That the education system in Morocco suffers at a number of levels, is far from disputable. Issues in the Moroccan education system range from major problems such the current outdated curriculum which fails to meet the forever changing and unexpected demands of today’s world economy to poor facilities and lack in instructional materials throughout plenty of areas of the Kingdom. Also, the rates of school drop-outs and repetition in Morocco are over that skies.
However, having lived and studied in Morocco (up until graduation), the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, one has come to identify two unsolved mysteries about his school career in Morocco.
1. Mentoring
The absence of mentoring in the Moroccan (public?) education is one puzzling reality. Mentoring simply involves weekly meetings within schools and in which mentors/teachers engage with learners in a range of academic and non-academic activities. Mentoring in both the Netherlands and the UK takes place at all levels of education; from primary education to tertiary education.
Some advantages of school-based mentoring:
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- Learner support during critical stages of their academic and non-academic development.
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- Identification of academic issues and gaps in learning skills.
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- Help with understanding and enhancing the learner’s self both inside and outside the school.
- Exposing learners to varied perspectives and experiences.
2. Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, ADHD…
If you are wondering what on earth this is, then don’t worry, you are not alone. From a personal experience, throughout my whole education career in Morocco, I have never heard of the above mentioned terms. They were, basically, never brought up in or outside the classroom. More interesting… during my last visit to Morocco (Summer 2013), I met a number of secondary teachers of English who had no idea what the terms stand for.
The above mentioned terms are examples of common Specific Learning Difficulties (Usually abbreviated SpLDs). They are neurological problems and they substantially affect the learning process. SpLDs have a huge impact on language acquisition and learning in general.
Some common characteristics of SpLDs:
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- Memory difficulties
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- Organisational difficulties
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- Writing difficulties
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- Visual processing difficulties
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- Reading difficulties.
- Auditory processing difficulties.
Unlike education in Morocco, education in both the Netherlands and the UK is in all aspects both at school and classroom level formed to accommodate learners with SpLDs.
Among other issues, ignoring these two specific realities about education in Morocco has indeed a tremendous impact on the quality of education in the country. In fact, Ignoring SpLDs represents a type of exclusion for learners with these type of learning disadvantages. Hence, policy makers and reformers in Morocco should indeed take responsible measure and address these two pressing aspects about the Moroccan education so as to provide quality education for all.
