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English is moving from an optional extra to an everyday requirement in Morocco. It now runs through every year of lower secondary school, tourism hit a record 19.8 million arrivals in 2025, and the country co-hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2030.
The bigger question is who will teach all that English. Morocco’s answer is increasingly its own teachers, trained at home, with local centres pairing international qualifications with in-person support.
Key takeaways
- Tourism hit 19.8 million arrivals in 2025, with 26 million targeted by 2030.
- English now runs through all three years of collège, Morocco’s lower secondary school.
- Morocco climbed to 68th of 123 countries in the 2025 EF English Proficiency Index.
- Teachers are a priority group for practical, recognised training.
- Local training centres are pairing international qualifications with in-person support to close the gap.
Why is English growing so fast in Morocco?
French has long been the working language of Moroccan business and higher education. English is now catching up, and the change is being led from the classroom.
In 2023, the Ministry of National Education began phasing English into collège, starting with a share of first-year classes. By the 2025 to 2026 school year, the ministry announced that English was taught across all three collège levels, as part of its 2022 to 2026 education roadmap.
The results are starting to show. Morocco rose from 76th to 68th place in the EF English Proficiency Index between 2024 and 2025, the largest gain in North Africa. Reading is the strongest skill. Listening, the skill that matters most in a hotel lobby or a stadium concourse, is the weakest.
What does the 2030 World Cup actually change?
Morocco co-hosts the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Spain and Portugal, with matches planned across six cities: Agadir, Casablanca, Fes, Marrakesh, Rabat, and Tangier. The tournament is the headline, and the build-up behind it is just as significant.
None of these plans is an English programme on its own. Each one assumes English will be there when visitors, employers, and international partners arrive. For a closer look at what this means for teachers moving to Morocco, read our guide to the World Cup and English teaching demand.
Where is the real gap?
More English lessons need more English teachers, and more confident ones. Public school posts are filled by Moroccan teachers, recruited and trained through the national system. Private language centres, vocational institutes, and companies training their own staff are all competing for the same pool of people who can teach English well.
The EF data points to where the pressure sits. Respondents who work as teachers scored 445, below the national average. That figure covers teachers of every subject, not English specialists alone. Even so, it suggests that many of the people expected to deliver English in schools and workplaces would benefit from structured, practical training.
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From our conversations with education providers in Morocco this year, three skills come up again and again:
The certificate point matters more than it first appears. A teacher who trains locally still wants a qualification that travels, whether to a private school in Casablanca, an online platform, or a job in the Gulf.
How is one local training centre responding?
English for Africa is a teacher training centre based in Meknes, with a second centre in Rabat, founded by Mohamed Oummih. Mohamed brings 25 years of teaching and training experience from Singapore, South Africa, North America, and Europe, including nearly a third of his career in France. He set up the centre to give Moroccan teachers access to international standards adapted to local needs.
Since May 2026, English for Africa has delivered The TEFL Institute’s 180 Hour Level 5 TEFL Diploma, an Ofqual-regulated qualification awarded by Highfield. Learners complete the theory online, while English for Africa provides local tutor support, including teaching practice with real students, both online and at its centres in Meknes and Rabat.
According to English for Africa, most TEFL candidates in Morocco are already practising English teachers who want an international qualification that recognises their skills. Its flexible format is built for candidates who are working or studying during the academic year, pairing academic rigour with practical classroom work to improve job prospects in Morocco and abroad.
“Many Moroccan teachers come out of public universities with high levels of motivation and a strong desire to do well by their students, but without the skills or knowledge to make that happen. They feel lost when they start working in language centres with almost no training in how to actually do their jobs. We feel that the Highfield-awarded TEFL course will provide them with the knowledge, confidence, and skills they need to make English language teaching in Morocco among the best in the world.”
The model is simple. A local centre that understands its learners delivers the support, and an international provider supplies the curriculum, assessment, and certification. Neither has to build what the other already does well.
What can education providers elsewhere learn from Morocco?
Morocco is not the only country expanding English in schools while preparing for a global event. Three lessons travel well:
Build capacity locally
Pair recognition with local delivery
Plan around the timeline
Thinking about a similar model in your market?
Sources
- EF English Proficiency Index 2025, Morocco fact sheet (ef.com/epi).
- Hespress English, Morocco posts biggest English proficiency gain in North Africa (2025).
- Hespress English, Morocco launches progressive generalisation of English, starting with middle schools (2023).
- Morocco World News, Morocco unveils plan to strengthen English teaching in middle schools (May 2023).
- Industries.ma and Lesinfos.ma, 2025 to 2026 back to school announcements (September 2025).
- Morocco Ministry of Tourism figures, via Hespress English and North Africa Post (January 2026).
- Hespress English, Morocco to need 40,000 volunteers for 2030 World Cup (January 2025).
- Morocco World News, El Mansouri’s government pledges to integrate youth into 2030 World Cup projects (19 October 2026).
Tara and Jess talk through different TEFL and EFL topics, from finding work abroad to life in the classroom.
FAQs
Questions students ask us
Not officially. French remains widely used in business, administration, and higher education. English is expanding fastest in schools, tourism, and international business, so many young Moroccans are now learning both.
The Ministry of National Education began phasing English into collège in 2023. It announced that English would be taught across all three collège levels from the 2025 to 2026 school year.
Morocco ranked 68th of 123 countries in the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, with a score of 492. That sits in the “low” band, slightly above the global average of 488, and represents the biggest improvement in North Africa that year.
Mostly in the private sector. Public school English posts are civil service roles for Moroccan teachers. Foreign teachers usually work in private language centres, international schools, and company training. Our Morocco country guide covers the details.
The usual route is a partnership with an accredited provider. The centre recruits and supports learners locally, while the provider delivers the curriculum, assessment, and certification. Our Partner Network page explains the options.
