Moroccan Hospitals and Schools in ‘Poor and Alarming’ State

Rabat – A recent study has found that Morocco’s health and education sector’s poor and unsatisfying performance levels are primarily due to insufficient investment and inadequate training.

The research was conducted by the Groupe de Travail Thématique (Committee for Thematic Appraisal), a governmental body. While the study said public services are generally “dysfunctional and badly-monitored” in Morocco, it showed Moroccan schools have the lowest performance of public services.

Assabah, which reported the study’s findings, said the report “painted a very grim picture” of Moroccan schools and hospitals. The report noted, for example, that the annual average of medical consultations in Morocco is 0.6 percent per inhabitant, with the national average for healthcare availability at an extremely underperforming level of 3 physicians for every 2,000 Moroccans.

According to the research group, such low performance levels hint at a notable lack of medical personnel for a population with many health concerns.

Worse still, the group maintained that the already alarming figures are expected to worsen in coming years, thanks to a lack of funds and government allocations to improve performance.

For some illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, and kidney failure, there are not enough fully-equipped facilities and specialized physicians.

The situation is no less concerning for Morocco’s educational sector, with “dying facilities” in many remote areas, old and under-equipped public schools, a worryingly low education level in primary school (for both teachers and pupils), and a widening income gap leading many students from low-income families to drop out of school.

According to Assabah, Tissir, the royal program to help low-income families cover their children’s school expenses, has not been well monitored. And due to the lack of financial means to continue school, nearly 220,000 pupils dropped out of school in the last grade of primary school. As a result, only 28 percent generally make it to secondary school.