The government's vision in the National Development Plan (PND) 2021-2025 is to improve enrollment rates across all levels of education, particularly in primary education. In this perspective, all key indicators of the system observed in 2020 will be improved by 2025. Thus, the overall score out of 100 for elementary school students in mathematics and French should increase from 50 to 60, the Net Enrollment Rate (NER) in primary education should rise from 91.49% to 96.8%, and the Primary Completion Rate (PCR) should increase from 82.2% to 100%.

To achieve the desired changes, interventions will focus on: (i) the construction of 12,827 primary classrooms and (ii) the recruitment of 29,187 teachers.

As a result, children (girls and boys) aged 6 to 11 will have access to quality education, complete the primary cycle, have a favorable school environment, and thus acquire the expected fundamental skills.

Primary education, lasting 6 years, leads to the Certificate of Elementary Studies (CEPE).

From the 2016-2017 to 2023-2024 school years, the number of schools increased from 16,324 to 19,898, representing a growth of 17%, and the number of classrooms increased by 18.7%, from 90,970 to 107,986. The public sector remains dominant, accounting for 78.62% of schools and 78.10% of classrooms for the 2023-2024 school year.

 

Source: MENA/DESPS

Out of 4,817,661 registered schoolchildren in the 2023-2024 school year, 79.2% attend public schools, 19.8% attend private schools, and 1.0% attend community schools.

In terms of distribution by location, for the 2023-2024 school year, 60.3% of primary schools are located in rural areas and accommodate more than half (50.2%) of all schoolchildren, with a ratio of 37 students per classroom compared to 47 in urban areas, against a national standard of 45 students per classroom.

In terms of coverage, the gross enrollment rate in primary education increased from 99.9% in the 2016-2017 school year to 110.7% in the 2023-2024 school year, representing an increase of +10.8 percentage points. As for the primary completion rate, it improved from 75.0% to 85.2% respectively during the 2016-2017 and 2023-2024 school years, marking an increase of +10.2 percentage points.

 

Source: MENA/DESPS

Evolution of the main primary indicators from 2017-2018 to 2023-2024

Indicators2017-20182018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024
Gross Admission Rate _GAR (in %)100.4101.1101.2101.9102.5111.8110.7
Gross Enrollment Rate _GER (in %)100.6100.5100.398.0101.4104.8105.9
Completion Rate in Primary _CRP (in %)77.780.582.283.778.082.885.2

Source: DESPS/MENA

Com.* = Community (School structure created by the community)

 Evolution of the number of schools, classrooms, and student enrollment during the school years 2016-2017 to 2023-2024 in primary education

STATUS / ENVIRONMENT2016-20172017-20182018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024 
SchoolsSTATUSPublic13,19513,78414,24614,61314,87415,16315,40115,643
Private2,1282,2012,4812,8063,1373,2763,4313,661
Com.*1,001972888839746693638594
ENVIRONMENTUrban5,5515,8346,5876,9877,2037,4407,6377,894
Rural10,77311,12311,02811,27111,55411,69211,83312,004
Total16,32416,95717,61518,25818,75719,13219,47019,898
ClassroomsSTATUSPublic74,87477,26177,62978,52379,07381,06782,12684,340
Private13,61914,73115,95017,61819,27419,94621,07722,053
Com.*2,4772,7752,2872,1972,0201,9241,8011,593
ENVIRONMENTUrban35,21737,22940,69042,36043,46144,87246,14347,329
Rural55,75357,53855,17655,97856,90658,06558,86160,657
Total90,97094,76795,86698,338100,367102,937105,004107,986
Student EnrollmentSTATUSPublic3,169,3033,255,7973,308,6673,336,6783,307,2363,424,8473,709,1363,806,057
Private522,633564,772625,916696,078732,515770,841866,374963,623
Com.*80,20079,65369,30168,67463,07456,81557,22747,981
ENVIRONMENTUrban1,689,0751,761,4111,920,8302,015,7011,991,5672,074,8222,117,6572,184,286
Rural2,083,0612,138,8112,083,0542,085,7292,111,2582,177,6812,155,4122,200,927
Total3,772,1363,900,2224,003,8844,101,4304,102,8254,252,5034,632,7374,817,661
TeachersSTATUSPublic72,74876,37578,19681,42479,36480,11982,71581,130
Private13,79514,36215,90517,52018,99519,93821,08021,873
Com.*2,3572,5202,1542,1411,9041,6131,7071,415
ENVIRONMENTUrban37,32038,86143,06946,15546,25347,07149,29549,428
Rural51,58054,39653,18654,93054,01054,59956,20754,990
Total88,90093,25796,255101,085100,263101,670105,502104,418

Source: DESPS/MENA

Com.* = Community (School structure created by the community)