Survey: Over 81% of Moroccans Have No Confidence in Education Reform

Rabat – The Moroccan Center for Citizenship (CMC) conducted a survey between November 25-28 which shed light on Moroccan citizens’ views regarding education, especially in the public sector, which is currently experiencing unprecedented tensions.

More than 12,000 participants, from all regions of Morocco as well as the Moroccan diaspora, participated in the poll, which was conducted via an electronic questionnaire distributed on Facebook and Instagram.

Taking part in the poll was the educational community which responded in large numbers with 9,553 teachers, accounting for 87.7% of the total replies. The remaining 2,585 replies were from a range of professional backgrounds.

The poll found that the opinions of both teachers and other participants were very comparable.

Notwithstanding several noteworthy obstacles, the majority concurred on a number of important issues, most notably the preference for the public education system.

Of those surveyed, merely 12.6% of the respondents said that the primary factor driving people to opt for the private sector was quality. Seemingly more significant issues include parents’ convenient work hours and a decline in trust in the public sector.

Regarding the challenges encountered by families who choose the private sector, the participants emphasized issues like exorbitant expenses and an overwhelming burden for students.

In the public sector, on the other hand, the study emphasized issues including packed classrooms, a dearth of instructional materials, and methods of instruction that are judged to be inadequate.

Commenting on the teaching profession, 83% of non-teaching participants said that teaching is an important profession for society. In order to raise educational standards, 97.2% of respondents emphasized the necessity of reducing class sizes.

Taking into account the government’s plan to include English in the school curriculum, most respondents (89.6%) said they would rather learn English as a foreign language, although a sizable portion (81.5%) said they lacked confidence in the government’s actions and its capacity to bring about the changes in education that they had hoped for.

As for the challenges teachers encounter, the majority of participants mentioned pay and working conditions, calling for significant improvements in these areas.