Khalid Barkaoui
Mr. chafiqui, the general inspector of pedagogical affairs at the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports, took part in a workshop held online on Wednesday February 9, 2022. The pedagogical manager made a highly distinguished intervention during the presentation of the PISA 2018 national report. This report is initiated by the national evaluation body headed by Rahma Bourquia in her capacity as director of the INE under the higher council for education, training and scientific research .
Morocco, which is participating for the first time in this international survey, is ranked 75 out of 79 countries that took part in this triennial evaluation test. Moroccan 15-year-old students did not do well in reading, math, or science. The situation is alarming, disastrous even distressing.
This National report analyzes the performance of Moroccan students in the PISA 2018 survey. Conducted every three years by the OECD, the organization for economic cooperation and development, since 2000, the International Program for the Monitoring of Acquired students (PISA) assesses the skills of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics and science.
In this, PISA does not assess the knowledge acquired by students, but rather their ability to mobilize this knowledge and apply it to real-life situations.
The presentation of this PISA report (programme for international student assessment) is part of the evaluation missions of the national evaluation body to the higher education council and aims to dissect the performance of our learners and to compare them with other education systems in order to draw concrete lessons.
The results of the PISA national report allow us to draw eloquent lessons so that the Moroccan education system can strengthen the content of programs and learning methods, thus enabling students to acquire the basic skills necessary for academic success and preparation for adulthood. The results of PISA challenge the education system with regard to the level of student learning as well as the process of implementing the reform.
Mr. Chafiqui addressed a plethora of interesting strengths that deserve a long look. Among the key points raised by our illustrious speaker are the following:
– We must not expect satisfactory and convincing results during the 2022 edition. we must not declare victory right away, PISA 2022 which will be launched next April will not be better and will above all provide information on losses learning due to the pandemic. but he is resolutely convinced that during the 2025 edition, Morocco will obtain good results and the performance of its students will be up to the provisions of the reform initiated in 2015 and also up to the provisions and solemn commitments of the 2022/2026 roadmap. Let’s hope that the promise will be kept and that our students shine brightly with their performances at the international level.
– . The non-inclusiveness of the system marked by the weak acquisition of skills is mainly manifested by repeating a year”
– The young participants in the survey are very likely to fall behind: 49% have repeated a year at least once during their schooling. This percentage is by far the highest among all participating countries and is well above the OECD average (11%).
– This phenomenon is particularly more widespread among students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged compared to those who are advantaged, with a difference of 37 percentage points.
– The teachers in charge of the 1AEP are close to retirement. This profile has a negative impact on the productivity of young children, in particular this glaring age gap between a teacher who is around 50 or 60 years old and learners who are 6 years old. This process needs to be reinvented for greater efficiency.
– Pre-schooling is slow to be generalized, what is more, there is a diversification of the pre-school offer which goes from modernity to classic, traditional and obsolete pre-schooling. Care must therefore be taken to standardize preschool on a national scale.
– Our school system is stressful.-
– Morocco’s results in the 2018 PISA survey show weak performance. It is positioned at the bottom of the scale with the countries which recorded the lowest scores, both in reading comprehension and in mathematics and science.
– It should be noted that the Moroccan school experiences inequalities, and does not allow all students to acquire the same skills. Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, educated in rural areas or in public establishments, have a lower level of skills than pupils benefiting from a more favorable situation. In a word, our system is unequal.
– The absence of pedagogical support, in particular individualized support intended for pupils with learning difficulties or pupils with learning disabilities. In a nutshell, our system has left a significant proportion of students out.
Mr. Chafiqui then focused on a second entry, namely the urgent need to question textbooks, programs, curricula, teaching methods, evaluation and training of teaching staff, which leaves a lot to be desired.
– Morocco is one of the countries/economies where teachers are the least qualified and the least supported with regard to the level of education, the duration of initial training and professional development.
– School programs must be rebuilt to meet the standards recommended by the OECD, because we realize that even our best-performing students have not reached level 6 in mathematics and science.
– The speaker advocates the development of the pedagogical model and the training of teachers on ICT linked to action.
– Positive discrimination for disadvantaged backgrounds.
– We must think about making tablets available to learners and also consider concluding partnership agreements with start-ups that set up educational applications capable of helping our learners to perform and substantially overcome their difficulties.
– There is also a lack of personnel who have the necessary skills to use these digital resources (teachers and technical staff).
– The brief duration of the initial training should be reconsidered and bet on permanent professional development.
– One thing is certain, future teachers are in dire need of support and guidance from headteachers and highly qualified and experienced teachers.
– It is also necessary to challenge the body of inspectors in relation to the continuous training of teachers and their supervision in a rational manner.
– It is clear that the mission of an inspector does not lie in the evaluation of teachers, but it is necessary to evaluate in order to support, improve skills and develop professionally speaking our educational actors in order to better equip them to fully attend to their respective tasks.
– The role of headteachers who have now become educational administrators needs to be reviewed. Indeed, they must reach out to novices by disseminating good practices. The communities of professional practices are required to fully play this role of support and professional monitoring of executives to help improve the quality of learning.
– Institutional learning time can be lost for different reasons: student absenteeism and tardiness, teacher absenteeism, as well as student indiscipline during class. It must be recognized in this context that indiscipline, violence and harassment are gaining ground and growing steadily.
– Morocco is one of the countries where the climate of discipline is degraded and worrying.
– An unfavorable disciplinary climate is a disturbing factor and can affect the smooth running of the teaching and learning process in the classroom. The results of Moroccan students in PISA 2018 show that indeed the average score of students in classes where the climate is very favorable exceeds that of students in classes where the climate is very unfavorable with a difference of 10 points.
– The inability to manage the class because the teacher is not highly equipped to ensure discipline and a climate conducive to learning
– In fact, students who are victims of bullying are more subject to personal problems, in particular depression, anxiety, isolation and changes in eating habits. They are more likely to miss classes, drop out of school and perform poorly compared to their non-adversarial peers.
– Mr. Chafiqui raised his relevant remarks which hinder the process of an attractive apprenticeship and therefore issued a series of measures and projects recommended by the framework law 51.17 of course the strengthening of the training of human capital, the involvement of managers establishment, the pronounced commitment of inspectors, the strengthening of extracurricular activities, the development of positive parenting.
– The PISA survey, focused on 15-year-old children, highlights the mismatch between age and the required level of schooling, the inefficiency of repetition, the problem of inequalities negatively impacting school, the deficiencies of learning, and an educational climate that does not always favor quality education.
– Ultimately change is possible. You just have to believe in it hard as iron. One thing is certain, we need real political will, a substantial budget, highly qualified personnel, a favorable school climate, teaching materials, modern and attractive infrastructure, putting the student at the center of all public education policies. Certainly the challenge is daunting. But the battle is won with hard and focused work.
– if we want to remain competitive in a world where education and training will become more than ever the engines of a country’s power and influence, we must invest in education, training and scientific research .
We have no right to resign. We have to regroup and rectify the situation. This is an existential question for our country, as its future depends on it, especially since Morocco is preparing to implement its new development model.
Khalid Barkaoui
Member of the AMEF CP de Boulemane