Education and Research in the Kingdom of Morocco
General education in Morocco
Compulsory basic education was introduced in 1960 after Morocco gained its independence in 1956. Duration of compulsory education is from age 7 to the age of 14. The enrolments in schools rose to about 85% after this reform. In 2000 the illiteracy rate was around 51.1% and in order to curb the illiteracy great effort was made and thousands of learning centers were opened to enhance the education system. Morocco education has come a long way and in 2006 UNESCO granted Morocco UNESCO 2006 Literary prize.
Pupils have to go through 9 years of basic education in Morocco followed by 3 years of secondary education. There are two types of schools - private and public. The preschool education for children aged 4 to 6 years is only found in urban areas and the majority of these schools are private. After 9 years' basic education, pupils enter the general secondary education where they are offered three options: letters/reading, sciences, or mathematics. Upon completion, pupils are awarded the bachelor certificate (inspired from French education system) or alternatively, they may also choose a technical path, leading to the bachelor certificate of technique.
The language of instruction in the vast majority of schools is Arabic. Nevertheless also French is used as the medium of instruction in the technical courses or in the secondary levels. The French language is usually introduced in the third grade. Pupils between the age group of 7- 15 are given free education.[1]
College education in Morocco
Though basic education is compulsory, the drop-out rate is considerable. Slightly more than 50% of the students pursue secondary education. Morocco colleges offer a variety of disciplines and are well known for the high education standard accompanied by great infrastructure.
College education can be broadly classified into Language, Arts, Experimental Sciences and Mathematics. Vocational training, job oriented 2 year courses are also offered in many colleges across Morocco. The technical education comprises of the subjects like Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Economics and Agriculture. Students pursuing the technical track of their lives have to study a common syllabus in the first year and then they proceed to their chosen field of specialisation.
The medium of instruction in the colleges of Morocco are mainly Arabic and French (for the technical subjects the medium of language is usually French). Some of the institutions also have English as their language of instruction. The colleges are also either private or public. The duration of the college education is usually three years offering specialisation in a subject. Students can either enter labour market or pursue higher education studies at the various universities of Morocco after graduating college.[2]
Higher education in Morocco
Higher education is provided by universities, engineering schools - Grandes Ecoles, institutes, teacher-training schools and centres under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education. A typical feature of training is the presence, alongside the traditional system of higher education, of institutions of higher education which provide specialised training for high-level personnel in Science, Technology, Law, Economics, Administration and Social Sciences and Teacher Training under the direct control of ministerial departments. There are also 8 engineering schools (Grandes Ecoles). University councils rule on important matters related to university life. Universities are public institutions with budgetary autonomy. Morocco universities are positioned to be the seats of higher education and academic excellence in Morocco and typically they offer a range of disciplines from arts, science and commerce. There are around 17 universities (2 of which are private) and 320 higher education institutions within the country. Some private organisations also offer higher education.
There are two types of admission procedures for students to get enrolled in to the higher education institutions. A distinction has to be made between institutions with unrestricted access, i.e. universities, where students can be admitted based on the strength of their bachelor certificate (the certificate awarded on successful completion of upper secondary school) and institutions with regulated access, i.e. the specialised Grand Ecoles. Unlike Grand Ecoles, where admissions are limited and competitive entrance examinations are the norm, the universities and their faculties have open access. For courses up to bachelor level degree of studies there is no selection procedure for entrants. Public higher education in Morocco is entirely free of charge. The state budget provides the institutions’ investment budgets as well as their operating budgets.
The main language of instruction in the Morocco universities is French with certain courses in Arabic and even English. There are even institutions in Morocco where the main language of instruction is English. Not only students of Morocco but also students from other countries (other Northern African countries, West Europe) come to pursue higher education studies in the universities of Morocco, as they have proved to provide high quality education.
Human Resources in higher education:
- 419,100 students in higher education: 1,400 students per 100,000 inhabitants.
- 293,700 students in university higher education.
- 19,300 students in executive training (outside the universities).
- 30,600 students in private higher education.
- 35,000 postgraduate students of which 50% in PhD: 9% of all students in higher education.
- 12,500 teacher researchers: 80% in university higher education and 10% in executive training.
- 4,230 teachers in private higher education with 500 permanent teachers.
- 13,500 administrative staff.[3]
* Data shown above represents situation in 2010/2011.
The most famous universities of Morocco includes Mohammed V University in Rabat, The University of Al-Karaouine (a university located in Fes, Morocco and it has been officially recognised by UNESCO as the world's oldest university, established in 1947 on the foundations of a Mosque School believed to be founded in 859. It remains one of the leading education and spiritual centres of the region) and Al-Akhawayan University in Ifrane (private university with the medium of instruction - English and the curriculum that is based on the American Model).
In 2009 the Ministry of National Education launched a three-year emergency programme for the period 2009 to 2012. The aims of this programme, having been granted substantial funds, was to improve the internal output (rise the number of graduates) of higher education, to enhance employability, to encourage talent and innovation in the realm of scientific and technological research, to derive benefit from the findings of scientific research, to upgrade and motivate human resources by establishing a culture of monitoring and assessment progress, to draw up a master plan for the provision of higher education, to increase the autonomy of universities and to establish a contractual system, involving multiannual contracts for academic staff.[4]
Many students from Morocco also pursue their studies abroad and it has the largest numbers of outgoing students within African countries, with 42,800 international students (11.3%)[5]. Reason for that is the relatively excessive demand for higher education and not the quality as such. Typical points of destination for those students are universities in France. According to The Economist: “More than half of the extra 2.4 billion people in 2050 will be African. India will swell to 1.6 billion people; it is on track to overtake China in 2028.” This clearly indicates towards the huge potential for higher education export towards Morocco for other world countries.
Research and development
In institutional terms, the system of scientific research in Morocco comprises six research institutes. 982 accredited research units and 49 centres of postgraduate studies. Morocco devotes 0.7% of its budget to scientific research, the major part of which is used for the benefit of ‘hard’ science. The share of Science, Technology and Engineering theses is 27% of postgraduates’ theses. More than 75% of patents in Morocco are owned by the industrial axis Casablanca – Rabat – Kenitra.
National priorities in R&D:
- Agriculture in difficult conditions
- Improved quality of life
- Knowledge, preservation and valorisation of natural resources
- Environment and sustainable development
- Biotechnology
- Risk management
- Innovation and competitiveness of enterprises
- Cultural and socio-economic development
Figure No.1. Human resources for science and research
Research to business
Within the framework of the three-year emergency programme, Morocco established a functional and powerful infrastructure to support research to business transition. In general there were three establishments:
- Technology dissemination network – focuses at matching needs in the enterprise sphere with competencies based in universities and public research centres. The objective is to accompany client companies in all stages of implementation of a technology strategy.
- The Moroccan institute for scientific and technological information – leads efforts to improve links between industry and academia by providing online access to catalogues of research results and databases of competencies available in universities and research organisations and carrying out technology watch activities mainly in the field of agro-food.
- Morocco spin-off/spin-out and incubation network – supports mainly university based incubators. It focuses on providing technical as well as financial support (pre-seed capital to enable the development of the business idea into a credible business plan) to new technology based start-ups through a pre-incubation and incubation process. [6]
Conclusions
It is visible that the greatest achievements within the education and research in the Kingdom of Morocco are significantly increased literacy rate for general education, specialised structure for governance in higher education and synergy with industries in Research and Development. Besides the general achievements there are certain indications that higher education & research in Morocco will continue to develop and it is only the matter of time it will play major role not only in Mediterranean region, but also in overall higher education & research market around the globe.
