La réforme de l'université au Maroc vue par les acteurs universitaires : une étude de cas de l'Université Maohammed V, Rabat-Salé

This study is devoted to the Moroccan public university. It is located in the field of public higher education. Researchers from the university sector in Morocco describe higher education management as being centralized, bureaucratic, rigid and unable to find effective answers to societal concerns. The Moroccan public university is in a crisis: it has been subject to many criticisms about the nature of its services. On the academic front, it is inadequate to meet the social demand for university education. In terms of internal, it is inadapted because of the dysfunction pedagogical, organizational and administrative matters. The public university has not been able to adapt to the private sector by creating viable opportunities for its graduates.   Given the gravity of the situation of public higher education in Morocco, a Special Royal Commission was established, whose mandate was to find a better way to streamline the university system. Thus in 1999 the Commission established a National Charter of Education and Training. The first elements of the new reforms have been implemented since the academic year 2003-2004. This new reform is seen as a way to improve the functioning of public universities. Its main objective is a comprehensive reform of the public university system.  In the researches that have focused on the reform of the Moroccan public university, we found that there was a lack of documentation in relation to key academics and professionals reactions regarding the directions of this reform. In quest for more clarify, we have set to ourselves a double objective: to determine from the perception of academic actors the effects of the orientations of the new reform and its terms; to determine the needed organizational changes for the implementation of the new academic reform to be effective.    The research strategy that best meet our dual objective was an exploratory research. The approach we have chosen was that of an initial study before the implementation of the new reform and another three semesters after of the implantation. The questions under laying our research evolve around the following aspects: were the attitudes of university actors modified by the introduction of the new reform? If yes, in what way have they changed? Has the new reform altered the educational and financial practices in the direction indicated by the charter? What forms of contribution could university actors make for an efficient implementation of the new reform?  Among the fourteen public universities that account in Morocco, we chose the University Mohammed V of Rabat-Salé. This establishment is one of the oldest universities in Morocco. It is characterized by a significant number of departments that have a potential of research and a national reputation. No other university has as many faculties and disciplines: humanities, sciences, economics, law, medicine and pharmacy, dentistry, engineering, technology and more.  The methodology used focused on interviews with academics and professionals in three faculties: 1) Faculty of Arts and Humanities, 2) Faculty of Law, Economic, and Social Sciences, 3) Faculty of Sciences. These Faculties are considered to be pivotal in relation to the new reform. We conducted two series of interviews: the first one in 2001 before the implementation of the new reform and the second one in 2005 after its implantation. We conducted a total of forty-five (45) interviews in two phases: The first one has been between December 2000 and January 2001 and the second one between December 2004 and January 2005.  Our protocol interviews of the first period was composed of specific questions on the initiatives inherent in the implementation of a modular system, procedures to restructure the public university education, the development of special projects, tools, training materials related to the new educational system and proposals, procedures for the university to participate in the labour market. We also asked questions concerning the financial aspects. Finally, to better understand the context, questions were raised about the assessments and recommendations for further reform of the public university.  In the second period of interviews, we collected data to support the department in piloting the objectives of the new university reform, the support of professional bodies to advance the reform, the cooperation of teachers in terms of advancement of teaching practices and requirements that promote effective implementation.  The responses from academic and professional actors have been put to content analysis. We opted for the political model as a conceptual framework of our research. This model has helped us demonstrate the importance of academic and professional actors in the application process of the new reform. It has also helped us understand how the characteristics of the university community can facilitate or block the success of the ongoing reform.  This research shows to which extent the objectives of the new reform fixed by the Special Royal Commission are being realized. In this sense, our research could be helpful at the national level in Morocco: it could help political leaders and university administrators make appropriate decisions to the process of implementation of the new academic reform.

Keyphrases: University education, Change, Renovation, Reform