The Minister of National Education, Preschool, and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa, stated on January 8, that the integrated national plan for school time management, established by the Ministry following the cessation of classes in several schools, is based on basic skills and learning, equal opportunities between students in the public and private sectors and flexibility in the implementation of the said plan.
Speaking about the management of school time, Benmoussa affirmed that the ministry has taken several measures to fit the implementation of programs and courses into the school time available for this year.
The first measure relates to the extension of the school year by one week for all levels while taking into consideration several factors including the dates of entrance exams to national and foreign schools and institutes of higher education, explained the Minister.
The second focuses on the adaptation of school programs for the completion of academic courses by rationalizing and reducing the scheduled sessions and ensuring a qualitative adaptation of educational methods to favor basic knowledge.
For the primary cycle, this measure will target basic learning and the objectives linked to future learning, the merging of each two sessions linked to the same course into one, and the grouping of similar and complementary courses to optimize the time of leaning.
As for the secondary cycle, there will be a reduction in the time of some academic units, the integration of cognitive supplementary units, and the rationalization of sessions allocated for evaluation, preparation of files, and practical sessions, with the aim of benefiting from them in developing school units and establishing learning, while adopting flexible and simplified formulas to better organize school time.
The third measure focuses on strengthening the educational support system to help students consolidate their acquired knowledge while prioritizing certification subjects and basic learning for non-certification levels.
Minister Benmoussa added that the fourth measure revolves around the revision of the programming of unified exams and continuous assessment tests, by adapting the evaluations to the school programs studied, recalling the postponement of the date of national, regional, and provincial exams by one week, with the revision of the number of continuous assessment tests, both in the first and second semesters.
The fifth measure concerns educational effectiveness in terms of implementation by granting local bodies the necessary powers for the adoption of appropriate education formulas and by investing in the different educational options according to the situation of each educational establishment.
In this regard, the minister stressed the need to take into account the educational and didactic criteria in force, praising the monitoring and support that will be carried out by the bodies in charge of inspection and educational affairs.