Morocco to promote civic culture in schools

24/05/2007

Continuing its struggle against extremism, the Moroccan government announced a new programme in Rabat on Wednesday (May 23rd) to promote a culture of civic behaviour in the nation’s schools.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 24/05/2007

[Sarah Touahri] Prime Minister Driss Jettou and King Mohammed VI’s advisor at the symposium's opening ceremony.

The Moroccan Council for Higher Education, set up last September to energise the educational reform process and to ensure ongoing development, held its first event on Wednesday (May 23rd) in Rabat, a national symposium on the theme of "School and Civic Conduct". In his opening remarks, King Mohammed VI stressed that "promoting civic conduct is a pressing demand in today’s world."

According to the king, "the ultimate goal sought from the promotion of civic behaviour is to bring up citizens who are committed to the immutable religious and national values of their country, who respect its fundamental symbols and open cultural principles, who are deeply attached to their varied, yet cohesive identity, who are proud of who they are, and who have a deep awareness of their rights and obligations." King Mohammed VI went on to encourage education reform, to equip Moroccans to fight "all forms of violence, deceit, corruption, improper conduct and immoral practices."

According to event chairman Abdelali Mastour, the initiative arrives at a time in Morocco characterised by historic developments and countless reforms.

Councilmember Salim Redouane suggested that promoting civic values should be handled primarily in schools, as they are among society’s most important and formative institutions. "School establishments have a major role to play in encouraging healthy relations among individuals and between these individuals and social and state institutions. It is all about managing and organising social affairs and promoting relational and communicational aspects between the various components of society," he says.

According to the Ministry of National Education’s communications department, considerable efforts have already been made to promote human rights and citizenship education. One example is Morocco’s adherence to the UN declaration of the "international decade of human rights education" (1995-2004). Morocco adopted a national programme of human rights education in collaboration with the national education ministry and the human rights ministry. Based on teaching methodology, this programme was aimed at reinforcing concepts of human rights in existing course curricula.

The resulting reports, documents and teaching guides created to promote the initiative and summarize its progress gave rise to an open debate among teaching specialists and non-governmental organisations working in the human rights field.

The strategy has had a direct effect on school syllabuses. Redouane indicated that the emphasis on human rights education has added a new dimension to education, although changes have sometimes been seen as redundant.

Amina Baaji, a teacher who took part in the event, said that while schools have certainly aimed to encourage a civic culture, efforts thus far have been insufficient. She feels that citizenship must also be taught through counselling groups and cultural clubs. "Unfortunately, you can count these sorts of centres on the fingers of one hand in Morocco. The state must invest more in building clubs within schools," she says.

To target needs effectively, the national symposium organised a series of workshops to develop educators’ knowledge of the democratic principles of citizenship and human rights and to promote scientific research in the field.