Higher Education: Recent Developments

Higher education is of particular importance in mapping the Moroccan education system because it illustrates the complexities of simultaneously attending to globalizing requirements while accounting for the local intricacies in terms of resources, economy, sociocultural conditions and sociopolitical exigencies. This chapter focuses on the new legislations, structures and practices in universities. Since higher education is largely regarded as a fundamental sector in the development of the country, this chapter discusses how universities are contributing to the construction of certain perspectives and beliefs that may either support or cripple the progress of the major projects mandated post-independence in 1956. In terms of analyzing the current state of affairs, this chapter unpacks the Licence-Master-Doctorat (LMD) system as well as the shift towards the bachelor system which was abruptly revoked after a short time of mandating it. This chapter also unravels the underlying frameworks that have shaped the advertised aims of higher education in Morocco and its situatedness within local needs and aspirations. The analysis of higher education within this chapter is not comprehensive as it foregrounds certain aspects deemed most significant.