Morocco Cracks Down on School Dropouts, Holds Parents Accountable

Despite numerous awareness campaigns, school dropout is increasingly important in Morocco. From now on, parents and guardians who fail to keep their children in school will have to account for it. According to Saaid Amzazi, the decision is based on the provisions of the Constitution guaranteeing access to education for all. For the minister, families have a duty to ensure this essential right to the development and well-being of their children.

To show that the decision will be followed and applied to the letter, the Ministry of Education has signed a partnership with the Public Prosecutor’s Office. More than 300,000 students dropped out of school during the 2019-2020 school year. "The percentage of students who dropped out of school between the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years went from 2.7% to 2.1% in primary education, from 12.1% to 10.4% in middle school education and from 8.8% to 7.4% in qualifying secondary education," said the Minister of National Education.