities and towns; the Quranic schools prepare children for primary education by helping them develop basic literacy and numeracy skills. Quranic schools have the potential to become a major force in the fight against illiteracy. (timss)with approximately 80 percent of all children attending some form of Quranic school for some portion of their school years. In 2007 the gross enrollment rate of pre-primary students in Morocco was about 60 percent, with the GER of males being 69.4 percent and that for females 49.6 percent. The GER for females have been increasing since the past few years and for the males it has been about 69 percent since 2003.


Primary

The primary education consists of 6 years for children of ages 6–12 years old. Students are required to pass Certificat d'etudes primaires to be eligible for admission in lower secondary schools. The gross enrollment rates (GER) at the primary level have been consistently rising in the 2000s. In 2007 the total GER at the primary level was 107.4 percent, with 112 percent for males and 101 percent for females. But the
Gender Parity Index The Gender Parity Index (GPI) is a socioeconomic index usually designed to measure the relative access to education of males and females. This index is released by UNESCO. In its simplest form, it is calculated as the quotient of the number of fem ...
for GER was 0.89, which shows that the issue of gender inequality persists at the primary level. The repetition rate at the primary level is 11.8 percent; the repetition rate for males at the primary level is 13.7 percent and for females it is 9.7 percent and the rates are declining for the past few years for both genders. The dropout rate at the primary level in 2006 was 22 percent, and is slightly higher for girls than boys, at 22 and 21 percent respectively. The dropout rates have been falling since 2003, but is still very high compared to other Arab countries, such as
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
, Oman, Egypt and
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.


Secondary

There are three years of lower-middle school. This type of education is provided through what is referred to as the ''Collège''. After 9 years of basic education, students begin upper secondary school and take a one-year common core curriculum, which is either in
arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...
or
science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
. First year students take arts and or science, mathematics or original education. Second year students take
earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
and life sciences,
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
, agricultural science, technical studies or are in A or B mathematics track. The gross enrollment rate (GER) at the secondary level in 2007 was 55.8 percent. But in secondary education the grade repetition and drop-out rates especially remain high. The gender parity index for GER at secondary level was 0.86 in 2007; it is not better than other Arab countries and reflects considerable disparity between genders in enrollment at the secondary level.


Tertiary

The higher education system consists of both private and public institutes. The country has fourteen major public universities, including
Mohammed V University Mohammed V University (, french: Université Mohammed-V de Rabat), in Rabat, Morocco, was founded in 1957 under a royal decree ( Dahir). It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez. History The uni ...
in Rabat and Al-Karaouine University, Fes, along with specialist schools, such as the music conservatories of Morocco supported by the Ministry of Culture. The Karaouine University at Fes has been teaching since 859, making it the world's oldest continuously operating university. However, there are dozens of national and international universities like SIST British University that work along with the public universities to improve the higher education in Morocco. In addition, there are a large number of private universities. The total number of graduates at the tertiary level in 2007 was 88,137: the gross enrollment rate at the tertiary level is 11 percent and it has not fluctuated significantly in the past few years. Admission to public universities requires only a baccalauréat, whereas admission to other higher public education, such as engineering school, require competitive special tests and special training before the exams. Another growing field apart from engineering and
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
is
business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of managemen ...
. According to the Ministry of Education the enrollment in Business Management increased by 3.1 percent in the year 2003-04 when compared to preceding year 2002-2003. Generally, an undergraduate business degree requires three years and an average of two years for master's degree. Universities in Morocco have also started to incorporate the use of
information and communication technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications ( telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...
. A number of universities have started providing
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...
and hardware engineering courses as well; annually the academic sector produces 2,000 graduates in the field of information and communication technologies. Moroccan institutions have established partnerships with institutes in Europe and Canada and offer joint degree programs in various fields from well-known universities. To increase public accountability, the Moroccan universities have been evaluated since 2000, with the intention of making the results public to all stakeholders, including parents and students.


Results in the education sector


Private higher education institutes

Despite having a number of private institutes the enrollment in private higher education institutes is still low, less than 3.5 percent of total university population. Private institutes also suffer from less qualified or inadequate staff. This is primarily due to inhibiting tuition costs. Curriculum of especially the business schools is outdated and needs to be revised according to the changing demands of the labor market. Private sector companies also do not make sufficient contribution in providing working knowledge to professional institutes of the current business environment.


Access to school education

Internal efficiency is also low with high dropout and repetition rates. There is also an unmet need of rising demand of middle schools after achieving high access rates in primary education. The problem is more acute in the rural schools due to inadequate supply and quality of instructional materials. The poor quality of education becomes an even greater problem due to
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
- Berber language issues: most of the children from Berber families hardly know any Arabic, which is the medium of instruction in schools, when they enter primary level.


Literacy

The
Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
region has high rates of literacy. In Morocco, the adult literacy rate is still high at around 74 percent in 2018, thanks to concerted efforts being made since independence in 1956 to reduce the rate of illiteracy which at that time was 32 percent. Morocco is the 16 most literate in the arab countries.


Immigration

There has also been a high immigration rate of skilled workers, that is, the proportion of highly skilled emigrants among educated people is high. In this way Morocco is losing a substantial proportion of its skilled work force to foreign countries, forming the largest migrant population among North Africans in Europe.


Reform efforts


Literacy

Since the late 1980s the Maghreb countries’ governments have been partnering with
civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. Morocco and other Maghreb countries are now fully committed to eradicate illiteracy. Morocco officially adopted its National Literacy and Non-formal Education Strategy in 2004. An integrated vision of literacy, development and poverty reduction was promoted by National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), launched by the King Mohammed VI in May 2005.


Government reviews

Improving the quality of outcomes in the education sector has become a key priority for Morocco’s government. A comprehensive renovation of the education and training system was developed in a participatory manner in 1998-99, which led to the vision for long-term expansion of this sector in response to the country’s social and economic development requirements. The outcome was the promulgation of the 1999 National Education and Training Charter (CNEF). The CNEF, with strong national consensus, declared 2000-2009 the decade for education and training, and established education and training as a national priority, second only to territorial integrity. The reform program, as laid out by the CNEF, also received strong support from the donor community. Nevertheless, during the course of implementation, the reform program encountered delays. In 2005 the Moroccan government adopted a strategy with the objective of making ICT accessible in all public schools to improve the quality of teaching; infrastructure, teacher training and the development of pedagogical content was also part of this national programme. In August 2019, the government passed a law to commence reforms on education including teaching science subjects in French language. In 2021, many series of campaign were done by the
Moroccans Moroccans (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Kingdom of Morocco. The country's population is predominantly composed of Arabs and Berbers (Amazigh). The term also applies more broadly to any people who are of Moroccan nationality, s ...
to remove the French language and to replace it with the
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
as a secondary language. Which later was announced no change would be made regrarding the French language.


External bodies

A number of donors including
USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
and
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
are implementing programs to improve the quality of education at the basic level and to provide training to teachers. The World Bank also provides assistance in infrastructure upgrades for all levels of education and offer skill development trainings and integrated employment creation strategies to various stakeholders. At the request of the Government’s highest authorities, a bold Education Emergency Plan (EEP) was drawn up to catch up on this reform process. The EEP, spanning the period 2009-12, draws on the lessons learned during the last decade. In this context, the Government requested five major donors (
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
(EU), European Investment Bank (EIB), Agence française de développement (AFD),
African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...
(AfDB) and the World Bank) to assist the implementation of the EEP reform agenda.


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