Primary and Secondary Education in Morocco: From Access to School into Generalization to Dropout

This article provides an overview of school wastage, namely repetition and dropout in primary and secondary schools in Morocco. It describes how this phenomenon has progressed since school was implemented in the 1960s. It shows that the fundamental principles of the education system established in the aftermath of Morocco’s independence in 1956 did not succeed in providing a clear, stable education program. The article concludes that despite the tremendous efforts made in enrollment, school wastage persists, and the educational system is still trapped in the idealistic principles of the 1960s, causing education to flounder in the dramatic triangle of schooling, generalization, and dropout

Outlook on Student Retention in Higher Education University Reforms in Morocco

High student attrition rates at university have become one of the most challenging issues in higher education worldwide in the last five decades. Moroccan universities are no exception. At-risk students drop out of studies for a plethora of reasons, and the attrition rate is increasing despite the efforts made in education reforms carried out since 1999. This article reviews the most important components of the higher education reforms that have been adopted in Moroccan higher education in their endeavor to enhance student retention in university. These components are chronologically reviewed, first in the National Charter of Education and Training (NCET) launched in 1999, second in the Emergency Plan conducted in 2009-2012, and finally in the latest Strategic Vision of Reform 2015-2030. It is concluded that more efforts are necessary to strike a balance between quantity and quality in terms of student retention in university education

Mosquito control by abatement programmes in the United States: perspectives and lessons for countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa and the United States are both large, heterogeneous geographies with a diverse range of ecologies, climates and mosquito species diversity which contribute to disease transmission and nuisance biting. In the United States, mosquito control is nationally, and regionally coordinated and in so much as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) provides guidance, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides pesticide registration, and the states provide legal authority and oversight, the implementation is usually decentralized to the state, county, or city level. Mosquito control operations are organized, in most instances, into fully independent mosquito abatement districts, public works departments, local health departments. In some cases, municipalities engage independent private contractors to undertake mosquito control within their jurisdictions. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where most vector-borne disease endemic countries lie, mosquito control is organized centrally at the national level. In this model, the disease control programmes (national malaria control programmes or national malaria elimination programmes (NMCP/NMEP)) are embedded within the central governments' ministries of health (MoHs) and drive vector control policy development and implementation. Because of the high disease burden and limited resources, the primary endpoint of mosquito control in these settings is reduction of mosquito borne diseases, primarily, malaria. In the United States, however, the endpoint is mosquito control, therefore, significant (or even greater) emphasis is laid on nuisance mosquitoes as much as disease vectors. The authors detail experiences and learnings gathered by the delegation of African vector control professionals that participated in a formal exchange programme initiated by the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA), the University of Notre Dame, and members of the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA), in the United States between the year 2021 and 2022. The authors highlight the key components of mosquito control operations in the United States and compare them to mosquito control programmes in SSA countries endemic for vector-borne diseases, deriving important lessons that could be useful for vector control in SSA

Moroccan American Studies: Assets and Challenges

Mohamed El Amine Moumine’s essay, published originally in Moroccan American Studies, edited by Mohamed Benzidan (2010), as an account of the development of American Studies in Morocco, is here republished on the heels of a significant international conference held in Marrakesh, Morocco, in December 2012 on the timely topic of the Arab Spring’s impact on the teaching of American Studies in Arab universities. The conference, organized by Professor Moumine and the Moroccan American Studies faculty at Université Hassan II Mohammedia–Casablanca was a continuation of the inaugural Cairo conference in 2004, which Moumine describes as the event that opened discussions among Americanists from the US and Arab countries on the topic of American Studies. Observing that “Morocco was the first nation to recognize the newly sovereign United States in 1777,” Moumine speaks from the perspective of a long-held diplomatic bond between these two nations. Detailing the role of “comparative cultural pedagogy” in Université Hassan II Mohammedia–Casablanca’s Moroccan American Studies programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, Moumine’s essay offers an exciting example of transnational American Studies at work

Moroccan American Studies: Assets and Challenges

Mohamed El Amine Moumine’s essay, published originally in Moroccan American Studies, edited by Mohamed Benzidan (2010), as an account of the development of American Studies in Morocco, is here republished on the heels of a significant international conference held in Marrakesh, Morocco, in December 2012 on the timely topic of the Arab Spring’s impact on the teaching of American Studies in Arab universities. The conference, organized by Professor Moumine and the Moroccan American Studies faculty at Université Hassan II Mohammedia–Casablanca was a continuation of the inaugural Cairo conference in 2004, which Moumine describes as the event that opened discussions among Americanists from the US and Arab countries on the topic of American Studies. Observing that “Morocco was the first nation to recognize the newly sovereign United States in 1777,” Moumine speaks from the perspective of a long-held diplomatic bond between these two nations. Detailing the role of “comparative cultural pedagogy” in Université Hassan II Mohammedia–Casablanca’s Moroccan American Studies programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, Moumine’s essay offers an exciting example of transnational American Studies at work

Outlook on Student Retention in Higher Education University Reforms in Morocco

High student attrition rates at university have become one of the most challenging issues in higher education worldwide in the last five decades. Moroccan universities are no exception. At-risk students drop out of studies for a plethora of reasons, and the attrition rate is increasing despite the efforts made in education reforms carried out since 1999. This article reviews the most important components of the higher education reforms that have been adopted in Moroccan higher education in their endeavor to enhance student retention in university. These components are chronologically reviewed, first in the National Charter of Education and Training (NCET) launched in 1999, second in the Emergency Plan conducted in 2009-2012, and finally in the latest Strategic Vision of Reform 2015-2030. It is concluded that more efforts are necessary to strike a balance between quantity and quality in terms of student retention in university education.

Primary and Secondary Education in Morocco: From Access to School into Generalization to Dropout

This article provides an overview of school wastage, namely repetition and dropout in primary and secondary schools in Morocco. It describes how this phenomenon has progressed since school was implemented in the 1960s. It shows that the fundamental principles of the education system established in the aftermath of Morocco’s independence in 1956 did not succeed in providing a clear, stable education program. The article concludes that despite the tremendous efforts made in enrollment, school wastage persists, and the educational system is still trapped in the idealistic principles of the 1960s, causing education to flounder in the dramatic triangle of schooling, generalization, and dropout

Sarcome myéloïde du sinus maxillaire : un diagnostic difficile

Introduction : Le sarcome myéloïde est une tumeur maligne localisée, constituée de cellules myéloïdes et/ou monocytaires anormales. Le diagnostic est souvent difficile. Observation : Nous rapportons un cas de sarcome myéloïde du sinus maxillaire chez une femme de 47 ans. Considéré d'abord comme un sarcome d'Ewing du fait d'une expression du CD99, des investigations ultérieures montrant une expression de la myéloperoxydase et du CD68 imposèrent le diagnostic de sarcome myéloïde. Discussion : Cette présentation anatomoclinique rare d'un sarcome myéloïde sinusien illustre la difficulté diagnostique d'un sarcome indifférencié, qui a nécessité des investigations immunohistochimiques poussées comportant la recherche de la myéloperoxydase et du CD68

Screening new tuberculosis patients in Mali for rifampicin resistance at 2 months

Objective/background: The recent call for universal drug susceptibility testing (DST) for all tuberculosis (TB) patients will be difficult to meet in settings where Xpert rollout is limited, such as low prevalence of HIV and Multi-drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR) settings. As recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, the success of TB treatment is measured by Ziehl–Neelsen (ZN) microscopy or auramine–rhodamine fluorescent microscopy (FM) on sputum, in which conversion to negative smear at 2 months (M) is an important predictor of treatment success, defined as a negative smear at 5M. The sputum smear that fails to convert to negative at 5M are screened for rifampicin resistance. We tested in a prospective study whether an early screen for rifampicin resistance, based on FM results at 2M, could detect MDR patients early, rather than screening all patients with GeneXpert MTB/Rif at baseline. Methods: Between February 2015 and August 2016, we enrolled new TB patients in an IRB-approved prospective cohort study at four health centers in Bamako district. Fresh sputum samples were collected at 2M and 5M to measure FM smear conversion. Patients who failed to show a decline in FM positivity at 2M (moderate or many Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB)) had their sputum tested in GeneXpert to detect rifampicin resistance. Patients who had any AFB seen at 5M were also tested using GeneXpert. Results: Of the 570 patients who were enrolled in the study, 22 (3.8%) died and 27 (4.7%) were lost to follow-up. The prevalence of HIV and TB coinfection was 12.4%, and 65.6% of the patients were male. At 2M, 32 out of 429 patients still had moderate or many AFBs in FM, and were screened by Xpert, of whom 5 (15.6%) tested rifampicin-resistant and were referred for MDR treatment. Of the 310 patients who completed 5M of treatment, 35 (11.3%) met the definition of failure (few or moderate AFB in FM) and had their sputum tested in Xpert; moreover, four (11.4%) demonstrated rifampicin resistance. In total, 67 (21.6% of 310) patients were screened by Xpert, of whom nine were detected to have MDR (or 13.4% of those screened). Conclusion: Although we cannot exclude additional MDR patients having been missed by our screening strategy, our screening algorithm at 2M detected five out of nine MDR patients. Detecting patients at 2M allowed for earlier referral, and potentially less acquired drug resistance and lower mortality. This strategy may be advantageous while awaiting further rollout of Xpert machines that will permit universal DST