Moroccan Private Schools arm-twist the Ministry of Education

It’s no wonder why this school year is controversial all over the world. Different learning methods have been adopted in different places depending on the Corona virus infection rates. However, the situation in Morocco is a bit Kafkaesque.

As in Hotel California, parents teaching their kids in private schools tried to check out but they could never leave. Where to head when the minister of education plainly explains that the absorptive capacity of state schools cannot allow the migration from private schools.

Parents have planned this exodus on different social media platforms as a response to private schools’ greed and inhumane approaches. When Morocco was in lockdown and education was online, many parents have lost their jobs or have gone through financial crises. Consequently, they expected a kind of flexibility in paying their kids’ school fees. However, private schools couldn’t meet their expectations as they have sued parents in debt and threatened not to deliver their Baccalaureate certificates.

After witnessing such calamities, parents of private schools’ students have united and set up an association that deals with their concerns.

It seems that history repeats itself. It’s a new school year, the Corona virus infections are plummeting and still the ministry of education announces the official start of the new school year amidst the complaints of parents and teachers. What adds insult to injury is that the learning method to be adopted is up to the parents. If they are to send their kids to school, they just need to sign a paper; otherwise, their kids will study from home.

Distance learning has proven its failure during its former implementation last year. That’s why the syllabus covered during distance learning was excluded from the exam specifications and students were only tested in what they had studied before the lockdown.

State schools’ absorptive capacity is limited. Classrooms of 40 students full for 6 days a week. Suppose the majority of parents choose to send their kids to school, how can the ministry allocate a maximum of 10 students per classroom?

On the other hand, private schools have the possibility for that number per classroom that’s one of the reasons that push parents to send their kids to private schools, just to avoid a clustered classroom. So, why launch the school year when you know that only private schools can handle a minimum number of students per classroom while state schools are far to nearly impossible from providing such a condition?