The challenges Facing 9/4 Elections in Morocco Noureddine Boutahar

The king of Morocco Mohammed VI's intervention in his last speech to remind both

political parties and the voters of the purpose and spirit of elections is a clear and solid proof of the failure of our political parties and our system of education in the formation of ‘good’ Moroccan citizens. For decades now, both – parties and education – have been wasting taxpayer money and time without achieving the desired results. So, here we are again, preparing to start from scratch, with the big question in mind, “can we make it this time?”
I, personally, don’t think so because of the poor educational and cultural level of the people who vote. Bear in mind that the well-educated, the elite class, and the intelligentsia do not usually make it to the polls. So, the remaining poor and less educated who cast their ballots are prone to be deceived, cheated, or even bought because they often lack the protection and power of good education and knowledge to save them from the trickery and intrigues of politicians to make the right and best choice in the election of their representatives.
It's noteworthy that this section of society includes two subdivisions: one population is completely and hopelessly illiterate and the other population is in unenviable semi-illiteracy. The semi-illiterate has received a low-quality education that has made it ‘neither fish nor fowl’. However, both are vulnerable politically and economically because they suffer from a basic knowledge deficit to improve their political awareness in areas like democracy and the workings of political institutions. This is because our Moroccan Makhzen (ruling elite) doesn’t want quality education for all as it is a dangerous force for change which puts its interests at stake. Sadly, a couple of ministers in this government recently blamed the Moroccan people – who are the real victims in our political system - for the problems we have at present instead of the real original obstacles.
The severest and most pressing of these obstacles is education. All the education reforms in this country since independence have been a flop and have produced the kind of people that policy makers and officials are blaming and complaining about. Our education system has hit the skids because there is no real, strong political will to reform it. Reforming it would hurt the advantages and interests of the ruling elite. Consequently, our schools are sending out into the world a generation of young men and women whose majority can ‘neither fly nor walk’ for themselves but who can only follow the crowd. It should be no surprise, then, that people are more selfish than ever before; that our moral standards are rock bottom; that foul language and swear words are filling our streets; that sword-wielding thugs are roaming our streets and raiding people’s homes; and that good manners and right conduct are things of the past. Therefore, it will come as no surprise to anyone that the 9/4 elections, under such circumstances, will fail to achieve their purpose and will fail to have the desired results.
The second contributor in this puzzle is the political parties themselves. They are in a real crisis and cannot activate the citizens or train the candidates. People have grown increasingly frustrated with them because they are too weak to tackle their own perennial internal party problems, let alone the country’s. The major factor that fritters away their credibility is their exaggerated and unrealistic promises in the run-up to the elections: These soon break and decay when they hit the brick wall of reality and Makhzen resistance. Also, people are fed up with political parties bickering and never ending battles. Many of our political parties waste their time - and ours - calling each other names instead of focusing on our priorities. In addition, political parties, admittedly, “base their political action and election program on an ideology”, however, many of our political parties do not have a unifying ideology or principles or ideals; they emerged or were made from a vacuum to serve individual or a group of individual interests.

Let’s not forget also that people are tired of seeing political parties who make it to power spend most of their time wooing the Makhzen and trying to please the deep state. They dare not initiate any kind of real reform or approach the big corruption files lest they get their fingers burned. And because there are too many political parties - more that 30 – means that no one party ever wins an outright majority, and the ‘winning’ one always needs the help of small parties who have their own interests and agendas. This way, the government always ends up with too many spokes in the wheel, which renders it inefficient and impotent to effect any fundamental reform.

In brief, I am steadfast in my belief that the outcome of the September 4th elections will not, once again, yield desired results because our education is bastardized and plagued by failed policies and shortsighted decisions. Our political parties are weak, disorganized, lack strong roots in society and fail to get the support of thinkers, theoreticians, and influential academicians. However, the main takeaway for me is that if the ruling elite do not get off their high horse and make necessary concessions, both political parties and education will remain mired in their problems, which is not in the interests of the country as a whole.

Teachers Give Life Noureddine Boutahar

There has been a scorched-earth campaign against teachers and public education in Morocco recently. Teacher-bashing has become a national pastime that selfish corporates have been encouraging and propagating to further hidden agendas and vested, narrow interests which are none but the privatization of the sector. In fact, blaming teachers for the failure of the Moroccan education is totally ridiculous and misplaced, and it is meant to distract us from the real causes and expedite the process of privatization.
There is not a dollop of truth to the accusation that teachers are responsible for all that ails our schools. Our education is sick because of top-down, corporate-driven, for-profit reforms. Even well-intentioned plans and projects of reform on the part of the governments have often been infected with proverbial wolves in sheep’s clothing that lurk for opportunities to wring out personal benefits. In addition to complicated corruption cases, there is the problem of privatization whose proponents are working at full throttle to take control of our national education. They spare no effort to persuade the public and policy makers that the nation’s public schools are failing - and teachers are to blame.
There is not even a modicum of truth in the allegation that teachers are responsible for the failure of our schools. Our education fails because our schools are ill-equipped, our teachers are poorly-trained, and our curricula are dull and irrelevant. For schools, most of them are really dilapidated, overcrowded, and lack appropriate equipment for both physical and educational needs – unless they call the hand-me-down scrap from China equipment. As regards teachers, they are the making of the system’s Universities and teacher training schools. So, if there is anyone to blame here, it is the system itself not the teacher-victim. Finally, our curricula have always been top-down scriptures that focus on quantity at the expense of quality. These curricula are meant to create semi-literate, malleable, and robotic citizens.
There is not a shred of truth in the claim that teachers are responsible for the deficiency of our educational system. Teachers have always gone above and beyond for their students. Many teachers routinely spend money out of their own pockets on photocopies and other supplies for their students. I know of teachers who bought clothes and school supplies for students. I know of others who painted their classrooms and fixed cracks and electrical plugs in their classrooms out of their own money. In addition, teaching not only takes a toll on teachers' pockets but also remains "the only profession where you steal supplies from home and take them to work". I think, no other professional can claim to have done so.
There is not a grain of truth in the incrimination of teachers as the cause of all Moroccan educational problems. Teaching is one of the most humane professions on earth and teachers are saints and heroes and paragons of virtue. They are the shoulder-to-cry-on for most students who bring not only their ignorance and different learning styles to school but also their fears, worries, and family struggles. Whenever there is a family problem, a death, or a tragedy, it is usually the teachers who discuss it with the children first. It is the teachers who brood them under their wings until they get over their difficult period. For this reason, teachers are obliged to know every one of their students’ names (more than a hundred each year), their learning styles, their unique personalities, their performance, their challenges etc. They play multi-faced roles including that of educators, disciplinarians, psychologists and psychiatrists, advisors, and much more.
There is not a particle of truth in the claim that teachers have it cushy. Teachers are often envied for long summer breaks and other holidays. However, there is more than meets the eye here: Teachers work 24/7 and juggle between different responsibilities. In fact, teachers work nights, days, and weekends sacrificing time with their family to correct mounds of papers, prepare lesson plans, make quizzes, tests, and exams, and do administrative work and so on. Also, teachers often have poor and disturbed sleep because they are haunted by the students they didn’t reach, the violent unruly kids they didn’t understand, and the lessons they taught wrong. In short, teachers are worn-out, over-worked, and underpaid but they keep on serving selflessly, patiently, and modestly.
There is not a seed of truth in the indictment of teachers as the root problem in education. The truth is there are great and bad teachers just as there are great and bad doctors, lawyers, politicians, businessmen and so on. So, it’s not fair to single out teachers and judge them with biased wrong standards when there is usually a bad apple in every bunch. It is undemocratic to condemn the majority with the sins of the minority. It is true that there are individuals who do not belong in education, who abuse their profession, and who misbehave, but these individuals should remain a strange anomaly and not the norm. Allowing such micro-fraction of bad teachers to cast a negative shadow on the rest is a grave injustice against this profession.
There is not an iota of truth to many of the accusations targeting teachers and public schools because they are mainly meant to manipulate public opinion to accept privatization as an antidote. However, it is worth mentioning that education is more than a right and much more than a service delivered to a consumer. Education is essential to life and nurtures the mind as food nurtures the body. So, handing it over to businessmen and foreign organizations puts the health (and mind) of Moroccan citizens in jeopardy and threatens the very existence of this country and its legacy. More to the point, teaching is the profession that makes all other professions and should be free, compulsory and accessible to everyone.
Yes, there is a jot of truth in the Minister of National Education’s statement that “good teachers are a rare commodity” because good teachers are lost in the chaos created by corruption, conspiracies, impunity, unaccountability, and other social ills that eat away at our society. There are great teachers, good teachers, and bad teachers as well. The latter have to be weeded out once the recruitment is fair and non-discriminatory, appropriate good training is afforded, working conditions are provided, salaries are raised to match teachers’ workload, and teachers are considered partners rather than adversaries.
To conclude, what we need, so far, is a radical paradigm shift in thinking about education including the way teachers are trained, treated and looked at. So, let’s start where the best performing education systems like Finland and Singapore started: high-quality pre-service and in-service training for teacher, deeply thoughtful relevant curricula, and quality teaching and learning materials. Let’s not commit such huge moral mistake of throwing our kids into the gaping mouths of businessmen because, “Democracy’s sacred mission is to protect and empower everyone equally by the provision of public resources, what we call the Public.” I rest my case.

Ten Reasons to Change the Moroccan English Textbooks Noureddine Boutahar

The new school year is here. But not much else is new as our schools are still harping on the same string and not responding to the repeated calls of parents, students and teachers for real educational reform. Among the things that real reform would have to address is the textbooks which have been on the back burner for a long time despite having long outlived their usefulness and time. For reasons of focus and space, I have chosen to shed some light only on English language books for Moroccan high schools and the necessity to change them.

First, the world is changing and so should textbooks. Most of the texts in the Moroccan textbooks are informational and that makes them grow old very quickly and become outdated pretty fast. That is to say, the topics of such texts deal with data and information which need to be constantly renewed and replenished to keep pace with this fast-changing world where information overload and update is a daily occurrence. Additionally, because the Moroccan high school textbooks are more than a decade old, much of the information in them is either obsolete, timeless, or representative of old approaches (or all three at once). Novelty will certainly provide interest and motivation and will connect learners with the real world outside the classroom.
Second, the Moroccan Baccalaureate English books (11th and 12th grades) share some defective commonalities, one of which is the difficulty of the texts in terms of lexis, syntax, and topics covered. The reading and listening texts teem with in unfamiliar vocabulary and challenging words and structures as well as concepts students have difficulty understanding. This has rendered the texts esoteric and alienates most readers/students. Yet, the textbook writers have not bothered to edit or simplify the material to suit the learners’ levels and ability. It might be argued that they don’t want to sacrifice content and authenticity for form which is, in my opinion, another way of saying that “the best there is, is the best there was, and the best there ever will be”. This claim is, of course, false as the libraries and bookstores worldwide are full of simplified versions of great works of literature including Shakespeare, Dickens, Twain and others that readers of all ages and levels enjoy. This is not to propose that we simplify the texts to the level of boring the learners; per contra, a balance should be struck between simplicity and complexity as is suggested by Stephen Krashen’s theory of “i plus one”.
Third, the textbooks lack reasonable progression of text difficulty which is a crucial strategy to support and facilitate the learners’ linguistic growth. Unfortunately, the Moroccan baccalaureate books put the metal to the pedal right from day one without giving the students the opportunity to smoothly build up their lexical repertoire and improve their linguistic competence. Furthermore, listening and reading texts should be sequenced from easy to difficult to give students enough time and opportunity to gradually develop and make the necessary but smooth leap to the next stage. Of course, jargon and sophisticated language and concepts on the first pages of the textbook do not scaffold students’ progression but, on the contrary, discourage and dissuade them.
Fourth, the Moroccan First and Second year Baccalaureate English books, mainly, have ignored the other easier text genres. As mentioned earlier, most of the reading and listening texts in these textbooks are informational and difficult on both linguistic and conceptual levels. This leaves education professionals and teachers to wonder why the textbook writers have opted for this approach which does not lead to any advancement in students’ proficiency because of loss of pleasure and motivation in reading such unfamiliar and demanding texts. Students, conversely, need to know and understand other different text forms and genres that they encounter everyday inside and outside school. The most regrettable absence here are the narrative and recount genres which are often easy to understand because students can predict or guess the meaning of unfamiliar words and structures with the help of the story theme, plot, and organizational structure. In addition, narratives and stories usually present information in a common sense kind of way that facilitates comprehension. Other striking examples of missing types of texts include localized texts, descriptive and procedural genres as well as functional and electronic-transactional texts with which students need to familiarize themselves because they are required to use or produce them either as an exam requirement or outside the classroom.
Fifth, speaking from personal experience, most of the topics in the textbooks do not match students’ interests. This choice of topics and text genres makes it reasonable to wonder if there had ever been any authentic research to identify Moroccan students’ interests or concerns. These imposed ‘foreign’ topics are at odds with Moroccan students’ interests and they do nothing but further daunt and frustrate students. Bottom-line, new studies need to be conducted to enhance our understanding of young Moroccans’ concerns and needs and how they learn effectively in this fast-paced world. We then need to adjust the reading and listening texts accordingly.
Sixth, the books lack aesthetic appeal. The insufficiency of beautiful and relevant illustration is off-putting and makes the books less enjoyable. We should not discount the importance of the aesthetic aspect and layout of the textbook because it may help in making the book attractive as well as help in understanding the information and vocabulary. Relevant, big-enough, and high resolution images function as a visual text and as a stimulus to the reader’s imagination which is the key to understanding and interpreting texts and lexica. It is a known fact that a well-designed textbook has plenty of tips and best practices including the opportunity to learn from illustrations and adequate visual elements.
Seventh, and in connection with the aesthetic appeal, it is worthwhile noting that the present textbooks are jam-packed with almost no space between various texts and exercises which makes the books look fuzzy for (especially, visual) learners. These (visual /spatial) learners like organization and ‘well-ventilated’ pages because the information in them is a lot less daunting and helps learners focus and minimize distractions.
Eight, the books need some grammar editing. For example some grammar errors need to be corrected like “can have visited”, and “do you know the girl whom danced with me”. Also, tricky grey areas of grammar have to be avoided at this level. In addition, detailed explanations of grammar points may confuse rather than clarify as is the case with restrictive and non-restrictive clauses in one of the baccalaureate books. Moreover, textbooks have to take grammar difficulty gradation into consideration. That is to say, books should start with simple grammar points and gradually progress to more complex ones at the end.
Ninth, Moroccan English textbooks are a one-size-fits-all kind of a garment. All sections and streams study the same book and cover the same texts and grammar points regardless of the number of hours of English courses they have per week and despite differences in interests and needs. Present books are not doing any justice to the Moroccan learners from a variety of families and backgrounds and with a variety of learning strengths and needs because they are feeding everyone the same content in the same way. What I suggest, then, is that textbook writers write specific books for each stream (science, literature, theology), or at least modify the ‘original’ textbook slightly for each of the main streams in the Moroccan high school.
Tenth, and as said earlier, Moroccan textbooks are so jammed that they leave no time or space for teachers’ creativity. Tyrant textbooks that dictate to educators absolve teachers of responsibility and stifle innovation and initiatives which in turn dissuades teachers from learning to build internal capacity through reflection, on-the-job mentoring, professional network communities, and specialized courses.
That said, I appreciate the effort put forth by the Moroccan textbook writers who should be credited for ‘liberating’ English language textbooks which had been straining at the leash of foreign powers. Also, I can say from personal experience that there is a lot of unseen effort and hard work behind the current textbooks. As Lao Tzu said, “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step”, and the Moroccan textbook writers took the first giant steps and made auspicious beginnings. So now, the future of these textbooks rests squarely on the shoulders of the next generation of young Moroccan textbook writers to win the spurs.

A Government for … the Rich Noureddine Boutahar

The price of staple foods and services are skyrocketing in Morocco and the reasons behind these hikes are twofold: the government’s decision to reduce the Compensation Fund's subsidies in an amateurish manner, and the failure of some of the most vital sectors due to a lack of qualified persons in positions of authority. In both cases, it is largely the lower and middle classes who pay the price while the wealthy and privileged continue to win as before, right under the nose of the government.
Moroccan people pinned too much hope on this government for bold and genuine political and economic reforms such as the improvement of living conditions, the creation of jobs, and the provision of quality education. However, optimism quickly turned to disappointment and frustration as these hopes failed to materialize. They have remained, instead, electoral slogans and promises shelved until the next elections. The severity of the disappointment makes “the last of the Mohicans” among Moroccans put the Islamist Party on the same line as all the rest of the political parties that have ruled the country since ‘independence’. That’s why there is, now, a general feeling that Morocco keeps changing its administration but not its habits and mentality.
This government, for example, used clever speeches to delude people into believing that a reduction in the Compensation Fund's subsidies would bring prosperity and improve the living standards of all. Conversely, what the rich have surrendered to the government, they have gained from the people because they did not wait long before raising prices in order to make up for the lost subsidies. The end result, unfortunately, is that the poor are compensating for the rich, who are always in a win-win situation.
It is true that the Compensation Fund's subsidies weigh heavily on the state budget, but resorting to simple, ordinary, and easy solutions hurts rather than helps. In spite of its many shortcomings, the system helped Morocco avoid social tensions and protect the purchasing power of the population for decades. So, addressing the issue by digging deep into the pockets of the underprivileged is not only bad politics, but bad policy: it simply relocates the problem rather than solves it.
Unfortunately, despite the growing public frustration, the government stubbornly refuses to listen to the voice of the people as spoken through the media and in the street, choosing, instead, to engage in empty and fierce polemical shouting matches with anyone who opposes its policy. The Prime Minister has let no opportunity pass without reminding us that he “will not abandon this reform... whatever the price to be paid". Sadly, it is the Moroccan poor, not he, who will pay and suffer from the price hikes in staple foods, petrol, education, and more. Also, his ministers almost never miss an opportunity to seek out “devils and alligators” with which they can distract the public instead of keeping their nose to the grindstone and creating viable and cost-effective solutions to the problems they mentioned in their election manifesto.
Regrettably, the call for people to go back to the old ways of making bread and, indirectly, to boycott expensive products reflects the government’s inability to carry out real reforms. It follows from this logic that anyone who cannot afford something expensive should a fortiori compensate for it with a primitive alternative: for example, a Barraka (shack) will do if you cannot afford a house.
The other issue which testifies to the government’s impotence in the face of powerful bigwigs is its failure to prosecute those responsible for the bankruptcy or defective state of many government services and ‘offices’. Ironically, the government has decided instead to cut corners and bail them out with consumers’ money. As is custom for this government, it has called upon the weakest link in the chain, demanding that it pay for the failures of others who get away without repercussion in accordance with this government’s infamous motto of “Let bygones be bygones” when it comes to the wealthy and powerful. It is no surprise, then, that the rich who still enjoy their privileges, perks, and benefits are completely unruffled by these so-called reforms.
I’ll level with you, the current government’s policy is untenable, absurd, and illogical: it is fanning the fears it has come to assuage because it threw itself into the arms of the wealthy and powerful and shook off the hoi polloi upon whom it had ridden piggyback to power. Even worse is that it is serving the agenda of the powerful Bilderberg Group by establishing a society of rulers and serfs with no middle class so as to win the favor of the group and those that orbit it.
I hope, though, that this patchwork government will stop its populist lingua that butters no parsnip, redeem itself, and seek a way to lift the Moroccan people out of the dungeon of despair and hopelessness; otherwise, as Oscar Arias Sanchez said, "Out of poverty sprout social instability and desperation, which delegitimize governments that declare themselves democratic." God forbid this were to happen.

The Moroccan Baccalaureate in French Section: Neocolonialism! Noureddine Boutahar

It is perfectly evident from the recent agreement between the Moroccan and French ministers of education to implement the 'Moroccan Baccalaureate in French Section' that top-down decisions is the rule governing education reforms in this country. It seems many of the de facto rulers of this country who pull the strings from behind the curtains push their own agendas and advance their interests with little or no regard at all of what Moroccan pupils need, want, or think.
The first question that sprang to mind when I heard the news was: who really needs the other, Morocco or France? French education is in a crisis and Moroccan officials are clutching at a drowning man to save them. French education system is not even among the top ten and “what’s taught in French classrooms is not particularly interesting or relevant to most pupils”. This means the French system is lagging behind major industrial countries and does not deserve to be a model for countries – like ours – wanting to build an educational system that will prepare young people for the challenges of a fast changing world. So, it’s not a surprise anymore that our system of education has gone awry. We have been betting on the wrong horse since ‘independence’, and it's high time we took off the blinders and looked for better working education systems that leave no student behind.
Having experienced both the Francophone and Anglophone systems, I think I am in a good enough position to judge the French system of education as a failing one. It is an elitist system whose objective “since Napoleon, has been about producing brilliant elite who will run the country, and to hell with the rest”. It is, in addition, a system too theory-oriented and rarely includes discovery and hands-on learning. Its survival, though, is insured only by the dependency of Francophone countries, and particularly ex-colonies. So, the establishment of the so-called ‘Moroccan Baccalaureate in French Section’ is yet another French tactic to ensure the supply and the flow of the best cadres from Morocco to France because of the fierce international competition to gain the brains of the world. On the other hand, the Francophone students who come back home are prospective securers and protectors of long-term French interests in Morocco. They will defend French interests, bring more soccer coaches, favor French companies, buy villas and chalets in France, spend their holidays and free time in France, and marry French blondes and so on.
Another reason in support of the claim that it is France that needs Morocco is that the Moroccan-French partnership has never been a win-win one. Economically, the scale of partnership has always favored the old colonizer. Politically, France has often straddled our national issues and causes. In the field of education, which is the main focus of this post, France has usually been the biggest winner – brain gain – though “they eat our salt and lead the assault” as recent events testify: At a time when the Moroccan and French ministers of education, Rachid Benmokhtar and Vincent Peillon were signing three agreements that would benefit France more than Morocco, the Ambassador of France in Washington was describing Morocco as a “mistress with whom we sleep every night and, though we are not particularly in love with her, must defend.”
Also, this Moroccan Baccalaureate in French Section will certainly discriminate against average and struggling students and students from economically and socially disadvantaged families. That is to say, French famous Grandes Ecoles doors will be shut to the 'ordinary' Moroccan students. And once successful students are divided between the private school and the French school, public school will then be a laughing stock and a shameful place to go to.
As a reminder to those who need to be reminded, a whole slew of newspaper and website articles, the World Bank, and the Royal speech of August 2013 all admitted that our educational system is in a state of catastrophic collapse and needs serious reforms. However, the Moroccan Baccalaureate in French Section is not a serious reform but a zero-sum game where Morocco loses and France wins. Worse still, it is an exacerbation of the crisis because it will discriminate against students from poor backgrounds and against national public school, and will strip our public school from the little remaining value it has left.
All in all, the best performing education systems worldwide are those that give priority to public rather than private or elite schools and those that take public opinion into account. Conversely, less performing systems perpetuate social differences through elitism, disregard public opinion, and practice top-down bureaucratic management. So, which of the two diverging roads do the new education bosses want to lead us down? Wait and see.

Massar: The Software that Broke our Education's Back Noureddine Boutahar

Students are taking to the streets in Morocco these days to demonstrate against Massar software because the proverbial little bird told them that it would hurt them more than help them. Although the Ministry of Education might have acted with good intentions to insure transparency and fairness in testing and grading, its untimely action has awakened a long dormant issue and truth: our education system is failing our students because of a myriad of reasons. This post, however, will cover only the ones which characterize teachers-ministry relationships and, consequently, affect the students and the teaching-learning process.

First, the teachers-ministry relationship has often been one of mutual suspicion and distrust. Both sides have been exchanging accusations for decades over the failure of our education system. Teachers have often pointed an accusing finger at the ministry and its bureaucrats and held them responsible for all the failures and disappointments of our education system. They have also criticized the department as ineffective and unproductive, spinning its wheel aimlessly. Teachers, on the other hand, have been stigmatized and labeled as instigators and education profiteers, and have been blamed for all the problems in education and for everything that goes wrong in schools. They, also, have too often been vilified and depicted as part of the problem instead of partners, experts, and authorities to be respected, consulted, and heard. This cat and mouse game is simply outrageous and has created an atmosphere of mistrust and has had devastating results and a serious negative impact on the teaching of Moroccan children.

Second, the above mentioned chronic, underground conflict is the outgrowth of the Ministry tightening its grip on all aspects of education. So, all the decisions have been made in a top-down fashion with almost no input from teachers who have and are still asking for an honest and open communication as well as a true partnership with the Ministry and other stakeholders. The Ministry, instead, practices the old Moroccan chauvinist saying of “ask for their advice, but never take it.” In fact, reports are regularly written by teachers about the appalling state of our education system and suggest reform strategies and options to improve educational outcomes. However, education officials – wise guys – usually take the propositions, if ever, with a grain of salt so as not to let the voice of hands-on men and women drown out or overpower their own. So, teachers have usually been the last ones to know of these superficial and limited patchwork reforms made at a ‘higher’ level.

Third, teachers have been, for decades, implementers of failed educational policies that they have had no hand or say in creating, and they are almost never partners in the policy development process. The deployment of Massar software a few weeks ago bears out on this claim. It came like a clap of thunder because neither the administrators nor the teachers nor the students were prepared for it. Certainly, the digital school management system will not hurt the students, but it has created a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere and roiled suspicion and fear because of the Ministry’s rashness and arbitrariness in introducing it. If it is natural for students to fear what they don’t know, it is not necessary for the Education Department to rush out the software until those it would affect get familiar and acquainted with it. It would have been better if the Ministry had piloted the software for enough time and allowed all the parties concerned to comment on it and make suggestions. The present version of the software has a few flaws that have to be fixed. These include – at this writing – things like a contradiction with ministerial memos in terms of the number of quizzes and tests and the overlooking of some subjects. So, what soured many is not the software itself, but the Ministry’s modus operandi.

Fourth, and I hope to be wrong on this one, our Makhzen – in general– often creates distractors to occupy people when it feels there is mounting dissatisfaction and/or frustration with substantive issues. Distracting people with side issues is a formula that never fails our de facto rulers (Makhzen). Most probably, Massar is one of these smoke screens used to hide the real and urgent need for a better and fundamental reform in education that involves all the stakeholders in the formulation of the purposes, ends, and means of our education. My last worry, though, is whether this software will survive and live up to the expectations of committed and dutiful teachers or it will suffer the fate of Gally Software, Genie, Programme d’Urgence, and others.

Last, but not least, is the frustrating bureaucracy which pervades every nook and cranny of this sector and hinders initiative, stifles creativity, and impedes innovation. I, myself, suffered the cudgel of bureaucracy time and again. A good – or maybe bad – example that still stands out in my mind happened back in 2006 when I dropped a project for my school that was to be funded by the UME and RELO for the simple reason that I could not cut through the meandering procedure of bureaucracy. Red-tape is not only frustrating and dissuading but also wastes so much time and energy and costs so much money.

To be able to make serious inroads into reforming our education system and into dealing with the current horrible situation, the Government and Education Department need to treat teachers, administrators, supervisors, and parents as true partners for the equal benefit of all. These partners contribution will make work lighter because, as Henry Ford said, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”

Modern Standard Arabic or Colloquial Arabic in Classrooms Noureddine Boutahar

There is a controversy brewing right now in Morocco over

whether or not to use Darija (Moroccan everyday, colloquial language) in education rather than Modern Standard Arabic which has been used since the year dot. This controversy reached its peak last month with the famous TV debate between the businessman Noureddine Ayouch and thinker Abdellah Laroui. As an educator, father, and patriotic citizen of a country whose education rates among the world’s most deficient, I feel it incumbent upon myself to weigh in and provide my own opinion and thoughts.
In my humble opinion, Noureddine Ayouch wants to open Pandora’s Box with his proposal to use Darija in the classroom, because once it's opened, it will certainly be difficult to close again. Of the many types of Darija, I don’t know which he prefers that we use. I don’t know what he wants to do with Tamazight speakers like myself either. Nor do I know what will become of the Hassania speakers in the South. What I know so far is that once Darija becomes the language of the classroom, Modern Standard Arabic will jump to the line of foreign languages. So, why would he want to add another foreign language (Arabic) to the already existing list?
Also, because the hornets’ nest has been agitated, some people have started questioning whether Darija should be written in Arabic or in Latin characters, and whether it should be written from right to left or from left to write. Proponents of the Latin style argue that since Darija is teeming with French, Spanish, Tamazight and Latin words, which are all written from left to right, Darija should be also. So, isn't it better to let sleeping Pandora lie?
Blaming the failures of our system of education on standard Arabic is too simplistic an approach to a highly complex problem. However, I am dead scared that oversimplified approaches like this might take center stage and distract attention from the real, central problems as well as from higher priorities in Moroccan education. The side thing might become the main thing, which is a form of Gresham's Law: “bad money, drives out good.”
What's worse is that Mr.Ayouch's proposal has come out of the blue. It was put forth without the backing of any sound theoretical or empirical research. Besides, our concern stems from the fact that the proposal was made by businessmen - strangers to the world of education- with their own objectives and agendas. And as is well known, businessmen have a nose for business; they know where money is and fight tooth and nail for it. So, this is a golden opportunity for business fat cats to make money out of new textbooks, dictionaries, and other materials needed for the new language. In short, “to those that have, shall be given”
Also, when great thinkers of the stature of AbdellahLaroui and Abdelkader Fassi Fihri refuse the proposal, we should be on guard and be willing to fight back to protect ourselves from those who intentionally or unintentionally want to strip us of our identity as a people and to subdue our culture and heritage. Otherwise, how else can we explain the fact that these people want to gradually kill a standard language and replace it with street language that will end up degrading our kids thinking. As George Orwell said, "Language can also corrupt thought."
Even if we take Mr Ayouch and Co.’s proposal on faith, time is not working in our favor: How much time will Darija need to gain momentum and take off? Morocco has already wasted too much time lagging behind less economically developed countries in the field of education to spend even another minute tinkering with a language that is a mixture of lingo, slang, and jargon. We have enough problems with already established and widely accepted languages; we needn’t rub more salt in the wound.
Conversely, I agree with Abdellah Laroui that Darija may be used to explain some scientific concepts and processes –what many teachers already do. I also agree that we need to simplify the kind of Arabic used in the classrooms for beginners but not to the point of oversimplification or distortion, or to the point of speaking down to the pupils and keeping their level at rock bottom.
Bottom line: Let’s uncover the real problems in our system of education and deal with them. Let’s not take uncalculated risks and make rash missteps that may prove costly to this country in terms of money, time, and reputation. Pinning the defects of Moroccan education on Modern Standard Arabic is like blaming the victim, and may unnecessarily hold us back for decades.