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Education is often approached through the lens of access: expanding enrollment, reducing school dropout, and widening opportunities for higher education and training. Morocco has made considerable progress on this front, particularly in widening enrollment among girls and rural populations. Yet access alone does not guarantee learning, nor does schooling automatically translate into opportunity. Persistent learning gaps, school dropouts, unequal educational outcomes, and difficult transitions into employment point to a broader challenge: ensuring that education becomes a genuine driver of social and economic inclusion.

 

The issue begins inside the classroom. International assessments continue to reveal significant difficulties in reading, mathematics, and science among Moroccan students. These outcomes are not simply a matter of individual performance. They reflect inequalities linked to family circumstances, schools, territories, and the wider environment in which learning takes place. Gender adds another dimension. Recent research on primary education shows that disparities between girls and boys cannot always be explained by observable characteristics alone, highlighting the influence of deeper structural and social factors. Improving educational outcomes therefore requires looking beyond averages to understand who is falling behind, where, and why.

 

These challenges also raise a fundamental question of governance. Over the years, Morocco has launched successive reforms aimed at broadening access, improving quality, and making education more responsive to the country’s economic and social needs. But translating reform objectives into results depends on the capacity to coordinate institutions, empower local actors, allocate resources effectively, and adapt policies to very different territorial realities. The challenge is therefore not only to identify what needs to change, but also to ensure that reforms can be implemented consistently and effectively. The consequences become particularly visible when young people leave the education system. Each year, school dropouts add to the number of young people who risk finding themselves outside education, employment, or training. For them, exclusion from school can quickly become exclusion from economic and social life.

 

Morocco’s New Generation Second Chance Schools offer an important response by reconnecting young people with learning, skills, and employment pathways. Their potential, however, extends beyond providing a second opportunity to individuals. Strengthened links with local economies, employers, associations, and public institutions could turn them into a more systemic instrument for preventing long-term exclusion and supporting the transition from education to work.

 

That transition remains one of the central tests of the education system. A diploma does not necessarily lead to employment that corresponds to a graduate’s qualifications, while employers continue to report gaps between available skills and labor-market needs. The coexistence of unemployment, skills mismatches, and occupational downgrading suggests that inclusion cannot be achieved through education policy alone. It requires stronger connections between schools, universities, vocational training, employers, and territories, alongside an economic environment capable of generating productive opportunities for a growing and increasingly educated population.

 

Inclusion must also be understood more broadly. Educational and professional trajectories are shaped by gender, geography, household resources, and access to economic opportunities. For women in particular, educational attainment does not automatically translate into economic empowerment. Barriers to labor-market participation, unequal access to resources, and exposure to violence can limit the benefits of education. Research on women’s empowerment, remittances, and gender equality therefore points to the need for policies that connect education with economic autonomy, social protection, and equal participation.

 

Taken together, these challenges invite a shift in perspective. The objective should not simply be to increase enrollment, reduce dropouts, or produce more graduates, but to build pathways that allow individuals to move from learning to skills, from skills to meaningful employment, and from employment to greater economic and social agency. This means addressing learning inequalities early, providing credible second chances when educational trajectories are interrupted, improving the alignment between skills and opportunities, and tackling the structural barriers that continue to shape individual outcomes.

 

Morocco’s education challenge is therefore inseparable from its broader inclusion challenge. Education can be one of the country’s most powerful instruments for expanding opportunity, but only when access is accompanied by quality, equity, effective governance, and viable pathways into economic life.

EDUCATION IN MOROCCO: REFORM, GOVERNANCE AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Morocco’s Education Sector

 

Aomar Ibourk, Tayeb Ghazi

 

Morocco’s education sector, deeply influenced by its colonial legacy and post-independence reforms, reflects a complex interplay of progress and persistent challenges. This chapter of the Oxford Handbook of the Moroccan Economy examines the historical evolution of the system, tracing its transformation from elite-focused Quranic institutions to a modern framework striving for universal access and socio-economic relevance. While initiatives such as the Vision Stratégique 2015–2030 and conditional cash transfer programs like Tayssir have significantly expanded enrollment, particularly for girls and rural populations, structural inequalities endure. Rural-urban divides, gender disparities, linguistic stratification, and misalignment between education outputs and labor market demands underscore systemic inefficiencies... Read more

Morocco’s Education System Reform Facing the Governance Dilemma

 

Larabi Jaïdi

 

The education system is at the heart of every debate. School lays the foundations of future societies, since it is decisive for our future prosperity, which largely depends on the skills and knowledge that the school system instills in students today. In 2025 Morocco welcomed a little over nine million pupils and students into its schools and universities, spread across the various levels of education. To accommodate these numbers, the State devotes, each year, a substantial financial effort to the education system as a whole. The average level of our students is said to be among the lowest in the region. This situation is neither viable nor acceptable. To make matters worse, our education system consumes resources. Whatever the reality and whatever its causes, the verdict is harsh... Read more 

Beyond The Numbers: Transforming the Second Chance School into a Systemic Driver of Inclusion for NEET Youth in Morocco

 

Aomar Ibourk, Karim El Aynaoui

 

This Policy Brief examines Morocco’s New Generation Second Chance School (E2C-NG) as a response to the country’s persistent challenge of school dropout and youth not in employment, education, or training (NEETs). While the model has achieved an 81% employment integration rate, its sustainability is constrained by unstable funding, limited recognition of qualifications, and insufficient post-training support. Drawing on a survey of 27 partner organizations and international experiences, the paper calls for a shift toward a more sustainable and institutionalized model, including multi-year funding, state certification, stronger “last-mile” support, and professionalization of the E2C network... Read more

 

(FR) A Multilevel Exploration of the Causes of Learning Poverty in Morocco: A Comprehensive Approach

 

Aomar Ibourk, Karim El Aynaoui, Tayeb Ghazi

 

Improving the quality of learning is a major challenge for Morocco’s education system, which, according to numerous qualitative and quantitative assessments, ranks among the lowest performing in terms of students’ academic skills. Results from international assessments such as TIMSS and PIRLS reveal concerning scores in mathematics, science, and reading, showing that more than 40% of students fail to reach the required level of proficiency in these key areas. Moroccan students face a range of learning gaps, including difficulties in understanding and applying basic mathematical concepts, solving complex problems, interpreting graphical data, understanding texts and identifying main ideas in reading, as well as a limited grasp of fundamental scientific concepts... Read more

 

GENDER, INEQUALITY AND INCLUSION

School Learning in Morocco: What Place for Gender Equality?

 

Aomar Ibourk, Karim El Aynaoui

 

This paper analyzes gender disparities in reading and mathematics among Moroccan 4th-grade students using data from PIRLS 2021 (7,017 students) and TIMSS 2019 (13,536 students). Using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method, it separates performance gaps into explained (observable characteristics such as age, family background, teacher, and school factors) and unexplained (structural) components. In reading, the unexplained part dominates (84.1% to 92.2%), reflecting structural and cultural disadvantages faced by girls, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In mathematics, most of the gap is explained (84.2% to 97.1%), mainly due to age, which benefits boys, supporting the developmental advantage hypothesis. While home conditions significantly affect overall performance, they contribute little to the gender gap. The study highlights the need for targeted interventions: reducing implicit biases in reading, promoting early engagement in mathematics for girls, and addressing the unequal impact of COVID-19 on learning outcomes to ensure a more equitable educational environment for all students... Read more

(FR) Gender Gaps in Educational Achievement in Morocco: What Are the Driving Factors?

 

Aomar Ibourk, Karim El Aynaoui

 

The gender gap in educational achievement remains a major concern in Morocco. This study examines gender disparities in reading and mathematics at the national, urban, and rural levels, using individual-level data from the PIRLS 2021 assessment (7,017 students) and TIMSS 2019 (13,536 students), both conducted among fourth-grade primary school students. Using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method, we break down achievement gaps into an explained component (endowments) and an unexplained component (structural factors), incorporating variables related to students, teachers, and schools... Read more

 

(FR) Violence Against Women and Economic Empowerment in Morocco: Why No Economic Inclusion Policy Can Succeed Without  Addressing Violence

 

Aomar Ibourk, Tayeb Ghazi

 

According to the latest available national survey, 57% of Moroccan women aged 15 to 74, approximately 7.6 million individuals, reported having experienced at least one act of violence during the twelve months preceding the survey (HCP, 2019). This prevalence was associated with direct and indirect economic costs estimated at MAD 2.85 billion over the same period (HCP, 2019). These two dimensions, human and economic, are also reflected in labor market indicators: the female labor force participation rate stood at 19.1% in 2024, compared with 68.6% for men (HCP, 2026), while the gender unemployment gap widened from 5.7 percentage points in 2019 to 9.7 percentage points in 2025 (Bank Al-Maghrib, 2025). Taken together, these factors contribute to an estimated economic loss associated with women’s low participation in the economy equivalent to 2.2% of gross domestic product (HCP, cited in Ibourk & Ghazi, 2026)... Read more

(FR) Women’s Economic Inclusion in Morocco: Structural Barriers, Empirical Determinants, and Public Policy Implications

 

Aomar Ibourk, Tayeb Ghazi

 

Women’s participation in the labor market in Morocco remains one of the country’s most persistent structural economic and social development challenges. With a female labor force participation rate of only 19% in 2023, compared with 69% for men (HCP, 2024), Morocco has one of the widest gender gaps among developing economies (World Bank, 2024). This Research Paper provides a rigorous, multilevel econometric analysis of the determinants of women’s labor force participation, drawing on data from the 2014 General Population and Housing Census (RGPH). Using an individual-level logit model and a three-stage multilevel modeling approach, the findings reveal the predominance of individual factors: education, marital status, age, and the presence of children, over provincial contextual characteristics. Higher education has the most transformative effect, with an odds ratio of 8.29, while marriage and motherhood have significant restrictive effects. The public policy implications highlight the need to prioritize investment in women’s education, expand access to affordable childcare services, promote formal employment in rural areas, and strengthen the legal framework for protection... Read more

 

FROM EDUCATION TO EMPLOYMENT: SKILLS AND LABOR MARKET INTEGRATION

Many Faces of Overeducation and Undereducation in Morocco

 

Aomar Ibourk, Tayeb Ghazi

 

Since the early 2000s, the Moroccan labour market has experienced continuous educational expansion that has not been matched by an equivalent transformation of the economy's productive structure, giving rise to situations of vertical mismatch between employed workers' education levels and the requirements of the jobs they hold. This study analyzes the determinants of overeducation and undereducation using anonymized microdata from the 2014 General Population and Housing Census (RGPH 2014, HCP), on a sample of 945,866 employed workers. Three categorical measures of mismatch are constructed a National Normative Approach (NNA), an International Normative Approach (INA) aligned with ILO standards, and a Statistical Approach (SA) based on the empirical distribution of years of schooling by occupation — with determinants estimated using Multinomial Logit models... Read more

 

(FR) Differentiated Pathways and Labor Market Integration Hierarchies: An Econometric Analysis of Moroccan Graduates

 

Aomar Ibourk, Fatima Berahou

 

The professional integration of young people, particularly higher education graduates, represents a major challenge for the economic development and social cohesion of any country. In Morocco, this issue is especially pressing and reflects a persistent paradox: despite the democratization and significant expansion of access to higher education over the past two decades, unemployment among young graduates remains structurally high, particularly among graduates of open-access institutions. According to data from Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP), their unemployment rate regularly exceeds twice the national unemployment rate, disproportionately affecting young people and female graduates (High Commission for Planning, 2024; 2025). This situation raises questions not only about the returns on public and private investment in education, but also about the labor market’s capacity to absorb and make effective use of its most highly educated human capital... Read more

 

(AR) Morocco’s Education Sector  

 

Aomar Ibourk, Fatima Berahou

 

This discussion highlights the challenges facing Morocco’s education sector, despite progress in expanding access and improving infrastructure. Tayeb Ghazi points to a key paradox between quantity and quality: rising school enrollment rates (90% in 2022) contrast with declining learning outcomes, particularly in reading and mathematics, as well as high unemployment among graduates (25%). By tracing the historical evolution of Morocco’s education system, from the pre-colonial period to contemporary reforms, the analysis shows how current challenges are rooted in accumulated historical factors. It therefore calls for a comprehensive reform that brings together quality, governance, and stronger alignment between education and labor market needs... Watch

 

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