Court of Audits: One in Four Moroccan Students Could Not Access Remote Learning

Rabat – The annual report of the Moroccan Court of Audits for the year 2021 disclosed that 25% of Moroccan students were unable to access remote learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published on Tuesday, March 7, the report indicated that students who had been missing from virtual learning were mostly  coming from rural areas and poorer backgrounds, as they lacked the technology resources needed to attend online classes.

In addition, the court highlighted a notable disparity between students in the public and private sectors in regard to distance learning, as well as a “low consideration” for the needs of pupils in primary education and students with special needs.

The report also noted that an overwhelming number of teachers were unable to complete their school programs, attributing the issue to their lack of adequate training for online instruction.

In this regard, the Court of Audits has put forward a set of recommendations, including urging the Ministry of National Education, Primary Education, and Sports to “ensure the gradual and wider integration” of distance learning in the Moroccan education system.

The report also called on the ministry to “define precisely the conditions and reasons justifying the use of remote learning in unusual circumstances,” especially in rural areas.

Besides the disruption that Morocco’s education faced during the COVID-19 crisis, the report shed light on the ongoing  challenges that the country’s education system has been suffering from.

Quality of teacher training

It has notably put emphasis on the dysfunctions in Regional Academies for Education and training and Regional Centers for the Professions of Education and Training (CRMEF) across Morocco, calling into question the quality of training that trainee teachers receive.

In 2016, Morocco launched teacher recruitment with renewable contracts instead of long-term guaranteed employment, excluding them from the public sector. Since then, teachers have been hired by regional academies, instead of the Ministry of education.

Read also: Morocco’s Education System: A Sinking Ship Undergoing Maintenance

“The majority of the teachers who were hired by the academies did not take the professional eligibility exam that entitles them to obtain a certificate of professional competence,” said the report.

It detailed that out of the 83,422 hired teachers, only 3,568 teachers, representing 4% of the total, took the professional competency exam.

The framework governing contractual teachers entails that each teacher should take the professional competency exam at the end of the second year of training. However, the report noted alarming delays in this regard, saying that “83% of teachers of the cohorts between November 2016 and December 2018 practice the profession of teaching without being professionally qualified.”

While the report recognizes the efforts Morocco makes to improve the education system, it stressed that it currently “does not provide teaching staff with the necessary pedagogical and professional qualifications to enable them to have the required skills and competencies to carry out their duties as teachers.”