In my blog a few days ago I showed photos of my friend teaching and one of the classroom in a nearby village. Here are a few facts about education in Morocco. Only 25% of children can read after primary school. 1/5 of middle school classes have more than 40 students. Basic education is compulsory up to age 15 but not enforced by law. Only 1 out of10 students go on to university level . A big part of the problem,as I see it, is the many languages they have deal with. Perhaps Berber dialect is spoken at home, Moroccan Arabic in the community, Standard Arabic in school, then they start learning French in the elementary grades, but have Arabized the teaching of math and science in high school. However, those disciplines are still taught in French in the university. Then, in most high schools, the student must also take another foreign language for two years. In my village, it is either English or Spanish. Most (all?) students here elect to take English, but I think their skill level is still pretty basic after two years.

And I thought I had it tough!