Rabat – Thousands of demonstrators marched on Sunday in Rabat in protest against what they believe as sapping of public school.
Demonstrators, mainly adherents of left-wing movements and political parties, along with the movement of teacher trainees, voiced their anger at the Ministry of Education.
The protesters said they would not back down from the struggle “to save” Moroccan public school.
According to the demonstrators, the state is plotting against public school system by canceling tuition-free education.
They also drew attention to the increasing degradation of quality in public schools calling on Moroccans to step up to defend public education.
The demonstration was led by the Moroccan labor union Confédération démocratique du travail (CDT). The union reportedly said that the state is aiming at “disintegrating” Moroccan public school and that this is something about which Moroccans cannot remain silent.
In addition to advocating free-tuition public education, demonstrators voiced their anger at the deplorable situations of public schools, including high drop-outs rates, shortage of teachers, overcrowding in schools and the state’s propensity towards the privatization of public education.
Privatization, said demonstrators, threatens to deprive underprivileged children from their right to education.
Moroccan had long taken for granted that schools and universities should be free-tuition. In recent however more and more families are turning to private schools to guarantee better education for their children as the degradation of the quality of education in public schools continues.
