The Ministry of Education said it is prioritizing the safety and well being of candidates during preparations for the exams.
Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Education and Vocational Training released an official statement on June 18 regarding the baccalaureate exam for the 2019/2020 academic year.
According to the statement on Minister of Education Saaid Amzazi’s official Facebook page, the normal session of the baccalaureate exam is scheduled to take place between July 3 and 9.
A total of 441,238 candidates have registered to take the exam, 49% of whom are female.
This year, 318,917 (72%) candidates are students. Students attending state schools represent 64% of total candidates, while those attending private schools represent 8%.
The remaining 28% is comprised of 122,321 independent candidates participating in the “free-access” baccalaureate (“bac libre”).
Approximately 856 inmates have also registered to take the baccalaureate and will be scattered across 107 testing rooms.
The scientific and technical baccalaureate is by far the most popular category, with 249,338 candidates (57%).
The literary branch is also popular, with 181,234 (41%) registered candidates.
The remaining 10,666 (2%) have chosen vocational branches.
The number of candidates in the international branches (French-English) this year is 43,781, an increase of 75.27% from 2019.
The number of candidates with special needs has also increased to 539 in 2020 from 402 in 2019. These candidates will benefit from special testing and grading guidelines that the Ministry of Education has put in place.
Read also: Morocco Announces Baccalaureate, University Exam Dates
Baccalaureate exams in the era of COVID-19
The ministry has mobilized additional resources to achieve optimal organization for the exams. A total of 178 commissions with 1,040 members are in charge of drafting 534 different tests. In addition to 228 in charge of typing and printing, 107 are in reserves, 91,143 are responsible for supervision, and 31,281 are tasked with grading.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry is prioritizing the security and wellbeing of the baccalaureate candidates, supervisors, graders, and members of the preparation teams.
The number of test centers dedicated to the baccalaureate has increased to 2,155 in 2020 from 1,500 in 2019.
The test centers include 100 covered halls, 145 amphitheaters, and 1,910 schools with no more than 10 candidates per classroom.
Additionally, 371 centers will be dedicated to the grading of the exams in different provincial directorates.
In line with precautionary measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry has assured halls, desks, chairs, transportation vehicles, documents, envelopes, and all other necessary equipment will be thoroughly and continuously disinfected during the exams.
The ministry emphasized the importance of social distancing during the exams and said it will provide hand sanitizers and face masks to candidates, who will also be subject to temperature checks.
