Morocco: 43.1% of School Heads See Pupil Absenteeism as a Serious Problem

Pupil absenteeism ranks among the serious problems facing many Moroccan schools. According to a study published in the journal “Large-scale Assessments in Education”, 43.1% of school heads describe it that way.

The researchers, from Moroccan academic institutions including Ibn Zohr University, the National School of Mineral Industry in Rabat and Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra, worked from Morocco’s data in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, TIMSS 2023. Their sample covered 250 schools that took part in the international assessment of eighth-grade basic education.

Of the 243 schools that returned valid answers, heads at 108 rated absenteeism a serious problem. Once the international study’s statistical weights were applied, that share stood at 43.1%, with a 95% confidence interval running from 29.2% to 57%. The authors say this margin must be kept in mind before generalising the findings.

The figure reflects the views of school heads on how serious the problem is in their own schools. It does not mean that 43.1% of pupils miss class: it was drawn from questionnaire answers in the international assessment, not from absence days recorded in attendance registers.

The study also examined how heads’ assessments relate to school characteristics, including organisational and social conditions, to identify factors linked to higher concern. Its findings point to the value of tracking absence regularly through attendance records held by school administrations, and of examining conditions such as distance to school, transport, and the health and social conditions of families.