Unfulfilled Promises of Morocco's Vision 2015-2030: Gaps between Policy and Implementation in Education Reform

Abstract

Morocco launched Vision 2015-2030 to make schooling fair and high quality, yet many goals remain unfinished ten years later. This study compares the promises of Vision 2030 with the real situation in 2024. It uses qualitative document review and secondary data from UNESCO, the World Bank, the Moroccan Ministry of Education, and the 2018 PISA file. Results show mixed progress. National net-enrolment now reaches 97 percent, and youth literacy climbs to 98 percent, but large gaps stay in place. Rural dropout is still 23 percent--double the urban rate--and girls in rural zones leave school far more often than boys. Morocco's PISA reading score is only 339 in 2022, far below the OECD average of 487, and 66 percent of ten-year-olds cannot read a simple text. Two main barriers slow improvement: an unclear language-of-instruction policy that shifts between Arabic and French, and a very centralised management system that gives little power to local schools. A brief look at Tunisia and Rwanda confirms that clear language rules and stronger local authority can raise learning results. The paper calls for deeper decentralisation, steady teacher support, and a stable bilingual roadmap to meet Vision 2030 on time.