Al Maghrib - No 119 - March 19, 1939
Mr. "Tariq" pointed out in a previous edition that reforms of the Arabic education in Moroccan schools does not require appealing to the use of Middle eastern instructors because, in his words,
"We are not barbarians nor marred by Turkish influence to need Eastern nationals to teach us in Arabic. Morocco has no lack of instructors who can teach Arabic and Arabic literature."
He believes that the (whole) Arab education problem is contained within the class lectures on Arab literature and the need to ensure the Arab instructor is aligned (financially) with those other members of the faculty that have the same level of experience as a matter of respect for his dignity. It is true that the Moroccan instructor should have access to the same benefits as his French colleague and that priority must be given to our native language when it comes to the distribution of class hours between subjects treated in Arabic and those disseminated in a foreign language. It is understood of course that our instructor has to have a good command of his subject matter and has the necessary ability to teach it. There is no doubt that my friend "Tariq" recognizes that Moroccans deserve credit for upholding the use of Arabic for centuries and that they have very deep knowledge of the language. That said they are ignorant of all the modern methods required for teaching it. The latter is not the case for instructors from the Middle East who, even though they have been under Turkish influence for a sufficiently long period of time, have experienced a sudden burst of recollection (of their cultural past) in the last century. The result of this revived awareness has outclassed all efforts that we have deployed over the centuries to preserve the Arabic language from decline.
The rapid and spectacular progress they achieved is due to their paying attention to the most recent (educational) models of modern times with regards to the latest advances of thinking as well as applied methodology. The East was inspired by these models in the refinement of program that would evolve over time and reach a standard of perfection. Meanwhile we have remained stagnant. No one can deny that the Moroccan nation has developed men with great expertise in Arabic and in traditional disciplines. When they are present with Middle Eastern linguists and specialists in the same disciplines, they are their absolute equals with regards to competence and command of all matters related to the fields of their know how. But what we lack is the methodology to allow a state of the art education and the most simple system to facilitate prolific instruction in the scholastic establishments. We live in times where our education is reserved for a well defined group of people who teach science for science's sake while elsewhere science is taught as a means to improve life in general.
It is imperative that education be spread across all social strata including the segments that wish to major in a given scientific field or those who wish to benefit from the knowledge gained from the courses they studied to improve their well being. The student must no longer have to pursue his studies along traditional outlines. Instead he must be allowed to traverse quickly through the various (intermediate) stages to reach as quickly as possible full maturation. But this requires that the entire Arabic instruction be reviewed to adopt new methods and to make these available to respond the wishes of both the intellectual and the professional to receive a high level of learning. Despite undisputed mastery of Arabic, our teachers are not capable currently to fulfill their mission, not due to to inferior knowledge skills than those of the Eastern counterparts but due to not having any understanding of the most recent methods of modern teaching.
Consequently the problem for Moroccan instructors is not a matter of knowledge (in his field) but a problem of (teaching) methodology. The latter is currently based on scientific criteria and basic principles which allow differentiation between the essential and the incidental and which showcase new concepts in dissemination of class lectures, in the structuring of homework and practical exercises. With all these facts the instructor is henceforth challenged with a new science, that of methodology which is impossible to master without studying it. Therefore while we wait for the development of Moroccan instructors who can respond to these imperatives, it is indispensable to appeal to the use of Middle Eastern instructors.
