10.01.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:10 pm by nadia
27/05/2007
The Moroccan government has published the findings of the first comprehensive survey conducted on literacy in the country. Illiteracy levels have dropped from 43% in 2004 to 38.45% in 2006. El Habib Nadir tells Magharebia about the programme responsible for the progress.
Interview by Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 27/05/2007
Morocco released the results of its first nationwide survey on literacy recently, uncovering some positive results. Data indicate illiteracy levels have dropped from 43% in 2004 to 38.45% in 2006, an improvement that could boost Morocco’s placement in international rankings. El Habib Nadir is Director of the responsible agency, the National Campaign Against Illiteracy, a bureau under the Secretary of State for Literacy and Informal Education.
Magharebia: You recently (April 26th) carried out a significant national survey on literacy in Morocco. What makes it significant?
El Habib Nadir: The study is significant because it is the first of its kind. This is the first time that Morocco has carried out such an exhaustive survey on the illiteracy phenomenon in Morocco, as well as on school enrolment and participation.
The study had multiple objectives: to provide reliable data on the state of illiteracy, of non-schooling and reduced schooling; to identify the principal factors underpinning these phenomena; to create a profile and identify the needs of target groups in the fields of illiteracy and non-formal education; and finally, to gain insight into the negative impact on both adults and children of a lack of access to education by examining attitudes and behaviour.
The ultimate aim is to apply knowledge of the reality of the situation by setting up programmes and action plans which focus on our target groups.
Magharebia: What are the most salient findings of the survey?
Nadir: Several statistics have proved significant. The drop in the illiteracy rate in the population aged 10 years and older from 43% in 2004 to 38.45% in 2006 marks a decrease of 4.5% over two years. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the government’s strategy and approach. This outcome is due in part to the very widespread increase in the number of people receiving assistance from literacy programmes these past few years. To illustrate this point, the number of beneficiaries over the last 4 years (2002 to 2006) was more than 2 million, which is the same number of people who received support during the 20 years preceding 2002 (1981 to 2001)… the rate of change has greatly improved.
Another key statistic concerns non-schooling: today only 15% of children between 9 and 14 years old are entirely outside the school system. This situation has also been improved by government efforts to make schooling more generally available.
The drop in illiteracy rates has been more noticeable in women than in men.
[Also] notable are the illiteracy rates amongst workers and employees in certain fields of activity: 60% in agriculture, 30% in the trades, 27% in the service industry and 22% in public administration and the local community sector.
Magharebia: How does the government intend to eradicate illiteracy in light of the survey results?
Nadir: Bearing in mind these encouraging results, which show our present strategy and approach to be effective, current efforts should be pursued to consolidate the gains indicated and to increase the pace of concrete change. We must target specific populations and zones for intervention. One general direction suggested by the survey is that we need to carry out research in order to secure help from as great a number of partners as possible. The National Initiative for Human Development (NIHD, launched by the king in 2005) would also be an appropriate place to look for support in the development of an effective and integrated action plan.
Magharebia: What schemes are underway to combat these issues?
Nadir: Currently, we are working with 4 action plans in the field: a general programme, managed by staff working in national education; a public services programme, managed by various Ministries (Islamic Affairs, National Development, Fisheries, Justice, Agriculture, Youth); a civil society programme, run in partnership with NGOs; and a private enterprise programme targeting employees within that sector.
At present, more than 670,000 beneficiaries are enrolled in the various programmes across the country.
For more information you can consult our official website: www.alpha.gov.ma.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:07 pm by nadia
16/09/2007
Morocco rings in the new school year with new initiatives designed to increase civic knowledge and participation and to promote math and science in an effort to create “10,000 engineers”.
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 16/09/2007
Close to seven million Moroccan pupils returned to school on September 13th to kick off the 2007/2008 academic year, themed “family and school: working together to make good citizens”.
Teacher Majid Abdellaoui indicated that the goal behind this year’s theme is for students to develop critical thinking, socialisation, respect for democratic values and human rights and civic activities and education, as well as to teach students about rights and responsibilities to help them become responsible involved adults.
Family participation in schooling has also taken on a new dimension. In order to give parents a greater role of the success their children’s schooling, the Ministry for National Education plans to share educational concepts with them and to collect their expectations, suggestions and reactions.
According to the national education minister, the government has increased educational entitlements for the 2007/2008 academic year, particularly in state- and privately-funded pre-school education, which will see an increase of 9.5% compared with last year.
Primary enrolment is up 1.3 % over last year to 3,983,940 pupils. Lower-tier secondary (Junior High School) enrolments are up 6.4 % to 1,486,777 students and higher-tier secondary (High School) enrolments are up 9.5% to 733,555.
These increases have been made possible by a number of measures, particularly the construction of 51 new primary schools, 16 of which are in rural areas, 155 education units, 99 junior high schools of which 75 are in rural areas and 18 high schools of which four are in the countryside.
Meanwhile, curriculum managers have said that the beginning of the school year would be marked by the publication of new course books for the baccalaureate, the integration of the Amazigh language for the first time into the fifth year of primary education and the preparation of new teaching programmes for secondary education. The revision of the teaching structure is characterised by a desire to steer more pupils towards science and technology in order to meet the country’s need for more engineers and technicians.
As part of the “10,000 engineers” initiative, the national education ministry introduced the mathematics B stream into technical schools this year. Preparatory courses for the grandes écoles (higher education professional schools) have also been increased with the opening of three centres in Laâyoune, El Jadida and Taza, while existing centres will be launching 13 new preparatory courses, taking enrolment from 5,691 to 7,276 this year.
Elsewhere, high schools and junior high schools, along with 75% of primary schools, will benefit from additional IT equipment, provided under the “Génie” project, to which one billion dirhams was allocated for the purchase of 104,000 computers and for the training of 230,000 professionals.
Hind Benlhabib, who leads the information systems department at the education ministry, said that with the “Génie” project being launched and run by the prime minister’s office, teaching will take a real leap forward. “The project has three components: infrastructure, teaching content available on the machines, and human resources training in the use of new technologies,” she said.
A number of secondary education establishments will receive IT equipment this year, and nearly 2,000 multimedia room managers will be made available. These rooms will be set aside to train pupils in IT and information and communication sciences. They will also be used to introduce teaching staff to information technology.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:05 pm by nadia
30/09/2007
The number of people enrolling in Morocco’s institutions of higher learning is on the rise, benefitting from programmes to encourage students and to lessen their financial burdens.
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 30/09/2007
The number of university students in Morocco is up 8% year-on-year, with 289,000 students enrolled in higher education courses for the academic year 2007-2008 compared with 267,000 the previous year. The students attend a wide variety of universities, schools of higher education and technical colleges. Some 90,000 new baccalaureate holders opted to enrol in universities this year.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Scientific Research says the 2007-2008 academic year is seeing a number of new initiatives aimed at boosting higher education. The main focus is on building up infrastructure, with a new university in Beni Mellal and four new higher education institutions: two business and management schools in Fez and Mohammedia, a higher institute of technology in Berrechid and a school of engineering in Khouribga.
Another new feature is an increase in the number of courses, 47% of which are vocational. These include courses in social work run jointly by the Ministry of Social Development and the State Secretariat for Vocational Training. The number of places in medical schools has been increased by 66% over last year in an attempt to reach a training target of 3,300 doctors per year by 2020.
University professor Taoufik Guerradi told Magharebia that officials plan to raise standards in higher education to address the needs of the labour market with regard to social and economic affairs. “Take the teaching of economics, for example. Previously, private schools used to corner the market on specialist administration, management and marketing courses. Now, however, universities are offering courses in these areas and are competing with the private sector,” he said.
Measures being taken to improve social and cultural facilities for students include efforts to expand the capacity of university residence halls as part of the process of opening up the sector to private operators. Two construction projects are underway to alleviate the shortage of student accommodation. The number of students receiving grants will also rise by 5.5% this year.
Another key measure this year is the creation by the Central Guarantee Fund under a programme called Education Plus to underwrite bank loans given to students enrolled in private institutions and schools of higher education to fund part or all of their enrolment and tuition fees. In the past it has been nearly impossible for students to get funding from banks or loans for higher education. The director of training and higher education, Abdelhafid Debbagh, says that this innovation is part of the framework agreement signed on May 8th by the government and representatives of private academic and training institutions to open up access to student loans. All the country’s banks have a stake in the new fund. Loans, which must not exceed 100,000 dirhams ($12,500), can only go towards enrolment and/or tuition fees charged by private-sector institutes or schools of higher education.
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