MERCATOR :: Dossier 14: National Charter of Education and Training October 1999

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[Excerpts - Non-official translation into English]

National Charter of Education and Training
October 1999

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Part 1

Constant basis

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2. […]
The educational system ensures that all persons have an oral and written command of the Arabic language, which is the country’s official language, and, complementarily, it is open to the usage of the most widely used foreign languages of the world.

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Part 2

Sphere I: The spread of education and its attachment to the economic environment

Leverage 1: To generalise a basic and quality education in a plural school

25. […]
The promotion of a quality education, which is a concomitant element of its general establishment, is to be [particularly] understood as […] the restructuring of the pre-school, primary, and first-degree secondary (collégial) education sections, the gradual integration of pre-school education, the improvement of the curricula, the pedagogical methods, the assessment and the orientation, the rehabilitation of school, as well as the reinforcement and the updating of the teaching of languages.

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Sphere II: Pedagogical organisation

Leverage 4: To reorganise and articulate the education-training sections

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Pre-school and primary education

61. Pre-school and primary education shall be aimed at realising the following general objectives:

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b. to ensure a stimulating pedagogical environment and background to all persons, in order to favour:

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the acquisition of comprehension and expression knowledge and abilities, in Arabic, with the support, if necessary, of regional languages and dialects;
functional communication in a first language, as well as a second foreign language, which is the object of Leverage 9 of this Charter;

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63. Pre-school education […] shall have the general aim, for two years, of facilitating the child’s physical, cognitive and emotional development, as well as the development of its autonomy and its socialisation, especially through:

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Activities aimed at the learning of reading and writing skills in Arabic, especially through the oral command of Arabic, which are to be based on the mother tongues.

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65. The First Stage of Primary School […]

Further to the deepening of the instruction and socialisation processes initiated at pre-school, this stage shall be particularly aimed at:

The acquisition of basic written and oral comprehension and expression knowledge and abilities in Arabic,
The initiation to the use of a first foreign language,

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66. The Second Stage of Primary School […]

a. This stage’s main objectives shall be, in addition to what establishes Article 65 below, the intense development of the children’s skills and the early development of their abilities, especially through:

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The development of the needed comprehension and expression skills in Arabic for the learning of all disciplines;
The learning of reading, writing and expression skills in the first foreign language;

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The initiation to the functional use of a second foreign language, by firstly placing emphasis on oral and phonetic familiarisation.

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First-degree secondary education (enseignement collégial)

68. First-degree secondary education, which is three years long, shall be aimed at students who have completed their primary education and have been awarded with a certificate. The objectives of this cycle, in addition to the deepening of the general objectives of the previous cycles, shall be the following:

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initiation to the knowledge about the fatherland and the world, regarding geography, history and culture;
the knowledge about the fundamental rights of human beings and the rights and duties of Moroccan citizens;

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Original education (Enseignement originel)

88. Formal schools of original education […]

Original education shall include the reinforcement of the learning of foreign languages.

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Communities with specific needs

89. The necessary teaching staff and teaching programmes and frames of reference shall be available for Moroccan communities living abroad who wish that their children learn Arabic and the national religious and civic values, as well as the history and geography of Morocco and its civilisation, taking into account the diversity and fruitful complementarity of its diverse components. To do so, both to interactive television and to the new information and communication technologies shall be made use of.

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Leverage 5: Evaluation and exams

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96. At the level of general secondary education, […]
a. This cycle shall be completed by means of a general education bachelor’s degree, subject to an evaluation and examination system, which is to be introduced from the school and academic year 2000-2001, according to the following three modalities:

a national-level examination (ENN) to be taken at the end of the final year and consisting of tests on two main specialisation disciplines within the concerning branch and of two general language and culture tests, of which one has to be obligatorily on Arabic and the other on an optional foreign language;

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Sphere III: Improvement in the quality of education and training

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Leverage 7: To revise and adapt the programmes and methods, the school manuals and the didactic supports
Programmes and methods

106. The remodelling of the programmes and methods shall be aimed at carrying out the following objectives:

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7. to implement the provisions of the present charter, based on Leverage 9, on the teaching of languages.

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Leverage 9: To perfect the teaching and use of Arabic, to have a command of foreign languages and to have an open approach towards Tamazight

110. Considering that by virtue of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Morocco the country’s official language is Arabic;
Considering that the reinforcement of Arabic and its use in the different fields of science and life has been, is and shall keep on being a national aspiration;
Considering the plurality of the tributaries that fertilise the country’s heritage;
Considering the country’s geo-strategic position, as a civilisation crossroads;
Considering the neighbourhood bonds between the Maghreb, African and European dimensions;
Considering the country’s insertion into the tendency to communication and open approach at a global level;
Considering the role that the pedagogical orientation should play in the choice of the teaching language for the sciences and in the open approach towards leading-edge technology;
In educational matters, the Kingdom of Morocco shall adopt a clear, coherent and constant language policy, whose orientations are specified as follows.

Reinforcement and improvement of the teaching of Arabic
111. The teaching of Arabic shall be renovated and reinforced, by making it compulsory in all educational institutions in Morocco for all Moroccan children, without prejudice to the bilateral agreements governing foreign educational institutions.
112. The training aimed at the creation of new advanced scientific research and higher education sections in Arabic needs to integrate this effort within the framework of a prospective and ambitious project, which should include a modern cultural and scientific dimension and be based on the following axes:

sustained development of the Arabic language system, at a generative, grammatical and lexical level;
encouragement of a high-level production and translation movement, in order to assimilate the scientific, technological and cultural conquests by means of a clear Arabic, as well as the encouragement to produce, publish and export a national production of quality;
training of an elite of specialists in the different fields of knowledge of the Arabic language and of many other languages, including the training of high-level and middle-level pedagogical staff.

113. From the beginning of the year 2000-2001, an Academy of the Arabic Language shall be created; it shall be a high-level national institution in charge of planning and implementing the above-mentioned project and ensuring its continuous assessment.
This Academy shall assembly under its authority the institutes and university centres concerned with the promotion of the Arabic language.

Diversification of the languages of instruction of the sciences and technologies
114. In the course of the national decade of education and training, optional sections of scientific, technological and pedagogical teaching shall be progressively created at university level and in Arabic, while pedagogical frames of reference of quality and competent trainers shall be made available.
Optional, highly specialised, foreign language research and training sections shall be also created at higher education level, offering the best scientific performance and the easiest communication.
In this line, and in order to establish valid and congruent accesses from secondary education to higher education, on the basis of a relevant and efficient pedagogical orientation and ensuring the best chances of academical and professional success on the part of learners, the most specialised scientific and technical bachelor’s degree’s units and modules shall be taught in the same language as the one used in the corresponding higher education branches and sections to be chosen by the students.

Open approach towards Tamazight
115. Regional pedagogical authorities shall be able to choose, within the framework of the circular proposal left to them to be decided, to use the Amazigh language or any local dialect, in order to facilitate the learning of the official language at pre-school level and at the first stage of primary school.
National education and training authorities shall progressively ensure, in as far as it is possible, that the regions have the necessary support in terms of trainers, teachers, and didactical support.
116. Certain universities shall be provided by the beginning of the year 2000-2001 with structures for Amazigh linguistic and cultural research and development, as well as for the training of trainers and the development of school programmes and curricula.

Command of languages
117. In order to facilitate the initiation of learners into foreign languages from the most auspicious early age, as well as their command, the following orientations shall be progressively implemented from the beginning of the year 2000-2001, in as far as the necessary human and pedagogical means and resources allow it:

The teaching of the first foreign language shall be introduced from the second year of the first stage of primary school, by placing emphasis throughout the year on oral and phonetic familiarisation;
The teaching of the second foreign language shall be introduced from the fifth year of primary school, by placing emphasis throughout the year on oral and phonetic familiarisation;
The teaching of each foreign language shall be connected with the teaching of cultural, technological or scientific modules, in the same language and within the schedule limits foreseen for it, in order to allow its functional use and its constant practical exercice, and, therefore, the consolidation, the maintenance and the improvement of the linguistic communication competences, in the strict sense;
Universities and other higher education establishments shall systematically introduce upgrading courses of foreign languages and Arabic, which are to be connected with scientific, technological or cultural modules, in order to render functionality to the learning of languages;
The upgrading of language teachers shall be undertaken in a systematic and planned manner, and so shall be undertaken the regular assessment of language acquisition.
A foreign language ten-year development plan shall have to be drawn by June 2000. This plan ought to define the different aspects regarding its implementation, based on the language objectives stipulated in Article 112:
- creation of a training body for teachers;
- recruitement and training of teachers, improvement of the training of active teachers by recurring to continuing education, and elaboration of adequate pedagogical methods and didactic tools;
- preparation of the national assessment tests, the implementation schedule and the financial means that are to be used.

118. The education and training authorities, in collaboration with the special bodies and by using the best infrastructures and human resources available, shall ensure that regional special (non-curriculum) foreign language education networks are set up. These networks shall use the most modern pedagogical rules and strategies, including multimedia intensive courses, language laboratories and linguistic and cultural immersion. To the latter end, boarding schools and halls of residence shall be used during the holidays.

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