With just a few weeks to go before the 2026-2027 school year kicks off, calls are growing to make Saturday a weekly day off in Morocco’s public schools, as it is already a day off in most public administrations and private schools.
The demand comes as September 5, which falls on a Saturday, will mark the start of the 2026-2027 school year for fifth- and sixth-year primary students, third-year middle school students, and second-year high school students, according to the Education Ministry.
Moroccan education unions emphasize that the Saturday-off demand was among the issues discussed when drafting the sector’s fundamental system.
In a nine-page document, the National Education Union says that the demand is in line with the provisions of Decree No. 2.05.916 of July 13, 2005, which also sets out weekly rest days for public-sector employees.
It calls for banning any mandatory meetings, activities, tasks, or training sessions for teachers on Saturday, ensuring that the legally set weekly working and rest days are respected.
The demand also follows comparisons showing that Moroccan teachers work longer hours than their counterparts in other countries, including neighboring countries.
The union has warned that it will stage a national strike on September 5, which is supposed to mark the start of the 2026-2027 school year for several students, if the Saturday-off issue is not resolved.
“If Saturday is not declared a weekly day off before September 5, our union will hold a national strike that day,” Azzedine Oumami, national secretary-general of the National Education Union, told Hespress English.
Oumami explained that Decree No. 2.05.916 sets Monday to Friday as the working days for public-sector employees, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., while allowing changes only when necessary.
“There is no such necessity in the education sector,” he stressed, saying that the ministerial decision to start the 2026-2027 school year on September 5 cannot go against the decree and should therefore not be binding.
He said the union launched the initiative ahead of the new government’s formation to push political parties to include the demand in their election programs as a commitment to be implemented.
According to the national secretary-general of the National Education Federation, Abdellah Aghmimt, the Saturday-off demand is part of a broader effort to improve teachers’ working and living conditions, rather than a benefit granted by the ministry.
He told Hespress AR that teachers’ work goes beyond classroom hours and includes lesson preparation, grading, meetings, administrative and educational duties, training, and other tasks.
The secretary-general also argued that it was unfair for many public-sector employees to have a two-day weekend while teachers follow a different schedule, despite also being public-sector workers.
The Saturday-off demand has already reached parliament.
In a written question sent on June 16, 2026, Khalid Es Satte from the National Labor Union of Morocco asked the education minister about plans to formally introduce Saturday as a weekly day off for education-sector workers, citing calls from teaching staff to receive the same benefits as employees in other public sectors.
Es Satte called on the minister to explain the delay and outline the measures and timeline for implementing Saturday as a day off, noting that agreements with the education union already included the commitment to give sector employees the same weekly rest as other public-sector workers.
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