In the last decade, privatization politics has concerned many educational institutions in Morocco.
However, in the 1980s and 1990s private education was tolerated only at the high school level and was used at a very small percentage of schools.
The mainstream opinion in Morocco was that private schools were destined mostly to provide expelled students with education.
What has occurred in the last two decades has been a big boom in private education that has contributed significantly to the appearance of greater class inequality and an impact on both university access and access to good jobs.
Historically, public school was all that was required for a good student to have good job opportunities. This was regardless of the material wealth of a student’s family. But parents find themselves now having to fund private education, which drains greatly their financial resources.
What parents did not expect is that they would experience the need to send their children to private educational institutions once they were finished with secondary education. Now they are concerned universities specializing in fields of engineering and medicine must also be private if they are to create opportunities for students to get good jobs.
Parents and students are now protesting against the fall of public education and the rise of private schools.
These protests may not change the facts on the ground. Privatization is growing and most parents who can afford it continue to prefer private elementary and high school education for their children despite high costs for these schools.
Nesrin Benhayoun, PhD
