The annual release of the Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities has once again sparked a debate about the state of higher education in Morocco.
This year, only Hassan II University of Casablanca managed to secure a spot in the top 1000, ranking 901st. This solitary presence in the prestigious list has highlighted the ongoing challenges facing Moroccan universities.
Experts and observers have attributed Morocco’s relatively low ranking to several factors, including the prevalence of French in academia and a perceived lack of robust research.
While neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt boast multiple universities in the top 1000, Morocco continues to struggle.
Mohammed Kdira, an expert in educational public policy, expressed skepticism about the relevance of global university rankings, arguing that their criteria, such as the presence of Nobel laureates, are often biased towards Western institutions.
Kdira told Hespress Ar that the absence of Nobel Prize-winning faculty members puts Moroccan universities at a considerable disadvantage in international rankings.
‘They’re doomed to fail from the outset,’ Kdira stated.
Kdira said that Morocco’s overreliance on French education is holding it back, noting that the time has come to shift towards English, especially in scientific fields, starting from primary school.
Kdira said that Morocco needs to focus on strengthening its educational foundations and research capabilities rather than obsessing over international rankings.
Khalid Samadi, the former Secretary of State in charge of Higher Education and Scientific Research, has warned against allowing Moroccan-French political interests to interfere with the implementation of English language education in Morocco.
Samadi told Hespress Ar that Moroccan professors in scientific fields are trained in French. “With four languages already being taught in Moroccan academia, professors are not inclined to teach English but instead opt for French,” he said.
The former official expressed concern over the lack of a comprehensive Moroccan plan for implementing English language education and the ineffective implementation of Law No. 51.17 on the education, training, and scientific research system.
Samadi said that the failure to fully implement this law, which calls for strengthening English and not solely relying on French, seems to be tied to recent developments in Moroccan-French relations.
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