The international financial crisis of the 1980s and its impact on educational reform in Morocco, with a history of Moroccan education and policy recommendations.

Abstract

The study focuses on effects of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies on the Moroccan educational system. For this purpose, several alternative theories of development are first analyzed, conceptually and as to their historical use. Then problems inherent in the marked indebtedness that has grown in Morocco are examined. Both of these investigations are framed in connection with the severe socio-economic crisis engendered by the low funding available for development in the 1980s and by specific externally imposed policy constraints. Both of these events occurred especially on account of strict demands for debt repayment during that period. The crisis is seen to exist in Third World countries generally, hence the broader interest of the study. So far, the few studies on such problems tend to lack the needed comprehensive approach--including philosophical, historical and social science components--used here in relation to socio-political and economic development issues. Primary sources are then primarily relied on to form a first-ever historical account of the Moroccan educational system, first during the colonial period (to 1956), then from independence to 1980. A description of the current situation in Morocco is also given, notably with respect to educational programs imposed by the World Bank and the IMF, comparing an array of quantifiable indicators (e.g., enrollment, dropout, inputs, outputs, equipment), drawing from interviews with planners, administrators and politicians and using both official and unofficial documents, both from these two outside agencies and from within the country. Finally, an attempt is made to explain the current crisis in terms of interlocking external and internal factors, the latter chiefly administrative and political. Proposals are offered viewing joint and independent local efforts that could be exerted to reduce costs, to develop sound educational policy and to put such development and practice on a sound financial footing. The offered proposals are suggestions that may help to solve the problems of indebtedness. Also, they are an attempt to show how to enable Moroccan institutions to become more flexible and open to new ideas and practices and participation of the people. Moreover, an attempt is made to set out vital elements in the strategies for managing external debt in which Morocco's situation has not been taken adequately into account and which, in part at least, have led to the current crisis. Finally, these proposals are an attempt to develop a planning policy and a corresponding social philosophy of education for Morocco, suitable for meeting the needs of its people, for responding to international challenges and for supporting efforts to take charge of its own development.