Ei-iE

Education International member organisation the Fédération Nationale de l'Enseignement - Union Marocaine du Travail (FNE-UMT) continues its mobilisation for the Go Public! Fund Education campaign in Morocco. Having secured significant wins through social dialogue, the union has resolved to place the Go Public! campaign and the United Nations recommendations on the teaching profession at the centre of its strategy to ensure students’ right to quality education and teachers’ right to good working conditions.

“Go Public! Fund Education supports and strengthens our efforts to demonstrate that involving teachers in policy development leads to better implementation of sound education policy and the recruitment and retention of educators, which is critical in the context of a significant teacher shortage”, stated Miloud Massid, General Secretary of FNE-UMT.

As part of this continuing effort, FNE-UMT activists came together in Casablanca on 11 and 12 November to discuss the next steps of the campaign in Morocco.

Significant progress achieved through social dialogue

Since 2021, effective social dialogue has enabled the union to secure significant improvements for teachers and education workers across the country, including wage increases and better working conditions. Persistent advocacy has influenced labour law reforms, enhancing worker protections and rights, such as the unified Framework on Professional Teaching Standards. This has resulted in the tenure of 140,000 contract teachers, who now enjoy the status of public servants and are eligible for promotion with retrospective pay for the last five years.

FNE also worked with the government to strengthen social dialogue mechanisms, involving teachers in developing education policies, to the benefit of all education communities across Morocco.

Go Public! Fund Education to address persistent teacher shortage

Despite the substantial progress achieved, the education system in Morocco continues to face considerable challenges, including a massive shortage of 60,000 teachers that negatively affects the delivery of quality education. The shortage is exacerbated by the retirement of experienced teachers and difficulties with integrating women and youth into the teaching profession. The education system also faces challenges in relation to access and equity, curriculum and teaching methods, and gender equity.

To address these issues and strengthen Morocco’s education system, FNE-UMT has joined Education International’s Go Public! Fund Education campaign, an urgent call for governments to increase public education funding, resist privatisation, and advocate for public education as a cornerstone of equitable and democratic societies. The campaign rejects austerity-related labour reforms that reduce social protections and weaken worker rights, increasing inequality.

“To ensure every student is taught by a qualified teacher, governments must make teaching an attractive profession for young people. Deregulating the teaching force and employing teachers on fixed-term precarious contracts contribute to the global teacher shortage. Sustainable investment in teachers and adequate funding in public education is a prerequisite for improvements in education”, stressed Angelo Gavrielatos, manager of the Go Public! campaign at the global level.

Strong call for government to implement United Nations recommendations on the teaching profession

FNE-UMT remains committed to working with the Moroccan government. The United Nations recommendations on the teaching profession provide a blueprint for action to ensure that all Moroccan children have access to quality public education. The union is determined to make these recommendations a reality by organising, mobilising, and advocating for comprehensive education policies.

In line with the United Nations recommendations, FNE-UMT approved a statement that calls on the government of Morocco to work together to:

1. Increase investment in public education to at least 20% of the total government budget to address overcrowded classrooms, insufficient infrastructure, and inadequate learning materials.
2. Improve working conditions for teachers by providing comprehensive initial teacher education and training, fair remuneration comparable to other professions, and opportunities for ongoing professional development.
3. Reverse the privatisation of education and ensure free public education for all students by opposing laws that impose school fees.
4. Promote and strengthen social dialogue mechanisms to ensure the representatives of teachers remain central in the development and implementation of education policies and align teacher policies with national education strategies.
5. Focus on inclusion and diversity in policies that promote gender equity and diversity in the teaching profession.
6. Establish a National Commission which includes relevant financial authorities, representatives of education unions and other relevant stakeholders, to address the teacher shortage, as recommended by the United Nations.

The union resolved to continue its work with Education International and the government to guarantee quality public education for all.