Education

In 1963 schooling became compulsory in Morocco for children between the ages of 7 and 13, but significantly fewer girls than boys attend classes, and less than 40% of secondary-school-age Moroccans actually attend secondary school. Arabic is the main language of instruction, and French is also used in secondary schools. In the late 1980s it was estimated that only about 33% of the population was literate. In the late 1980s, about 2.2 million pupils attended primary schools each year, and some 1.4 million students were enrolled in secondary and vocational schools. Higher education of the traditional type is centered in Fez at al-Qarawiyin University, which was founded in AD 859. Modern higher education is offered at Mohammed V University (1957), at Rabat; Mohammed Ben Abdellah University (1974), at Fez; Cadi Ayyad University (1978), at Marrakech; Hassan II University (1976), at Casablanca; and Mohammed I University (1978), at Oujda. Rabat also has colleges of fine arts, public administration, agriculture, and economics, and the School of Native Arts and Crafts (1921) is in Tétouan.



Economy

Morocco is primarily an agricultural country, although no more than about 20% of the land is cultivated. In the late 1980s the gross domestic product was estimated at $18 billion, or about $740 per person. The estimated budget during the same period included revenues of about $4 billion and expenditures of about $5 billion.



Climate

Along the Mediterranean, Morocco has a subtropical climate, tempered by oceanic influences that give the coastal cities moderate temperatures. At Essaouira (Mogador), for example, temperatures average 16.4° C (61.5° F) in January and 22.5° C (72.5° F) in August. Toward the interior, winters are colder and summers warmer. Thus, in Fez the mean temperature is 10° C (50° F) in January and 26.9° C (80.5° F) in August. At high altitudes temperatures of less than -17.8° C (0° F) are not uncommon, and mountain peaks are covered with snow during most of the year. Rain falls mainly during the winter months. Precipitation is heaviest in the northwest and lightest in the east and south. The average annual precipitation is about 955 mm (about 37.5 in) in Tangier, 430 mm (17 in) in Casablanca, 280 mm (11 in) in Essaouira, and less than 102 mm (4 in) in the Sahara.



List of Universities in MOROCCO

• Al Akhawayn University