Morocco Delays School Reopening for 1 Million Students Amid COVID-19 Surge

The health situation has been worrying for a few weeks in Morocco. On average, some 2,000 new cases are recorded every day, forcing the authorities to take various emergency measures throughout the country. Distance learning has been imposed on establishments located in cities with a high rate of contamination, but also for all children from infected families.

Olivier Brochet, the director of the Agency for French Education Abroad, indicated during a briefing in Paris on the start of the school year, that the French high school in Casablanca, which welcomes nearly 4,000 students, has closed its doors. The Descartes high school in Rabat, which has around 2,500 students, has also closed at the beginning of the week after the detection of several cases of contamination.

It must be said that several voices have called for the postponement of the start of the school year due to the outbreaks of contamination detected here and there. But the ministry maintained the date, reassuring parents that the conditions will be met to ensure the health and well-being of students and teachers.

With this new decision affecting more than 2,000 schools, Moroccans are denouncing the risky decisions and a situation that is out of control. In a recent study, Human Rights Watch revealed that distance learning is further widening social inequalities.