Morocco’s Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports has begun enforcing legal provisions prohibiting private schools from selling textbooks and school supplies directly to students and their families, reminding institutions that such commercial activities are not permitted under the country’s private education law.
The move follows complaints from booksellers, who argued that some private schools have been marketing textbooks directly on campus, a practice they say has negatively affected their businesses, particularly during the back-to-school season, which represents their most important sales period.
Regional education academies have reminded private institutions that Article 51 of Law No. 59.21 clearly prohibits schools from requiring students or parents to purchase textbooks, educational materials or school supplies from the institution itself or from a designated bookstore.
The ministry also stressed that the licenses granted to private schools authorize them only to provide educational services and do not allow them to engage in commercial activities such as selling textbooks or school supplies.
The decision comes in response to repeated calls from Morocco’s booksellers’ association for stricter enforcement of the law to ensure fair competition and protect families’ freedom to choose where to purchase educational materials.
Morocco’s legal framework governing private education also grants education authorities broad supervisory powers and provides for administrative measures ranging from warnings to the withdrawal of operating licenses or even the closure of institutions found to be in serious violation of the law.