Challenges for Morocco’s Education System

Education is supposed to prepare today’s students for the future. However, it is provided by teachers whose training and methods are mired in the past. New actors — parents, politicians and trade unions — need to be brought together to design better ways of preparing tomorrow’s citizens to face the coming societal challenges.

The traditional way of approaching educational development — building infrastructure and focusing on teachers — neglects students and the quality of their education. Morocco needs to reverse this tendency by beginning to concentrate on the outcome of its education system. The country needs a new generation of young people who have the ability to analyze, interpret, synthesize and be self-reliant after they enter the labor force. Yet, while industry is rapidly becoming "high-tech" under the pressure of international competition, Morocco is still at a stage where its schools are "low-tech." The cause for this inadequacy lies in part with the high cost of specialized education; its consequence is a great rift between graduates and unemployed, less educated workers.

Several reforms could help remedy the inadequacies of Morocco’s education system: a) changing teaching methods; b) reversing the education pyramid to increase access to and expenditures on basic education; c) focusing on children’s autonomy in learning by using case studies and team-building methods; and d) opening programs to various professionals beyond teachers. Schools can usefully be compared to enterprises; they should be managed as such and should be evaluated by parents and communities on the basis of their outputs. Schools should also welcome competition.

How can teaching methodologies and teacher training be modernized? A modernization strategy should follow a certain sequence of steps. First, the relevant authority should visit schools, discuss problems with teachers, and conduct a performance appraisal. These steps should be carried out transparently and democratically, to increase acceptance of the results. Next, the teacher training that follows this appraisal should take place within the schools, to ensure that the training received is relevant to the actual needs of the school and its pupils. Small-scale experiments currently taking place in Morocco confirm the validity of this approach. One such program, conducted under the auspices of United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), consists of retraining teachers using interactive television programs. Another experiment focuses on developing pupils’ leadership skills and encourages them to learn how to study on their own.

Such radical changes would not be easy. Teachers who are used to the status quo would find these changes difficult and destabilizing. Reforming and reviving Moroccan schools would also entail other costs — not only the financial costs associated with physical and curricular modernization, but also other political costs.

By Rachid Ben Mokhtar

Explore the Past at the Medina of Tetouan

The medina of Tetouan is the capital of Tangier-Tetouan, a region of Morocco found in the northern parts of the country, in the fertile Martil Valley. Tetouan (Tetuan, Tettawan, Tettawen) is also the cultural centre of the region and has the only open port on the Mediterranean Sea.
The inhabitants of the medina officially speak Arabic, but use a number of languages in their everyday lives. These languages include Berber-Tamazight, Moroccan Darija-Arabic, Spanish and French. The main religion practiced in Tetouan is Islam, but religions like Jews and Christians are supported by minority groups.

Tetouan is the main agricultural district in Morocco producing citrus fruit, grain and livestock. The Tetouan medina also manufactures soap, flour products, tobacco products, building materials and textiles. There are a number of other industries in the city, which includes cabinet making, fish canning and printing.

The medina of Tetouan is one of the smallest medinas in Morocco and is one of the few cities that have been relatively untouched by the outside world over the centuries. There are over 321, 000 inhabitants currently living in the medina. Tetouan has been well preserved and is considered one of the best examples of historical towns from the 8th century. The original sections of the medina of Tetouan now form part of UNESCO’s ‘World Heritage List’.

Tetouan is also recognized for having played an important role in the Islamic community during the 8th century onwards. During that time period the Tetouan medina was used as the main point of contact between Andalusia (a region of Spain) and Morocco. Tetouan was later taken over by Andalusian refugees who had been removed from their home country. They were forced to take refuge in the medina, which was ruled by Spain at that stage.

The refugee’s rebuilt Tetouan leaving evidence of their influence on the architecture and the art work produced by the local people even today. The houses are low and are characteristically white in color. As you walk around the streets you will notice the local people weaving, working on leather and creating jewelry. The medina of Tetouan is a wonderful example of the Andalusian culture incorporating a lot of the features that would be expected from such a culture.

Other attractions to look out for in the medina of Tetouan include the royal palace, the public square, a number of mosques and the Kasbah (fortresses). Tetouan is a wonderful and lively city to visit with much to offer to the traveler passing through.

Tetouan Between The Past & The Present

Some may wonder why an article like this, the answer simply would be that I can't resist my love for the first city I put my feet on, "Tetouan" a name that will travel with me all my life. Tetouan is a place that contains all the secrets of my childhood, and all the sweer and the bitter memories of my life. I will never forget the first time my heart bumbed with love, it was in Tetouan. And also I will never ever forget all the friends that supported me whenever they felt that I need something before I speak, I will always respects all my friends. You have to know that there is no air better than the air you find in Tetouan, and no food is more deliscious than its food. Now I will let you with some geografical and historical data taken from the famous free encyclopedya Wikipedia.
Tétouan (Arabic: تطوان (meaning eyes in the Berber language)), also spelled Tetuan, sometimes Tettawen or Tettawan, is the capital and cultural centre of the region Tangier-Tétouan (Tanja) in the north of Morocco, the only open port of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about 40 mi (60 km) E.S.E. of Tangier. In 2004 the city had 320,539 inhabitants (census figure), up from about 25,000, of whom a fifth were Jews, in the early 20th century.

Arabic is the official language but it is not used as a national language. Moroccan Darija-Arabic and Berber-Tamazight are used by the inhabitants in their daily life. The use of Spanish and French is still widespread especially by the businesspeople and intellectual elites. Its main religion is Islam but there are minorities of Jews and Christians.

Descreption

The city is situated about 60 km east of the city of Tangier and 40 km south of the Spanish exclave of Ceuta (Sebta) and the Strait of Gibraltar. It is in the far north of the Rif Mountains. To the south and west of the city there are mountains. Tetuan is situated in the middle of a belt of orchards that contain orange, almond, pomegranate and cypress trees. The Rif Mountains are nearby, as the city is located in the Martil Valley. It is picturesquely situated on the northern slope of a fertile valley down which flows the Martil valley, with the harbour of Tetouan, Martil, at its mouth. Behind rise rugged masses of rock, the southern wall of the Anjera country, once practically closed to Europeans, and across the valley are the hills which form the northern limit of the still more impenetrable Rif.

The streets are fairly wide and straight, and many of the houses belonging to aristocratic Arabs, descendants of those expelled from Al-Andalus by the European "Reconquista", possess marble fountains and have groves planted with orange trees. Within the houses the ceilings are often exquisitely carved and painted in hispano-moresque designs, such as are found in the Alhambra of Granada, and the tile-work for which Tetuan is known may be seen on floors, pillars and dados. The traditional industries are tilework, inlaying with silver wire, and the manufacture of thick-soled yellow slippers, much-esteemed flintlocks, and artistic towels used as cape and skirt by Arabic girls in rural areas. The Jews lived in a mellah, separated from the rest of the town by gates which were closed at night. The harbour of Tetuan was obstructed by a bar, over which only small vessels can pass, and the roadstead, sheltered to the North, N.W. and South, is exposed to the East, and is at times unsafe in consequence of the strong Levanter.

History

The city was founded in the 3rd century BC. Artefacts from both the Roman and the Phoenician era have been found in the site of Tamuda.

Around 1305 a city was built here by the Marinid king Abu Thabit. It served as a base for attacks on Ceuta. Around 1400 it was destroyed by the Castilians, because pirates used it for their attacks. By the end of the 15th century it was rebuilt by refugees from the Reconquista (reconquest of Spain, completed by the fall of Granada in 1492), when the Andalusian Moors first reared the walls and then filled the enclosure with houses. It had a reputation for piracy at various times in its history. It was taken on 4 February 1860 by the Spaniards under Leopoldo O'Donnell, (a descendant of an old Irish royal family, O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, who was made hereditary Duke of Tetuan, and later Prime Minister of Spain; the Dukedom is currently held by his descendant S.E. Don Hugo O'Donnell, Duke of Tetuan, Grandee of Spain and Count of Lucena) and almost transformed by them into a European city before its evacuation on 2 May 1862, but so hateful were the changes to the Moors that they completely destroyed all vestiges of alteration and reduced the city to its former state.
The city is situated in the area of Morocco which was formerly ruled by Spain. In 1913 it became the capital of the part of Morocco under Spanish protectorate which was governed by the Jalifa (Moroccan prince, serving as Viceroy for the Sultan, and the Spanish "Alto Comisario" accredited to him), and it remained its capital until 1956. Many people in the city still speak Spanish. On road signs often names are written both in Spanish and in Arabic, though many signs are in Arabic and French, the second language of modern Morocco. Tétouan became part of the independent state of Morocco when it was founded out of French Morocco and most of Spanish Morocco in 1956.

Tétouan has also been home of an important Sephardi Jewish community, which immigrated from Spain after the Reconquista and the Spanish Inquisition. This Jewish Sephardi community spoke a form of Ladino known as Haketia. Some of them emigrated later to Oran (in Algeria), to South America and much later to Israel, France and Canada. Some Jews in Tetouan converted to Islam and remain in the city. [1] There are very few Jews left in Tétouan nowadays.

Source: wikipedia.org