Al Maghrib - First year - No 26 - June 16, 1937

Why for the past quarter century is Morocco the only country that has not sent a single contingent of students to the West? Apart from some rare attempts to provide some support for a few individuals that one can not really deem to be officially sponsored, there has been no action, neither through the intermediary of the government whose duty is to make such decisions nor through the initiative of its people. For a long time, Moroccans have been asking this question and trying to assess the underlying causes. They are regularly informed by newspapers that Middle Eastern nations have sent group after group (of students) to register in European institutions. Moreover each year and at every opportunity they proceed with university exchange programs. Meanwhile their country, Morocco, has not sent one organized contingent of students and this from a government that is reasonably prosperous. It is as if it pays no heed to them or worse as if it openly opposes this concept.

I am not revealing any secret by stating that the principle cause of this situation originates in the words and their significance used by the authorities. At the initiative of this country's Department of Education they have set up an astounding set of obstacles to bar Moroccan candidates from being able to apply for university studies. One needs only to open his eyes to be so astounded, to bear a grim smile of resentment or to weep about Morocco's destiny. It would have been an easy task for the people in charge in the Administration to put in place an educational program valid for all of Morocco but instead they headed in a diametrically opposite direction. Their efforts were limited to the creation of a few primary schools and two secondary schools, one in Rabat and one in Fez. The level of education delivered at these two establishments differs little from that of French secondary schools. However the certifications at the conclusion of secondary schooling for these aforementioned schools do not bear the title "Baccalaureate" to provide access to university higher learning. Instead they are given the title "Diploma for the Completion of Franco-Islamic Secondary Schooling."

The difference between these two designations is huge from an educational and a sanctioned perspective. When a dean from any given university examines the diploma presented by a Moroccan student, he does not see it as an (accredited) certification that assures readiness to apply for university higher learning. Instead it appears to him as nothing more than some simple school certificate that attests that the holder has completed Franco-Islamic courses at the secondary education level.

Hence, this diploma obtained after ten years of studies is more or less just a paper rag with no value abroad or even at home because it is not officially recognized. It does not accord its holder the right to apply to the Institute of Higher Learning in Rabat to pursue a higher diploma nor does it give him any (legal) course to an administrative post in the true sense of the term. The holder of this diploma, which certifies completion of secondary schooling for a Moroccan, has strictly no value compared to a holder of a Baccalaureate diploma. And yet, there is not much difference between the two certifications; it is their difference in title that constitutes the greatest barrier that the Department of Education conjured up to prevent Moroccan students from obtaining higher learning. Even worse, as long as the Department of Education does not recognize its own diploma, it (de facto) blocks Moroccan students from access to French schools thus making it impossible for them to prepare their candidacy for the Baccalaureate exam.

It was only recently, and due to the insistence of students of secondary school establishments, that the Department of Education has authorized Moroccan students to register in French universities by introducing a baccalaureate program in the Moroccan school system. However despite this, the superintendent of one of the two secondary education schools mentioned here continues to direct the students of his establishment towards the (previous) diploma by discouraging them from the Baccalaureate program even though the (former) diploma had neither (firm) standing with respect to law or (acceptance) by universities.

And thus a quarter century has passed during which the Moroccan student obtained in the guise of a certificate paper towel of no value. With this certificate it was naturally impossible to send a contingent of students abroad (for higher learning) or to allow any student to finish their higher learning elsewhere or even to apply to the Institute of Higher Learning in Rabat to prepare for a career as a lawyer or a tenured teacher. All that his diploma opens up for him is for him to apply to take courses for two years from his school to hold the title of (a French - Arabic) interpreter. This would allow him access to civil service with the hope of finding a vacant post within the administrative staff.

I do not know if, with all these barriers, the Moroccan student can pursue his studies in a normal manner and exert as much effort (as he could) to obtain at the end a certificate which only allows him a profession as an interpreter to the exclusion of all other professions. Is it with these obstacles to education that we will form the skilled professionals on which we base all our hopes? But this is the aim of the authorities in charge of Moroccan education since these barriers are purely and simply facts of their whim. This is why educational politics has, after a quarter century, allowed only the graduation of only one medical doctor and two lawyers. This is therefore the major difficulty that our students must overcome. This is the source of the wrong that has kept the country in the regressive state it finds itself with regards to education during this first stage in its modern life. What is the remedy? What are the appropriate actions to take so that Morocco can take advantage of the scholastic development of its offspring who hold diplomas whose equivalence are denied everywhere?