We rarely care about the fact that it becomes imperative to interfere with our students' decisions concerning their future careers but only with their consent, of course, and after long negotiations. This is essential for the sort of education they desire to have. They should assume the responsibility of their choice but we have to guide them to be confident with their choices based on their skills, personal competences and the needs of the labour market - which becomes an essential factor influencing our educational system. We have to talk economy. It is an obligation now.
Why do we have many unemployed graduate people while many sectors are in urgent need of qualified skilful workers? This is not a question! It is a bitter sarcastic fact.
Our educational system becomes almost an irony. It is badly outdated. Therefore, it should be renewed completely to be more cogent and practical so as to meet the expectations of the students and their parents; as well as those of the country in the first place.
Where the problem lies!
Students are keen on getting independent from their parents' supervision, provision and control. They long to take charge of their own lives as early as possible but this feeling is more accentuated when they get adults themselves. They decline to turn to their parents for help or advice when they precisely encounter some financial troubles.
Parents, in their turn, are fed up with spending a lot on their children's education to eventually end up in the streets without respectful jobs. They refuse to accept it, but they could do nothing about it except for urging their younger children to quit school early.
The country also estimates that any citizen has a particular duty towards it. But as unemployed, these citizens become rather a burden on the country's budget. What if these jobless people are doctors, engineers and PhD holders.
What solutions!
Because of the long years of stagnation and carelessness, a huge gap was dug between our educational system and the labour market. It is high time we did something serious about it. This gap will get larger and larger if we keep ignoring it. In order to put an end to this critical situation and look for better alternatives, the government should analyse our educational system in relation to our school economical environment. The main question should be asked openly and without false pride! Our school suffers from systemic, programmatic, and administrative problems. It is no longer practical, so what did we do - or better, what did not we do to arrive to this stage?
Did we supply students with the tools which really helped them with their future professional life? If we did, why there are a lot of jobless graduates, now? But if we didn't, and we actually didn't, we should assess our educational system and see what we can do to solve this embarrassing situation for the students, the parents and the country economy above all. We should primarily think of a way to reintegrate and provide jobs for those troops of unemployed diploma-holders. This could be done through a second chance-training program based on vocational skills; which couple with the labour market needs. It is obvious that the main problem of our educational system lies in the reality that there was and still is no clear route from education to employment. Most of our graduate students have a lot of theory but almost no skills. Now, what about a school-to-work strategy? It sounds a convenient cute plan of action.
What's that?
Well, we should redirect our educational policy to serve the goals able to answer this ambiguity of continually teach and train students for useless future projects. Our educational system goes bankrupt; we must admit it. Thus if it is impossible to make a revolution in it, we at least can mend it to meet the new coming students' expectations. The supplied efforts should be directed toward professional training rather than general theoretical knowledge. They also should adopt a school-to-work approach to education and usually have an eye on the labour market and work arena to, immediately, react to its unexpected changing needs. We're no longer in need of thinkers who would argue if the egg was before the hen. Reforms in finance and Educational administration are urgently claimed. The school programs should equally focus on raising skill levels. Is it all?
Think twice
Our politicians should think of preparing a global schedule of how things would seem if we adapt this or that system to our education. We are doomed now to cope with the essence of Globalization and manage to, progressively, push the reform experience to its limits. We also should be equipped with a strong will to shun our trivial personal misunderstandings and differences. "No politics in Education, please!" is the slogan we have to raise to reach well-defined goals for the benefit of our country. Let economics talk for the welfare and the prosperity of the Moroccan people.
We should adopt new programs which appeal to the new era in which qualified skilled workforce is predominant. That's to say a work-oriented learning. Like professional-formation (Al-Takwin Al-Mihani), this new approach to education assisted by career guidance will certainly give way to broader horizons in the field of employment: New factories will be built, new businesses will be set up and new trade projects will emerge. This sort of educational new strategy will contribute greatly to linking job training to long-term economical development goals. Because it is an employment and training system vocation, it will surely encourage some students to self-employ themselves by managing a small business investment, which could provide new job opportunities for others. In this case, the banks have a lot to do to prevent such initiatives from failure or bankruptcy through backing them with ideas, necessary capitals and facilities while the government could encourage them with long tax-free periods.
Conclusion.
Well-educated and highly-skilled workers are more required in the modern labour market. In response to this we have to redirect our educational policy and concentrate it on the socially productive skills as it is the case in all developed economies around the globe. It is not a handicap if we learn from other countries experiences through adopting them critically to avoid the negative sides and adapting the results to our social and economical particularities. Thus, our school system should be rebuilt to fulfil its new function. Last of all, the adoption of ESP methodology in our schools should totally be in coherence with our economy ambitions; and the classroom learning should be in complete harmony with the expectations of our students. That's to say, it should be matched with the requirements of the local and European labour market. Why European? This is another topic to tackle some time in the future.
Where the problem lies!
What solutions!
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