Marrakech - Commenting on the growing trend of public education teachers offering costly private lessons, Minister of Education, Rachid Belmokhtar, said Tuesday before the House of Representatives that private classes given by teachers of the public sector are “a cancer that gangrenes education.”
The statement comes after frequent complaints from students' parents.
The minister heavily criticized these teachers because of the lack of opportunity available to less affluent students.
On this issue, Rachid Belmokhtar claims that the Ministry of Education is developing strategies to be implemented by 2015. The upcoming strategies will allow the Ministry to more easily monitor and manage the public school education system.
The hidden economy of private lessons from public teachers was recently thrown into the spotlight by disappointed and generally poorer parents. Parents claim teachers give better marks for their privately taught students, while those who cannot afford the lesson are neglected and receive lower marks.
From the public school teachers’ perspective, the only way to supplement their very low salary is through privately taught lessons.