Education: nearly 200,000 students have changed to the public since 2019 education: nearly 200,000 students have changed to the public since 2019

The acceleration in the number of students in the public sector is the most salient trend that emerges from the results of the Ministry of National Education over the past five years.

While the share of the private sector in the overall number of students remained stagnant around an offer of 13%-14% during the last school year, i.e. its same level of 2017-2018, the numbers in the school public experienced a great leap. Whether in primary, college secondary or qualifying secondary (high school).

Public schools now have a workforce of nearly 6.5 million students, i.e. 600,000 more than in 2017 (+8.5%). Beyond the tipping effect of the last two years, linked to the Covid-19 crisis, this trend began in 2017 according to figures from the ministry.

In primary school, the number of pupils thus increased from 3.5 to 3.8 million between 2016-2017 and the start of the 2020-2021 school year, i.e. an increase of 8.5% (+300,000 pupils). Same trend in college where the number of students has increased from 1.5 to 1.6 million (+100,000 students), increasing by 6.6% over the last five years. In high school, the trend is even more marked, with an increase of 15.3%, the number of students having exceeded one million against 919,472 students five years ago.

It should be noted here that the bulk of public school enrollment is in primary education, with a share of 59%.

The increasingly attractive public

Figures that show a greater appeal of public schools, especially in primary education, despite the increase in private provision marked by the increase in the number of schools, which rose from 2,929 to 3,636 schools during the same period. An increase in supply that contrasts with the share of primary school students in the private sector, which fell from 16.7 to 16.2% of the total national enrollment.

These achievements of the public system can be explained by two elements: the first is quantitative, the second is qualitative.

Quantitatively, the Ministry's results demonstrate the significant work done to erect new structures and rehabilitate others, particularly in rural areas.

Thus, 639 new establishments have been built over the last five years, 8,148 establishments have been rehabilitated, and 10,385 prefabricated classrooms have been replaced (at a cost of 150,000 dirhams per classroom).

An effort carried out despite the small budgetary margins available to the Department of National Education, as Minister Saïd Amzazi noted on December 5, 2020, during a conference on the financing of the education system organized by the General Treasury of the Kingdom:

“89% of the budget allocated by the State is devoted to payroll, which leaves the ministry with only 11% of what it receives to manage all that is educational work, access to schooling (construction , rehabilitation), equipment, digitization, teacher training and part of the social support for children from low-income families. The reality on the ground is therefore there: the ministry has very little financial availability and flexibility to reform and innovate,” noted Saïd Amzazi, who replaced Mohamed Hassad at the head of this strategic department in January 2018.

Foreign languages, the new asset of public schools

This attractiveness of the public system is also due to qualitative changes in the education system. Foreign languages, a key indicator of school attractiveness, are one of the determinants of this new situation.

In terms of foreign languages, the teaching of the French language has been generalized from the 1st year of primary school, with a gradual increase in the timetable devoted to the French language in the 2nd year.

Starting in 2016 from a total of 1.5 hours per week devoted to French, in 2020-2021 we reach 9.5 hours per week for these classes.

Another noteworthy fact: the linguistic alternation recommended by the framework law 51-17, promulgated in August 2019, has now become effective, in particular for mathematics and scientific activities in 5th and 6th years of primary school.

Same approach in middle school where, in addition to the reinforcement of French and linguistic alternation, the teaching of the English language was integrated to the tune of 60% in the 3rd year. The objective is to generalize it to all levels of the college by 2023/2024.

An effort that was accompanied by the recruitment of 1,000 English teachers.

In middle and high school, the experience of international courses has also been an undeniable success, with an increase in enrollment of more than 1,200%!

In 2016-2017, the number of students enrolled in this stream in middle school was barely 84,937. During this last school year, it increased to more than 1.1 million students, following the increase in the number of establishments hosting this sector; the latter went from 660 to 3,690 during the same period.

Ditto in high school: the number of students in international courses has increased from 54,647 to 467,002 students, spread over 1,870 establishments, compared to barely 601 establishments in 2016-2017.

The result of this improvement was not long in coming. In the 2021 baccalaureate, the success rate for international streams reached 89.5% (compared to a national rate of 81.8%).

Even more telling: the first ten averages at the national level in the normal session are those of baccalaureate holders enrolled in international streams, French option, according to data from the ministry.

It is not surprising that as soon as the Covid-19 crisis broke out, several Moroccan families decided to switch to the public. In 2019-2020, there were 52,000 students. With an acceleration during this last return to school with the migration of 140,000 students...

Preschool: a revolution in progress

These quantitative and qualitative efforts made in primary and secondary school have also been deployed, and even more markedly, in preschool, identified as the key to success in the school career.

In 2017, this cycle, which targets children aged 4 to 5, had some 699,265 students, representing an enrollment rate of 45.3%. The number of educators in this cycle was 36,903 people, distributed in 37,298 classes, with a predominance of traditional preschool which represented 63% of the system.

This is for the inventory of 2017, before the launch in July 2018 by the King of the “National Program for the Generalization and Development of Preschool”.

A program that has given a boost to this cycle and turned its structure upside down, as shown by the figures provided by the Ministry of National Education.

From 2018 to today, 13,594 new classrooms have been erected across the Kingdom, with the training of an average of 15,000 educators per year.

Result of the races: preschool, which was dominated in 2017 by traditional (63%) and private (24%), against only a 13% share for the public, saw its structure completely reversed. The share of the public now reaches 33%, against 20% for the private sector, 10% for new partner institutions of the State (INDH, local authorities, civil society associations, etc.), and only 37% for the traditional which has melted like snow in the sun, awaiting its full rehabilitation, as displayed in the objectives of the royal strategy.

A strategy for 2027 which sets itself the objective of: the generalization of schooling for 4-5 year olds, the integration of preschool into compulsory education, the improvement of its quality, positive discrimination for the benefit of rural and peri-urban, the progressive rehabilitation of the traditional circuit and the integration of the age group of 3 years after the generalization of 4-5 years.

The government, which set an enrollment rate target of 67% in 2021-2022, has even exceeded it, posting, from the start of the 2020-2021 school year, a rate of 72.5%.

Acceleration of social programs

This success on all fronts would not have been possible without social support for vulnerable families, especially in rural areas. And the ministry's indicators show that a great effort has been made in this area.

Example of the Tayssir program, which saw the number of its beneficiaries explode by 252.5% between 2017 and 2021. Their number increased from 701,589 to 2.46 million beneficiaries. All with positive discrimination for rural areas, since 90.7% of these beneficiaries come from there.

Another example: the “1 Million Schoolbags” programme, the number of beneficiaries of which has increased by nearly 10%, now benefiting 4.47 million students, more than 62% of whom are in rural areas.

Other examples are revealing of this rapid integration of pupils into the system, such as the provision of school transport, particularly in rural areas, which is an undeniable tool in the fight against dropping out of school.

"Several actions have been implemented by the Ministry to enable the expansion of the school transport network according to the needs expressed by the provincial departments: promotion of contractual partnerships with the territorial councils for the acquisition of means school transport, encouragement of associations active in the field for the effective involvement in the management of this service at the local level...", explains the department of Saïd Amzazi.

Result: the number of school transport beneficiaries has increased by 142.6% between 2017 and today, for a total of 357,554 students, 86.6% of whom come from rural areas.

Ditto for boarding schools, one of the strong links in attracting students, especially girls, into the school system. The results of the ministry show an increase in beneficiaries of 28% in five years (for a total of 178,380 pupils), including 64.4% in rural areas. The share of girls benefiting from a residence in boarding school also increased from 47% to 53%.

Ditto for school canteens, which currently benefit 1.2 million students, i.e. 200,000 more than in 2017. More than 94% of beneficiaries are once again from rural areas, with positive discrimination for girls, whose share rose from 48.5% to 51.7%.

This assessment constitutes a solid basis for the achievement of the objectives of the new development model which, while relying on the Framework Law drawn up for the next ten years, also advocates a new approach making education the spearhead of the country's development. An approach that the next government will most likely put in its brochures to succeed in this new strategic and decisive project for the country.