Fez - School bullying is a problem that affects children all over the world, regardless of their religion, country, or social status. Developed countries are taking proactive actions and preventive measures against this issue; however, developing countries, such as Morocco, do not even acknowledge its presence.

To start with, bullying is a form of repetitive aggressive behavior, which is usually harmful and deliberate. It is always characterized by an imbalance of social or physical power; that is to say, the bully is more powerful than his victim.

Violence is not necessarily physical; it can be also verbal. Bullying behavior may include name-calling, verbal or written abuse, exclusion from activities, and exclusion from social situations. In this regard, it is worth refering to Haruki Murakami’s point that “violence does not always take visible form, and not all wounds gush blood.”

Another form of bullying which is somewhat similar to verbal bullying is social bullying. It can be defined as any kind of intentional mental abuse. This later manifests as manipulating other's social lives, friendships and reputation. Spreading rumors, intentional exclusion, or convincing others to intentionally exclude the victim are a few examples of social bullying.

By becoming the subject of aggression, bullied children have difficulty defending themselves and tend to live with anticipatory fear of pain and humiliation. In addition, researchers have demonstrated that bullying has serious consequences and can leave deep emotional scars in the personality of children subject to bullying. Those who endure psychological bullying often have emotional problems that linger for many years after the abuse. Bullied children are more likely to experience anxiety and depression and their academic achievement is more likely to falter. In the U.S., many children have gone so far as to commit suicide after being bullied.

Bullying can happen in any context; at school, on the streets, in the bus etc. It can happen to anyone regardless of age. But arguably, the most dangerous bullying is that which affects children. It is widely accepted that childhood is a pivotal stage in terms of a person’s physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. Therefore, bullying amongst children is an issue to which we must afford careful attention.

In our culture, we do not care about children's issues. Their opinions are not taken into consideration and neither are their problems. For many parents, bullying builds a child’s personality. This is true to an extent seeing as life obliges us to deal with all kinds of people, including nasty ones. However, bullying becomes a problem when a child is subject to it repetitively.

Moroccan children and teens along with many of their peers all over the world endure bullying, yet their suffering goes unnoticed. We all remember “Meriam” from Casablanca who committed suicide at 15 after being bullied by her classmates for living in the slums. Our community forgets the presence of hundreds of “Meriams” whose lives are ruined because of bullying. These students are the future of our country. So, how do we attain a better future without raising healthy children in supportive environments?

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Marrakech - Degree courses from Edinburgh Napier University are now open to Moroccan students at CasaEducation in Morocco, which gives students and professionals the opportunity to obtain a British degree while continuing their working lives without leaving Morocco.

This saves Moroccan students time and money, since the United Kingdom is an expensive place to study. The option offered by Napier University is more efficient and up to date than traditional learning methods.

Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University began teaching students in 1964. The University hosts more than 18,000 students from more than 100 countries. In the last 2 years, it has welcomed more than 400 online students from all over the world.

Sara Oueld El Hachemi, the Founder and CEO of CasaEducation, stresses that the Global Online degree programs offered by Edinburgh Napier University are flexible and combine theory and practice, equipping Moroccan students with business expertise and communications skills to enable them to obtain high-level jobs and compete in the global marketplace. Napier University degrees offered through CasaEducation are fully recognized by the UK university governing body under its Royal charter.

"Students can earn British degrees at a fraction of cost compared to studying at campus. They can enhance their careers with the Global Online Programs, which are designed to educate and support a new generation of Global Business Leaders," Sara told MWN. 

Edinburgh Napier University has graduate employability rate of 93.2 percent, meaning 93.2 percent of graduates are working or continuing their studies within six months of graduating, according to a recent employability survey in the Guardian newspaper.

The University offers 3 main Online Global Programs:

 7 specializations in the Global Online MBA. This program takes 2 years. It contains 7 Modules plus a Project.

 7 specializations in the Global Online MSc. This program takes 2 years. It contains 7 Modules plus a Dissertation.

There are 2 specializations in the Global Online BA Top Up.  This can be completed in 1 year.

Students can complete subjects at their own pace to earn credits towards their degrees.

The cost of single modules is £550, and the MBA project, including supervision and marking, is £1,100. The online distance-learning MBA program costs £4,950.

Many universities in the UK and elsewhere in Europe and the US are now offering degree courses in partnership with Moroccan educational institutions. These programs are inspected by Moroccan educational authorities and the international. CasaEducation and Edinburgh Napier University are offering an enhanced distance-learning program via online e-learning, which is less costly than classroom-teaching establishments based in Morocco. However, it means that there is a heavy onus on the student to keep up with their online studies.

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Taroudant, Morocco - The North Africa International Model United Nations organized an international conference in the faculty of letter and human sciences in Marrakesh, from September 25 to 26, 2014, under the theme "Human Development, Industry and Education What Relationship?"

Unlike the usual Model UN conferences, the Marrakesh event integrated workshops and presentations given by distinguished university professors. In his presentation, Mr. Abdellah Elhaloui, university professor at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakesh, whom we did not have the chance to interview, gave a lively presentation on creativity and innovation.

To shed more lights on this international event, Morocco World News talked with Mr Mohamed Taweh to discuss and learn more about NAIMUN and its main activities, future projects and how this initiative help youth develop a good understanding of the world issues and the rule of procedures in UN.

MWN: Would you please introduce yourself?

Mohammed Taweh: I am Mohammed Taweh, the president of North Africa International Model United Nations.

MWN: Can you tell us how you came up with the idea to create NAIMUN?

Mohammed Taweh: The idea started in 2011 when I was actively involved in Model United Nations (MUN). I have travelled to several countries and met young people, most of them from North Africa, who were actively engaged in MUN in their countries. When I look back, I see there is only one MUN conference in Morocco, which is in Marrakesh. I met their president in France, and it inspired me. Therefore, I thought I could do something not only for Morocco, but also for all of North Africa. I used my contacts and started working on this project with many dedicated team members from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt, which took a year of hard work.

MWN: Well, I see that you have gained a lot of experience from your regular participations in MUN.

Mohammed Taweh: Exactly, I have been to many Model United Nations meetings, and the one I did in Qatar inspired me to bring this experience to Morocco.

MWN- Are you here in Morocco to complete your studies?

Mohammed Taweh: Yes, I am here in Morocco studying at the faculty of medicine.

MWN: Is this why you opted to launch your program in Morocco?

Mohammed Taweh: To explain my background, I am from Liberia, but since I am now living in Morocco I would love to engage Moroccans in this experience. Now that we have organized this conference in Marrakesh and many Moroccans attended, there is a significant chance that participants will think of ways to implement a MUN program in their schools and universities. If each of these participants tries to implement a MUN program in their own school, don’t you think that it will help other students be aware and understand the rules and procedures of the UN? To bring young people together is the best thing to do to promote cultural understanding and help one another to practicably understand international policies.

MWN: There is a call from the Moroccan government to involve youth in politics. Do you think that meetings held by NAIMUN could help integrate youth into politics?

Mohammed Taweh: That is very a good question. At the end of this conference, we are going to introduce our upcoming project. It is about Youth Policy and Education. The majority of young people in Morocco are not involved with NGOs and in government policies in general. They do not have the means to engage positively in politics, and this is probably due to a lack of information. Through this project, we are trying to support them and help them actively participate in politics and raise awareness on what is happening at the UN.

MWN: I see that most of the speeches and discussions and informal sessions use the English language. Do you think this is done for a reason?

Mohammed Taweh: We are trying to enhance the use of the English language. I read on Morocco World News the other day that Lahcen Daoudi, the Moroccan Minister of Higher Education, has stressed the importance of using English in Moroccan universities as a language of science and scientific research.

MWN- Since you are enhancing the use of English language. Do you get any help whatsoever from the US or the UK?

Mohammed Taweh: Normally what they do for us is they give us their approval. They give us necessary documentation and help us contact potential international sponsors. Nevertheless, when it comes to financial support, we do not get anything from the US or the UK. We have contacted them before. It is possible, but it will be a long process.

MWN: Did you receive any help from the Moroccan government, a Moroccan political party, or an NGO?

Mohammed Taweh: The government is not supportive of youth international events. We received limited financial support from individuals, but not from the government. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the dean of the University of Alqadi Aiad in Marrakesh, who help us a lot. We have contacted around seven ministries, but we did not receive any help, even though such events will boost Moroccan culture, tourism, and help Moroccans meet with other international students.

MWN: I noticed that there are no local or national media covering this international event. Why?

Mohammed Taweh: Frankly, the national media asked us for money to cover the event, but unfortunately we can’t afford to pay them. We contacted 2M, MFM radio, Hit radio, etc., and they agreed, but to our dismay, they informed us later that we have to pay them in order to cover the event.

The fact that we are associated with the UN leads the media to believe that we have a lot of money.

MWN: Can you give me a general overview of the nationalities of the attendees?

Mohammed Taweh: We have hosted 200 participants, including 50 nationals from Algeria, Tunisa, Egypt, Fiji, Liberia, Serbia, Siri Lanka, the UK, Ghana, and the US.

MWN: I heard that some attendees complained about the “lack of organization”. Is this true?

Mohammed Taweh: We have to admit that organizing an international conference is not something you can do easily. We have been working very hard as a team to make this happen with our limited budget. We have been doing our best to make sure that everyone is satisfied. However, we have to admit that we have some faults, and I am sure we can overcome them in future events.

MWN: Thank you very much Mr. Mohamed Taweh. Do you have anything else to say?

Mohammed Taweh: I would like to thank Morocco World News for covering our event. You are the only international media outlet that came to us without asking for money. You have written about our conference before, and we would like to thank you very much for what you did for us. We would like you to be one of our future media partners.

Photo courtesy: Abderrahim Boualy

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Marrakech - The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child issued its report on Moroccan education on 19 September. The Committee welcomed the increase in school enrollment and the efforts to increase gender equality at the primary level and the increased public resources allocated to the education sector.

However, it highlighted a number of remaining challenges. It noted that a significant number of rural children, children with disabilities, children put to work, and children from poor households are deprived of education and schooling despite government regulations.

The Committee noted that girls still face difficulties in accessing secondary education. It stated that education services are badly managed, and only two thirds of resources that are earmarked to improve the education are actually used. The report blamed this on a lack of transparency.

While private education is developing rapidly, especially at the primary level, it lacks the necessary supervision regarding the conditions of enrolment and the quality of education. This has resulted in unequal access to education, as well as teachers engaging in private lessons in public schools, as noted recently by the Head of Government Abdelilah Benkirane. Teachers are also giving priority to their work in private schools at the expense of public schools.

The Committee noted that the quality of education remains low and the rate of school dropouts is high. It also noted that preschool education remains underdeveloped and virtually non-existent in rural areas.

The Committee made a number of recommendations, including strengthening government efforts to ensure that all children are enrolled in primary and secondary education. It called for more efficient utilization and control of financial resources allocated to the education system. In addition, control of the rapidly growing private education sector needs to be imposed so that public sector teachers are not poached by the private sector.

The Committee called on the Moroccan government to improve the quality of education and teacher training, as well as vocational training so that children, young people and educational dropouts develop job-relevant skills. It called for the development of early childhood care and education and for the Moroccan government to allocate sufficient resources to these causes.

The problem of public sector teachers also teaching in private schools is not unique to Morocco and occurs in developed countries as well. This issue stems from teachers’ low pay in the public sector; teachers with low salaries feel discouraged by a heavy work-load and inadequate remuneration.

Therefore, societies need to place a far higher importance on the status of teachers and the value of education as a key part of  social development. In a time of tight financial resources and increasing population, this can be difficult.

King Mohammed VI has called for improvements in the way subjects are taught and for providing job-related training. Students should be able to question and consider subjects so that they understand them instead of learning by rote.

However, the basics of writing, reading and arithmetic, if well taught, will place children in good position when they leave school to seek employment. Language-learning also benefits students of all ages, and expanding their linguistic ability and experience. Moroccan children in the public sector start learning French at eight years old, which is considered late by European standards.

Moroccan students are now benefiting from different educational systems, including English curriculums, which need to be made more widely available. Students should not be limited to one educational system, namely the French model. Instead, they should be given the opportunity to take advantage of different educational curricula, such as, the American, Spanish and Belgian. These are becoming available in private schools and hopefully in time will be more widely available in the public sector.

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By Karim El-Hiani

Rabat - One of the salient criteria of any country’s development is the extent to which its scientific studies flourish and are developed.

The fact that universities provide a fertile ground to conduct such research studies is an outstanding factor in raising the effectiveness of these studies. Yet, this might fall out under the danger of keeping the balance between theory and practice.

Recently, Mr. Lahcen Daoudi, Minister of Higher Education, has announced that Moroccan students belonging to technical and economic schools must master English because of its valuable status in the study of the sciences. In this respect, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of science and technology studies in the last few years. Most of the references are written in the English language. Thus, this makes the task tougher for students who do not master this language, especially in underdeveloped countries.

The quality of being well-informed about the requirements of both theory and practice, to the same degree, is essential and not ornamentally indispensable for the student. As a result, there has been a radical shift in the Moroccan educational system in the last two or three decades: the National Charter for Education and Training announced the crucial role of Moroccan learners in being qualified to have an influential status in the dynamic domains of Morocco. This procedure is due mainly to the fact that Moroccan schools do not produce active citizens that are capable of keeping pace with the technological and economic developments of developed countries.

I had the chance to be an M.A. student in the program of Applied Linguistics in Morocco. Many issues were discussed in the field of language learning and teaching. However, there was a huge lack of practice. In other words, having competence may not necessarily guarantee good performers. Discussing issues theoretically in learning and teaching languages can lead the student blindly to an unknown destination when experiencing concrete teaching in the terrain.

Undoubtedly, it is beneficial to stakeholders to find efficient ways to enable Moroccan learners to have a credible training commensurate with their ambition. So far, the failure of the National Charter for Education and Training has been one of the massive problems facing the Moroccan Ministry of Education. This failure puts a big question mark on the pre-planning of the stakeholders before activating new charters or plans.

Given the fact that Moroccan schools provide society with passive learners, it clearly justifies the mismatch existing between what Moroccan students know and what they can do. This fact may lead us to ask two basic questions: (1) Do we want to revolutionize our educational system to make concrete progress? And (2) Are we able to prepare a fertile ground for the next generations to develop the dynamic domains of this country?

Edited by Katrina Bushko 

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Austin - Today, I want to talk about higher education in America. But instead of listing the rules and regulations, I have chosen to illustrate them through the experience of a PhD candidate in Arabic studies at the University of Texas in Austin. His name is Philip. I hope that by writing about Philip’s experience, I will not only exemplify some aspects of the American university system but also provide a glimpse of the academic atmosphere that paves the way for the making of a scholar in America.

After high school, Philip went to the university’s School of Liberal Arts, the equivalent of our faculty of letters and humanities. He opted for a major in history, but during his first two years he had to take a number of minor courses which ranged from languages to biology and mathematics. Philip explains that although the number of major and minor courses was fixed, there was a panel of courses from which a student could choose depending on his/her interests. Philip chose to learn Classical Greek and Hebrew, in addition to to the main subjects in American, European and Eastern history. He also took a personal interest in Biblical studies, for Hebrew was the language of the Old Testament, and Classical Greek the language of the New Testament.

During the third and fourth years, the number of minor courses becomes limited, and the major ones take over. Philip managed to complete all of his required courses one semester in advance, which gave him some time to pursue his passion: languages and theology. He started learning other ancient languages of the Near East, namely Aramaic, Syriac and Akkadian. He calls them the “Biblical languages” because they were spoken in the region where the Bible was revealed. Although history, theology, and languages seem to be related, Philip says that they did not seem so to him. They were different worlds, and he had to switch from one to the other. He didn’t study them just to get a degree but also to satisfy some inner curiosity. So instead of graduating after four years, as is the general case, he had to wait for two more years. However, he graduated with three majors: history, theology and languages.

Arabic was also among the languages Philip studied. The story of his relationship with this non-Biblical language is rather fascinating. When he was ten years old, he lived for a year in Amman, Jordan with his father, who was a doctor serving in an exchange program. There, he went to a Baptist school, though about half of the pupils in his class were Muslim. He learned some classical Arabic and picked up the Jordanian dialect from his classmates. During that time, he also travelled with his father to Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt. However, when he came back to America to live with his mother, and because there was nobody with whom he could practice the language, he ended up forgetting everything he had learned after some time. At university, the need to renew his contact with the language arose again amidst his growing passion for the languages of the Near East.

After graduation, he registered in a master’s program at a divinity college. He wanted to specialize in theology and pursue his study of languages. But after a year, something happened that completely changed him: his mother passed away. It’s clear that she was everything in his life, and he was her only child. The shock was too much for him that it took him more than a year to get back on the horse.,Life no longer had the same meaning it after the sad event. When he was on again, only his passion for languages had survived in him.

Because he was not accepted into a master’s program in Arabic, he decided to travel to Amman for study, probably for a challenge. His wife gave up her job and left with him. It was not easy for him to convince the university authorities to accept him in a master’s program of Arabic applied linguistics, for he had to have at least a four-year bachelor’s degree in Arabic. But he managed to contact the “key” figures and got accepted. Two years later, he returned home with a diploma from an Arab university. Nothing more was needed to register for a PhD in Arabic studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Even as a PhD candidate, Philip now has to take a number of courses. He is unaware of the exact regulations, but he refers to his supervisor about the courses he should take. Generally, a supervisor would recommend courses that a student is likely to need when dealing with the topic of his orher research. Students from different departments may attend the same class. In one of the classes that Philip is taking, there are students from the French, Spanish and Arabic departments because the course is in English. In Arabic studies as well, you can find students who study linguistics, literature, theology, and other languages, but they are all interested in the Arabic language to some extent.

Part of the Arabic PhD program is also to teach the language to beginners. Philip works twenty hours a week in addition to taking courses and completing readings for his thesis. Of course, he is getting paid for the work he does, and he gains a lot from the teaching experiencesince he intends to be a professor in the future. But if he had a scholarship he would probably have more time to focus completely on his studies.

In an atmosphere where students come with different backgrounds, Philip’s advisors count a lot on him to come up with something interesting to illuminate some vague aspects of Arabic. His knowledge of ancient Semitic languages will certainly enable him to reconstruct the social and the linguistic environment in which Arabic, as we know it today, developed. The flexibility of the American university system and the passion and perseverance of scholars like Philip are the main factors that shape exceptional minds in the US.

Rabat - The Supreme Council for Education, Training, and Scientific Research is preparing a strategic report that will detail a roadmap for comprehensive reform of the national system of education and training.

In a press conference held in Rabat, Mr. Omar Azziman, Head of the Supreme Council, explained that this report will establish a roadmap for the reform of the educational system through the cooperation of government sectors and other relevant institutions.

The report is also the result of a participatory process that will take into account the views and interpretations of various stakeholders to make the goals of educational reform accessible to all.

Regional stakeholder meetings for reforming the system of education, training, and scientific research will begin on Tuesday. The opinions and suggestions heard at these meetings will be used in preparation for the report of the Strategic Council, and will form a critical basis for the bodies of the Council tasked to prepare this report.

Mr. Azziman stressed that the report will highlight the "foundations of change necessary for the rehabilitation of the national system of education, training, and scientific research."

Similarly, the Head of the Council noted that Morocco is ready for a comprehensive and successful reform of the educational system. The country is ready to explore new prospects for a Moroccan School able to meet the challenges of education and training, rehabilitation, and technological innovation.

Mr. Azziman also mentioned the imbalances and obstacles that are still impeding the achievement of the desired objectives. He discussed the main challenges in the lack of continuity of educational policies, the poor academic achievement among students, the serious issues of the language of education, the teaching of languages, and school dropouts.

In addition, he highlighted the main challenges limiting coherence and harmony in Moroccan education. He said there are a lack of connections between school education, vocational training, and higher education.

Taroudante- Only 5% of primary students in Morocco can read in French. The statistic was recently announced in an interview with Menara last week, Abdelaâdim Guerrouj, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Education in charge of vocational training.

Referring to studies conducted in this field, the minister said that “all these studies show that at the end of the sixth grade (primary school), only 16% of students are able to read and write and a lower rate of only 5% read in French.”

The announced foreign language learning results come despite large budget appropriations by the government for the educational system.

According to the minister, the Ministries of national education and vocational training alone “absorb nearly 26% of the general budget of the state, in addition to the resources devoted to higher education and other sectors of the system of education and training”

The minister said that if these efforts had been exploited wisely, the educational system in the kingdom would have yielded beneficial results.

“If one had to measure these efforts in relation to GDP, we would end up at very high levels,” he said.

While Guerrouj stressed the “importance of mastering language, either Arabic or French, as the basic tool in order to accumulate knowledge,” Lahcen Daoudi, Morocco’s Minister of Higher Education, believes that English is the key to improving the quality of the educational system in Morocco.

The minister of higher education had said previously “French is no longer relevant” and “Arabic is important only because it is the language of the Quran,” and believes that English, the language of scientific research, is the solution in Morocco’s education system.

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Taroudant, Morocco - After various statements made by Lahcen Daoudi, Minister of Higher Education, in which he highlighted the importance of scientific training, the Minister once again would like to see more science baccalaureate students in the Moroccan school system.

According to the Minister, having more students enrolled in science branches is "one of the key means to fight against unemployment."

Daoudi, who previously declared that there are "too many graduates in arts and humanities and not enough math and science students," believes that orienting more students into scientific disciplines “will be one of the key ways to improve employment and the fight against unemployment."

According to Media 24, the Minister said that the number of graduates in science and mathematics has declined by 2% in the 2014 baccalaureate, against a rise of 9% of graduates in arts.

For Daoudi, "this is due to the organization of primary and secondary systems that needs to be reformed."

"No economy can absorb such trends,” the Minister said, adding that “we must give mathematics its proper place in the Moroccan educational system."

In addition to his favor of science branches, the minister called several times on the importance of the English language as a key element to science and academic research.

In order to make this a priority for science students, the Minister of Higher Education has reportedly signed a circular making it obligatory for science students to master English before they can be admitted to science Universities.

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Fez - The Moroccan Department of Education in Morocco set the 2014-2015 education program schedules specifying September 10 and 11 to be the actual start of the school year for primary and secondary schools, respectively.

However, classes didn’t really begin until October 13, as class attendance reached its peak. This evident discrepancy between official statements and actual proceedings is common in the start of the Moroccan school year, though it was greater this year.

The Moroccan general census and Eid al-Adha have both delayed the commencement of studies in public schools, causing students to lose hundreds of study hours. A large number of teachers helped in the counting of Morocco’s inhabitants. Nevertheless, neither the census nor the religious celebration are the actual reason for the late start.

In reality, it became customary that students do not show interest in starting the new year on time for a variety of reasons such as psychological demotivation, irresponsibility, and lack of administrative rigor and punishment measures.

On a different note, teachers and students expect novelties in the new program every year, especially in the light of the increasingly serious discussions about reform.

However, it seems that the Ministry of Education and the government are still confused about the way to manage this reform and the way to start an inclusive restoration of the educational system in response to the wide public demands. Teachers’ demands for the improvement of their working conditions remain unmet, and in fact took turn to the worse recently.

Rachid Belmokhtar, the appointed Minister of the Education , publicly attributed the dismal situation of education to the teachers accusing them of unjustified absence and laziness. In response, he took measures to slow their promotions, ban them from pursuing higher education, and even prevent them from taking exams to change teaching cycles.

Overall, the new school year bears no good news for practitioners or students. Official routine postulates school councils and administration close the school year with inclusive reports evaluating the program execution and educational environment and suggesting recommendations for the next year concerning pedagogical materials, human resources, program organization, and so on, to hopefully guarantee better practice and satisfactory results.

However, teachers find the situation unchanged and even worse after the lengthy summer holiday, which discourages them from contributing to the discussion on the school practice or offering useful insights.

The 2014-2015 school year bears a resemblance to previous years, bringing back old, persistent problems: uninspiring working conditions, large classes, insufficient human resources, a lack of teaching and learning materials, and many more.

The demand for classes, materials, teachers, and so on far outstrips the government’s supply. This undesirable situation will eventually lead to low achievement for Moroccan education in general, and perpetuates a vicious circle of failure.

Among the most recent unprecedented government decisions against state employees is the gradual raising of retirement age to eventually reach 65, which runs against workers’ aspiration to take early retirement and enjoy their pension for a couple of years before passing away. The government says that unless this decision is made, the national pension fund will reach total bankruptcy by the year 2022.

In the light of this situation, education employees seem to have lost trust in trade unions, since they have demonstrated little or no will to defend employees’ rights to promotion and retirement. Social dialogues between the Ministry of Education and trade unions – presumably representative of weary teaching staff – have occasionally occurred but were not productive, while employees were hoping for a satisfactory outcome. Despite promises to defend teachers’ rights against the government’s unjust decisions, trade unions have given up their allegiance to employees while still chanting the same slogans of social militancy.

The royal speech opening the parliamentary autumn session on October 10 prompted a heated official debate on the quality of Moroccan public schooling. The monarch’s discourse to the MPs on the topic of stirred the old question of educational reform and instructional language.

The king’s speech recalled previous speeches by predominantly addressing education reform during the last twelve months, since his message on August 20, 2013. The king has initiated the creation of The Higher Council for Education, appointed a new Minister in charge, asked to review the language of instruction, and demanded a new diagnosis of the education system to find its major deficiencies.

The King’s instructions have to yield desired outcomes after decades of wrecked education. Otherwise, they remain hollow promises and continue to produce generations of depressed, incompetent graduates. King Mohammed’s speech to the members of the parliament reminded them that education is a central issue for Moroccans. Right after this speech, a fight broke out between two Moroccan MPs inside the house of the parliament, which dramatically shows the extent to which they are obsessed with national issues.

In sum, there has been much talk on the issue of Moroccan education. Students, as well as teachers, are in a dire need for exciting education environments to avoid lethargy, dropouts, and indifference. Until our policymakers, teachers, students, and all other stakeholders assume their shared responsibilities for the situation and take necessary measures to restore it, our education remains in the intensive care.

Rabat - Omar Azziman, the chairman of the High Council of Education, Training, and Scientific Research, will head the first regional consultation meeting for education and teaching in Oujda on October 23.

Aziman had previously announced the launch of a strategic report that is being presented by the High Council of Education, Training, and Scientific Research by the end of this year.

The report takes into account realistic reform of the education system and includes crucial recommendations from previous regional consultation meetings.

The meeting will serve as an opportunity to discuss several important features of the High Council’s education analysis.

The meeting will also address the most important challenges related to the reform of education system, and will include dialogues opened by several education professionals.

The Ministry aims to form an objective analysis of the reasons behind the failures and shortcomings of the Moroccan education system in recent years. It also seeks to set clear expectations by presenting scientific suggestions of possible solutions.

The Ministry seeks to devise the first components of an effective educational project in the short, medium, and long terms for the gradual overhaul of the Moroccan education system.

Edited by Timothy Filla

Fez- The Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Lahcen Daoudi, declared that there is no alternative but to teach science in English in Moroccan universities. 

Lahcen Daoudi was a guest speaker at the opening ceremony of the first national conference under the theme "what language should health sciences be taught?" organized recently by the Moroccan Association for Health Communication at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Rabat.

Daoudi is known to take advantage of every opportunity to stress the importance of teaching in English, especially in the fields of business and science. He often promotes the learning and proficiency of English among University professors and students.

According to the Minister, Moroccan higher education institutions are facing a challenge in the language of science education, since English is gaining momentum worldwide and has long become the language of human sciences, replacing French, which is the main medium of communication and teaching in most universities in Morocco.

Similarly, Daoudi stated that this challenge is not unique to Morocco; it is also posed  in other countries such as Japan and France where English is the main language of learning and teaching science in higher institutions.

The Minister has previously made it clear through a circular that starting January 1, 2015, students are required to master English before they can be admitted into science Universities. He also previously said that University teachers have to master English in order to teach at Moroccan universities.

It remains to be seen how Morocco will overcome this challenge of English proficiency, bearing in mind that French is the dominant language in business and academia in the country.

Does the Ministry of higher Education and Research have a practical vision and a feasible strategy to overcome the challenges facing higher education, including lack of staff and equipment, lack of academic research, quality, and efficiency of education and the consistency of curricula with the job market? Time will tell.

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Ouarzazate - After a meeting of the High Council of Education and Training on July 16 in Casablanca, education activists began wide and deep discussions about the possible ways that could help in reforming and enhancing the Moroccan education system.

Yet, most senior members of the High Council think more about inside the classrooms and neglect the school environment.

They think about the strategies and measures that should be taken in order to improve the level of teaching and the learning process. They ponder suitable languages to be incorporated in classroom instruction, and come up with approaches and purposes that could strengthen the students competences and skills. They think about how to make students good citizens who will be beneficial for society, and they discuss how they can prepare students to respond to the needs of the market.

All these points are precious, and every Moroccan citizen waits to realize them. Yet, some students find it hard not only to be involved in the learning process, but also to physically go to school.

Students in remote areas still suffer from lack of transportation to reach school; this is compounded by severe weather and poor roads. It is impossible for some students to reach school once autumn begins.

This fact might be more pertinent if we recall the 25 children of Anfgou, a small village in the Middle Atlas mountains, who died in the winter of 2007 because of the cold. And only less than one month, four students were swept away by the valley flood on September 23 in Ouarzazate as they were walking back from school.

Because of these problems, the issue of education should be discussed not only by the Ministry of Education, but all ministries, including of Transportation and Equipment. They should do more than hold meetings and press conferences to enhance education in our country—specifically taking into consideration the needs and problems of remote areas.

While some students in cities may reach schools with their parents in cars, students in remote areas may only be able to reach school with the sandals on their feet (and sometimes, if they are more lucky, on donkeys and mules). As students in the city use their computers and tablets at home and school, students in remote areas sometimes find it hard to have electricity at home. As students in the city are helped by their parents (who are often educated), students in remote areas still suffer from having to help with field work and housework, as their parents might not take education seriously. If all teachers dream to teach in urban cities, a majority of them find it a nightmare to teach students in rural areas.

Furthermore, girls in cities are more equal to their male counterparts, while girls in remote areas are still getting married at the ages of fifteen and sixteen—they are seen as merely marriage projects for their families.

These are some facts that should prompt all the Moroccans, institutions, politicians, and social activists to consider education reform in a comprehensive approach. How can we make every Moroccan start thinking of other Moroccans who are less fortunate?

Thus, the remote areas should not be marginalized or forgotten, and their sufferance and needs should be taken seriously. Morocco cannot reach development without fighting vulnerability in remote areas.

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Rabat - Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Vocational Training Lahcen Daoudi said university professors who will be appointed in Moroccan universities, particularly in scientific disciplines will have to have a good command of English.

"The decision concerns university professors and not students", Daoudi told Morocan daily Le Matin du Sahara et du Maghreb.

"When we want to recruit a university professor in certain disciplines, s/he must have a good command of English because it is the language of science par excellence," the minister stressed.

This decision concerns medicine, sciences and economics, he added, noting that other specialties where English is required may be considered as well.

The minister explained that this decision will be gradually implemented by teaching "one or two subjects in English" in medicine and engineering faculties.

By Amjad Hemidach

Fez - The Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), scheduled to take place on November 19-21, 2014 in Marrakech, is set to organize a competition of Moroccan Student Innovation Challenge.

The competition aims to motivate Moroccan students’ innovation and ideas, as well as encourage entrepreneurship.

The competition requires sending descriptive outlines of practical creative projects. Approximately 200 students will be chosen and given free access to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

The summit is a perfect platform for students  to take part in various activities, including participation in workshops, listening to world class speakers on entrepreneurship and innovation, in addition to networking with investors and peer entrepreneurs. The projects of selected students will be presented in a display area of the Innovation Village.

According to the official website of the summit, applicants must be enrolled full time in a Moroccan university, and selection will depend on the degree of originality, feasibility, and clarity of ideas.

Special attention will be given to projects that develop the integration of youth and women into the economy as well as those that are less demanding and more advantageous for people who live below the poverty line.

The Financial Times said that Morocco ranks the second most attractive country to host direct foreign investments in the African continent, after South Africa. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Salaheddine Mezouar, has indicated that this international meeting will be an open event during which “Morocco is going to target the various countries” with the aim of assuring wider participation.

To complete the competition application visit: http://gesmarrakech2014.org/en/registration/challenge

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Marrakech - Legacy International and Bridges Center Launches Professional Fellows Program for Young Professionals from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

The Legacy International and Bridges Center (LIBC) has announced the launch of a new Professional Fellows Program (PFP) as part of an NGO Development Program.

According to LIBC, which considers community service its major goal and work, the Professional Fellows Program will last two years, 2014-2016, and will be aimed at professionally and effectively developing an initiative to respond to the needs of civil society in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt.

This two-way, citizen exchange program between the U.S. and the fellow’s country will involve people with particular skills and competencies in leadership, who can contribute to making a positive influence on society through community service provided through NGOs.

LGBC will select 34 fellows, 7 to 8 fellows from each of the four countries, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt. Fellows selected for the program will be exposed to various areas according to their interests, including: “social development, public health, women and children’s issues, rule of law, arts and culture, education reform, transparency, free speech and media, youth engagement, human rights, and citizen participation.”

The application deadline is December 1, 2014, and fellowship dates will be subject to adjustment.

The Spring Delegation will include Egypt and Algeria and run April 20-June 5, 2015. The Fall Delegation will cover Tunisia and Morocco and will run October 19-November 13, 2015.

Eligible candidates must be residents and citizens of Egypt, Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia, and be between 25 and 40 years of age, fluent in English (spoken and written), and have two years minimum experience with local NGO’s, advocacy and reform organizations and networks, civil society organizations, unions, or other related fields. Preference will be given to candidates who have not previously traveled to the U.S. on a government-sponsored exchange program.

Marrakech - The use of Information and Communication Technology in EFL classes has changed many aspects of the teaching and learning process. In this article, I highlight the role of the teacher in EFL classes that use technology communicatively.

The incorporation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in EFL classes has brought many changes to the learning and teaching process. Among these changes is that of the role of the teacher, which shifts from a very traditional role to a more modern one. Prior to using technology in classrooms, the teacher served as an instructor to the students: he or she gives instructions regarding the use of computers, projectors or any other technological devices. When ICT is implemented in classrooms, the role of the teacher shifts to coordinating of the flow of communication between students and teacher as well as between students and the computer.

While learners take on tasks, the teacher adopts the role of the observer and facilitator. Here the teacher gives many opportunities to students to construct their own knowledge. Still, the teacher should always be a role model who shows the students how to achieve the tasks. Therefore, through modeling, and sometimes scaffolding (interaction between teachers and students, or experts and novice), the teacher does not remain the authoritarian who deductively imparts information. Rather, he or she becomes a facilitator and a supporter of the students’ interaction with the computer. The teacher is no longer the all-knowing monolith; rather, teachers sometimes find themselves the learners and explores with students. Thus, teachers play the role of student.

In class, the teacher remains at all times at the disposal of students. He or she is their adviser, guide, and trainer, as well as a collaborator, silent partner, monitoring and assessment specialist. It’s worth mentioning that one of the teacher’s main roles is the role of a communicator. ICT provides teachers with opportunities to widen their communication spaces and communicate in class or even out of class via internet with students and colleagues and other experts all over the world. To conclude, a teacher who adapts communicative technology, whether virtual games, PowerPoint photo based stories, social networks and so on, can change the face of their profession. By keeping up with the latest workplace trends, they stay effective in their work and become motivators who help their students remain involved with the learning process.

The role of students in a class which uses technology communicatively

The incorporation of ICT in EFL classes has altered both the role of teachers and students. The latter‘s role in traditional methods has not been highlighted much since the teacher is the controller, the authoritarian in class. But after the appearance of Communicative Language Teaching, the student began to be more involved in the learning process. Teachers, who adapted ICT, gave students the opportunity to play the role of self-learners. Students select their own real world, real time multimedia projects. With the use of computer software, they become active participants. They feel independent and responsible for their own learning, thus shifting their role from passive learners to the active doers and decision-makers.

Students also become explorers. They independently look for and obtain information while the teacher remains a silent partner. Furthermore, ICT helps learners become self-motivated and self-managed. Learners get involved in maintaining a fun and safe class-atmosphere, which makes it easier for the teacher to give his or her support and advice, as it is rare that the teacher comes across challenging or less disciplined learners.

Learners also play the role of team members and collaborators. They often work in groups when completing tasks and multimedia projects, such as presenting PowerPoint presentations and photo stories that give them the opportunity to negotiate and communicate with other members of the group. In addition to these previous roles, a learner becomes a knowledge manager or leader, crucial roles a learner plays when the teacher is adapting ICT communicatively. For instance, when the learner conducts multimedia reports and presentations to figure out some real world problems or social issues, or even to express and share personal attitudes and feelings.

In conclusion the communicative use of technology in EFL classes helps students take on several roles. Students evolved from passive knowledge consumers to creators and participators in their own learning. They bear their own responsibility for learning, and they have freedom of action in a modern and safe environment that responds to the real life situation changes.

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London- I was so looking forward to start my Erasmus in London. I always dreamed about moving to London and live there for a while, either as a student or at least do my internship there.

As the semester opening became closer and closer, I started reading many articles about the city and about studying in the UK in general, I talked with other students about their experiences from living in London, and their recommendations about places to go out to, student parties, where to find cheap accommodation and everything they could tell me about the city. In the beginning, the more info I got, the more concerned I became about living in London by myself. It’s such a big city, with so many students from various countries, and the prices seemed so high.

Luckily, I found a few websites for Erasmus students in the UK, where I received many tips and useful advices on how to get along in the city. And then, after finding my future flatmate and a room to rent on roommatesuk.com, I was able to make my final plans for arrival, knowing this semester in London will be the best experience of my life!

I arrived in the city and fell in love with it immediately. It was so lively and bustling with people. I settled quickly in my new room, and in the same evening, my new flatmates (all international students too), took me out for a drink in a nice pub close to our flat, which was a great way to get to know them and my new neighborhood.

The first day in the university was a bit alarming at first, with so many new faces and and energy in the air. It took me a few weeks to get used to the British accent and brush up my English, but very soon I made a lot of friends from all around the world and established study groups, which was a great way to practice both on our English and the material of the course.

In the UK universities, you have all the resources you need to succeed in your studies. The libraries are filled with books, CDs, magazines, all arranged easily for researches by the students. Studying became easier and easier, my English progressed pretty quickly and thanks to my flatmates I even picked up a bit of Spanish and Italian, and we had  fun hanging out in the pubs and student clubs in our area, which were always packed with local and international students.

Finally, when I look back, I can say this was indeed the best experience of my life, I had made so many friends, improved my language and learned new things about myself. I definitely suggest to everyone who’s able to study abroad, to do it. You will never forget these months, experiences and adventures, not to mention lifelong friendships.