Education Minister Announces New Method to Regulate Teaching Profession

Rabat- Minister of Education, Preschool and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa, has revealed that, starting from September 2022, Morocco will adopt a new method to regulate the teaching profession.

Benmoussa made the comments on Wednesday, December 1, while he chaired a meeting of the Education and Culture Committee in the House of Representatives. Under the new regulation scheduled to go into effect in September of next year “being an education sciences graduate will be mandatory to pursue a career in education,” he said.

The minister added that students “will be selected after obtaining a baccalaureate degree to pursue their studies in education sciences, and the basic training will be taken in three years to obtain the bachelor’s degree, after which they will go to the regional training centers.”

The process will take place in two stages: “Six months of additional training after the bachelor’s degree, followed by a year for qualification to complete the training courses,” Benmoussa highlighted.

He explained that the education sector currently employs 15,000 teachers, “which is not enough.” Standing by his embattled reform policy, Benmoussa argued that the main goal of the newly introduced method is to upgrade the quality of the Moroccan education system.

The ministry’s educational new reforms received major backlash from Moroccans, many of whom will now be considered ineligible for a job in education.

As part of the reform, the age limit for applying for a career in public education has been set to 30 years old, down from 40-45 years in previous recruitment campaigns.

The government’s new recruitment measures triggered a minor storm of indignation in many cities across the country, with observers and many candidates for the teaching positions especially denouncing the new age limit as discriminatory.

Despite nationwide protests, Benmoussa has maintained that the reform is a painful but necessary step forward for Morocco’s education system.