the Benmoussa recipe for a successful reform

Changing the approach for the implementation of the education reform roadmap is the challenge that Chakib Benmoussa wants to take up to achieve the goal of having a quality public school. This new approach will go beyond strategies to assess the direct impact on students in a targeted way in the beginning before generalizing the right methods, explains the Minister of National Education during the press conference organized on Thursday. As for funding, the government plans to increase the sector’s budget by 7% annually, or more than DH 5 billion. Therefore, by 2026, the budget is expected to reach 88 billion dirhams against 62.5 billion dirhams in 2022 and 69 billion dirhams in 2023.

The Moroccan public school still does not guarantee the quality of basic learning and does not yet enjoy the trust of Moroccans. These are the two main findings that guided the reflection on the roadmap for education reform presented by Chakib Benmoussa on Thursday.

According to a recent national assessment of student achievement, the learning crisis within thepublic school it just amplifies. Only 30% of students in public schools, primary level 6, have mastery of the curriculum. At the third-year college level, this rate drops to 10%, Benmoussa points out. “We cannot accept these results”, notes the official who also recalls Morocco’s positioning at the bottom of the world ranking of the efficiency of education systems.

All this to say that the ministry is making this roadmap an ambitious strategy for a quality school while also adopting a new way of implementing this reform to ensure its success, Benmoussa stresses. “This reform hinges on adopting a new approach to implementation that allows change to enter the classroom and have a impact on studentsto maintain the trust of public opinion in the long term, giving visibility to the long-term path and regularly sharing the intermediate achievements and to bring together all energies in a dynamic of co-construction”, indicates the Minister.

3 strategic objectives of education reform:

1. ensure the quality of learning : Achieve 60% of students mastering curriculum by 2026
2. Promote thefulfillment and citizenship : they manage to guarantee extracurricular activities for 50% of students instead of 25% now
3. Make it effective compulsory education : reduce the drop-out rate by a third, i.e. 100,000 pupils to be kept in the school system until at least the age of 16

3 fundamental components of the education system: the student, the teacher and the institution

12 concrete commitments for a quality public school.

– As for students:

1. A quality preschool, state-regulated and comprehensive to prepare all pupils for academic success: Pupils who benefit from a quality preschool are more likely to successfully acquire primary learning.
2. Curricula and textbooks that promote the acquisition of fundamental skills and mastery of languages, to the extent that an effective curriculum promotes student learning by setting clear expectations adapted to their abilities.
3. Tailored follow-up and support to help students overcome learning difficulties, because early identification and correction of academic difficulties helps avoid the accumulation of learning delays that can become insurmountable and lead to early school leaving.
4. Orientation of pupils towards new pathways adapted to their profiles to increase the chances of success, given that pupils following pathways adapted to their abilities and centers of interest have the opportunity to fully reveal their potential and are less exposed to school dropout.
5. Strengthening of social support to promote equal opportunities among pupils, in the sense that social support makes it possible to improve the conditions of access to school for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

– As for the teachers:

1. A practice-oriented training of excellence that enables teachers to adopt an effective and benevolent pedagogy, knowing that the majority of new teachers come from a long training course consisting of a Bachelor of Education, a one-year professionalization course in of the CRMEF and a one-year supervised internship course of one year in a professional situation.
2. Better working conditions to meet teachers’ needs and further improve their impact on students.
3. An incentive and rewarding career management system to encourage teacher efforts for the benefit of students.

– As for the schools

1. Welcoming and well-equipped establishments using digital technology, as improving the accommodation conditions and equipment of the establishment contributes to the motivation of students and teachers, which promotes learning and reduces the risk of dropping out of school
2. A director with strengthened leadership to improve the quality of the institution, because a group of support teachers, led by a dynamic director, is better able to mobilize to fight early school leaving, ensure learning and work for development of the students. .
3. A spirit of cooperation between the actors to establish a climate of trust and security within the establishment.
4. Extracurricular and sports activities to help students grow by developing transversal skills such as sociability, creativity, curiosity, a taste for effort, self-confidence, cooperation and the ability to communicate with ease.

“Three conditions are necessary to achieve these commitments: the law governmentIinvolvement of all actors, in particular through a charter of commitment and the financing whether through the state, partners such as local authorities or some components of civil society,” explains Benmoussa.

For the financing of the implementation of this roadmap, Chakib Benmoussa indicates that the government will carry out budget planning over 5 years to guarantee the necessary financial resources. “The balance of the ministry has practically increased by 4% annually between 2017 and 2021. Today, to support this reform and make it successful, we need to increase this rate from 4 to 7% annually, or more than 5 billion DH. It should be noted that during the 2022 financial year, the ministry’s budget increased by 6%, in 2023 it will be increased by 10%, which demonstrates the government’s willingness to support education sector reform”, notes the Thus, from 2026, the budget will have to come 88 billion dirhams against 62.5 billion dirhams in 2022 and 69 billion dirhams in 2023.

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