Rabat – UNESCO has reported that Moroccan girls outperform boys in reading by 10 points.
On Tuesday, UNESCO published its annual global education monitoring report, titled “Deepening the debate on those still left behind.” The report is based on analyzed data from 120 countries in primary and secondary education.
The data shows that girls outperform boys in reading in primary education and in science in secondary education, particularly in middle and high-income countries. For instance, girls aged below 15-year-old from Lithuania and Norway perform 15% better in reading compared to their male counterparts.
Commenting on the report, activist Malala Yousafzaico highlighted that “Girls are demonstrating how well they can do in school when they have access to education. But many, and particularly the most disadvantaged, are not getting the chance to learn at all. We shouldn’t be afraid of this potential. We should feed it and watch it grow.”
The report also noted that boys tend to perform better in mathematics in their early years, but the gender gap fades away as they age. Still, girls are less likely to pursue scientific careers due to existing gender biases related to women’s presence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.
Read Also: Nihal Djebli, Moroccan Female Pioneer in Male-Dominated IT Sector
Additionally, girls are less likely to get top marks in mathematics in 50 out of 54 countries.
In the MENA region, the study noted an increase in the share of women in the teaching workforce between 2000 and 2020. However, the presence of female teachers gradually decreases as the education level increases.
In 2020, female teachers in the region represented 94% of the pre-primary level teaching force while constituting 52% of the secondary education one, up from 47% in 2000.
While female representation in teaching helps counter discriminative discourses, civil society, schools -particularly private ones-, and teachers’ trade unions are major players in supporting girls’ education and promoting gender parity, UNESCO concluded.
In Morocco, the government has worked on improving the quality and accessibility of education to all citizens by implementing measures related to the development of pre-school quality standards and the fight against school dropouts in rural areas.
However, the Moroccan public remains unsatisfied with the quality of educational services provided by public schools, pushing parents to enroll their children in costly private schools.
