Education Minister Mohamed Saad Berrada presented detailed parliamentary testimony defending Morocco’s preschool development program, community school operations, and new teacher statute implementation. While acknowledging structural constraints, he highlighted substantial progress achieved since 2018.
Rural preschool enrollment now reaches 81%, exceeding urban rates and representing dramatic improvement from 35% in 2018. Berrada attributed this advancement to absence of rural landownership complications and National Human Development Initiative support since 2018, particularly for facility construction and program development. The preschool program was launched officially in July 2018, in Skhirat, under Royal Patronage, with implementation relying on management delegation to regularly evaluated associative partners.
The system currently employs approximately 50,000 educators, including 20,000 in rural areas. This year the department integrated 42,000 additional students and opened 1,500 new classes, expecting to bring national preschool rates to 85% by year-end, and targeting total generalization by 2028. The ministry adopted territorial micro-planning approaches based on interconnected databases, integrating the Masar preschool database with primary education systems to precisely identify unschooled children and deficit zones.
Berrada emphasized professional situation improvements for preschool educators, requesting all associations abandon fixed-term contracts favoring indefinite contracts enabling seniority recognition. The ministry ensures strict subsidy payment timelines, with regional academies required to pay associations September 1 and January 1 preventing salary delays. Social coverage regularization proceeded with all associations, particularly smaller ones, guaranteeing educators’ social protection and affiliation to the Mohammed VI Foundation for Education-Training Social Works, ensuring rights equivalent to teachers.
Regarding community schools, Berrada acknowledged multiple constraints, noting success requires effective school transport, parental adhesion, and solid pedagogical projects. He suggested progressive organization allowing children to remain in satellite primary schools for grades one and two before joining community schools for grades three and four. The new teacher statute, described as a strong social dialogue moment, involves budgetary commitments exceeding 20 billion dirhams.
