Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Education Preschool and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa, is standing by his embattled reform policy, arguing that the main goal of the newly introduced restrictions is to upgrade the quality of the Moroccan education system.
Benmoussa chaired on Tuesday, November 23, a new round of dialogue on the recent under-fire reform of the recruitment process for education jobs.
Syndicates who participated in the meeting include the Moroccan Workers Union (UMT), the Democratic Confederation of Labor (CDT), the General Union of Moroccan Workers (UGTM), and the Democratic Federation of Labour (FDT).
“The preselection conditions for the AREF (The Regional Academy of Education and Training) exam aim to improve the profession, by enhancing the teaching staff’s competence and promoting new careers,” Benmoussa said during the meeting.
He added that the new measures aim “to strengthen the school system” and “allow students to learn the necessary skills to later contribute to the country’s development.”
In a statement, the education ministry stated that the objective of the meeting is to establish a strategy for the management of issues relating to the education system, to initiate dialogue for the promotion of public schools, as well as to improve the quality of teaching.
“The dialogue aims to build confidence and credibility to reach a common ground in the light of the results of the technical committee’s work, which held its meeting last weekend,” the ministry added.
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The meeting allowed the representatives to identify the main questions which required analysis and discussion through four different axes.
The first axis concerns draft decrees, which include the files of candidates for jobs in “the pedagogical administration,” as well as the cases of professionals holding higher diplomas, professionals designated outside their cycle of education assignment, administrative assistants, technical assistants and doctorate graduates, the statement explained.
The second axis involves senior officials of the AREF. The ministry specified that the technical committee will look into this issue to find innovative solutions.
The third axis is related to ministry employees’ situation and the fourth to relations with education syndicates.
However, the ministry’s representatives acknowledged that the debate is heavily dominated by the age limitation for the recruitment of teachers, which has been set at 30 years old.
Last Friday, the age restriction caused widespread outrage, with many taking to streets in various cities to protest against the ministry’s recruitment reforms.
