Latest news with #MohamedSaadBerrada
Morocco World
a day ago
- Business
- Morocco World
Morocco Brings Digital Classrooms to Rural Schools in National Expansion Drive
Rabat – Morocco's Ministry of National Education signed a landmark partnership with Fondation Al Mada on Wednesday to bring digital tools and training to hundreds of rural schools across the country. The agreement, signed in the town of Fqih Ben Salah by Minister Mohamed Saad Berrada and Al Mada President Hassan Ouriagli, signals a major expansion of the 'Connected Classrooms – Dir Iddik' initiative. Launched last year, the project strives to turn digital technology into a real lever for educational fairness and innovation in Morocco's most underserved areas. At the heart of this collaboration lies a shared conviction that children in remote schools deserve the same access to 21st-century learning tools as their peers in cities. The initiative originally equipped 30 schools across six regions, and it has already reached more than 12,000 students since March 2024. With the second phase now underway, the target has more than doubled. By 2026, over 30,000 pupils are expected to benefit from new digital classrooms in at least 100 rural schools covering all 12 of Morocco's regions. The plan does not stop at installing equipment or providing internet access. The program places equal weight on training teachers and introducing students to coding, robotics, and even the basics of artificial intelligence. Teachers will receive in-depth training through the ministry's 'Everyone Can Code Caravan' initiative, which helps them run interactive workshops in rural classrooms. In a parallel effort, Injaz Morocco, a non-profit organization, will introduce students to financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and local economic practices. The goal is to prepare children to understand technology and navigate the world beyond the school gates. Berrada explained that the government's broader school reform initiative already included 52 pilot schools with connected classrooms between 2023 and 2025. This new agreement seeks to build on that momentum and extend support to dozens more institutions. Executives from the program's corporate partners attended the ceremony, including Inwi CEO Azzedine El Mountassir Billah and Managem CEO Imad Toumi. All three partners have roots in rural Morocco, and the initiative reflects a deeper commitment to the regions where they operate. What began as a small pilot now looks like the foundation for a national shift in rural education. In many of the schools already involved, students who once worked with chalkboards now use tablets. Teachers who never taught coding now lead workshops on robotics. While the expansion of digital classrooms in rural Morocco is a commendable step toward modernizing education and reducing inequality, it does not address the deeper, more pressing challenges many children still face. In vast rural areas, thousands of students remain out of school altogether, either because classrooms are miles away, roads are poor, or families rely on their children to help with farm work or income-generating activities. Without tackling these fundamental barriers, access, poverty, and infrastructure, the benefits of digital tools risk reaching only a fraction of those who need them most. Tags: Digitaldigital educationEducationMoroccoMorocco education
Ya Biladi
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Ya Biladi
Morocco introduces new regulations for private schools : Annual contracts and fee transparency
On Tuesday in Rabat, Mohamed Saad Berrada, the Minister of National Education, Preschool, and Sports, announced new regulatory measures aimed at formalizing the relationship between private educational institutions and families through the signing of a written contract. Speaking before the Education, Culture, and Communication Committee at the House of Representatives, Berrada explained that the contract, which will be renewed annually, will outline the objectives, duties, and obligations of both the institutions and the parents of students. In this context, he reviewed the key provisions of Bill 59.21 related to school education, including the establishment of a list of fees and service charges, which will be published both within private educational institutions and on digital platforms. Berrada added that the new measures include a ban on fee and charge increases during the current school year, the institutionalization of written contracts with legal guardians, and a prohibition on private schools refusing to re-enroll or expelling any student currently enrolled.
Morocco World
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Morocco's School Dropout Crisis: 280,000 Students Abandon Education Annually
Doha – Morocco faces a severe educational challenge as nearly 280,000 students abandon school each year, with 160,000 dropping out at the middle school level. This alarming statistic was revealed by the Minister of National Education, Mohamed Saad Berrada, during a press briefing in Rabat on Tuesday. Speaking after a meeting on the implementation of the government's employment roadmap, Berrada said his department aims to cut dropout rates by half. The ministry plans to direct at least 80,000 at-risk middle school students toward 'second chance schools' where they can receive vocational training to prepare them for the job market or return to traditional education. 'These institutions will provide professional training that equips students with skills needed for employment or reintegration into the school system,' Berrada told reporters. The ministry is battling this phenomenon through several initiatives, including 'leadership colleges' that monitor students and provide educational support alongside confidence-building extracurricular activities such as music, sports, and theater. Berrada said the ministry is also establishing psychological and educational monitoring units for children at risk of leaving school. These units will use data from the Massar platform to identify vulnerable students, who will then automatically join parallel activities and receive personalized support to prevent dropout. 'Social support programs in rural areas are crucial,' Berrada said, pointing to the provision of school transportation, canteens, and accommodation facilities as essential to ensure students aren't forced to abandon education due to social factors. Read also: HCP Report: 127,000 Children Are Victims of Child Labor The government has developed an employment roadmap with eight initiatives, the seventh specifically addressing school dropout. The objective is to reduce the number of students prematurely leaving school from 295,000 in 2024 to 200,000 by 2026. This latest push comes after limited success with previous initiatives. Official statistics for the 2022/2023 school year showed 294,458 students abandoned their education – 58,819 from primary schools, 156,998 from middle schools, and 78,651 from high schools. While former Education Minister Chakib Benmoussa claimed a 14.6% reduction in middle school dropouts and an overall 12% decrease from 334,664 dropouts in 2021/2022, the crisis remains acute. Ministry documents revealed 62% of dropouts were over 16 years old, despite education being mandatory at this age. Most concerning, 230,904 students never re-enrolled, while 63,554 left after being expelled. The ministry reported that 50,448 dropouts were reintegrated during the same school year – 31,830 through class council decisions and 18,610 through other specific measures. Despite these efforts, the educational system continues to hemorrhage students at an alarming rate, representing what Benmoussa called 'a significant loss of human capital.' Tags: drop out of schoolsEducation in Morocco
Morocco World
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Ministry of Education, ONDH Partner to Advance ‘Pioneering Institutions' Program
Rabat – The Ministry of National Education, in collaboration with the National Observatory for Human Development (ONDH), signed a partnership agreement in Rabat to support the 'Pioneering Institutions' initiative. This agreement aims to facilitate the process of awarding the ' Pioneering Institutions ' label for the 2024-2025 school year and will be applied to eligible educational institutions. Minister Mohamed Saad Berrada and ONDH President Otmane Gair attended the signing ceremony. The event marked a significant step in the ministry's commitment to ensuring inclusive, equitable, and quality education. Both institutions stressed in a press release that this commitment aligns with the Constitution, Law 51.17, and the 2015-2030 Strategic Vision. Under the terms of the agreement, the ONDH will assist the ministry by collecting and analyzing relevant data, which will be provided to the committee responsible for classifying the participating institutions. The initiative will involve 2,000 primary schools, 512 annexes, and 232 middle schools, all of which are engaged in the 'Pioneering Institutions' project. Awarding this label to institutions that meet the necessary criteria aims to ensure quality in teaching, learning, management, and administration, Minister Barrada argued. The initiative also seeks to enhance the school environment, improve students' mastery of their studies, promote student engagement, and reduce school dropout rates. This effort is part of the implementation of the 2022-2026 roadmap, which aims to establish a new model for educational institutions based on quality, excellence, and innovation. The government has reiterated its commitment to expanding pioneer schools by 2028, a key initiative in the country's educational reforms aimed at improving the quality of national education, according to government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas. Launched in 2024, the program has already made notable progress, integrating around 626 public schools and benefiting nearly 323,000 students. As the initiative grows, it is expected to expand to 2,000 institutions by 2025, reaching approximately 30% of primary school students, or about 1.3 million children. Tags: Ministry of Educationpioneering schoolschooling in Morocco
Morocco World
26-02-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
Samsung, Ministry Renew Partnership to Boost Digital Education in Morocco
Rabat – The Moroccan Ministry of Education and Samsung Electronics Maghreb Arab have signed an amendment to their partnership agreement to pave the way for more collaboration to enhance digital education in Morocco. The renewed commitment will extend the Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) program and aim to promote Artificial Intelligence (AI), said the electronics company in a press release. The signing ceremony took place at the national training and meeting center in Rabat. It was attended by Morocco's Minister of National Education, Preschool and Sports Mohamed Saad Berrada, and Hee Young Hong, President of Samsung Electronics Maghreb Arab. The event also saw the distribution of prizes to the winning teams of the first edition of a national Python programming competition, which is part of the Samsung Innovation Campus project. The project provides all qualifying computer science teachers with certified training in Python programming. The trained teachers provided Python programming learning sessions to common-core students. The distribution of prizes to the winning teams of the first edition of a national Python programming competition The project has so far trained 780 teachers, who in turn taught 1,273 beneficiaries through these learning sessions at the regional level. Hee Young Hong said Samsung is committed to supporting education and innovation in Morocco. 'By integrating artificial intelligence into the Samsung Innovation Campus and launching the National Hackathon, we want to offer young Moroccans opportunities to explore and develop their skills in future technological fields,' he said. Samsung said in a statement that the partnership is part of its vision to 'use technology to improve people's lives and contribute to the development of communities.' For the company, investing in digital education would help it 'empower young Moroccans to become the leaders and innovators of tomorrow.' Tags: digital educationEducationSamsungSamsung Morocco
