The second half of our day on Wednesday at the Department of Vocational Training involved our team playing a NOVA video and then each of us explaining what we did at NOVA and our interest in a professional relationship with Morocco. We had been made aware that the Moroccan interest in community colleges was due to their high high school dropout rate and upwards of 25% youth unemployment. They follow a rigid French system in which only the best go to University---the others are stuck in low wage earning sectors. There is no flexibility to this system. If you under achieve while young, you are trapped. We do a lot of explaining what a community college is.....open access.....remedial training in English and Math if needed...career training.....or University(Bachelor) access....or adult learning of any kind. You can switch directions mid stream. You can change your mind. If you messed up at 17 we give you another path. If you want to learn Russian at 80 you can. If you are a lawyer who wants to be a nurse, fine. If your work need you to learn Java, there is a weekend course at Workforce Development. Many top level Moroccan officials have been made aware of this. The Director of the National office of training, OFPPT, heard Dr. Jill Biden(English at Annadale) speak to this in Switzerland and became intrigued. we are here to help mid level decision makers in the government understand our system and to develop a Moroccan model along the lines of our community college ideals. There is a lot of enthusiasm at the table. More so that I've ever felt in other countries when explaining it. I as a teacher am always interested in student networking and collaboration as well as conveying my own teaching philosophy. It is a long day but very fruitful.
One of the women in the Moroccan delegation has Google glass I think---she has a little rear view mirror looking thing on the side of her glasses. Like other places, cell phones ring, people get up....some check email. Most of the conversations are in French. All educated Moroccans speak French. It is surprising how much you can pick up just by listening but we have a very capable translator. He is very busy. I am reminded of my friends in Russia with linguistics training---such an enviable skill. Such intelligence and concentration is required...they move seamlessly from language to language, all the while grasping complex intellectual ideas and trying to determine what we all mean. New people enter the room often....men who know each other kissing on both cheeks. Moroccans have a "look" to them-----they remind me a little of Egyptians in facial features. Many are very fair---sort of red-heads---many are very dark and swarthy. Their dress is extremely varied. Contemporary, hipster, covered or not, some dressed like Western business-people, others look like they walked out of a Lawrence of Arabia adaptation. Different kinds of hats, scarves, hoods abound. Nobody seems to bat an eye, although Jennifer Lopez caused quite a stir here recently for giving an almost X-rated performance. At the beach it is what I've always called a "sausage party"....almost all men. No Euro shorts. Mostly American surf style shorts. Women are 1 in 25, most covered completely in black. Some in bikini tops but wearing shorts.
The next day, Thursday is a busy day. We meet at OFPPT headquarters in Casablanca, driven in two cars by our trusty drivers. The morning involves more presenting by the Moroccans, more learning by us---then some of us brainstorming, discussing aspects of our work that might appeal to them. The afternoon involves us driving all over Casablanca, visiting a number of huge expensive workforce training centers----one is an aeronautics facility. One an auto manufacturing facility. Last there is a visit to a private business school teaching practical skills in partnership with the Moroccan government.
