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Rabat – The reasons behind Morocco’s worryingly high school dropout rate continue to affect students across the country.
A recent report from the Higher Council for Education, Training , and Scientific Research (CSEFRS) published alarming figures exposing the rate of school drop out in the country.
The report, “Atlas Territorial School Drop Out,” said that 431,876 students dropped out of public schools in 2018 “without obtaining school certificates.”
The number represents 78% of students who had studied at primary and secondary schools.
Several factors are behind the shocking rate including poverty, and quality of access to education establishments in rural areas.
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The report emphasized that dropouts from the public school system amounted to 505,300 students in 2015. The number represents a rate of 8.8% at the national level.
The number of dropouts, however, decreased significantly in 2016. The document indicates that only 407,674 dropped out in 2016 (7.1% of all students enrolled).
A year later, the number of dropouts increased again in 2018 to reach 431,876 students, representing 7.4% of all students.
The majority of these dropouts happen at the level of statutory education, with 78.3% of total dropouts, or about 338,000 dropouts in both the primary and secondary school.
The report also listed a certain regions where the phenomenon is most prevalent.
The regions of Marrakech-Safi, Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, Beni Mellal-Khenifra, Rabat-Sale-Kenitra and Eastern Morocco are the most affected by the dropout.
The dropout rate affects 5.6% of girls in primary school compared to 4% of boys. Boys are more affected by dropping out of middle and high schools in rural areas.
