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By Karim El-Hiani
Rabat - One of the salient criteria of any country’s development is the extent to which its scientific studies flourish and are developed.
The fact that universities provide a fertile ground to conduct such research studies is an outstanding factor in raising the effectiveness of these studies. Yet, this might fall out under the danger of keeping the balance between theory and practice.
Recently, Mr. Lahcen Daoudi, Minister of Higher Education, has announced that Moroccan students belonging to technical and economic schools must master English because of its valuable status in the study of the sciences. In this respect, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of science and technology studies in the last few years. Most of the references are written in the English language. Thus, this makes the task tougher for students who do not master this language, especially in underdeveloped countries.
The quality of being well-informed about the requirements of both theory and practice, to the same degree, is essential and not ornamentally indispensable for the student. As a result, there has been a radical shift in the Moroccan educational system in the last two or three decades: the National Charter for Education and Training announced the crucial role of Moroccan learners in being qualified to have an influential status in the dynamic domains of Morocco. This procedure is due mainly to the fact that Moroccan schools do not produce active citizens that are capable of keeping pace with the technological and economic developments of developed countries.
I had the chance to be an M.A. student in the program of Applied Linguistics in Morocco. Many issues were discussed in the field of language learning and teaching. However, there was a huge lack of practice. In other words, having competence may not necessarily guarantee good performers. Discussing issues theoretically in learning and teaching languages can lead the student blindly to an unknown destination when experiencing concrete teaching in the terrain.
Undoubtedly, it is beneficial to stakeholders to find efficient ways to enable Moroccan learners to have a credible training commensurate with their ambition. So far, the failure of the National Charter for Education and Training has been one of the massive problems facing the Moroccan Ministry of Education. This failure puts a big question mark on the pre-planning of the stakeholders before activating new charters or plans.
Given the fact that Moroccan schools provide society with passive learners, it clearly justifies the mismatch existing between what Moroccan students know and what they can do. This fact may lead us to ask two basic questions: (1) Do we want to revolutionize our educational system to make concrete progress? And (2) Are we able to prepare a fertile ground for the next generations to develop the dynamic domains of this country?
Edited by Katrina Bushko
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