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Rabat – The Ministry of Education, Preschool and Sports signed an agreement on Tuesday with five unions after months of dialogue seeking to improve human resources in the education sector.
A statement from the government said the agreement includes several measures resulting from dialogue between the department and the unions.
The agreement aims to create a “motivating and unified” status for education ministry personnel that cover all categories in the educational system.
The agreement additionally seeks to find solutions to several priority dossiers, including those related to educational administration executives, education planning advisers, primary and secondary school teachers, as well as holders of top educational diplomas such as PhD.
The deal comes after a series of sectoral social dialogue sessions, which the government has been following.
The agreement comes as part of the government’s commitment to ensuring social dialogue as the main driver for improving social and professional conditions of education personnels, the government statement explained.
“The agreement is likely to contribute to the consecration and institutionalization of responsible and constructive sectoral dialogue between the signatory parties, to consolidate social peace within the education system and to consolidate the central role of trade unions in education as major partners in the process of education reform,” the government said.
Read also: Government Spokesperson: Education Sector Requires Reforms in Morocco
Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch chaired the signing ceremony. Akhannouch said the agreement is “an important” phase, which opens up new perspectives in the framework of social dialogue between the two parties.
He added that the agreement will help to establish “trust and cooperation between the parties.”
The deal came after a round of sit-ins, protests and dialogue demanding equality in labor conditions in the sector.
Unions have been calling on the ministry to address the situation of contractual teachers, as well as those who hold higher education diplomas, as well as assistant teachers, among others.
The contractual teachers dossier has been ongoing for several years. In 2016, the education ministry started hiring teachers under contracts that required regular renewing.
The teachers, however, started staging protests demanding their integration in the public sector and an equivalent status to other teachers working under the ministry.
The unions see that the current governing system of education personnel needs to be upgraded to respect the demands of teachers, from recruitment through retirement.
Chakib Benmoussa, the Minister of National Education expressed satisfaction with the signing of the deal, saying that this event “constitutes a prelude to the reform of the education and training system.”
He also called for the mobilization of education personnel who make “special efforts” within the system to “improve the performance of the public school and restore citizens’ confidence in it.”
“This agreement would lead to “very important future prospects for employees in the education sector,” the minister argued.
