Rabat – Morocco is set to invest MAD 4 billion ($400 million) to train teachers as part of an agreement government actors signed on Monday in Rabat.
While Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch chaired the signing ceremony, Minister of National Education Chakib Benmoussa, Minister of Higher Education Abdellatif Miraoui, and Minister Delegate of Budget Fouzi Lekjaa signed the agreement.
Benmoussa said that the training program will begin at the start of the 2022-23 academic year.
“We will increase the rate of teacher training,” pledged the minister, stressing that the training program will increase its capacity from 9,000 currently to 50,000 by 2025.
A monitoring committee for the program has been set up to overview the implementation of the project’s main objectives.
Benmoussa announced that trainee teachers will receive an additional stipend of MAD 1,000 ($100) per month during the three years of training.
Miraoui thanked the government for their support for the training program, arguing that the project is in line with reforms seeking to improve the education system.
Lekjaa also commented on the program, saying: “We all agree the question of teacher training is a fundamental axis of education reform.”
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He argued that the program will generate positive growth in all productive sectors.
The education system in Morocco has been facing several challenges, drawing criticism from both worried parents and activists.
In January, a report by the Moroccan Association for the Improvement of the Quality of Education (AMAQUEN) revealed that most students in secondary school across Morocco “do not deserve to pass.”
The report also criticized the loopholes in the country’s education system in terms of human resources, stressing the lack of future planning regarding the training and recruitment of future employees.
A similar 2021 report from the World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF estimated at 65.8% the level of learning poverty in Morocco among children aged 10.
