MOROCCO: Many elite Arabs opt for American-style education, moving away from the French mold

The 259 students who graduated this year from the Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco’s only English-language college, are practically guaranteed a job -- unlike those Moroccans who went through the country’s French-inspired education system.

Commencement weekend at AUI, as it is commonly known, is not a very Moroccan affair. The atmosphere at the campus, set amid the pine and cedar forests of the Mid-Atlas mountain range, is part Swiss ski village, part Ivy League college. The university is in Ifrane, a mountain resort originally built for the French colonial elite wishing to escape the summer heat of Casablanca and Rabat. On a recent weekend in June, it was beset by a different kind of elite: AUI’s class of 2010 and their proud parents.

It was quickly obvious from the speeches that AUI did things the American way. 

“AUI gives you not just a degree but a whole new personality,” said alumni President Khalid Baddou. 

“AUI is more than a university; it is a community with an amazing culture. Here, you are given the weapons to face the real world with,” said science and engineering graduate Ahmad Arjdane.

 The underlying message was loud and clear: This is what you miss out on if you study at traditional French-inspired universities in Morocco.

“I lost all hope with the French system while I was in high school,”  said Fahd El Hassan, a 2009 graduate. “It is all about memorizing, not about learning.”

El Hassan was invited to speak at this year’s commencement because he had won third place in the 2008 Imagine Cup, a student competition organized by Microsoft and Unesco to further sustainable businesses through technology. This year’s AUI graduates included winners of the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarschip and the Google Computer Excellence Award in computer science.

"Morocco has long been handicapped because it has been so oriented toward Europe and France," said the dean of the science and engineering school, Ahmed Legrouri. "Let’s face it: Where can you go with just French these days? France, Switzerland and Belgium? Even in France, technical publications are in English these days.”

The former Moroccan king, Hassan II -- although himself a strong Francophile -- was among the first to stress the need for Moroccans to learn English to help ensure international success. Fate lent a helping hand. In 1995, Morocco’s beaches were threatened by an oil spill from a foreign tanker off the coast. The oil eventually drifted away, but by then king Fahd of Saudi Arabia had written a $50-million check to come to Morocco’s aid. The money was used to found AUI.

The university likes to boast that Moroccan employers are falling over themselves to hire AUI graduates. A recent survey by the alumni association said 98% of AUI graduates had found a job, started a business or were working a master's degree within six months of graduation.

This is in stark contrast to other Moroccan universities, some of whose graduates have been demonstrating every day for months in front of the parliament building in the capital, Rabat, demanding to be given jobs. Passersby sometimes make snide remarks about these demonstrators, saying graduates think a university degree automatically entitles a person to a government job.

"Like in many developing countries, it was long policy in Morocco that college graduates were given government jobs straight out of school," said AUI alumni President Baddou. "It was part of an internal security strategy at the time."

Moroccans also have learned the value of learning English. Moroccans initially missed the boat of the economic boom in the Persian Gulf countries because French was of no use in Dubai or Kuwait. Now, English is becoming a requirement in Morocco. Even some French companies in Morocco require that employees know English.

“The demand for an institution like ours is insatiable for the moment," said Simon O'Rourke, AUI’s American communications director. “We are the only one to offer the overall college experience."

-- Gert van Langendonck in Rabat, Morocco

Photos: Graduation day at AUI in Ifrane, Morocco, a bastion of American-style education. Credit: Gert van Langendonck / Special to The Times

Comments

[Hassan]

Sorry Edina I am Moroccan and Arab :)

[Edina]

interesting article but just a little correction. Moroccans are not arabs but amazigh (berbers) like other people in maghreb . it is a common false information that some people tend to spread around. Ciao to all morocans from a french algerian:-)

[Yahya L.]

@ Rudy,

What makes you think that all Americans only know English??? There are plenty of us Americancs that are multi-lingual. Sir Walter is RIGHT! English should be the standard for the USA, but it is also true that more Americans needs to learn other languages. Before arrogant foreigners try to slam the American system, remember that many immigrants from all over the world will still try to sell thier mother, just for a chance to come to the USA...so we must still be doing something RIGHT!!!! Asalaamu 3laikum wa rah matallah wa barakhatu.

[elmouj]

Am a 2006 Computer Science alumni and i lived the best 4 years experience of my life in this campus. I would say that instead of competing with the French system (to be precise i am talking here about higher education system: classe prépas/grandes écoles) AUI should take what is best in it which is excellence in mathematics.
Believe me, if you're following an engineering track in AUI (CS, GE,etc.) you WILL need this, i wouldn't say background but, MINDSET when you're in the job market looking for "interesting" jobs.
I am sure that the Ex AUI president Benmokhtar (graduate from Ecole Polytechnique) wouldn't disagree with me :)

@+
Elmouj

[Hadi ennouri]

Salam;
It's a great pleasure to read something like this
about our achievement in the field of education.
My only hope is that everyone who deserves to get
a ticket to learn and graduate from Ifran university
will get a fair selection or admission.Good luck to
every ambitious student in morocco.

[fouad]

"said Simon O'Rourke, AUI’s American communications director" Why an American and not only a AUI's communications director.

[mostafa]

What a stark contrast! It is actually ironical. Elite university graduates in Ifrane's sunny AU and schools with falling roofs all over the rest of the Atlas and the Rif mountains!

[Joe Wilhem]

I am glad that American style education is working in Morocco, because sure as hell is not working here.

[Antony Mallinson]

Sorry to mention this but AL Akhawayn is not the only English language Univeristy in Morocco we deliver programmes entirely in English giving students an oppurtunity to obtain a British degree, should you require further information please do not hesitate to contact me

[Ayoub]

First of all , this is an interesting article about the best university in Morocco ,I am so proud to be among the students of AL Akhawayn university since the Fall semester 2011 ,and my choice was not without reflection ,because AUI addopts an American style where everything is thaught in English , the second reason was that it has the best professors and It is directed by a very good staff ,besides the placement which is the Atlas resort ,in the beautifful city of IFRANE.

I wish a good carrers for all students who graduated and for whome are attending the university next year.

[Rachid Z]

Thank you for this article.

[Hind]

Quoting "This year’s AUI graduates included winners of the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarschip".. There was 1 winner, and she's NOT a 2010 graduate. Get you facts right mate.
Not a fan of comment bickering but I have to say:
@Badreddine, if your post was an attempted response to what Sarah was saying, then you really missed the bus buddy, it sounds like nothing more than really weak PR. And also, you should probably put your generous invitation to better use because if you think that was bad english, then I'm sorry for you and for the "system" you claim to have studied "in"

[Ga.Kenza]

As far as I'm concerned, AUI is one of the universities that encourage students to feel more responsibilty regarding their country (I'm taking Moroccan students as an example here). we are living in a community composed of students from different majors and different social classes. we have different visions for sure, but we are all unified by the most important goal of being active in the society and applying our skills in the different situations we face in our environment. this application is shaped thanks to the various clubs available in the university. It is actually, this factor that pushes students to feel more attracted towards higher acheivements nationally and even internationally.
finally, I think that the quality of learning is highly important, but the responsibility is the factor that helps to prove this quality.

[Badreddine]

We are not all Arabs, not all Amazighs But we are all MOROCCANS... and we are all MUSLIMS

لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله

[HATIM]

First of all, I would invite Sarah to work on her English. A number of qualified experts from different countries ranked AUI as the first University in Morocco. Moreover, a number of top universities in the United States, Asia, and Europe akin to George Town University decided to make a partnership with AUI. In fact, over 95 percent of the university's Alumni find jobs in both public and private sectors, and overseas. We merely believe in results, and the results show that Al Akhawayn University is one of the most successful educational institutions in the region.
Concerning the American system of education, I believe that graduates coming from American Universities have more potential in their professional life than graduates from French universities and that's for a number of reasons. American universities push their students to develop critical thinking while students coming from French universities and colleges have to memorize everything by heart to pass their exams. I have studied in both systems, and I prefer the American system of education way much more than the french one.

[Sarah]

AUI is a good university though it's not the best, it's an alternative for students who couldn't enroll the moroccan schools of engineering after finishing high school (and who can afford the fees)...But whenever a brillant moroccan student has the choice between a national engineering school and AUI, AUI doesn't stand.
The national schools belonging to the national "frensh inspired" system produce good professionals who easily find jobs in national and multinational firms, those graduate students get also easily scholarships for masters and post graduate studies in other european countries and US as well, and they are considered as the best.
Those moroccan schools have offered during years a good and "equal" education and also a mixed environment to moroccan students who come from all layers of the sociaty (which is not the case in AUI, even with the offered scholarships and loans) and are the real face of the moroccan "elite" youth...The "elite" mentioned in this article is of another kind...

[Ra]

To those complaining about the author's description of Moroccans as "Arabs", I say take it up with the Makhzen. Gert's just using the constitutionally defined Arab status of the country. Don't blame others for your/our own shortcomings.

That said, I'd like to share a few thoughts as I am a graduate of the school. AUI is as nice a school as it gets in the country. Although research is non-existing there, it manages to draw in the rare high-caliber professor with the prospect of a bloated salary, cheap life in the Atlas, and the serene environment. I remember the case of an usurper who managed to teach there for a full semester before the administration realized he had forged degrees. But overall, it gives more than enough tools to anyone interested in learning. And that can't be said about the "public" universities. So...good thing French is losing tract. Now, let's see what we can do about the other imported language...

On a personal note, the school stands for that which I abhor. It embodies the schizophrenic Moroccan mindset that professes modernity but runs around kicking and screaming every time someone dares to tiptoe around so-called sacralities (as per the constitution). The country has been living in a paradox since its inception.

[Rudy]

@ sir Walter Moore

It is evident that you failed to grasp the underlying message in the article. The new found success of these elite North African students is not simply based on their acquisition of the English tongue, but in their adaptability to a new world system. Your comment on the other hand, which screams xenophobia, is archaic in its American isolationist undertones and supremacist beliefs. The American public school system is failing, and no - not just in neighborhoods with strong immigrant backgrounds. If America really wants its youth to be competitive, they would do well to learn Mandarin, Arabic, and Spanish and not simply maintain their monolingual status.

[sahra]

Moroccans are North Africans of Amazigh (Berber) descent, not Arab. This is an interesting article but "Elite Africans" or "Elite North-Africans" would be more accurate.

[Salima & Abdellatif]

' Gandhi claims that the use of a foreign medium of instruction in schools had succeeded in destroying the creative and imaginative faculties of students and in making them unworthy trustees of the nation's culture.................He refers to what he calls the curse of the use of a foreign medium of instruction in schools: 'Among the many evils of foreign rule this blighting imposition of a foreign medium upon the youth of the country will be counted by history as one of the greatest. It has sapped the energy of the nation, it has shortened the lives of the pupils, it has estranged them from the masses, it has made education unnecessarily expensive. If this proces is still persisted in, it bids fair to rob the nation of its soul. The sooner therefore educated India shakes itself free from the hypnotic spell of the foreign medium, the better the better it would be for them and the people. The nation is robbed of its soul, in Gandhi's view, when it fails to aquire knowlege of Self, the Athman, which is the primary aim of education. This knowlege is arrived at, not by the study of English literature and culture, but through an understanding of the religious and cultural traditions of the Hindu way of life. Respect for sanscrit and the indigenious languages of India, together with its literary heritage might well be considered the necessary prerequisites for such an understanding".