‘Pioneer Schools’ Impact Index Puts Morocco at Forefront of Education Worldwide – Minister

The “Pioneer Schools” impact index on the quality of education places Morocco at forefront of the world rankings in this field, Minister of National Education, Preschool and Sports, Mohamed Saad Berrada said on Monday. During question time at the House of Representatives, Berrada stressed that this project stands as a major reform of the education system, noting that Morocco has achieved, according to the results of a study carried out by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, a clear improvement of 0.9 standard deviations in learning. Based on a sample of 270 schools, this study comparing traditional schools with “Pioneer Schools” shows that this index is calculated according to the level of the reform’s impact on the quality of education, he continued. According to the study, the impact is weak when learning improves by 0.2 standard deviations, average when at 0.3 and excellent at 0.4, the Minister explained, noting that the rate achieved by Morocco testifies to the success of the Pioneer Schools experiment. The Minister recalled that last year, the Pioneer Schools project targeted 300,000 pupils in 600 educational institutions, stressing that the challenge within the framework of this reform “is not the pedagogical aspect, but rather the technicalities of its implementation after the generalization” of the project. He pointed out that the emphasis of the pioneering schools project was put on developing pupils’ skills, particularly in three subjects – mathematics, Arabic and French – through new teaching methods.