Morocco: Over 140,000 students migrated from private to public schools

During this school year, 140,250 students moved from private to public schools compared to 52,000 last year, Moroccan Education Minister said.

This exodus is partly triggered by the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on households’ revenue as well as the low quality of private school teaching.

Minister Said Amzazi said that 68 private schools had to shutdown this year due to the pandemic repercussions.

As the virus affected economic activity, many already indebted middle class families are worried about the future of their children and see in public schools a chance to save money and ensure distance learning for their children.

The virus has added an additional burden on households of the middle classes who have to follow up more than ever the progress of their children and their commitment to learning at home. Not to speak of lower classes where the means of distance learning, especially in the countryside, are almost absent.

Conflicts have also surfaced last year as many private schools refused to make discounts for parents of children. Since March, schools across Morocco have been closed, but most re-opened this fall after adopting a set of measures to preserve the safety of students and staff. In cities locked downed because of the high incidence of the pandemic, schools adopted distance learning.

The virus has uncovered many dysfunctions in the vital health and education sectors and left families worried about the future of their offspring.

It most of all reactivated the debate over the importance of an efficient public education and public health system.