Azrou - Her name is Yasmine Berraoui and has just earned her baccalaureate degree, scoring 12.3 out of 20 in the physical sciences branch. Yasmine is not like other graduates: she was born with trisomy21.

Her father, a journalist, wanted to break the news by issuing a touching statement on news website challenge.ma.

“I am interested in commerce, too bad I will not be able to integrate ENCG school, I needed 16 out of 20. Anyways I thank God, and I was sure of my graduation,” said Yasmine.

To enroll in a school of higher studies such as Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion (ENCG), a baccalaureate needs to obtain a score that equals or exceeds the threshold set by the school. In most schools of business, the threshold is usually set at 16 out of 20.

Jamal Berraoui, Yasmine’s father, confessed that nobody helped or believed in her since she had trisomy21. But the happy father says that despite the difficulty, his daughter studied the normal school curriculum. “She has always been among the good students, and always had good marks; around 14/20” he explained.

Moreover, Jamal also points to delays of medical professionals and the dishonesty of people facing his daughter’s genetic disease. “Only parental love, courage and selflessness can help these children. It is possible, now that you have evidence,” he concluded.

Her parents had to fight for her to have a “normal” life, and she proved that having trisomy21 does not make you any less intelligent than the rest of the population. Yasmine says, “I tell parents to help their children. NGO’s are not enough, your children need your support.”

Edited by Timothy Filla

By Mohamed Saoudi

Rabat- Teaching of the Amazigh language in Morocco has become more prevalent in recent years in comparison to other countries in North Africa. Amazigh is. Amazigh is now taught not only in primary schools, but also in some Moroccan universities. The implementation of the language in some Moroccan universities has been gradual and still has some way to go, but the efforts to broaden the teaching of Amazigh language in all Moroccan universities are becoming fruitful. While integrating the Amazigh language into the curricula of Moroccan universities has perhaps not gone as well as planned, there are both benefits and challenges.

1. The Benefits

Research on the Amazigh language and culture began during Morocco’s colonization period in the middle of the 20th Century. French anthropologists and linguists such as David Cohen, Camps, and others conducted research on both the Arabic and the Amazigh languages. After independence in 1956, there was a tendency in Moroccan universities to encourage students to research Amazigh language and culture. In the 1980s, a group of teachers at the University of Fez created a laboratory called the Research Group on Linguistics and Literature to motivate and supervise students to write BA monographs, Master’s theses, and doctoral dissertations on the Amazigh language and culture.

Now with the creation of The Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) and the institutionalization of the Amazigh language under the new Moroccan Constitution in 2011, there has been progress in the process of teaching Amazigh language not only in primary schools, but also in universities. The Royal Institute has signed agreements of co-operation and collaboration with the Ministry of Education to further develop the teaching of the Amazigh language and culture. At least three universities have since introduced the teaching of the Amazigh Language and culture. The universities of Agadir, Fez, and Oujda have each created a Department of Amazigh Studies to improve the teaching and the learning of both the language and culture.

The University of Ibn Zohar in Agadir was the first university in Morocco to integrate the Amazigh studies in the education system. The Amazigh department consists of an undergraduate program, a Master’s program, and doctoral program. The undergraduate program aims at teaching students the basics of Amazigh studies, conducting research and surveys on the Amazigh language as well as studying its socioeconomic and sociocultural environment. The program is a module system. The students have to take four modules each semester and the whole program is six semesters.

The course subjects range from history and linguistics to culture. The Master’s program aims at introducing pedagogical tools that can help students and researchers conduct significant studies of the Amazigh language and culture. The mastering of the language is also another goal of this program, and it offers students the opportunity to study different Amazigh dialects and varieties. It provides students with the necessary tools for cultural mediation, translation, and teaching of the language in both high school and at the college level. Until now, there has been no doctorate program in Amazigh studies; however, university officials and academics are working on a project to integrate Amazigh studies into doctorate programs.

There are other masters programs in other Moroccan universities that are focused on the Amazigh language and culture, such as “Amazigh Studies and National Heritage” in Rabat. The Master’s program of Arabic and Amazigh Linguistics in Tetouan is a comparative study that addresses both languages and trains students enrolled in the program in the modern theory of linguistics. The objective of this program is to provide students with theoretical and extensive courses in Arabic and Amazigh languages, ensuring a laboratory to explore and evaluate the theoretical and empirical status of modern linguistic theory, and preparing students for positions related to the field of the Arabic and Amazigh languages. The masters is designed to enrich scientific research in both the Arab and Amazigh language. It aims at preparing students for a Ph.D. program in Arabic or Amazigh linguistics, training school-teachers, and cultivating translation opportunities.

2. The Challenges

Unfortunately, the implementation of Amazigh studies in Moroccan universities is still limited due to many factors that hinder its complete integration into the curriculum. Along with the insufficiency of pedagogical tools, the lack of resources, and the bureaucracy of the Ministry of Education, the lack of qualified human resources is a big challenge to the development of the departments of Amazigh Studies.

The fuzziness of the objectives of these departments is another serious challenge to its continuity. Until now, the studies offer only theoretical courses to students of the department. This pedagogical limitation needs to be remedied very soon because students after graduation face the bitter reality of the lack of positions that are linked to the domain of their specialty. The absence of the doctorate research and laboratory is also another factor that limits the number of the enrolled students in the department.

Teaching all courses in French is also a real problem that should be resolved immediately. The fact that courses are taught in French raises questions and has caused skeptics to accuse the departments of being guardians of French interests in Morocco. This has legitimized to some extent the claims of Arabophones that the programs are a racist scheme that threatens national unity. The lack of communication between the departments of Amazigh language in Moroccan universities reduces the rate of gradual integration of the Amazigh language and culture into the curricula. The lack of the cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the IRCAM also shackles the efforts of academic officials to improve the conditions conducive to the teaching of Amazigh.

Today, Amazigh studies is a specialty in some Moroccan universities; however, the mere creation of departments of Amazigh Studies has not yet reached the objectives nor provided the expected results. Decision makers should redouble their efforts to reach the goal of widespread teaching of Amazigh language and culture.

References

Boukous, Ahmed. Revitalizing The Amazigh Language Stakes, Challanges,and Strategies. Rabat: Royal Institution of Amazigh Culture(IRCAM), 2011. Carcia, Joshua Fishman and Ofelia. Hand Book of Language and Ethnic Identity: The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts. London : Oxford University Press, 2011.

Edited by Elisabeth Myers

Azrou - Throughout their school years, twin sisters Salma and Soumaya Al Ahmadi were known for their excellence. As expected, the day of their baccalaureate exam, both girls scored high in all subjects— with the exception of philosophy.

Recognizing suspicious patterns in the two's scores in the philosophy section of the test, the scorer assigned them a score of 0/20. Consequently, the sisters were prohibited from taking the makeup test.

Salma and Soumaya disagree with the decision and it will mean that they will have wasted an entire year of their education if it stands. They brought their case to court, which issued a ruling in their favor. But to the twins' dismay, the Ministry of Education refused to implement the court's ruling.

In an interview with Medi1 TV, the twins’ lawyer Morad Zerzori claimed the Ministry’s refusal to implement the court’s decision is unjustified and based on unsound facts. He had expected the Ministry to comply with the judicial ruling and allow the twins to retake the test instead of repeating the academic year. However, the Ministry's actual decision forbids the sisters from taking the baccalaureate exam for one year.

While the exam administrator claims that the twins exams contain matching ideas, Morad Zerzori notes that the sisters' introductions and conclusions were completely different. The similarities lie in the analyses and citations, which is permitted under the exam laws. Morad Zerzori adds that as twins, Salma and Soumaya Al Ahmadi live under the same roof, use the same books, and refer to the same reference materials to prepare for exams. Their lawyer adds that the twins have consistently earned similar grades, the difference never exceeding a half-point.

The Ministry of National Education has confirmed in a statement that changes in decisions regarding cheating are not possible. Only the Regional Academy for Education and Training has the authority, under Article 105 dated 6 May 2014, to reverse decisions made against those accused of cheating.

The Ministry also highlights that during the correction process, the scorers found matching answers on the twins’ answer sheets. The Regional Academy for Education and Training indicated that exams undergo correction anonymously.

The Ministry’s decision has failed to put an end to the twins’ case as protest amongst the twins' supporters continues to heighten. In response to the protest, the Ministry replied that their verdict ensures the credibility of the results, as well as equal opportunity for students. The Ministry reported that they will not address grievances that are incompatible with the morals and educational values that Moroccan schools seek to consolidate in society. The Ministry confirmed the Regional Committee’s decision to prevent the twins from participating in the retake session.

Salma and Soumaya have reached out to their supporters through YouTube claiming that given tightly controlled exam room conditions, it would be impossible for them to copy from each other. Moreover, the sisters state that they always prepare for exams together from the exact same references and that their writing style is almost the same. The twins even share a Facebook account and a single cell phone. The two sisters provided, as proof, copies of their previous exams in philosophy in which the analysis and ideas were similar.

The two sisters are distraught since they hoped to achieve high scores on the baccalaureate and continue their studies at the best schools available to them. Salma and Soumaya are convinced their only crime is that they are twin sisters.

Edited By Sahar Kian

© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed

Rabat - The linguistic situation in Morocco is characterized by complexity. The presence of different local and foreign languages leaves room for diversity and creates many sociolinguistic issues. The languages used in Morocco are Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Amazigh, French, and Spanish (as well as English, which has recently started to gain significance). The presence and interaction of these languages indicates that the vast majority of Moroccans, especially the young generation, are bilingual, if not multilingual.

Classical Arabic (CA), or Qur’anic Arabic, is a Semitic language in which the Holy Quran was revealed. It is highly improbable that Moroccans use this language in its spoken form, since it is a written language; its use is usually confined to religious texts and some formal contexts. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which is based on CA, is one of the official languages of Morocco.[1] Because it is codified and standardized, MSA is used in different domains such as education, media, and administration. Although some linguists may refer to CA and MSA as one language since they share the same grammatical patterns, they are, in fact, two different languages from a linguistic perspective, given their differences at the level of their morphology, phonology, and lexicon.

Foreign languages constitute an integral part of the Moroccan linguistic Market. The Moroccan constitution encourages their learning and use. As stated in Article 5:

 ... [The state] sees to the coherence of linguistic policy and national culture and to the learning and mastery of the foreign languages of greatest use in the world, as tools of communication, of integration and of interaction [by which] society [may] know, and to be open to different cultures and contemporary civilizations.

While several foreign languages are used in Morocco, only some of them enjoy a prestigious status. French is among these languages, given its status as a second language. Although French had existed in Morocco before the French colonization from 1912 to 1956, it started to gain its status as a second language during the protectorate era. As Sadiqi states:

French was introduced in Morocco as a civilized and superior language. It was used in most spheres of political power such as the government, the administration, and education

After Morocco’s independence in 1956, the State tried to give the Arabic language its previously elevated status through Arabization and modernization. However, with the presence of other foreign languages (Spanish and English), French stood as a second language which constitutes an essential vehicle of the economy and job market. Furthermore, its daily use by Moroccans leads to instances of code-switching/mixing and borrowing.

Spanish was introduced to Morocco during the mid-sixteenth century and gained a significant place during the 17^th century. The Spanish occupation of different Moroccan cities such as Ceuta, Melilia, Nador, El Hoceima, Tetouan, and Larache contributed to the adoption of Spanish as a language of administration and education. After the country’s independence, Spanish lost its prestigious status in comparison with other foreign languages like French or English, and it is now used by some speakers in the aformentioned cities and other places in Morocco. However, this does not exclude the fact that MA was influenced by Spanish to a large extent. What shows this is the presence of several loanwords such as:

Nouns such as these, which are derived from Spanish, are now fully integrated in the lexicon of Moroccan Arabic.

Amazigh existed in Morocco before Arabic was introduced by the Islamic conquest. Although scholars and sociolinguists have different opinions about the origin of Amazigh, the common and plausible idea is that it is an Afro-Asiatic language, which was the mother tongue of the first inhabitants of North Africa.

Along with Arabic, Amazigh is also considered an official language in Morocco. As stated in the constitution:

Tamazight [Berber/amazighe] constitutes an official language of the State, being common patrimony of all Moroccans without exception. An organic law defines the process of implementation of the official character of this language, as well as the modalities of its integration into teaching and into the priority domains of public life, so that it may be permitted in time to fulfill its function as an official language.” Morocco's Constitution of 2011, Article 5

The officialization and standardization of the Amazigh language has always been a debated issue in Morocco. Some linguists and scholars encourage the use of Amazigh in its written form to teach school subjects, while others tend to consider it a spoken language and its officialization and standardization, according to them, have never proved successful in Morocco.

There are three major varieties of Amazigh spoken in Morocco, namely Tashelhit in the south, Tamazight in the center, and Tarifit in the north. However, it should be noted that within these varieties, several other dialects or dialectal variations can be found depending on the region or town.

Moroccan Arabic is another component of the Moroccan linguistic market, and it is the most widely used language in Morocco. Since it is neither codified nor standardized, it is mostly seen as a variety but not as a literary language. Moreover, given its contact with CA, Furguson argues that MA stands in a diaglossic relation with CA; while CA is the high variety, MA is considered the low variety.

It is noteworthy that the use of the term “Moroccan Arabic” is ambiguous because it does not refer to any specific variety spoken in Morocco. Therefore, when talking about MA, most writers refer to the descendant variety of Arabic that is spoken in Morocco as a whole.

Linguists and scholars differ to a large extent when it comes to classifying Moroccan Arabic in terms varieties. First of all, some linguists such as Boukous divide MA into four major varieties as follows:

(2)

(i)             The Urban Variety

(ii)           The Mountain Variety (Jebli)

(iii)          The Bedouin Variety

(iv)          The Hassani Variety

Other linguists like Ennaji, follow two approaches. First, historically, MA can be divided into the non-Bedouin dialect, the Bedouin variety, and the Andalusian-Arabic variety. In the modern sense, MA can be divided into Urban (‘mdini’) and Rural (‘?rubi’) varieties. Moreover, Ennaji goes further and subdivides the Urban dialect of MA into different regional varieties presented as follows:

(3)

a)     Northern dialects spoken in Tangiers, Tetouan, Larache and other north cities.

b)    The Fassi variety spoken in Fés.

c)     The Moroccan dialect of Rabat and Casablanca.

d)    The Marrakshi and Agadiri dialect which are influenced by Tashelhit Amazigh.

e)     The Hassani dialect used in the southern Saharan regions.

Regardless of these divisions, what is common between all these varieties of MA is that they all share a degree of mutual intelligibility and that they form what Bloomfield refers to as a dialect continuum or dialect area.

In addition to all these varieties of MA, many linguists postulate the existence of another spoken variety that is also neither codified nor standardized. This variety is influenced by CA, MSA, and MA, since its grammar is the same as MA, while its lexicon and vocabulary is a mixture of the three languages.

While this variety is commonly mentioned by Moroccan linguists, it is labeled differently using different terms and appellations. For instance, Youssi refers to it as Median Moroccan Arabic:

L’arabe médian, […] constitue une variété hybride empruntant grosso modo à l’arabe standard son lexique et à l’arabe dialectal sa morphologie et sa phonologie, l’arabe dialectal ici étant fondamentalement le variété citadine dipourvue des marques idiosyncrasiques

On the other hand, Ennaji labels it as Educated Spoken Arabic and defines it as, “… a polished and polite form of MA whose lexicon is affected by that of standard Arabic.” Furthermore, following Furguson’s description of diaglossia, Ennaji argues that in addition to the high variety (CA) and the low variety (MA), there are other varieties in between. First, the presence of MSA, which is used in different domains more than CA, results in a situation of triaglossia. Besides, with the addition of ESA between MSA and MA, the result will be a form of “Quadriglossia” represented in the following diagram.

It should be evident that the Moroccan linguistic situation is characterized by both diversity and complexity. The competition between mother tongues, on the one hand, and foreign languages on the other results in different linguistic phenomena (Bilingualism/Multilingualism, Diaglossia/Triglossia/Quadriglossia, Code-switching/Borrowing) and also contributes to the linguistic change of varieties and the emergence of new ones. 

Works Cited

Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. New York: Henry Holt.

Boukous, A. (1998) La situation sociolinguistique au Maroc. In Plurilinguismes (Le Maroc) 16, pp. 5-30. Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches en Planification Linguistique, Paris.

Ennaji, M. (2005). Multilingualism, Cultural Identity and Education in Morocco. Springer: University of Fés, Morocco

Ferguson, C. (1959). Diaglossia. In Word 15, pp. 325-340.

Morocco's Constitution of 2011. Retrieved from : http://www.constituteproject.org

Sadiqi, F. (2005). The Gendered Use of Arabic and other Languages in Morocco. In E. Benmamoun, Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XIX (pp. 277-299). Urbana, Illinois: John Benjamins.

Sadiqi, F. (2006). The Language Situation in Morocco. Encyclopedia of Language and Lingusitics.

Youssi, A. (1986). L’arabe marocain médian. Analyse fonctionnaliste des rapports syntaxiques. Thèse d’état. Université de Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III.

[1] “Arabic is [demeure] the official language of the State.

The State works for the protection and for the development of the Arabic language, as well as the

promotion of its use” Morocco's Constitution of 2011, Article 5

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Marrakech - In many EFL classes, teachers are still adopting traditional methods in teaching. A teacher is the source of “correct and accurate” knowledge. He or she does not give many opportunities to students to express their opinions freely. For example, in the Grammar Translation method, the language is being learnt not for real life communication, but merely to read and translate foreign texts. Students are exposed to content that could enhance their receptive skills while the productive ones are not much emphasized. There is only a one-way communication between the teacher and the students, which reduces the chance for the students to interact with each other.  The students have to remain sitting during the whole session in a matrix and fixed layout. They do not move or independently choose the ways that suit their learning style. These teaching methods are not conducive to language learning, and therefore new methodologies of instruction are being created.

Recently, some EFL classes began using computers as additional material in class. This is a positive development in EFL classes, but is still weighted down by traditionalist methodologies. For example, the seats are still organized in a matrix, and thus, it becomes rather difficult for the teacher to reach all of the students. Additionally, the problem of class layout creates distance between the teacher and students. The remote teacher hiding behind a screen is a far cry from the kind of personal attention and understanding that developing thinkers need.

Another, and even more encouraging development in EFL learning is the Communicative Language Technology (CLT) language learning approach. CLT emphasizes group work, student-student communication, and interaction between students and teachers. It makes technology use central to language teaching, and focuses on real-world language situations, rather than text translation or grammar. Scholars of language learning suggest that CLT, which focuses on person-to-person interaction, might be one of the best methods of learning a foreign language. However, research into this teaching method is still in its early stages.

CLT offers opportunities for radically re-thinking the way languages are taught. One study, conducted by Huang Shih-Jen in China, entitled “Communicative Language Teaching in a Multimedia Language Lab” offers a glimpse into the future of this teaching method. In this study, language learners could use technology communicatively by using a software game called SemiTown (a computer simulation program created by Maxis/Electronic Arts). Within the SemiTown programs, students play and try to build their own city according to certain rules and conditions. This activity allow the students to become independent in their learning, and involved in the building of the city, which familiarized them with the vocabulary used masonry, architecture, gardening, and urban life. Students learned the vocabulary communicatively, and they could also work in groups. During the building of their cities, they had the opportunity to negotiate and discuss in English which boosted their communicative competences.

Additionally, students’ language fluency is the goal of using the activities, as there is no explicit focus on the form and accuracy of language. After the building of the city, the students presented the project to their peers. They were not penalized for making any language mistake, as the objective of the game was to enhance their linguistic fluency. To sum up, during such activities the learner is highly centered. The teacher does not play any major role, which reduces his TTT and involvement in activities and tasks.

Lastly, the use of technology in class is not the only objective that educators should strive to realize. They should also investigate how technology should be adapted to the class. The combination of the principles of CLT, especially communication, and ICT in EFL classrooms might be one of the most  effective and practical strategies for the sake of constructive and independent self learning.

© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed

Casabanca- King Mohammed VI received, Wednesday at the Casablanca Royal Palace, Omar Azziman that the Sovereign appointed as President of the Higher Council of Education, Training and Scientific Research, the King’s Office announced.

This appointment is part of the implementation of the royal guidelines contained in the speech of August 20th, 2013, notably those relating to the vital reform of the sector of education, training and scientific research in our country, the King’s Office said in a statement.

It also comes following the promulgation of the new law on the organization of the Higher Council of Education, Training and Scientific Research, which has consolidated its plural composition, its autonomy and advisory missions, as a constitutional institution representing a force of bringing forward proposals and a mechanism for evaluating, monitoring and exploring the fields of reform and qualification of the Moroccan school, the same source added.

New York - In a move that attests to the importance he gives to Moroccans who achieve excellence and honor Morocco inside their home country and overseas, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI bestowed a Royal Wissam on Meriem Bourhail, a Moroccan high school student who who received the highest Baccalaureate exam score in France. 

As soon as the news on her great achievement was reported by French and Moroccan media earlier this month, the Moroccan monarch invited her and her family to attend the celebration of the feast of the throne, which was held on Wednesday.

The highlight of the ceremony was when King Mohammed VI started applauding the young Moroccan student when she was getting ready to greet him.

Bourhail was also invited to the French National Assembly to honour her for her excellent results as the holder of the highest Baccalaureate degree in France.

By scoring 21.03 out of 20 (799 points out of 760), Meriem has honoured herself, her family and her home country.

Tinjdad, Morocco - On the occasion of Throne Day, celebrated  on Wednesday in Rabat , Morocco’s King Mohammed VI granted Royal Wissams (National Medal of Merit) to Moroccan high school students who achieved the highest Baccalaureate exam scores in Morocco.

After applauding  Meriem Bourhail, the Moroccan high school student who received the highest Baccalaureate exam score in France, and honoring her with a Royal Wissam in the presence of her parents, the king also granted a royal Wissam for three other Moroccan students Huda Naibi, Sara Raddad and a student with special needs Yasmine Braoui, in recognition for their excellence and hard work.

By scoring 19.45 out of twenty, Huda Naibi,  a native of Casablanca, was granted the National Medal of Merit for her remarkable achievement as the student with the highest mark in the National Baccalaureate.

The king also received the Moroccan student Sara Reddd, from Inzegan, [near Agadir], who achieved 19.35 out of twenty in Baccalaureate, with a jubilant smile and encouraging applauds and honored her with the National Medal of Merit.

Rewarding deserving students with these honors is a positive motivation to encourage excellence and competitiveness in Moroccan schools  and will surely persuade high achievers to keep up the good work and other students to work hard.

Fez - The Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training has postponed the written Professional Competency Exam for teachers that had been previously scheduled for September 9, 2014.

The Ministry announced on its official website that the exam will now take place on Saturday, September 27, instead of Tuesday, September 9, 2014.

The rescheduling to a later date was done to allow candidates from the board of education, to be home to participate in the general census of the population and housing that is planned to take place from September 1-20, 2014, so as not to conflict with the exam, said the Ministry statement.

The same source added that the exams will start at the times and in accordance with the conditions, procedures, and rules set forth in Ministerial Circular No. 086/14, issued on June 10, 2014.

By ElKhansaa Kaddioui

Rabat - Hailing from cities all over Morocco, the 2014 class of the African Leadership Academy (ALA) gathered in the home of the South African Chargé d’Affaires for a final send-off Reception/Dinner. 

A tradition that dates back to when the African Leadership Academy first started its recruiting activities in Morocco back in 2008, the send off event honored current students and new students, as well as those who have already graduated from ALA, such as Jihad Hajouji, who recently accepted her dream job as a consultant at Dahlbarg, one of the top consulting firms in the world. The program also invited those who have completed the two-year portion of the ALA program and are currently attending University, such as Ziyad El Mouniri, who is currently attending the University of Chicago, a top Ivy League school in the United States. Additionally, Mr. Belmahi Mohamed, the former Moroccan Ambassador to the U.K., and Chairman of the OCP Foundation also attended the event.

The event also brought together the mothers and fathers of past students and introduced them to the parents of new students, so that they can get a first hand account of what the African Leadership Academy is all about from a parent’s perspective. Everything about the event is designed to give all attendees an overview of what ALA is really about.

ALA is not just a school. It is a lifelong program. The first part of the program starts at the African Leadership Academy bricks and mortar school in the Honey Dew suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa. The Academy has been described as a military academy in terms of the security it offers to the students who attend it.

"Security is always a top priority as taking these young leaders away from their parents for two years is a very big responsibility; it is an 'Amana' that I take very seriously," said Mr. Elmahdi Oummih, Strategic Relations Director and longest serving employee at the African Leadership Academy.

Mr. Oummih started work with the ALA back in July of 2007, and was one of those responsible for recruiting the first inaugural class that included ALA legends like William Kamkwamba, author of the New York Times Best seller "Moving windmills," which has since been translated into over 40 languages.

"We have a unique view on education," said Mr. Oummih. "The goal of real education is not just to get a Phd that sits on a wall and securing yourself a high paying job. A truly educated person is someone who empowers others. At ALA, I am not looking for students who want to be engineers or doctors. I am looking for students with real ambition. I am looking for the kind of young leaders who want to build hospitals and research facilities where they employ thousands of doctors to create medicine and perfect procedures that positively affect millions. I am looking for transformative leaders who care more about the people they lead than they do about making a buck."

This year Khansaa El Kaddoui and Achraf Hamadi are two of the students who will be representing Morocco at the African Leadership Academy. El Kaddoui first found out about the ALA by attending the Global Scholar Summer Program. It was through attending this three-week summer program that she knew that she wanted to attend the two-year program and become an agent of positive change. Achraf Hamadi learned about ALA from Facebook and heard about the amazing experiences of other Moroccans who had already been through the African Leadership Academy, and is intent on attending ALA, even though he was offered admission to a top medical school program in Morocco.

During this year’s send off, the future African leaders were given the opportunity to connect with current and past ALA students, and experience the African Leadership academy’s community firsthand.

"This event is a great opportunityfor new students to network," said Ambassador Mohamed Belmahi. Besides hearing from the former ambassador of Morocco in London, students also met well known established Journalists, as well as the Country Director of the Peace Corps, Ellen Paquette.

Fez - Moroccan student Souhaila Hayyat from Bishop David Brown School in London received the Silver Award for her outstanding performance at the 2014 UK Junior Mathematical Challenge. 

The Moroccan student received a Silver Certificate from the UK Junior Mathematical Challenge in recognition of her outstanding performance in the mathematics competition.

Being among around 1200 of the highest scorers, Ms. Hayyat is eligible to participate in the Junior Mathematical Olympiad.

Math teacher Andy Chandler was quoted by Stonegazette as saying “We are extremely proud of all the children who took part and of their achievements.”

Designed to encourage pupils to use logical reasoning, the competition, which is aimed at pupils in Year 9 or below in UK, requires challengers to answer 25 multiple choice questions in one hour.

The challenge is taken in school under normal exam conditions, according to the competition’s official website.

By Salma Chouiref

Fez - I know it’s too early in your lives for you to read this, but it’s never too late for you to become the shining lights of your small villages. No matter what kind of hardships you experience, do not hide in your difficult living conditions.

Be the messengers of your community who light up every corner of your world with knowledge and wisdom. Be the rebels who fight the divides caused by superstition and fallacy. And be the ones who banish ignorance to the bottom of the sea. Your industriousness is a reflection of what lies within. Do not hide that gifted “YOU” in your depths.

It may feel alone and run away from the darkness with which you enclose yourselves. Do not come to school just to escape from gloomy reality. Come to face the challenge of change. I see the eagerness you veil behind your eyes and you fear to reveal.

I would love to tell you that I am there to let your talents burst out and overcome all challenges. I am an older sister, a caring mother, and a concerned teacher. Do not overlook my concern or fail my expectation.

You have made my days with you happy. Even when I was angry when you sometimes behaved carelessly. I can still feel your affection. I do appreciate your priceless respect, and I love your funny spontaneity. I sincerely wish you a brilliant future that heals all the suffering you have endured in the past. May God realize all of your dreams and bless every step you make to achieve your ambitions.

Tinejdad, Morocco- After the statements made by Lahcen Daoudi, Minister of Higher Education, on April saying that "French is no longer valid", the minister once again said that Arabic is important only because it is the language of the Quran, calling all students who are aspiring to join the professional and academic community to learn English.

In a video posted on YouTube by Alyaoum24, the Minister said that "only five languages will still be alive" in the far future, including Arabic, which "will be preserved not because it produces science but only because it is linked to the Quran."

The minister added that "students who do not know English language have no future" because "the language that dominates the scientific fields in the world is English," he added.

Speaking about the importance of the English language as “the world language for scientific research,” Daoudi said that the Moroccan university will, starting from next year, recruit engineers to teach science students, and that the most important criterion upon which teachers will be accepted is their mastery of English language.

Last March, the Secretary General of the Independence Party, Hamid Chabat, called for the adoption of English instead of French as the second official language in Morocco.

By Abdelhak Ammari

Nador, Morocco - A few days ago, I listened to a Moroccan radio program called Hki Li, meaning “Tell Me” in English. The program receives people’s calls, and the callers air their complaints and their social and psychological problems. The program and its listeners endeavor to find out solutions for the callers’ problems.

On the day that I listened in to the program, a man phoned from Melilia, the occupied city. At first, I was amused by the man’s poor Arabic and rifi dialect. But as he continued to speak, I was drawn in by the sadness of his story: he wept as told listeners that his fifteen year old son was a drug addict, and had been a drug addict since the age of thirteen. He stole money and jewelry from his father on multiple occasions, but what was worse was that the father felt that he was losing his son to the drugs.

The father thought that perhaps his son’s school was the cause of this problem. Therefore, he went to the administrator of the school and told him about his son’s addiction. The school’s chief administrator said (with complete indifference “all children smoke.” The caller was taken aback by the response, and he left in disgust.

I was struck by this radio call, and could not stop thinking about it for several days. The call reveals several unhappy truths about the Moroccan educational system that are rarely discussed, but which cry out for debate.

In the first place, it seems to be a stereotype in Moroccan culture that children are raised according to Islamic principles of respect and purity in the home, and then become corrupted in their schools. They almost seem to change overnight.

For example, they become addicted to different kinds of drugs. They behave rudely. They disdain their schools and everyone and everything pertaining to them.

Obviously, socio-economic factors play a big role in the failures of the Moroccan educational system; a poor family is much more likely to have children struggle in school than a rich family. But there is a deeper problem at the core of this issue, a cancer at the heart of Morocco: many teachers, educators, supervisors and administrators fail at their jobs, and fail to care for the children entrusted to them.

For an example of horrendous teaching, I need look no further than my own childhood, particularly when I was in primary school. I still remember a teacher who would usually come to class completely drunk. He would enter the classroom without saluting his students. His pale face, rumpled attire, and greyed complexion indicated that he was inebriated. After beating some of the students at random, he would pounce on his desk as if riding a donkey. Without exception, all of the students would be frightened. Worse still, he used to insult the girls in the class. He told one girl, “you are a bitch; you should not be here; you had better go to the streets to survive.” He would then turn to insult a rather plump young student, and yell to her “you are a cow; your breasts are like those of cows.” Is this the way a teacher should speak to a student?

This sad story is just a small piece of the long and bitter history of the mistreatment of children by teachers. As a result, from time to time, we would hear the news of some students dropping out of school, to the point where very few children went to secondary school. Additionally, students suddenly would go astray. Some would regularly go to places where smokers gathered, and some dared to insult their parents. Generally, once Moroccan families started sending their children to schools, the values and principles of our society began to deteriorate.

Some Moroccans might respond to my article by asserting “yes, this all may be true but it was in the past!” But my own younger brother often tells me that his teacher blackmails his students, telling them, “If somebody wants to succeed, he/she must bring me every Friday a fresh chicken.” This is just one example of the many abuses that take place in our schools.

What is to be done about these failures? One thing is for certain—the uncaring attitude of our administrators and our teachers must be battled on our fronts. Our schools are the place where our children learn to take part in the future, and the future that I see now is a bleak one.

Edited by Ilona Alexandra 

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Fez - This issue, which is edited by Moroccan University Professor Moha Ennaji, addresses the subject of language at the structural and applied levels, as a language of instruction, communication, and as a social phenomenon.

The authors of this volume come from a number of disciplines, namely: education, linguistics, and sociology. The essays deal with issues of language, culture, and education through theoretical approaches and social and educational perspectives. This issue includes six articles, two of them in Arabic.

Hakim Hessas (University of Algiers) sheds light on the delicate need to rely on digital data as the researcher often faces significant obstacles, including how to build and collect data, and who should be eligible to give basic semantic interpretation of the data. The goal is precisely to clarify the fundamental relationship between quantitative and qualitative methods. The author pleas for corpus linguistics and the use of digital perspectives.

Fayssal Tayalati (University Lyon III) proposes a semantic approach which allows to systematize the formation of both masdars and non-causative intransitive verbs from transitive active ones in Modern Standard Arabic. The analysis takes into account the lexico-conceptual structure of verbs as well as the involvement of the agent in the expressed process. Action denoting transitive verbs are divided into two classes depending on whether the action produces or not a result. Verbs lexicalizing a simple structure (without a resultative layer) give rise to the formation of masdars expressing (among others) unrelated events and do not enter into the causative/non-causative alternation.

Larbi Momouch (Mohamed V University) examines the structural components of the Tamazight language, namely the phenomenon of temporal subordinate clauses, explaining the degree of integration of grammar in terms of time or tense, as a basic linguistic element, which leads to a set of grammatical features that distinguish the Tamazight language.

Choudhary Zahid Javid (Taif University) addresses the issue of the needs analysis of the students at the Faculty of Medicine in Saudi Arabia, thereby explaining the English language skills that are badly needed by them, through a structured questionnaire. The results showed, in addition to listening, that spoken English, writing, and reading are the most important language skills for EFL undergraduate medical students.

Abdullah Al Fraidan and Asem Bani Amer (King Faiçal University) examine the phenomenon of synthetics errors made by learners of Arabic as a foreign language at King Saud University. After a preview of these errors, the authors show the importance, objectives, and methodology of the study, and then focus on the findings that emerged from the statistical analysis of the compositional errors produced by students, such agreement errors, confusion between masculine and feminine and definite and indefinite nouns.

Benaissa Ichou (Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture) provides a critical outlook of the Regional Centers for teacher training in Morocco, highlighting the weakness of the integration of the Amazigh language in these centers. The author seeks to sensitize the decision-makers and inform them about the reality of training in these centers. He affirms that most of these regional centers are not qualified to provide vocational training for the teaching profession, nor for the teaching of Amazigh language for that matter.

Africa International Model United Nations (NAIMUN) is organizing the 2nd edition of the annual conference which will be held from the 26th-28th of September 2014 at the Faculty of Letters and Humanity in Marrakech, Morocco. The event will bring together 300 bright young students from all over the world with the aim of building a foundation for open dialogue in the spirit of peace and harmony.

NAIMUN is the biggest student-run Model United Nations conference in Africa with four sub-brunches in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt founded in 2012. September 26^th will be the date when the Middle East and North Africa's future leaders will meet once again to share, discuss and debate global issues after the Tunisia conference last year. The three-day conference will be a chance for all students to present their case on different topics.

Mohammed Taweh, the president of NAIMUN mentioned, “NAIMUN delegates assume the role of Ambassadors or NGO Representatives to defend the interests of their assigned countries/organizations in the best possible manner during the conference”. Moroccan NAIMUN 2014 will be a crucial opportunity for students to increase their knowledge of international diplomacy within the United Nations and the world, develop their communication/debate skills and learn from worldwide experts. The conference will have an enormous impact on the participants’ personal and professional development seeing as they will meet stimulating and inspirational people from over the world.

M'rah Mohamed Djamel Eddine Aboubakr, 26 years old, is an Algerian delegate. Mohamed Djamil is expecting NAIMUN to be a great opportunity to share and exchange ideas to contribute to the end of wars, misery and ignorance and to come to the realization that we are all alike no matter where we come from, what language we speak and what culture we follow—we are all one big global family.

“Sometimes the people we meet only once in our life leave a strong impression on us and remain forever in our memory despite never seeing them again”, Djamel said.

Mohamed Djamel stated that as the conference will not only be a lifetime opportunity to contribute to the future of this planet as a representative of its best interests, but also a great occasion to prepare himself for the best future possible, both professionally and personally.

“The program will also be an opportunity for me to help in the promotion of peace and understanding. During my participation in this engaging initiative, I will partake in the gathering and sharing of brilliant minds from all over the world in order to come up with new and original ideas to reinforce the best of thoughts: peace,” Djamel added.

Oussama Bouzerouata, 20 years old from Tetouan, Morocco is one of the participants. He is participating in the NAIMUN conference as a Moroccan delegate. He applied for NAIMUN because it is a good opportunity to learn about diplomacy and international relations. Furthermore, it will be a forum of exchanging and sharing ideas with other people from other countries. He states, “I am expecting the conference to be a great experience to express my opinion about global issues”.

One of the major problems facing the modern world is the differences of ethnic groups and religions. In the world in which we are living, the first dimension that comes to us is the diversity and the difference in culture, color and religion. In this world we suffer from the non-acceptance of differences between ethnic and religious groups. We are only human by our differences. The key is to learn how to know and communicate with each others' differences.

Concerning the Moroccan and Algerian issue, Djamel said: “I send prayers for unity, peace, love and courage so that Moroccans and Algerians can end the wars and misunderstandings by turning to the realization that we are one big family; brothers and sisters in humanity. We share the same language (Arabic), same religion (Islam) and same territory (Africa)." In this case Djamel Mohamed cited the following verse from holy Quran:

"O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted." Quran, 49:13

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Rabat- Amid a flash point controversy in reforming the country’s ailing retirement system, the Moroccan Parliament has passed a new bill to increase the retirement age of the educational sector’s employees to 65.

On Tuesday, the Moroccan government issued a new decree that raises the retirement age of the educational sector’s employees from 60 to 65, according to the Official Bulletin of the Kingdom of Morocco (BORM).

The new law came into effect on August 2, and requires primary and secondary teachers who are already 60 to keep teaching, rather than being referred for retirement.

As the new law was issued in the BORM, many media outlets reported that the retirement increase concerns all the state’s employees.

Alyaoum 24 quoted the Moroccan Minister-delegate for Public Service and Administration Modernization, Mohamed Moubdi, as saying that “the new retirement increase concerns the teachers only. But, it was misread by many media outlets.”

The Minister went on to add that a new study revealed that over 9,000 teachers were on the verge of retirement this year, including the those who already reached the retirement age and others who applied for early retirement.

 “The retirement of 9,000 teachers would certainly influence the educational sector. For that reason, the parliament passed the new law to increase the retirement from 60 to 65,” he explained.

Moubdi goes as far as to reveal that the new law is not part of the controversial project to reform the country’s retirement system.

Austin - When I was preparing my research project for the Fulbright grant, I never thought that I would end up at the department of Middle Eastern Studies (MES). It just happened that the researchers whose work I was interested in belonged in that department. I have chosen to write about MES at the University of Texas at Austin because many of my fellow Moroccans, and Arabs at large, usually suspect that American policies in our region are made by experts in such departments.

In my attempt to learn about the history and the objectives of MES at UT, I was informed that the right person to address was Mr. Christopher Rose, who had served as Outreach Director at the Center for MES since 2000. Mr. Rose explained that the job of an outreach director was to manage the Center’s relations with other departments and with the community at large. The center does not only cater for the needs of its students who specialize in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian or Turkish, but also for students coming from other departments but study one of these languages. The outreach director also contacts professors in other departments whose expertise is related in one way or another to the Middle East. Dr. Karin G. Wilkins, who is the current director of the Center for MES, is an example of such professors; she is a professor with the Department of Radio-TV-Film, but much of her research was focused on Arab media. Concerning relations with the community, Mr. Rose mentioned, as an example, that the Center provided help for public schools and colleges that wanted to introduce Arabic in curricula.

According to Mr. Rose, MES at UT started in 1960, in the middle of the Cold War. When Americans received the news that the Soviets had launched a Sputnik, they realized that the communists should be taken seriously. One way to do so was to establish good relations with peoples who were likely to become communists’ allies, namely those in the Middle East and Asia. For that purpose, the U.S government decided to fund the teaching of Middle Eastern and Asian languages to enable future diplomats, businessmen and others to communicate with people from those parts of the world. The late Winfred Lehmann, who was professor of linguistics at UT at that time, flew to Washington to get a share of funding, so that not all the money went to the prestigious universities like Harvard and Yale. It was then that the Centers for MES and Asian Studies were created at UT. MES at other American universities may have a different history. Over the years, the number of students who felt attracted by the languages and cultures of the Middle East must have gradually increased, but I was told by other sources that the sad events of 9/11 were behind the recent surge in interest in the study of Arabic and Islamic culture in particular.

What are the objectives of the Center for MES? Some Arab readers would think that the U.S is using its resources and competences to fight terrorism, and that people in departments of MES all over the country are also engaged in this global war. I addressed the question to Mr. Rose and he seemed to be already aware of Arabs’ suspicions. He recalled the time when he had been in Cairo and some people would ask him about the real purpose behind his study of Arabic or Egyptian history. They seemed to him to suspect that he was some sort of spy. According to Mr. Rose, the objectives of the Center for MES have not changed much since the Center was founded. The general purpose is to educate young Americans in the languages and the cultures of the peoples in the region. A brochure of the Arabic Flagship Program, for example, states that: “Typical profiles of our students include:

The next generation of Arabic language teachers

Future diplomats and leaders

Political and intelligence government analysts

Entrepreneurs and business people

Pioneers to develop health, education and national policies

International traders and lawyers

Engineers designing the future to meet our changing energy needs”

Thus, it is obvious that some learners of Arabic will end up with a career in intelligence, but public service is necessary in times of national crisis, and it is common at all times if the service pays well. According to Mr. Rose, the Center does not steer students in any direction. It has no contact with the government or other agencies to train students for special purposes. I asked him if any branch of the government had ever solicited expertise regarding a particular issue, and he pointed out that professors may be invited to express their opinions but they do so, not as representatives of the Department or the university, but as individuals mainly because of their contacts. He was quick to remind me that to suspect the academic background of the Center or the Department would be like accusing French departments in Moroccan universities of spying on France.

That seemed to me at first as an inappropriate comparison. In our universities, departments of foreign languages are usually accused of hosting alienated students and professors, and of encouraging Westernization (often taken to be synonymous with alienation or even treason). If the government could really interfere with academics, a number of research areas would not have been investigated. I could cite, for example, Amazigh linguistics, which was developed mainly in French and English departments. Similarly, Mr. Rose pointed out that many MES scholars voiced opinions that went against U.S politics in the Middle East at some point in time. Indeed, the relation between politics and academia is very complicated, and assuming that researchers will always act like civil servants for politicians is very simplistic, even in the name of the most sacred of national causes.

Next week, the experience of an eminent Arabist will be highlighted.

The Photo above shows Mr. Christopher Rose (on the right) and Dr. Ahmed Echcharfi (on the left)

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Marrakech - "Need is the mother invention." When a society is in need of something, it can create its own solutions and plans to respond to those needs.

When the Al Atlassain, Jeunes Sud Volontariat (JSV), and Association Marocaine de Probabilité et Statistiques (AMPS), associations in southeast Morocco identified a need to improve education for lycee students, they initiated a response to the needs of excellent students in the region through 'The Other Leader Program,' which helped improve scores greatly in the last Baccalaureate year.

This initiative required patience, time, money, and belief in community services, and provided a great model to be for other regions in the kingdom of Morocco. The initiative presented educational assistance to poor and unfortunate yet excellent students in southeast Morocco so that they could succeed and enroll in higher education such as medicine, engineering and so on.

For the project, 45 students took an adventure of 25 days to several Moroccan cities where targeted establishments and schools exist. The first trip started on July 12, 2014 from the southeastern cities of Tinghir, Boumalne, Zagoura, Ouarzazate, to Marrakech as their first destinations. Students were received by JSV volunteers and other individual volunteers or associations.

In this phase, Atlassain, JSV, and AMPS volunteers gave students the tools to build their psychological and cognitive sides by giving them the chance to meet psychological specialists. This helped students build their personalities and prepare them for the exams they wanted to take.

Parallel to these sessions, students met with expert professors including: Pr. Ouknine Youssef, professor of Mathematics and the manager of National School of Applied Sciences, Marrakech (ENSA),  Pr. Mechtali Mouhamed, the manager of private preparatory classes at Ibnu Ghazi Rabat  and his colleagues from Ibnu Ghazi Marrakech , and Pr. Ali Oukhouya,  professor of Mathematics at ENSA.

After these sessions, students had the opportunity of taking mock exams, which took about 72 hours divided into 7 hours per day; they passed exams in math, physics, biology and other science subjects.

After preparing students for entrance exams to universities and higher education institutions, volunteers accompanied students to the centers of exams. This activity took place in about eight national destinations and included about 25 trips to and from some big cities in the kingdom, including: Rabat, Casablanca, Fes, Agadir, Safe, Sttat, El Jadida, and Marrakech. Volunteers made sure that all students were in the right location at the evening (before?) the exam so that they could rest well and be ready for the exams.

Subsequent to all this hard work and determination of volunteers and students, the results were very satisfying; success reached a rate of 99%. This achievement is considered incredible if we compare it to last years’ achievements. The figure below shows the results of the admitted students in numbers and details:

At the end, a great celebration took place on August 28, 2014 in Boumalne Dades in the honor of admitted students and with the presence of the governor of the Tinghir province, the municipality of Boumalne Dades, the scientific council In Tinghir, and the national TV channel Al Oula, plus many others. At this celebration, the Other Leader Program presented symbolic awards and attestations of merits to the students.

Lastly, the Other Leader Program allowed the southeast region to be the other leader for other Moroccan regions so that they all contribute to enhancing education in Morocco. It shows also that we are all responsible for the education and development, and it’s not only the government that should be the major active participant in changing the situation of our education system. Through community service we can achieve great results, and Morocco could really be considered a developed country, as the king referred to in his last discourse.