MOROCCO A Guide to Its Educational System and Advice for the Admission and Placement of Students Educated in Morocco Kathleen Trayte Freeman International Consultants of Delaware February 2010 My first experience with the Moroccan educational system occurred when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco in the early 1980s. I taught English at Lycée Hassan Ad-Dakhil in Guercif, a very small town on the main east-west highway about 100 kilometers west of the Algerian border. At that time, Morocco was still in the process of Arabization of the curriculum, and the Ministry of Education had just begun to develop a textbook for English classes at the lycée level. Because there was no textbook available, my roommate and I spent every night creating lesson plans and writing out exercises on large pieces of paper because we were restricted to one stencil per year for mimeographs. I still have the “copy books” for which one student in each class was responsible every week so that the lessons taught were available for students who were absent or needed extra review. Today, Arabization of the curriculum is complete, and English textbooks have been developed and are in use in all three years of the lycée . Peace Corps volunteers no longer teach at lycées , but rather at teacher training schools where they prepare future teachers of English. I want to thank the Pioneer Fund and its committee: Rebecca Dixon, Leo Sweeney, and Christine Kerlin, for giving me the opportunity to re-explore my knowledge of the Moroccan educational system. I give particular thanks to Fouzia El-Azari of the AMIDEAST office in Rabat and to Chris Bramwell at AMIDEAST’s office in Washington, D.C. Fouzia answered numerous questions, found websites, recruited her niece to do the Arabic translations in the glossary, and reviewed the drafts. Merci beaucoup and shukron bizef, Fouzia. Many special thanks to Emily Tse for reviewing the drafts and providing valuable feedback and suggestions. I also want to thank my friends and colleagues who gave me credential samples: Emily Tse – International Education Research Foundation Nancy Katz – Evaluation Service, Inc. Marjorie Smith and Laurie Cook – University of Denver This publication is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Mary B. Trayte, R.N. She wasn’t too thrilled that I accepted the Peace Corps nomination to go to Morocco, but she and my dad came to visit me there, and both came to love the country as much I do. She would be very proud of this publication as she was of all the personal and professional accomplishments of her children. If you encounter mistakes or questions in this publication, please let me know. Kathleen T. Freeman Senior Global Assessment Specialist International Consultants of Delaware February 2010 [email protected] Note: Morocco: A Guide to Its Educational System and Advice for the Admission and Placement of Students Educated in Morocco is copyrighted and may not be reproduced for commercial purposes. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 4 Educational System 4 Language of Instruction 6 Pre-School and Primary School 7 Lower Secondary School (Collège) 8 Upper Secondary School (Lycée) 9 Post-Secondary Educational Options 12 University Programs 14 Classe Préparatoire 15 Licence-Master-Doctor (L-M-D) 16 Engineering Education 19 Teacher Training 20 Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions 20 French-Arabic-English Glossary 23 List of Post-Secondary Educational Institutions 31 Sample Credentials 46 Resources 50 Admission and Placement Advice 51 3 INTRODUCTION Image from the CIA World Factbook Royaume du Maroc) sits on the northwest corner of the / ا ا ) The Kingdom of Morocco African continent at the crossroads of Africa and Europe. Separated from Spain by the 14 kilometer-wide Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco is bordered by Algeria to the east, the Western Sahara to the south, the North Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. The population is 34,859,364. Ninety-nine percent of the country is Arab or Berber (Amazigh) and there is a very small Jewish population. Arabic is the official language, but several Berber dialects are also spoken, and French is the de facto language of business and diplomacy. Morocco was the first country to recognize the independence of the United States of America from England. Human habitation in present-day Morocco can be traced back to 8000 BC. Phoenician traders arrived in the 8 th century BC, and, by 146 BC, the Romans had taken over outposts previously established by the Carthaginians. In the 7 th century AD, the Arab conquest of North Africa was complete and several Moorish dynasties ruled the area of present-day Morocco. By 1860, Spain occupied northern Morocco and, in 1912, France established a protectorate in the remainder of the country. On March 2, 1956, Morocco was granted independence from France and from Spain later that year. In the late 1970s, Morocco annexed the former Spanish Sahara, now known as the Western Sahara, but this annexation has not been recognized by most countries. A referendum in the Western Sahara on independence from Morocco has been repeatedly delayed. The current king, Mohammed VI, was crowned on July 30, 1999. He is the grandson of Mohammed V, who was the king when Morocco was granted independence. King Mohammed VI has made significant improvements in human rights, especially those for women. EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Administration and Organization Education in Morocco is administered by the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Training and Scientific Research (Ministère de l’Education Nationale, de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la 4 Formation des Cadres et de la Recherche Scientifique). It sets the curriculum and policy, administers external examinations, and provides funding for public institutions. Prior to the arrival of the French in the 19 th century, education was limited to madrassas (Koranic schools) that were only open to boys beginning at age five. These schools focused on memorization of the Koran. During the French Protectorate, a national educational system was instituted, schools were opened throughout the country, and girls were eventually permitted to enroll. Morocco still follows, for the most part, the educational system established by the French. The Ministry of Education introduced compulsory education in the 1960s, although attendance is not strictly enforced, especially in rural areas. The literacy rate is 52.3% (39.6% for girls). In October 1999, the Ministry of Education issued the Charte nationale d’education et de formation (National Education and Training Charter) which declared that the years 2000-2009 would be the “Decade of Education” 1. According to the Charter, education would be the country’s number one priority and the educational system would be reformed at all levels. The reformation goals include: • 90% of all children enrolled in primary school by 2005 • 80% of all children enrolled in collège (lower secondary school) by 2008 • 60% of all children enrolled in lycée (upper secondary school, including professional, technical and alternative education) by 2011 • 40% of all children will earn the baccalauréat (upper secondary school diploma) • Increasing the literacy rate to 80% by 2010 and the complete eradication of illiteracy by 2015 Private Institutions There are many private schools at the primary and secondary level. There are also many private institutions at the post-secondary level that offer vocational and technical programs. The only private university in Morocco is Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane. It was established in 1993 and is an American-style university with English as the language of instruction. Public Institutions The majority of public schools at the primary and secondary level are public. There are 14 public universities in Morocco. Grading Morocco uses the French scale of 0-20 with 10 as the lowest passing grade. Grades of 20 are rarely, if ever, awarded. It is said that only Allah gets a 20, only the King gets a 19; therefore, the highest grade usually awarded is 18. As in all countries that have a French-patterned educational system, the concept of a grade of “D” does not exist in Morocco. However, grades of 8 and 9, which are normally failing grades, may be accepted as a condoned pass (U.S. grade of “D”) provided the overall grade average for the year (moyenne général) is 10.0/20.0 or higher. This is at the discretion of the institution’s administrators, and, at the post- secondary level, students may be required to re-take the course in a future term in order to meet the program requirements. 1 http://www.dfc.gov.ma/Reforme/CHARTE.htm#Espace%20Il%20:%20Organisation%20p%C3%A9dagogique 5 Grade Description Translation Suggested US Equivalent 16.0-20.0 Très bien Very good A 14.0-15.9 Bien Good B+ 12.0-13.9 Assez bien Good enough B 10.0-11.9 Passable Passing C 0.0-9.9 Ajourné Fail F Language of Instruction Moroccan Arabic (Darija) , which is spoken by a majority of Moroccans, is a dialect of Classical Arabic which is the language of the Koran. Moroccan Arabic is not a written language, therefore, Classical Arabic is the language of instruction at all levels of education. For approximately one-third of Moroccan students, their first language is one of the three Berber dialects (a language that is not related to Arabic) which are primarily spoken in the mountain regions and the south. Primary school is when most students are first exposed to Classical Arabic. French was the sole language of instruction until the late-1970s to early 1980s, except for religion classes and language classes, when a movement to “Arabize” the curriculum was introduced. Textbooks were re-written in Arabic, and Arabic became the language of instruction at both the primary and secondary school level.