the Integrated School Improvement Plan as a tool for strengthening the autonomy of public schools in Morocco: historical process and prospects for effectiveness

Abstract

Since the beginning of the third millennium, the Moroccan education system has witnessed several reform programs aimed at bringing about a dynamic of change in the national education sector. Although these successive programs and reform plans have achieved a number of quantitative gains, the dilemma of educational quality and control over basic learning remains, raising questions about the sources of the shortcomings and possible solutions. While it is necessary to acknowledge that reforming the education and training system is a complex endeavor, a consistent feature of previous reforms has been the weak implementation of the provisions related to governance system. Adopting a methodology based on analyzing the historical development of levels of consistency between legal and administrative aspects of governance system, this study aims to highlight the importance of a Strong School Management through the Integrated School Improvement Plan, as well as to explore the possible prospects, legally and realistically, for achieving this much-sought reform.