COVID-19: Moroccan schools remain closed till September, no exams except Baccalaureate

Morocco’s Minister of Education Saïd Amzazi announced that schools will remain closed until next September and that all final exams of the 2019-2020 academic year will be cancelled, except for the first and second years of the baccalaureate levels.

Addressing the House of Councilors this Tuesday, May 12, Amzazi said only Baccalaureate levels students (First and second years) will be required to sit for the exams.

The national exam for the second year of the baccalaureate will be held in July 2020, while the regional exam for the first year of the baccalaureate will be held in September 2020, he said.

He underlined that to guarantee the principle of equal opportunities for all students, the examination subjects will only concern lessons that were completed by March 14, before schools shifted to e-learning.

“Intensive courses will be programmed” to prepare for the final baccalaureate exams this month and next month, Amzazi explained, noting that his department will take all preventive measures to ensure the safety of students and teachers during exam periods (sterilization of educational facilities and materials several times a day, provision of protective masks, temperature measuring, physical distancing, etc…)

The Minister made it clear that there will be no blank year and that regarding the remaining levels, only the grades obtained during the first semester of the academic year will be taken into consideration.

The Minister who dealt with primary, middle, and high schools did not mention what measures will be adopted at the level of universities and higher education institutions and whether exams will be cancelled or not.

Morocco closed schools on March 16 as part of the preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19 and introduced mechanisms for remote learning.