Education System in Morocco

It was in year 1963 that education was made compulsory for all Moroccan children between the ages of 6 through 13[7] and during this time all subjects were Arabized in the first and second grades, while French was maintained as the language of instruction of math and science in both primary and secondary levels. Later, to meet the rising demand for secondary education in 1970s, Morocco imported French speaking teachers from countries such as France, Romania , and Bulgaria to teach math and sciences, and Arab teachers to teach humanities and social studies. By 1989,Arabization of all subjects across all grades in both primary and secondary education was accomplished. However, French was maintained the medium of instruction for scientific subjects in technical and professional secondary schools, technical institutes and universities[8].

The government has taken several reforms to improve the access of education and reduce regional differences in the provision of education. The King announced the period between 1999-2009 years 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. Also with the help of World Bank and other multilateral agencies Morocco has succeeded to improve the basic education system.

Morocco gained independence from the French in 1956 and since then the Government of Morocco has embarked to implement comprehensive reforms in education and technical vocational training. Despite facing economic challenges in the 1990s and early 2000, the government continued concerted efforts to improve overall educational landscape. In 2006 the expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was 5.5 percent, higher than the education expenditure as a percent of GDP for Arab countries, such as, Oman, Kuwait and Egypt [1].

The reformers of Morocco education laid emphasis on the Arabic language in the curriculum of Morocco education. Another aim was to unify the disintegrated Morocco Education System. This was done in order to curb the differences in quality and standards. Two different education systems in Morocco co-existed. One was the Islamic model of instruction at Koranic schools. It concentrated on the Islamic studies and Arabic Literature. Another prevailing education System of Morocco was the French colonial model. This system was however adapted to serve the needs of European colonizers.

Education

French educational model, which was prevalent for about fifty years in the country post colonialism, was adapted after independence. A technical track, emphasizing on the job oriented subjects was introduced along with the "Original track" and "modern track". Original emphasized on Koran and Islam based education while modern emphasized on French. All the three tracks were modeled on French System.

Compulsory education was introduced in 1960.The basic Education System consisted of 9 years of education followed by three years of secondary education. The technical track offers subjects like Engineering, Economics and Agricultural Sciences. Vocational training courses are also offered here. English however is becoming popular in the private schools in Morocco.