Rabat: The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report 2026, released on Wednesday, commends Morocco’s significant progress in reducing the number of out-of-school children.

According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, Morocco is among the standout examples highlighted in the report, which analyzes some countries’ rapid success in expanding access to education over recent decades. The document notes that Morocco has recorded “remarkable progress” since 2000, with the out-of-school rate declining at a pace of 1.6 percentage points per year, a sustained trend over more than a quarter century. The rate of out-of-school adolescents at the lower secondary level dropped from 42% to 6%, while that of upper secondary-age youth fell from 63% to 23%, now reaching levels comparable to those of upper-middle-income countries.

Moreover, the report points out that Morocco, which had below-average out-of-school rates for lower-middle-income countries in 2000, achieved by 2023 levels comparable to those of upper-middle-income countries.

The Kingdom’s non-formal education program aims to address two major challenges: the professional integration of young graduates and the reduction of school dropout rates, explained Hssain Oujour, Director of the Second Chance School and Inclusive Education at the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports.