Morocco, the country that was once compared by King Hassan II to a tree with its roots in Africa and its branches in Europe. The country’s geographical location made it at the crossroads of many civilizations. There is no wonder that the country’s higher education traces back to centuries, with Al Quaraouiyine University in Fes, founded in 859 AD, being recognized by UNESCO as the oldest university still operating in the world. However, it is not until Morocco’s independence in 1956 that the state started organizing the sector to develop the necessary workforce deemed to lift up the newly independent nation. The first modern university – Mohamed V University – opened in 1957, and most higher education institutions were established between 1960 and 1998.
The higher education system in Morocco operates under the supervision of the Ministry of National Education, Professional Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research. The 1975 higher education law sets up the foundations for the system; it dictates the mission of public universities, establishment procedures, and the modalities for recruiting teaching and administrative staff. It also stipulates procedures for curriculum development and student evaluations.
A major reform in Moroccan higher education is law 01-00 on the organization of tertiary education passed in 2000. The law 01-00 is an ambitious effort to transform the sector both in terms of governance and pedagogy.
At the pedagogical level, the principal change that was introduced in 2003 is the establishment of a modularized degree system in accordance with the European LMD (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate) system put forward by the Bologna Process.
At the governance and organizational level, the charter allocates more autonomy to universities, thus granting them greater discretion in financial, administrative and academic terms. This autonomy came hand in hand with greater accountability as universities are subject to a priori control of the state and financial audits. The 01-00 act also constitutes the founding act of the Quality Assurance system, calling for the creation of a National Evaluation and Quality Assurance Agency.
Public universities also adhere to the Moroccan Code of Good Governance Practices for Enterprises and Public Institutions, which requires corporations and public institutions to produce an introspective analysis of their performances according to the Code’s guidelines.
The 01-00 reforms covers both public and private sectors of the higher education system. The Law clarifies and highly recognizes the utility of the private sector in complementing the public sector in promoting a quality higher education. The Law regulates procedures to open new private institutions as well as the process of their accreditation and recognition.
Higher education in Morocco is provided by different types of institutions, which can be broadly classified into public or private:
- Public HE sector:
- Public universities: institutions that are under the supervision of the ministry of higher education, these include the 12 public universities in addition to Al Akhawayn University, which has a special status as a privately-run public not-for-profit.
- Other public higher education institutions not affiliated to universities: referred to as Etablissements d’Enseignement Supérieur ne Relevant pas des Universités (EENSNPU), these are specialized higher education institutions (schools, institutes, centers) under the administrative and financial supervision of relative technical ministries and under the academic authority of the ministry of higher education. They provide a more specialized and technical training to specific public functions.Public sector:
- Private HE sector:
- Universities and institutions created in the framework of a public-private partnership (PPP): these are non-profit foundations created with the objective of internationalizing Moroccan higher education. They benefit from different sources of funding, yet they remain under the academic authority of the ministry of higher education.
- Private higher education institutions: these are universities and institutes created through fully private initiatives and are generally for-profit.Private sector:
Admission to higher education institutions requires the high school diploma or the Baccalauréat degree. Public universities offer both open-access and limited-access facilities. Engineering schools for example require a competitive entrance exam (CNC: Concours National Commun) and usually students undergo a 2 years training program of preparatory classes (CPGE: Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Ecoles d’Ingénieurs) before taking the exam. Other higher education institutions not affiliated to universities are all limited-access facilities.
Qualifications and diplomas granted by private higher education institutions are subject to an accreditation process by the ministry and not all their offerings are recognized by the state. As a result, many of these institutions have established partnerships with institutes in Europe and Canada and offer joint degree programs in various fields with well-known international universities.
There are currently 12 public universities in Morocco as opposed to 15 universities in 2013/14 due to university mergers. Universities are made up of faculties, schools and institutes. The 12 universities comprise a total of 124 institutions (Compared to 119 institutions in 2015/16, 5 new establishments created).
2016/17 statistics report a total number of higher education students exceeding 800 000, out of which 781 505 students are in the 12 public universities, that is 91.7% of the total higher education student population, with an increase of 4.2% from the previous academic year. The largest Moroccan public university hosts 114 166 students (Ibnou Zohr University in Agadir), and the smallest is home to 16 354 students (Chouaïb Doukkali El Jadida University).
The public higher education sector also comprises 70 other higher education institutions not affiliated to universities (EENSNPU). The total number of students in these institutions account for 29 218 students during the 2016/17 academic year.
For the past decade, a flourishing private higher education sector brings more diversity into the Moroccan higher education landscape. Currently, there are a total of 163 private higher education institutions accommodating a total of 41 555 students. However, only 11 are granted the status of ‘university’. Out of the 163 HEIs, 6 institutions are private-for-profit, 7 are universities and institutes established in the framework of a public-private partnership (PPP), and the remaining 150 are independent private institutes.
- The 6 private-for-profit universities have a total of 7 032 students, about 17% share of all students in private HEIs. Their size ranges from 500 to 2 500 students. The smallest private-for-profit university is Université Privée de Fès (1 faculty & 2 schools, 505 students), and the largest private-for-profit university is Université Privée de Marrakech (3 faculties & 3 schools, 2 235 students).
- The 7 PPP universities and institutes (5 universities and 2 single institutes) host 14% of the total number of students attending private HEIs, that is a total of 6 030. Their size ranges from 250 students to 2 800 students. The smallest PPP university is Université Euro-méditerranéenne de Fès (2 faculties, 1 school & 2 institutes, 278 students), and the largest PPP university is Université Internationale de Rabat (2 faculties, 4 schools & 1 institute, 2 766 students).
- The other private HEIs absorb the remaining 69% with a student population amounting to 28 493 students. The majority of these institutions are concentrated in the economic capital of Morocco Casablanca.
Moroccan higher education has developed rapidly owing to a fast growing population and to the free education for all policy adopted by the government to promote equal access. According to the UN’s World Population Prospects (2017), school age population in Morocco is expected to keep growing for the coming decades (see table below). With the already saturated infrastructure, absorbing this growing number of school aged population would necessitate serious measures.
Population by school age (thousands)
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2030 | 2040 | |
| 0 – 14 | 9829.523 | 9867.021 | 9911.498 | 9549.009 | 8854.119 |
| 15 – 19 | 2943.799 | 2961.278 | 2977.541 | 3367.474 | 3121.647 |
| 20 – 24 | 2960.416 | 2910.705 | 2875.907 | 3002.645 | 3188.34 |
Although, the higher education system has been the object of successive reforms, infrastructure still remains an issue in most public universities particularly in open-access institutions which suffer from overcrowding. The issue goes beyond the quantitative problematic to a qualitative one as universities experience high drop-out rates. Moreover, large and overloaded classes result in a lack of engagement from students and faculty members, and it reduces research activities since professors allocate more time to teaching and mentoring.
With the above analysis of the Moroccan higher education system, serving as an introduction to a series of upcoming blog posts on Moroccan higher education, I wish to conclude by inviting you to reflect on these questions: Would the current predominant public system, at the dawn of the 4th industrial revolution, be able to produce the necessary wo/man- and brain-power to speed up the economic and social development of the country? Will the private sector transcend the public one and emerge as an alternative? How could the public sector resolve the access/quality dichotomy?