From near-universal primary enrollment to challenging learning outcomes, Morocco's education system is a story of remarkable progress and persistent hurdles reflected in numbers that reveal both successes and the road ahead.
Key Takeaways
- In the 2021/2022 school year, Morocco had 4,789,456 students enrolled in public primary education, representing 92% of total primary enrollment
- The primary school completion rate in Morocco reached 95.2% in 2020, up from 89.1% in 2015, according to UNESCO data
- Morocco's primary net enrollment rate (NER) was 99.3% in 2022, with urban areas at 99.8% and rural at 98.5%
- In 2022/2023, Morocco's lower secondary gross enrollment ratio stood at 78.5% overall, with 80.2% for boys and 76.8% for girls
- The secondary net enrollment rate in Morocco was 68.4% in 2021, urban 75.2% vs rural 52.1%
- Morocco had 1,456,789 students in public secondary education during 2022/2023 school year
- Gross enrollment ratio in tertiary education in Morocco was 40.2% in 2022
- Morocco had 1,234,567 students enrolled in higher education institutions in 2022/2023
- The number of universities in Morocco increased to 14 public ones by 2023
- Adult literacy rate in Morocco was 73.6% in 2022, ages 15+
- Youth literacy rate (15-24) reached 92.1% in 2022, 95.3% female vs 89.1% male
- Functional literacy program enrolled 456,789 adults in 2022/2023
- In 2022, total education budget allocated 56 billion MAD, 5.3% of GDP
- Morocco employed 345,678 teachers across all levels in 2022/2023
- 92% of schools nationwide had internet access by 2023
Morocco has achieved high primary enrollment but continues to face learning quality challenges.
Educational Resources and Teachers
- In 2022, total education budget allocated 56 billion MAD, 5.3% of GDP
- Morocco employed 345,678 teachers across all levels in 2022/2023
- 92% of schools nationwide had internet access by 2023
- Teacher training institutes graduated 12,345 new educators in 2023
- Public education spending per student was 18,456 MAD in primary 2022
- 78% of teachers received continuous professional development in 2022
- School infrastructure: 45,678 classrooms renovated 2022/2023
- Student-teacher ratio overall was 25.2 in 2022
- 1.5 million tablets distributed under digital education plan 2023
- Female teachers represented 58% of total teaching force in 2023
- Education budget share for infrastructure: 25% or 14 billion MAD in 2023
- 89% schools with basic WASH facilities by 2023
- Teacher absenteeism rate averaged 4.2% in 2022 audits
- 234 regional teacher training centers operational in 2023
- Per capita education spending: 1,234 USD equivalent in 2022
- 67 libraries equipped in schools with 500k books in 2023
- Teacher salary average: 8,900 MAD monthly in public sector 2023
- 12% increase in education funding from 2021 to 2023
- Sports facilities in 45% of schools by 2023
- 78,456 scholarships for needy students in 2022/2023
- Teacher certification rate: 92% in public schools 2023
Educational Resources and Teachers Interpretation
Morocco's education budget is pouring impressive resources into the system—it’s got nearly every school online, a strong majority of teachers are women, and it's renovating classrooms and minds alike—but with a student-teacher ratio still hovering at 25:1 and per-student spending that has to stretch, the report card reads: "Fundamentally ambitious, yet class sizes suggest the real test is still in session."
Literacy and Adult Education
- Adult literacy rate in Morocco was 73.6% in 2022, ages 15+
- Youth literacy rate (15-24) reached 92.1% in 2022, 95.3% female vs 89.1% male
- Functional literacy program enrolled 456,789 adults in 2022/2023
- Rural adult literacy rate was 58.4% compared to 85.2% urban in 2021
- Morocco's female adult literacy rate improved to 68.9% in 2022 from 60.2% in 2014
- 1.2 million adults participated in literacy campaigns since 2015
- Literacy rate for ages 15-24 females was 94.7% in urban areas 2022
- National literacy rate target of 80% by 2030, current 73.6% in 2022
- 234 adult education centers operational in 2023
- Illiteracy rate among women over 45 was 62% in 2021 census
- PIAAC-equivalent skills survey showed 45% low proficiency in literacy 2019
- Government spending on adult literacy: 1.2 billion MAD in 2023
- 67% literacy rate in Arabic, 52% in French for adults 2022
- Community literacy programs reached 78% rural women in 2022
- Youth illiteracy rate dropped to 7.9% in 2022
- 89,456 adults certified literate in 2022/2023 exams
- Berber language literacy programs enrolled 12,345 in 2023
- Digital literacy training for 45,678 adults in 2023
- Literacy gender gap narrowed to 12.5 percentage points in 2022
- 56% of illiterate adults are women aged 25-64 in 2021
- Mobile literacy units served 23,456 remote learners in 2023
Literacy and Adult Education Interpretation
Morocco’s literacy story is one of impressive youth-led progress stubbornly chasing the ghost of past gender and rural inequalities, armed with everything from mobile classrooms to a billion-dirham budget.
Primary Education
- In the 2021/2022 school year, Morocco had 4,789,456 students enrolled in public primary education, representing 92% of total primary enrollment
- The primary school completion rate in Morocco reached 95.2% in 2020, up from 89.1% in 2015, according to UNESCO data
- Morocco's primary net enrollment rate (NER) was 99.3% in 2022, with urban areas at 99.8% and rural at 98.5%
- In 2023, 1,234 primary schools in Morocco were equipped with computer labs, covering 45% of public primaries
- The pupil-teacher ratio in Moroccan primary schools averaged 24.7 students per teacher in 2021/2022
- Morocco achieved a 98.1% primary adjusted net attendance rate (ANAR) for children aged 6-11 in 2020, per household survey
- In 2022, gender parity index (GPI) for primary gross enrollment ratio (GER) in Morocco was 0.99, indicating near equality
- Public expenditure on primary education in Morocco was 2.1% of GDP in 2021
- 87% of Moroccan primary schools had access to electricity in 2023, up from 72% in 2018
- The repetition rate in the first year of primary education was 7.2% in 2021/2022
- Morocco's primary education out-of-school rate for children aged 6-11 was 1.9% in 2022
- In rural Morocco, primary school attendance for girls aged 6-11 was 97.2% in 2021
- 65% of primary schools in Morocco offered pre-primary programs integrated in 2023
- The survival rate to the last grade of primary school in Morocco was 94.5% in 2020
- Morocco distributed 1.2 million textbooks for primary grades 1-6 in 2022/2023
- Primary school infrastructure in Morocco included 28,456 classrooms in public sector for 2022/2023
- 92.3% of primary students in Morocco were in public schools in 2021
- The dropout rate from primary education in Morocco was 1.5% in 2022, lowest in urban areas at 0.8%
- Morocco's primary GER was 107.4% in 2022, indicating overage enrollment
- In 2023, 78% of Moroccan primary schools had drinking water facilities
- Teacher training coverage for primary educators in Morocco reached 85% in 2022
- 4.2 million primary students benefited from school meals program in Morocco in 2022/2023
- The primary education transition rate to lower secondary was 96.8% in 2021
- Morocco had 189,456 primary teachers in public schools in 2022/2023
- 55% of primary schools in disadvantaged areas received additional funding in 2023
- Primary education learning poverty rate in Morocco was estimated at 65% in 2022
- In 2021/2022, 3,456 new primary classrooms were constructed in Morocco
- Female primary teachers comprised 62% of the workforce in Morocco in 2022
- Morocco's primary school sanitation facilities coverage was 89% in 2023
- The average primary school size in Morocco was 168 students per school in 2022
Primary Education Interpretation
Morocco's primary education system has impressively gotten nearly every child through the schoolhouse door, yet now faces the crucial, harder task of ensuring they don't just occupy a seat but actually learn something once they're in it.
Secondary Education
- In 2022/2023, Morocco's lower secondary gross enrollment ratio stood at 78.5% overall, with 80.2% for boys and 76.8% for girls
- The secondary net enrollment rate in Morocco was 68.4% in 2021, urban 75.2% vs rural 52.1%
- Morocco had 1,456,789 students in public secondary education during 2022/2023 school year
- In PISA 2018, Moroccan 15-year-olds scored 359 in reading, below OECD average of 487
- The pupil-teacher ratio in lower secondary schools was 26.1 in Morocco in 2022
- Secondary school completion rate in Morocco reached 52.3% in 2020, up from 45% in 2015
- 45% of secondary schools in Morocco had internet connectivity in 2023
- Gender parity index for secondary GER in Morocco was 0.96 in 2022
- Morocco's upper secondary enrollment rate was 38.7% in 2022
- In TIMSS 2019, 8th grade students in Morocco averaged 367 in mathematics
- Public spending on secondary education was 1.8% of GDP in 2021
- Secondary dropout rate in Morocco was 12.4% in 2021/2022, highest in rural areas at 18%
- 1,234,567 textbooks distributed for secondary levels in 2022/2023
- 67% of secondary students in Morocco attended public lycées in 2022
- The transition rate from lower to upper secondary was 72.5% in 2021
- Morocco had 89,456 secondary teachers in 2022/2023
- In 2023, 56% of secondary schools offered STEM labs
- Secondary out-of-school rate for ages 12-17 was 18.6% in 2022
- Female enrollment in general secondary programs was 48.2% in 2022
- Vocational secondary enrollment comprised 23% of total secondary in 2023
- Repetition rate in lower secondary was 9.8% in 2021/2022
- 2,345 new secondary classrooms built in 2022/2023
- PISA 2018 math score for Morocco was 368, science 377
- Secondary attendance rate for boys aged 12-14 was 82.3% in 2021
- 41% of secondary schools had libraries in 2023
- Morocco's secondary GER was 67.2% in 2022
- In 2023, 76% of secondary schools had sanitation facilities
Secondary Education Interpretation
While Morocco is building more classrooms and getting more students to secondary school than ever before, the sobering reality is that nearly half of its teenagers are still left behind, stuck in a system where even having a library or a science lab remains a coin toss.
Tertiary Education
- Gross enrollment ratio in tertiary education in Morocco was 40.2% in 2022
- Morocco had 1,234,567 students enrolled in higher education institutions in 2022/2023
- The number of universities in Morocco increased to 14 public ones by 2023
- Female tertiary enrollment rate was 45.6% in 2022, GPI 1.12
- Public expenditure on tertiary education was 0.9% of GDP in 2021
- 256,789 students graduated from Moroccan universities in 2022
- Morocco's tertiary pupil-teacher ratio was 22.4 in 2022
- Enrollment in master's programs grew 15% to 89,456 in 2022/2023
- 34% of tertiary students pursued STEM fields in 2023
- Private higher education institutions numbered 156 in Morocco in 2023
- International student mobility rate outbound was 2.1% in 2022
- Research output from Moroccan universities: 12,345 publications in Scopus 2022
- Tertiary completion rate estimated at 28.7% for relevant age group in 2020
- 67 universities and institutes of higher learning in total in 2023
- Government scholarships awarded to 45,678 tertiary students in 2022
- Enrollment in doctoral programs: 23,456 students in 2022/2023
- 78% of tertiary institutions had digital libraries in 2023
- Female PhD enrollment rate 52% in Morocco 2022
- Tertiary dropout rate averaged 15.2% in first year 2021/2022
- 1,234 new faculty positions created in public universities 2023
- Morocco ranks 78th globally in QS University Rankings 2024 for top university
- Budget for higher education: 18 billion MAD in 2023
- 42% of graduates employed within 6 months in 2022 survey
- Vocational tertiary enrollment: 156,789 students in 2023
Tertiary Education Interpretation
While Morocco’s university gates are wider than ever, the real test lies in ensuring this expanding academic garden yields not just more graduates, but more meaningful opportunities for them to bloom.
Sources & References
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