| Traditionally, boys were educated at madressahs,
Islamic centres of learning housed in mosques. Some madressahs served
as early universities. These schools are still common throughout the country.
Students concentrate on memorizing the Qu’ran and on religious studies.
Primary education was made officially mandatory
for children between the ages of 7 and 13 in 1962. Today, about a quarter
of the national budget is dedicated to education. However, there is a shortage
of teachers and school buildings and limited access to education for children
in rural areas. Half of the population is under the age of 15, which means
that resources for education are strained. |
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| Primary school and high school are free. However,
students must pay for their transportation and school supplies. School
consists of six years of primary school, three years of middle school and
three years of secondary school. There are two kinds of secondary school:
lycées, which focus on academic studies leading to university
entrance, and technical secondary schools. The language of instruction
in primary schools is Arabic for the first two years. After that, students
are taught in both Arabic and French. |
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| Although primary school is officially mandatory,
not all Moroccan children can go to school. In some families, children
must work with their parents. If only some of the children in a family
are able to go to school, priority is given to boys. In the 1990s, the
government set aside money to educate girls, and the number of girls at
school is now increasing. Some coeducational schools have opened. Since
the beginning of the 1980s, more girls have been attending secondary schools
and university. Female students now make up almost 40% of the total school
enrolment, and more girls than boys are entering the school system. |
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Did you know? |
| Al-Qarawiyin
University in Fez is one of the oldest universities in the world. It was
founded as part of the Al-Qarawiyin Mosque in 859 by Fatima bint Mohammed
ben Feheri, a wealthy woman who came to Morocco with a group of Tunisian
immigrants. |
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| Morocco has several modern universities.
The largest one is Mohammed V University, in the capital city of Rabat.
Al-Qarawiyin University in Fez is the main centre for Islamic studies.
Al-Akhawayn is a private English-speaking university in Ifrane; it attracts
many international students. Morocco also has many postsecondary technical
schools and institutes. |
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