Morocco is ranked 48th by the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) issued to assess the reading achievement of fourth graders. Although Morocco is still at the bottom of the list, it is has managed to progress compared to the previous edition published in 2011. Morocco has scored 358 points in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) report, published Tuesday 5th of December, bettering its score compared to the previous edition of the same survey. The latter compiled by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), works on assessing the reading achievement of fourth graders in 50 countries. Moroccan was ranked 48th by PIRLS ahead of Egypt (330) and South Africa (320).It is positioned also behind, Kuwait (393), Oman (418), Iran (428) and Saudi Arabia (430). According to the data collected by the international survey, although the North African kingdom is at the bottom of the ranking it is one of the 18 countries with higher average achievement. To put it in other words, Morocco was able to progress moving forward with its score from 310 points in 2011 to 358 in 2016. Based on several criteria, the report published every five years has evaluated the skills of young students in Morocco by measuring a number of sub indexes. According to the report, children in Morocco «begin primary school at 6 and in remote areas, the age of entry may be 5,5 years». For the Average Reading Achievement skills in Morocco, more girls than boys are good readers. In fact boys have scored 344 compared to girls who had 372 points. Reading Achievement For Achieving in Reading Purposes, fourth graders in Morocco have a tendency of reading informational texts (359) than literary ones (353). When it comes to Trends in Achievement by Comprehension Process, students have moved from 325 points in 2011 to 364 in 2016. When it comes to Interpreting, Integrating and Evaluating Morocco bettered its score jumping from 288 points in 2011 to 336 in 2016. The report also assessed several other factors : Digital Devices in Home, Student : Speak the language of the test at home, Parents like reading, Early Literary Activities before beginning primary school, Students attended preliminary education and early preparation for school. The survey also investigated the integrity of students, their safety and their sense of school belonging. Globally, the PIRLS ranking was topped by the Russian Federation scoring 581 points, followed by Singapore (576), Hong Kong SAR (569), Ireland (567) and Finland (566). In the MENA region, Gulf countries managed to lead the list with UAE first (450), Bahrain second (446), Qatar third (442) and Saudi Arabia fourth (430). Egypt and South Africa were at the bottom of the list. According to the authors of the report «PIRLS 2016 is the fourth assessment in the current trend series, following PIRLS 2001, 2006, and 2011». «The PIRLS 2016 assessment is based on the PIRLS 2016 Assessment Framework developed collaboratively with the participating countries. The framework is organized around two overarching purposes for reading—for literary experience and to acquire and use information», explains the same source.
