Morocco emergency plan incentivises private school investment

2008-11-21

The Moroccan government is pursuing a two-part plan to improve the nation's education system, including aid to public institutions and a campaign to expand private schools into rural areas.

Text and photos by Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 21/11/08

The government aims to work with the private sector to provide quality education to all Moroccans.

With many Moroccan families willing to take on the financial burden of private school tuition rather than send their children to overcrowded and often inferior state schools, the government is now working on two fronts to enhance educational options for the country's youth: fixing problems in public institutions and encouraging private school development in rural areas.

Morocco's education ministry wants the private sector to work alongside the state to make education universally available. Incentivising the expansion of private schools also helps relieve the financial burden public education imposes on the government.

There are more than 500,000 private school students attending some 1,800 institutions in the Kingdom, according to a survey last year by Moroccan economic TV show magazine EchoEco. The education ministry reports that private education accounts for 7.4% of all school education in Morocco.

The charter for education and training aims to increase that portion to 20% by 2010.

In Morocco's big cities, however, there is no shortage of enthusiasm for private schools. There are many parents who prefer to send their children to private establishments, despite the financial constraints. Some even take out bank loans to avoid state schools, which have a number of disadvantages as far as they are concerned. They believe that by doing so they are guaranteeing good quality education for their offspring.

Fatima Bahiji, a nurse, has raised her son Badr on her own following her husband’s death. Her salary is barely enough to cover the rent and essential everyday expenses. Despite finding it difficult to make ends meet, she decided that Badr would be educated in a private school. She has had to work additional hours in a private clinic to achieve this goal.

"The school costs 1,500 dirhams per month, which is nearly half of my salary, while the rent is 2,000 dirhams. I had to find a solution so that my son could have a decent education, without violence," she said with conviction.

State schools, she told Magharebia, have been unable to keep up with the needs of the new age, due to the poor morale of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and poorly prepared courses.

Like many parents, Mohamed Bezioui, a public sector worker, could not resist the temptation of private education. His daughter Myriam was studying in a well-respected private school in Rabat. But when his second son reached school age, he simply could not send him to the same school as his sister.

"After thinking about it for a few days, I decided to send them both a state school. I felt bitter about it, but I wanted to make sure they both had the same opportunities. I would be happier if state schools offered a much better service. Sadly, the level is dropping more and more," he said.

Private schools are motivated by profit as well as educational aims.

The "collapse" of state schools has had a crippling effect on parents, says sociologist Maraouane Balimi. Today, families are more concerned than ever about their children's future, whereas a few decades ago there was great confidence in state education.

"Parents were convinced that a baccalaureate or degree would be sure to guarantee a place in the labour market. But now with the levels of graduate unemployment and the failure of state schooling, families are looking for quality education which will meet the needs of the future," she explained to Magharebia.

The government is encouraging more widespread development in the private school sector, which suffers from a concentration of establishments along the Kénitra-Casablanca axis.

Rural areas, where purchasing power is low, are of little interest to investors. Investment in the major cities guarantees a considerable profit margin, investor Mohamed Kamal told Magharebia. It is less certain in the country or in smaller towns.

"You have to realise that private schools are set up by investors to make a profit, and that takes priority over any educational aim," he said.

"There is plenty of demand in the cities. The market has not yet been saturated."

To generate interest from private education investors in regions outside the usual urban centres, the government has launched several incentives. Investors are not required to pay VAT on equipment and, for the first five years of operations, they receive a 50% exemption from corporate income tax. Educational projects are additionally underwritten by the treasury.

Along with private investors, students and teachers are receiving some government accommodations. Under one such policy, private school teaching staff may take training courses at centres run by the national education ministry. Pupils attending private education establishments can also now sit public examinations and teachers from the state sector may also, once authorised, work part-time in private schools.

Although the government is taking these steps to aid private schools, it is also trying to restore the image of the state education sector.

Experts say the successes of public and private schools are inextricably linked.

The rehabilitation of public schools is crucial to the development of a democratic and modern Morocco, Education Minister Ahmed Akhchichine said in September when the government unveiled a new multi-tier education strategy. Moreover, the successes of public and private education are inextricably linked, sector leaders maintain.

The 2009-2012 national education reform programme hopes to bring new life to Morocco's schools. Officials say planned reforms will make state schools more attractive, more receptive, and more in tune with the needs of their neighbourhoods.

The emergency plan emphasises the need to develop private education to take some of the burden away from state budgets. New measures under consideration include facilitating private investment, handing over the running of existing state schools to the private sector, and the promotion of a new management and operation model.

Other agreements call for improving school libraries, boosting technology and arts classes and increasing physical education and organised school sports.

From increasing school meals and the number of students in boarding facilities to building new schools, the government is budgeting millions of dirhams to step up the pace of development projects as part of the new emergency plan, according to Latifa Labida, Secretary of State for Higher Education and Training.

"We are talking about giving schools the attention they deserve," Labida told Magharebia.