By Hassan Bendouz
By Hassan Bendouz
Morocco World News
Agadir, Morocco, October 15, 2012
There is no denying the fact that all our scholars, teachers, students and parents agree that there is a dire crisis in our education system. Since the early days of independence, the Moroccan education system has undergone a limitless number of reforms, which were all doomed to failure.
What we need in the Moroccan educational context is not an evolution of broken models, but a radical transformation of the whole education system. The question to ask is: what are the pivotal causes behind the dramatic results we get from all these reforms?
There are various factors that all combine together to paint the Moroccan educational scene. To start with, the people who are behind reforms are completely cut off from the real problems of our schools and universities. These people do not have a clear vision of the challenges that both teachers and learners face on a daily basis. Furthermore, teachers as the backbone component of the learning setting are suffering from extremely low levels of motivation. Many among them are compelled to work in very remote areas, with large classes, inappropriate pedagogical materials and humiliating salaries.
Concerning the role of families of children who are in the educational environment, I would say that they rarely build in direct communication with educators. As a consequence, there is a severe absence of contact between schools and families, which exacerbates the situation, demotivating the children and impeding progress.
At the level of curriculum and classrooms: we must admit that today’s learners are not the people our schools and course books were designed for.
Most of all, those in charge of the education field in our country need to know that the way they’re thinking of reforms is not suited to the current climate. Since the learners of our contemporary times are no longer thinking in the same way as those of previous decades, our schooling system needs a revolution rather than superficial changes.
What the ministry of education should know is that teaching is not an ordinary job that can be done by laymen. But rather, it is the art and science of assisting learners to discover, create, and think critically. The students as the heart of the learning process have needs, dreams and aspirations. We have to all work together to create a better learning atmosphere for them. They have become digital natives. They have been born into a world controlled by multimedia technology and the internet. For this reason, we have to accommodate the whole system for their interests, likes and concerns. Three decades ago, we were taught how to conduct research, write essays and search for information based on books, libraries, and magazines. Now, it is high time we educated today’s learners to do all that via the internet.
I would conclude with a quotation from President Lincoln reflecting on the necessity of disenthralling one’s self from what we inherited from the past if it obstructs our present: “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, so we must rise with the occasion. Our case is anew, so we must think anew and act anew.”
