Morocco has made significant gains in girls’ access to education, but entry into higher education remains uneven and strongly shaped by geography, according to data published by the High Commission for Planning on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
The HCP said the school enrollment rate for girls aged 6 to 16 reached 96.4 percent, pointing to near universal access to compulsory education. Among children aged 4 to 5, the rate stood at 71.1 percent, with rural areas slightly ahead of urban zones in preschool enrollment.
That progress, however, weakens further up the education ladder, with the enrollment rate for young women aged 18 to 22 reached only 53.1 percent in 2024, highlighting continued barriers to higher education.
Territorial disparities remain marked earlier in the cycle as well: in rural areas, the enrollment rate for girls aged 15 to 17 stood at 62 percent, a level that limits their chances of continuing to university.
The HCP also pointed to persistent inequalities among adult women. Nationally, 48.2 percent of women aged 25 and over have never attended school, a share that rises to 70.6 percent in rural areas, compared with 36.4 percent in urban areas.
Only 32.7 percent of women have reached at least lower secondary level, while just 11 percent have completed higher education. The urban rural divide is sharp here too, with 15.4 percent of urban women reaching higher education against 2.5 percent in rural areas.
Average years of schooling stood at 5.2 years for women nationally, dropping to 2.1 years in rural areas and rising to 6.9 years in cities. Illiteracy among women aged 10 and above remained high at 32.4 percent nationwide, including 51.6 percent in rural Morocco.
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