Rabat – The school of Ait Ahya, in the province of Taroudant, 80 km to the east of Agadir, collapsed on Monday, November 11, due to strong winds.
As students are on holiday, the incident did not cause any casualties. However, the building sustained massive damage.
Around 90 students attend classes at the school. The incident will delay their return to class, originally expected on Wednesday, November 13. Additionally, the state of the building will not allow for regular timetables, with students now taking turns to use the classrooms.
The poor infrastructure of Moroccan public schools, especially in rural areas, has been stirring debate between Morocco’s Ministry of Education and Moroccan teachers.
In September 2019, a teacher posted a video online depicting the deplorable state of a public school in Sidi Kacem, 130 km to the northeast of Rabat.
The teacher posted the video to urge officials to take action against the precarious infrastructure at her school.
While Internet users admired the teacher’s move, Morocco’s Minister of Education, Said Amzazi, considered it “inappropriate.” On September 20, Amzazi announced in a press conference that the teacher was suspended and would appear before a disciplinary committee.
During the press conference, the minister also denied the authenticity of several photos and videos shared on social networks and showing the state of public schools in Morocco. He said that the pictures and videos were “unfounded” and shot in another country.
The issue of infrastructure is not the only problem that the ministry of education has to answer. Contractual teachers have been protesting throughout 2019. The teachers went on strike regularly, interrupting the flow of studies at Moroccan public schools.
On November 10, the National Coordination for Contractual Teachers called for a two-day national strike in December. The teachers demand the abolition of fixed-term contracts and the end of the “discrimination” between contractual and public sector teachers.
