Soaring Costs of Elite Foreign Schools in Morocco Strain Middle-Class Families

A financial headache for Moroccan parents who wish to enroll their children in the French schools of the AEFE and OSUI, Spanish missions or American institutions in Morocco. On the eve of the new school year, they are facing a rise in registration and tuition costs in these highly sought-after establishments, reports the daily Les Inspirations Éco. The rates of the AEFE network vary according to the nationality of the students. In Casablanca, a French student pays 37,400 dirhams, compared to 45,900 dirhams for a foreign student. At the Lycée Lyautey, the French pay 44,200 dirhams compared to 55,600 dirhams for other nationalities. First registration fees range from 25,000 to 30,000 dirhams, with free enrollment from the third child. In Rabat and Tangier, these fees can reach 56,700 or even 74,700 dirhams in preparatory classes or BTS.

The rates charged by the OSUI network, managed by the French Secular Mission, are higher. In Casablanca and Rabat, registration fees are set at 50,000 dirhams and tuition fees exceed 73,000 dirhams in high school. Costs are relatively lower in some schools like Jean Charcot in El Jadida, which offers rates ranging from 43,000 to 48,000 dirhams depending on the level. At the Casablanca International French School, first registration fees amount to 45,000 dirhams and tuition fees range from 52,500 dirhams in preschool to 69,000 dirhams in high school.

The same trend is observed at the American institutions. At the Casablanca American School, the registration fee is 50,000 dirhams for the first child, then 40,000 and 30,000 for the following ones. As for tuition fees, they range from 88,678 dirhams in preschool to 158,054 dirhams in high school, with a "corporate" rate that can reach 176,292 dirhams. At the George Washington Academy, registration is 40,000 dirhams for the first two children, 20,000 for the third, and the annual fees amount to 91,700 dirhams in preschool and 163,800 dirhams in high school.

On the other hand, the Belgian, Spanish and Italian missions offer more affordable rates. The first registration fee in a Belgian mission varies from 30,000 to 40,000 dirhams depending on the level, while the annual fees are 47,060 dirhams in preschool and 68,580 dirhams in upper secondary. In a Spanish mission, the most affordable in the kingdom, the annual fees amount to 14,985 dirhams in Casablanca and Rabat, and nearly 13,400 dirhams in Nador, Tangier or Larache, with additional fees of 3,169 dirhams per subject in some cases. The Italian mission charges fees of 6,000 dirhams for first registration and 22,000 dirhams in preschool to 35,000 dirhams in the scientific high school for annual fees.