Distance education: An opportunity for the Maghreb!
By: Rachid Jankari
An opportunity. Distance education, commonly known by the English term “e-learning”, is no longer a bandwagon effect. It is rather a significant trend in the field of educational systems, especially in Northern American countries. So, what about Morocco and the Maghreb region?
Currently, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide training to youth, students and professionals, is still trapped in a phase that’s both embryonic and experimental.
The educational system is primarily confronted to the challenges of “attendance”.
Nevertheless, Moroccan universities have launched some timid initiatives to offer distance learning, such as the Moroccan Virtual Campus project (CVM) that shows the intention of the Ministry of Higher Education, Executive Training and Scientific Research to integrate ICTs in national higher education.
In concrete terms, this ambitious plan aims to promote open and distance learning assisted by ICTs, and to create a space for consultations, exchanges and sharing teaching materials and practices.
Moreover, the CVM has launched a call for proposals for the establishment of a digital resources library upon the initiative of Ibn Zohr University in Agadir.
This project aims to improve learning conditions by providing support for classroom teaching, and offering coaching (tutoring) in terms of distance education.
In practical terms, this virtual library project plans to establish an inventory of existing digital resources in every university in the Kingdom, elaborate a strategy for their co-development, and promote their use.
On the regional level, the project “CoseLearn” funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) aims to promote e-learning in several French-speaking African countries, especially Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. This project was launched in partnership with Widdoo, and has succeeded in having several Maghreb universities adhere to it.
Distance education: A cross-border market!
Regardless of local and regional initiatives, many young people from the Maghreb took the initiative to enroll directly in distance learning programs offered by French, American and Canadian universities. Several majors are preferred: languages, mathematics, sociology and psychology…
These first manifestations of keen interest are due to the accessibility of these programs, and the use of the Internet and online collaboration tools in the training process.
More interestingly, some French institutions allow candidates to sit in-class examinations in Rabat, without having to travel to France for that purpose. Also, participants in these distance learning programs obtain international diplomas, thus facilitating the process of requesting diploma equivalency and recognition for the Moroccan educational system.
As a reminder, Morocco has today more than 1.7 million Internet users, 65% of which are on mobile internet (3G), and more than 10 million users who consume an international bandwidth of 51 Gb/s.
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Your Comments
commentsAnonymous About about 1 year ago
Thank you, Rachid. This is a good topic that should be analyzed in depth. I will tackle it soon in our newspaper… Redouane Chakir, Le Matin & Eco Plus.
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Anonymous About about 1 year ago
We’re still waiting for serious initiatives that show the government’s intention to adopt distance education, because all the ones mentioned here are only timid attempts that were possibly taken just to be used as an argument against those who demand action. I did not understand the last paragraph, how many Internet users are there in Morocco?
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Anonymous About about 1 year ago
Thank you for this article, Rachid… I hope that it will help Maghreb universities, especially Moroccan ones and the Department on which they depend, to realize that it is time to open up to a wider audience that is eager to learn. This can be achieved through distance learning, better known as e-learning, as we are living in the 21st century and in the Internet era. The era of mandatory presence in classrooms is now over. Some French universities, for instance, provide their e-learning programs under the slogan “bringing knowledge closer” to anyone who wishes to resume studies but is confronted with obstacles. These universities even have a federation now, the “FIED”. Full-time or part-time employees, men under arms (soldiers for example…), elite athletes, disabled people, and many others benefit from this opportunity, as you have rightly called it Rachid. Participants have access to courses, tutorials, etc., via a platform that they consult from home or from any other place possible, allowing them to get in touch with professors and other students, and to minimize their isolation… By opening up this way, universities emphasize the civilizational aspect of such a teaching method and such a society… Once again THANK YOU for raising this important issue which may interest education officials, students, parents, housewives and many others…
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Anonymous About about 1 year ago
Anonymous from 1 day ago. If I didn’t like something, I wouldn’t study it in-depth.
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Anonymous About about 1 year ago
Brother Rachid, can you give me some addresses of French universities that offer distance learning courses? Thanks a lot.
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Anonymous About about 1 year ago
Peace be upon you. First of all, thank you brother Rachid for this information. I am interested in distance education, and I hope to find a university where I can enroll. Please help me. Thank you very much.
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Anonymous About 7 months ago
The question now is whether distance education certificates are recognized in Morocco and do not require more than the equivalence procedure?? More importantly, why do most Arab countries refuse to recognize distance education, as if their education is highly advanced and they reject this type of education that does not require school attendance?
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Anonymous About 23 days ago
Yes I need to learn english and french.
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Anonymous About 20 days ago
Distance education or online learning had advanced its pedagogical and design methods to the point that virtual learning became more effective and efficient than the face to face mode of instruction…especially for some diciplines. I dont see why maghrebi or most of arab governments do not recognize online diplomas…perhaps there is something fishy ! changing the satus quo and old paradigms or innovating in education may seem annoying for some folks in academia…No body wants change…it is up to the progressive folks and new generation of faculty , teachers and reserachers who to promote that stance.
fouadelkarnichi
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