Morocco

Overview of Education System

Morocco’s 2011 constitution specifies that the state, public institutions, local authorities, and families should work toward facilitating citizens’ and, in particular, children’s equal access to education, vocational training, physical education, and art.³

The Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training oversees all areas related to the provision of public and private education. Following what the National Charter for Education and Training has recommended, education delivery is decentralized and there is increased responsiveness to local needs and realities.⁴ Accordingly, Academies for Education and Training in each of the 12 newly established administrative regions of Morocco have been charged with implementing the educational policy adopted nationally and the 2015–2030 strategic vision for education set by the Higher Council of Education, Training, and Scientific Research.⁵ In addition, regional directorates are charged with providing services for education in their respective territories and implementing directives set nationally or by the regional academies.^a

Since Moroccoʼs independence in 1956, the education system has been subject to consecutive comprehensive reforms. In 1999, the latest reform was enacted and gained national consensus. The reform stipulates that education and training be a national priority, second only to territorial integrity. Significant progress toward reforming education and training had been made, despite challenges and delays encountered during the first 10 years of implementation.

In 2009, the government embarked upon the huge, highly financed National Education Emergency Support Program 2009–2012 to give fresh impetus to this reform. One of the distinguishing features of the program was that it used a holistic approach to address the challenges Morocco faced in education such as performance, efficiency, and quality enhancement. The implicit aim of this program was to help Morocco make significant strides toward meeting some of its United Nations Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The program was designed and implemented by the Moroccan government with the support of various development partners, then was assessed.⁶ In 2015, the Higher Council of Education, Training, and Scientific Research initiated, on the basis of such assessment, a nationwide collaboration involving several educational institutions and representatives of the economic sector and civil society to evaluate the outcomes of the Moroccan educational system and develop measures to address the problems and deficiencies identified. Among the measures receiving highest priority were those that emphasize the promotion of literacy and numeracy in the four early primary education grades.

The 2015–2030 national strategic vision was the beginning of the Ministryʼs “priority measures,” which were the foundation of the so-called integrated projects now being implemented.⁷ The most short term important projects aim for at least the following:

• Improving the teaching of languages and reading, especially at the first four grades
• Improving access to schooling in rural and underprivileged areas
• Catering to students with disabilities
• Supporting learners with learning difficulties
• Improving the quality of learning by renewing standards for teacher training
• Encouraging school life activities and school improvement plans
• Improving the national system of assessment and examinations for more equity and equal opportunities
• Renewing the studentsʼ orientation and information system (i.e., for different options by the end of lower secondary and upper secondary school)
• Establishing good governance and mobilization around schools
• Capacity building of teachers, staff, and school leadership nationwide

Morocco’s education system is divided into preprimary, primary, secondary, and tertiary education. The National Charter of Education and Training (1999) mandates that preprimary education be available to all children ages 4 to 6. The same objective is reiterated in the 2015–2030 national strategic vision, which looks forward to “generalizing, in the medium term, the access of all Moroccan children (girls and boys) to education and training, especially at the level of compulsory education” for ages ranging from 6 to 15.⁸ There is a project under development to integrate children age 4 into primary school.

Preprimary education in Morocco is provided through two types of schools: kindergarten and Quranic. Kindergartens, which generally are privately owned, provide education primarily in cities and towns. Quranic schools prepare children for primary education by focusing on basic literacy and numeracy skills and have always been at the forefront in the battle against illiteracy, particularly in remote areas of the country.⁹ Preprimary teachers develop their own curriculum according to a set of principles established by the Ministry of Education that take into account students’ physical and cognitive development, needs, interests, and abilities.¹⁰ Stipulated by the 2015–2030 national strategic vision, attempts have been made in the integrated projects to enable primary schools to host two year preprimary classes (students ages 4 to 6) with the intent of possibly expanding this model.

Children generally attend primary school from ages 6 to 12. Over the last 10 years or so, Morocco’s gross enrollment rates within primary education have consistently risen, and dropout rates have fallen. According to the National Education Emergency Support Program 2009–2012, many school age children in impoverished families stay out of school due to the high cost of schooling (e.g., expenses related to textbooks, school materials), and therefore are bound to work to supplement the family income.¹¹ To combat educational exclusion, Morocco’s government launched Tayssir, a conditional cash transfer program, the aim of which is to encourage higher enrollment in primary school. Tayssir grants a stipend to impoverished families who enroll and keep their children in school. At the end of primary school, students must fulfill the requirements of the school leaving qualification, Certificat d’Etudes Primaires, to be eligible for admission to lower secondary schools. Lower secondary school in Morocco also is compulsory; this stage lasts three years (Grades 7 to 9) and is attended by children ages 13 to 15.¹²

Upper secondary school also lasts three years. During the first year, all students follow a common core curriculum in the arts, science, technology, or vocational training. After the first year, students are streamed into one of three tracks: general and technical, leading to a Moroccan baccalaureate; technology, leading to general qualifications in technology; or one of the newly implemented options leading to a vocational Moroccan baccalaureate. Within the general and technical and the new vocational baccalaureate tracks, first year students study the arts, science, technology, mathematics, or Islamic disciplines. Second year students study Earth and life sciences, physics, agricultural science, technical studies, or one of two mathematics tracks (Track A corresponds with Earth and life sciences, and Track B with engineering sciences).^b The number of students in vocational Moroccan baccalaureate options has reached 13,078 this year and is expected to reach 150,000 in 2030, as is stipulated by the 2015–2030 national strategic vision. The Moroccan baccalaureateʼs French and English options are growing significantly, especially in private schools (34,674 students in the 2015–2016 school year).

Higher education in Morocco is offered at 18 universities, colleges and institutes, or engineering preparatory schools (grandes écoles), such as Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Sciences. Admission generally is open to students who have attained the upper secondary school baccalaureate. Many higher education institutions also require that students have minimum grades in their proposed majors and pass an entrance examination.

Between 1999 and 2002, in addition to overseeing the formal education system, the Ministry of Education conducted a nonformal education program specifically designed for unenrolled and out of school children. This program had three aims: contribute to the implementation of the Education for All plan (EFA), with a view to eradicating illiteracy; integrate participants into formal primary education and vocational education and, ultimately, the world of work; and encourage program participation among nongovernmental organizations within the field of education. Since January 2002, the Ministry of Education also has been overseeing a nonformal education program that aims to integrate students with special needs into mainstream schools (after these students pass tests specifically designed for them). However, much effort remains to respond to the ever growing needs of these students. To meet the requirements of the 2015–2030 strategic vision, two important projects are envisaged within the framework of the newly engineered integrated projects, to establish bridges between nonformal education and schooling and vocational training.¹³