Morocco

Partners situated in Morocco

None.

Morocco in a nutshell

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco)

Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in Northern Africa. The full Arabic name al-Mamlaka al-Maġribiyya translates to "The Western Kingdom". Al-Maġrib (meaning "The West") is commonly used.

It has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Algeria to the east, Spain to the north (a water border through the Strait and land borders with three small Spanish enclaves, Ceuta, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera), and Mauritania to the south via the Western Sahara territories (which have unclear legal status).

It has a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under 447,000 square kilometres (173,000 sq mi).

Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca.

Morocco is the only country in Africa that is not currently a member of the African Union and it has shown no interest in joining. However, it is a member of the Arab League, Arab Maghreb Union, Francophonie, Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Mediterranean Dialogue group, and Group of 77. It is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States.

Morocco is a de jure constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco, with vast executive powers, can dissolve government and deploy the military, among other prerogatives. Opposition political parties are legal, and several have been formed in recent years

Morocco is divided into 16 regions and subdivided into 62 prefectures and provinces. As part of a 1997 decentralization/regionalization law passed by the legislature, sixteen new regions were created.

Morocco education policy

Education in Morocco is free and compulsory through primary school (age 15). Nevertheless, many children – particularly girls in rural areas – still do not attend school. The country's illiteracy rate has been stuck at around 50% for some years, but reaches as high as 90% among girls in rural regions.

Morocco allocates approximately one-fifth of its budget to education. Much of this is spent on building schools to accommodate the rapidly growing population. Education is mandatory for children between the ages of 7 and 13 years. In urban areas the majority of children in this age group attend school, though on a national scale the level of participation drops significantly. About three-fourths of school-age males attend school, but only about half of school-age girls; these proportions drop markedly in rural areas. Slightly more than half of the children go on to secondary education, including trade and technical schools. Of these, few seek higher education. Poor school attendance, particularly in rural areas, has meant a low rate of literacy, which is about two-fifths of the population.

Higher education

Morocco has more than 48 universities, institutes of higher learning, and polytechnics dispersed at urban centres throughout the country.

Universities in Morocco

Morocco has about 230,000 students enrolled in 14 public universities. Four are of particular note.

1. The Mohammed V University in Rabat - the country’s largest university, with branches in Casablanca and Fès
2. Al-Akhawayn, a private university founded in 1993 by King Hassan II and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, is an English-language American-style university comprising about 1,000 students.
3. The University of Al Karaouine, in Fez, is considered the oldest continuously operating university in the world and has been a center of learning for more than 1,000 years.
4. The Veterinary Institute in Rabat, which conducts leading social science research in addition to its agricultural specialties

The page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Morocco gives a longer list:

1. Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tétouan - Tanger
2. Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane
3. Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech
4. Chouaib Doukkali University , El Jadida
5. Hassan II Ain Chok University , Casablanca
6. Hassan II Mohammedia University , Mohammedia
7. Hassan Premier University , Settat
8. Ibn Tofail University , Kenitra
9. Ibnou Zohr University , Agadir
10. Mohamed Premier University , Oujda
11. Mohammed V University, Rabat
12. Mohammed V University at Agdal, Rabat
13. Mohammed V University at Souissi, Rabat
14. Moulay Ismail University , Meknès
15. Sidi Mohamed Benabdellah University , Fez
16. University of Al Karaouine, Fes
17. Université Moulay Slimane (formerly called Cadi Ayyad University until late 2007), Beni Mellal

Higher education reform

The Bologna Process

(very important for European countries)

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

(another very important section)

References

(try to add one or two)

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