The National Coordination of Forcibly Contracted Teachers (NCFCT) as a social movement in Morocco: educators’ unionism and social justice activism

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper argues that The National Coordination of Forcibly Contracted Teachers (NCFCT) ‘التنسيقية الوطنية للأساتذة الذين فرض عليهم التعاقد’ is a social justice movement that goes beyond the demands for better employment benefits and educational justice through schools that communities deserve to resisting philosophies that make use of their ‘relegated’ status as an example of injustices and hierarchies in Morocco. To capture educators’ organising efforts, this paper drew on in-depth interviews with leading figures of NCFCT to develop a profound analysis of the rationales, workings and objectives of their activism. It also examined public records including press releases, international reports, citizens’ discourses and stakeholders/scholars’ statements to navigate the intricacies entailed in educators’ resistance to neoliberal/market-based educational policies and their activism towards a more equal society. Findings revealed that teachers have mobilised their activism to attend to the broader political and socioeconomic complexities in the country through renewed strategies, objectives, demands and forms of activism. A major takeaway from the analysis is that NCFCT’s forms of activism are continuously adjusted to the state’s pressures and the increasing restrictions on freedom of speech and demonstrating.