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Doha – The Moroccan Ministry of National Education has announced the results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2023, revealing a decline in the performance of Moroccan students at the middle school level.
The study, conducted every four years by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), assesses the performance of education systems worldwide in mathematics and science at the fourth-grade and eighth-grade levels.
According to the ministry’s report, Morocco participated in the 2023 cycle of TIMSS for the seventh time since 1999, with a sample of students from public and private educational institutions at the regional and national levels.
The study involved 8,116 primary school students out of 770,476 enrolled at this level, and 9,318 middle school students out of 616,896 studying at the same level. The research also included 271 primary schools out of 12,177 and 256 middle schools out of 4,247 open during the 2022/2023 academic year.
The results showed a slight improvement in the overall performance of Moroccan students at the primary level compared to their performance in the 2019 cycle. The national average in mathematics at the primary level increased from 384 to 393 points, a gain of 9 points. In science, the national average at the primary level rose from 375 to 390, an increase of 15 points.
However, at the middle school level, the national average in mathematics decreased from 388 to 378 points, a decline of 10 points. The same decline was observed in the national average in science, which fell from 395 to 327, a decrease of 68 points.
The report also analyzed the evolution of achievement levels between the 2019 and 2023 cycles in mathematics and science. It revealed that the proportions of Moroccan students classified according to international performance levels had undergone some changes.
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At the fourth-grade level, there was an improvement in the low, medium, and high-performance categories in mathematics.
The national performance in science for primary school students also saw a relative improvement, with a slight increase in the medium and high-performance categories and a noticeable improvement in the low-performance category, reflecting some progress in basic scientific knowledge.
However, there was a decline in the performance of eighth-grade students in most achievement levels, especially in science.
This decline in performance aligns with the findings of the Insider Monkey Global Education Index for 2024, published on May 13, which ranked Morocco 154th out of 218 countries and territories. The North African nation received an index score of 0.000002309, placing it in the lower tier of the rankings.
The results of this international study, conducted in May 2023, highlighted the need to strengthen educational programs and teaching methods to enhance students’ scientific skills and achieve higher levels in future assessments.
The ministry is working towards this goal by launching the pioneering schools model at the primary level in 626 schools at the beginning of September 2023 for the 2023/2024 academic year, and in 2,626 primary schools and 232 middle schools at the beginning of the current 2024/2025 academic year.
One of the strategic objectives of the 2022-2026 roadmap is to increase the proportion of students who master basic learning and train them in the proper and safe use of computers and other digital equipment for academic achievement and in national and international assessments.
TIMSS 2023 saw the participation of 59 countries and 6 benchmarking entities at the fourth-grade level, and 44 countries and 3 benchmarking entities at the eighth-grade level.
The study assessed 359,098 students in 12,016 schools at the fourth grade, and 297,262 students in 8,786 schools at the eighth grade.
Contextual data was collected using questionnaires administered to participating students, their school principals and teachers, and the parents of participating fourth-grade students.
