Skip to content

Moroccan Educational System – Reforming the Reform

Reforming the reform

The Moroccan officials started a reform of the educational system in 2000 which was scheduled to end in 2010. A charter for the reform was agreed upon. But in 2009 the ministry of education was already aware of the failure of the reform. So a new emergency plan was devised to save the reform.It’s a sort of reform of the reform. But let’s consider first the reasons of the failure of the first reform.

An Educational reform doomed to failure from the start

Yes it was a big mistake to think of a reform without taking into consideration teachers’ training. It would have been wiser if officials had involved the teachers into the discussions, training and implementation of the reform. The outcome of the whole process has yielded catastrophic results:

  • Teachers poorly trained to face the 21st century challenges. Most teachers are still operating with the same old methodologies, feeling secure in their old practices because no one showed them a different perspective of education. Changing teachers’ mindset should have been a priority before any reform to take place. Unfortunately, teachers received no training at all.
  • A lot of students are still dropping out of schools because either they can’t follow a sterile education which doesn’t meet their real life needs or because they are too poor to be able to continue their studies. A no-child-left policy behind was not adopted in the reform.
  • The reform focused on the form and little was undertaken to bring about changes in essence. We have been bombarded by the figures of the schooling and illiteracy programs but the figures can sometimes be misleading. We are still lagging behind in terms of human development. We can blame no one but ourselves for the shameful positions.

The Emergency plan

It is said that the government will refurbish 15,300 schools over a two-year period. Three hundred boarding schools will be renovated with modern equipment and all schools will be guaranteed electricity, sewage facilities and drinking water. The 2009-2012 emergency plan aims at speeding up the pace of reform of the educational system. The ultimate objective is to make schools more attractive and to restore people’s confidence in Moroccan schools and help them fulfil their purpose.

Funds have been allocated and teachers training programs have already started. Now the reform is on the track again. Will the emergency plan achieve the preset goals?

Well, because of the ailing educational system we should not allow any pitfalls on our parts. Everybody is concerned: teachers, the government, parents and most importantly students themselves. We should trust them, give them opportunity to express their needs, participate in the reform and fully develop the spirit of taking the right initiatives  that will affect their lives.

Tags:

Copyright © My English Pages. All rights reserved.