Moroccan parents concerned over 'entrance tests' in private schools

Parents of students expressed their condemnation of what they considered illegal practices carried out by some private educational institutions in Morocco, with parliamentarians calling out the discriminatory acts.

A parliamentary question was submitted this week shedding light on what some parents are experiencing. Families who have been compelled to relocate to other cities of residence for professional circumstances have seen their children denied at some establishments unless they successfully pass an entrance exam.

The practice, exclusively noted in private schools, is widespread, but some parents and parliamentarians are seeing it as a “discriminatory, exclusionary act” that hinders schooling for children across the country.

Parliamentarians are arguing that “educating children being a basic human right recognized internationally, these private institutions have turned into something similar to faculties of medicine, engineering, and others, where only certain students are allowed.”

An official source at the Ministry of National Education confirmed to Hespress AR that “private institutions are allowed a degree of independence at the level of management, and the Ministry cannot obligate institutions to cancel these tests unless this is done by mutual consent and agreement between parents and schools.”

The same source added that “there are schools that enjoy a good reputation and are in great demand, therefore, in order to ensure competitiveness alongside the rest of private institutions and to respect its capacity, they resort to testing and waiting lists.”

The ministerial official clarified that families’ rejection of this procedure is legitimate and can be resolved within the framework of dialogue with institutions and agreement on specific criteria for access.

“Those who pay school fees have the right to impose their conditions, and institutions have the right to take measures they deem appropriate,” continued the source.