Moroccan Education Sytem: 2016

Moroccan Flag

THE MOROCCO

Morocco is a Northern African country and is the fifty-seventh (57^th) largest country in the world. This is an Arab country located on the northwest corner of the African continent and is in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Berber and Moroccan Arabic is their main and official language but French is also used and is considered as one of the two prestige languages being used there. French is spoken by one-third of their population and is mandatory to be used as medium of instruction in the teaching-learning process. In this country, it is estimated that almost all citizens are Muslims. Only one percent (1%) of the Moroccan population are Christians and other denominations. We can also find the world’s oldest continuously operating university---the Karaouine University located at Fes which has been teaching since 859.

Karaouine University

MOROCCAN EDUCATION SYSTEM: A SHORT BACKGROUND AND ITS STRUCTURE

Education in Morocco was made compulsory way back 1963. All Moroccan children between the ages six (6) to thirteen (13) must be sent to school and pursue their studies. Their medium of instruction for the first and second grades were Arabic as it is their main and official language and French was maintained as the language of instruction in Mathematics and Sciences--- both in primary and secondary levels. During the 1970s, especially that there was a rising demand for secondary education, Morocco imported French speaking teachers from different countries like France, Romania and Bulgaria.

As aforementioned earlier, French was used as medium of instruction for scientific subjects such as Mathematics and Science while the Arabic for Humanities and Social Studies. But during the 1989, there was a sudden shift when it comes to the usage of medium of instruction. Arabization of all subjects in all grades both primary and secondary education happened. Though Arabization of all subjects was accomplished, French remained the medium of instruction for scientific subjects in technical and professional secondary schools, technical institutes and universities.

Moroccan education system comprises Pre-school, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary levels and even Vocational degrees. It consists of 6 years in primary education, 3 years for the middle or intermediate school, 3 years both for the Secondary and Tertiary level. Their education system is supervised by the Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Higher Education and Executive Training. Their curriculum in all fields are for the most part standardized by the Ministry of Higher Education and the school year runs from October to June.

Pre-school

In this level, it is compulsory to children ranging from four (4) to six (6) years old. They have two types of primary schools in this country: Kindergarten and Quranic schools. When we say Kindergarten, it is a private school which provides education mainly on the urban areas while the Quranic schools are more on helping the pupils develop their basic literacy and numeracy skills.

Primary

The first nine years (ages 6-15) of education in Morocco are compulsory and guaranteed as a fundamental right by the Constitution. In this level, students must pass Certificat d'etudes primaires (a diploma awarded at the end of elementary primary education certifying that the student had acquired basic skills in writing, reading, mathematics, history, geography and applied sciences but this was officially discontinued in 1989.) This consist six (6) years of schooling for children ages six (6) to twelve (12) years old.

Secondary

This level is open to those students who have successfully completed the nine (9) years of Basic Education (Pre-school to Primary level). They can choose either of these two tracks: General and Technical track or the Vocational track. In the General secondary track, it aims to train students in the humanities and sciences for the preparation for their tertiary education. With this, they are streamed into these broad fields: Language Arts, Experimental Sciences and Mathematics. Students also receive between twenty-seven (27) and thirty-three (33) hours of weekly instruction depending on the path or field they have chosen. Vocational track or also known as specialization comprises only two (2) years. The student must first pass the entrance examination before proceeding with this track.

Tertiary

In this level of education, it is just open to those students who are baccalaureate holders and they also must pass the entrance examination. Mostly, all institutions and faculties require students to have minimum grades on their proposed majors. The tertiary level is under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education. They are using the 20-point grading system in which scores over ten are considered as a passing mark.

Moroccan Grading System

Scale	Grade Description	US Grade
15.00 - 20.00	Très Bien (Very Good)	A+
13.00 - 14.99	Bien (Good)	A
12.00 - 12.99	Assez Bien (Quite Good)	B+
11.00 - 11.99	Passable (Pass)	B
10.00 - 10.99	Moyen (Average)	C
9.00 - 9.99		C-
8.00 - 8.99		D
0.00 - 7.99		F

PROBLEMS FACED ON THEIR EDUCATION SYSTEM

“One of Morocco's most pressing national problems is its high illiteracy rate” (Baggari, 2014).

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, illiteracy is the state of not knowing how to read and write. Illiteracy is one of the problems being faced by this nation when it comes to education. As mentioned above, French is used as their medium of instruction during their primary and secondary level especially to subject like Mathematics and Sciences. Knowing that only one-third of the population speak this language, it really creates confusion especially to those young learners and to those who are living in the rural areas. Although schooling is compulsory and free (at state schools), many children particularly in these areas still do not attend school. Approximately 2.5 million children, mostly rural girls, do not attend school and they also have very poor retentive rates.

To specify the different factors of illiteracy, here are the following: For the economic reasons, children prefer to work than to pursue their studies; social reason, there is no need for the female in this country to study because they consider it as a religious character; for the geographical reasons, capitals and major cities are at the expense of rural areas and there is a lack of teachers and for the demographic reasons, there is a rapid and steady increase of their population.

Morocco's Remedy to Illiteracy

Project Soar's mission:

to empower Moroccan adolescent girls to continue their education by providing afterschool academic support, as well as life skills and leadership coaching. Project Soar works to keep girls in school and to prepare them for more productive, fulfilled futures.

As mentioned above, socio-economic barriers are one of the reasons why there is a high illiteracy rate in Morocco. Even though education is compulsory in this country, socio-economic barriers often get in the way of making education equal and accessible for girls. The net enrollment rate in lower secondary school was 79% for boys in urban areas but only 26% for girls in rural areas. When girls drop out of school, they become vulnerable to early marriage and early motherhood. Of concern, the rate of girl marriages in Morocco is increasing, not decreasing (World Bank,2012).

The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5) for 2030, is, "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls." Investing in adolescent girls is seen as a prerequisite for achieving gender equality. The UN explains: "girls continue to suffer severe disadvantages, discrimination and exclusion.... For many girls, puberty marks an accelerating trajectory into inequality. It also represents a critical window for preventive and protective investments .... Ensuring that girls are able to exercise their rights, can pursue their education and have the skills and opportunity to join the workforce is essential for their own well-being, and a critical foundation for the health and prosperity of families, communities and nations."

This Project soar are being helped by qualified instructors and involves a wide scope of activities intended for the students. They provide critical afterschool programming such as tutoring etc. intended to help especially those in rural areas. This activities will help them develop a strong sense of self and of course, increase the expected academic success. Aside from those academic-related activities, they also offer wide range of non-academic activities for the purpose of empowering the students. These includes athletics, health classes, summer activities and etc.

MOROCCAN AND PHILIPPINE EDUCATION SYSTEM COMPARED
(A Reflective Piece)

Same with the Philippines, Morocco also comprises Pre-school, Primary, Tertiary levels and even offer vocational courses. In the Philippines, our education system is supervised by the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), theirs is supervised by the Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Higher Education and Executive Training.

In the Philippines, results from the National Statistics Office's 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH) show that 97.5% of the 71.5 million individuals who are 10 years old and older were literate or could read and write. It means that illiteracy is not a huge problem here in our country. While in Morocco, their literacy rate ranges 79 % as of 2010. If we are to compare the literacy rate of Morocco and Philippines, it's really evident that Morocco really is facing this problem in their education system.

Nonetheless, both of these countries are really in a fight against illiteracy and the government is doing its best to provide quality and accessible education for all. We may differ on each of our education system, still, the goal of giving the best to the learners is evident and given priority.