Time for a Review
19 October 2010
Read by 1432 persons
Training offer becoming more professional and diversified, scientific research intensifying and becoming more international... The objectives set by the emergency plan are on track to be achieved.
October 6, 2009, a historic date in the Moroccan higher education sector. It marks the signing before His Majesty King Mohammed VI in Agadir of the first generation of university development contracts, simultaneously with the entry into force of the 2009-2010 National Education emergency program. "We wanted this day to be an annual celebration that honors the Moroccan university and all its actors, managers, teacher-researchers, administrative staff and students," said Minister Ahmed Akhchichen, speaking at the first edition of the university celebration held on Wednesday, October 6 at the Mohammadia School of Engineers in Rabat, in the presence of eminent personalities from the world of university and business.
A timely moment to present the main features of the progress report of a year in the life of the 2009-2012 emergency program. Due to the context, the report reviewed by Abdelhafid Debbagh, Secretary General of the Department of Higher Education, Training and Scientific Research, focused on the areas of higher education and scientific research. Considering the qualitative aspect, it seems that the objectives set are on track to be achieved. The total number of students in the previous year was around 370,000, compared to 336,000 in 2007-2008, an increase of 9%. The most significant progress was recorded in the number of new registrations, which increased by 18% over the same period, a 104% achievement rate of the universities' contractual commitments for the 2009-2010 academic year. This increase reached 82% in regulated access institutions, notably medical schools and engineering schools.
The same upward trend is observed in the number of university graduates, which jumped by 15%. The number of graduates from scientific fields progressed at the same rate as that of humanities, law, economics and social sciences (22% and 23% respectively). In addition, the number of engineering graduates recorded the strongest increase, of the order of 74%. Regarding the training offer, the trend is currently towards professionalization. In this sense, a lot of progress has been made, so that currently, 55% of university training is professionalizing. Thus, the number of new registrations in professional bachelor's degrees increased by 78%, representing an 88% achievement rate of the universities' contractual commitments for the 2009-2010 academic year. Training has therefore become more professional, but also more diverse, with the launch during the same year of 1,660 programs, an increase of 47%.
In addition to academic training, scientific research is at the center of attention, due to its direct relationship with the socio-economic world. To promote it, the ministry launched 50 doctoral study centers in 2010 and accredited 197 doctoral programs and 380 Master's Research programs. Scientific production, meanwhile, is intensifying and becoming more international, says Abdelhafid Debbagh. This is evidenced by the doubling of the number of publications in indexed international journals between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010. This dynamic is partly due to the policy of emulation of excellence adopted by the Ministry of National Education for several years. We learn that 70% of doctoral students and 50% of students enrolled in Master's programs received, during the previous academic year, excellence scholarships rewarding their contributions in various fields of scientific research. Similarly, 200 excellence scholarships are awarded annually to deserving students holding a Master's degree or equivalent and enrolled in a doctoral program, worth 2,300 dirhams per year, valid for three years.
Perspectives…
After the review, the perspectives, as outlined by Abdelhafid Debbagh, Secretary General of the Department of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Training, are broadly focused on matching training to the needs of the job market, improving the social conditions of students, mainly through the generalization of medical coverage and the promotion of cultural and school activities. A single imperative to succeed in all these projects: opting for a sustainable and effective partnership policy with socio-economic actors. Because, according to Ahmed Akhchichen, "it is easily understood: the stakes go far beyond the scope of the university space. In an environment marked by fierce competition between offers, the national university cannot fully fulfill its commitments vis-à-vis the increasingly complex expectations of society, unless new generation partnerships are established with the other components of the national community".
Published October 12, 2010
Posted online October 19, 2010
lematin.ma
October 6, 2009, a historic date in the Moroccan higher education sector. It marks the signing before His Majesty King Mohammed VI in Agadir of the first generation of university development contracts, simultaneously with the entry into force of the 2009-2010 National Education emergency program. "We wanted this day to be an annual celebration that honors the Moroccan university and all its actors, managers, teacher-researchers, administrative staff and students," said Minister Ahmed Akhchichen, speaking at the first edition of the university celebration held on Wednesday, October 6 at the Mohammadia School of Engineers in Rabat, in the presence of eminent personalities from the world of university and business.
A timely moment to present the main features of the progress report of a year in the life of the 2009-2012 emergency program. Due to the context, the report reviewed by Abdelhafid Debbagh, Secretary General of the Department of Higher Education, Training and Scientific Research, focused on the areas of higher education and scientific research. Considering the qualitative aspect, it seems that the objectives set are on track to be achieved. The total number of students in the previous year was around 370,000, compared to 336,000 in 2007-2008, an increase of 9%. The most significant progress was recorded in the number of new registrations, which increased by 18% over the same period, a 104% achievement rate of the universities' contractual commitments for the 2009-2010 academic year. This increase reached 82% in regulated access institutions, notably medical schools and engineering schools.
The same upward trend is observed in the number of university graduates, which jumped by 15%. The number of graduates from scientific fields progressed at the same rate as that of humanities, law, economics and social sciences (22% and 23% respectively). In addition, the number of engineering graduates recorded the strongest increase, of the order of 74%. Regarding the training offer, the trend is currently towards professionalization. In this sense, a lot of progress has been made, so that currently, 55% of university training is professionalizing. Thus, the number of new registrations in professional bachelor's degrees increased by 78%, representing an 88% achievement rate of the universities' contractual commitments for the 2009-2010 academic year. Training has therefore become more professional, but also more diverse, with the launch during the same year of 1,660 programs, an increase of 47%.
In addition to academic training, scientific research is at the center of attention, due to its direct relationship with the socio-economic world. To promote it, the ministry launched 50 doctoral study centers in 2010 and accredited 197 doctoral programs and 380 Master's Research programs. Scientific production, meanwhile, is intensifying and becoming more international, says Abdelhafid Debbagh. This is evidenced by the doubling of the number of publications in indexed international journals between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010. This dynamic is partly due to the policy of emulation of excellence adopted by the Ministry of National Education for several years. We learn that 70% of doctoral students and 50% of students enrolled in Master's programs received, during the previous academic year, excellence scholarships rewarding their contributions in various fields of scientific research. Similarly, 200 excellence scholarships are awarded annually to deserving students holding a Master's degree or equivalent and enrolled in a doctoral program, worth 2,300 dirhams per year, valid for three years.
Perspectives…
After the review, the perspectives, as outlined by Abdelhafid Debbagh, Secretary General of the Department of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Training, are broadly focused on matching training to the needs of the job market, improving the social conditions of students, mainly through the generalization of medical coverage and the promotion of cultural and school activities. A single imperative to succeed in all these projects: opting for a sustainable and effective partnership policy with socio-economic actors. Because, according to Ahmed Akhchichen, "it is easily understood: the stakes go far beyond the scope of the university space. In an environment marked by fierce competition between offers, the national university cannot fully fulfill its commitments vis-à-vis the increasingly complex expectations of society, unless new generation partnerships are established with the other components of the national community".
Published October 12, 2010
Posted online October 19, 2010
lematin.ma
