Morocco has signed the Revised Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Diplomas and Degrees in Higher Education in the Arab States. The objective is to put an end to the exodus of talent from these States and to breathe new life into the mobility of students and teacher-researchers.
It’s done. The Revised Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Diplomas and Degrees in Higher Education in the Arab States has just been adopted. Gathered in Paris at the headquarters of Unesco, the Member States of the Arab region of the UN organization signed the Convention last Wednesday during the international conference of States, co-chaired by Abdellatif Miraoui, Minister of Higher Education, of scientific research and innovation and his Egyptian counterpart, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar. This is the fifth regional recognition convention to be revised to take into account the unprecedented transformations that have taken place in higher education systems, in policies and, more particularly, in the areas of international cooperation and student mobility. Following the example of Morocco, the representatives of six other States (out of 19) have signed the convention. These are Mauritania, Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar. The other countries will do so later.
“This convention is important for young people in Morocco and the Arab world insofar as it will allow young people to be mobile and to study abroad in Arab countries”, emphasizes Abdellatif Miraoui.
“It will give a new dynamic to the mobility of young students, as well as to staff and teacher-researchers”, continues the Minister. The Arab States are home to less than 10% of higher education student numbers. However, they show higher student mobility than the world average, for both incoming and outgoing students. Over the past 20 years, the number of higher education providers has tripled in the region, the diversity of degree offerings has exploded, and new ways of learning, including digital ones, have developed to expand access to higher education. The result of a long process, the consultative process began five years ago and was carried out with officials as well as international experts from the region. Two consultations took place in 2017, in Sharm el-Sheikh and Cairo, and a third was held in Rabat in 2018. The final version of the text was then approved during the final consultation meeting organized in line, in June 2021, by the UNESCO Regional Office for Education, in Beirut.
This agreement facilitates the process of recognition of higher diplomas, and allows young people to ask to settle professionally in the signatory countries. “This document is of great importance for Morocco and the signatory countries. It is a very great advantage for teacher-researchers that mobility is simplified and carried out in an international framework”, explains the Minister.
Recalling that Morocco has ratified practically all the conventions relating to education and higher education, at the global level. The signatory States affirm their firm resolve to cooperate closely in order to encourage, in the interest of all States Parties, the widest and most effective use of the human resources available in the fields of training and research to to help accelerate the development of States Parties, but also to promote regional and international cooperation for the purposes of the recognition of university studies and certificates and to facilitate academic and professional exchanges and the widest possible mobility of members of the teaching staff, students and researchers in the region. They also undertake to facilitate the recognition of studies, certificates and degrees issued by other States Parties in order to enable students to undertake or pursue higher education, to constantly improve and develop study programs and educational planning methods in States parties.
All this taking into account the Arab specificity and identity and the imperatives of economic, social and cultural development and, in order to put an end to the exodus of talent from the Arab States, strive to offer teachers and researchers a stimulating work environment, in which the freedom of teaching and the independence of higher education institutions are respected”. The signatory states of this convention also promise to encourage creativity in higher education and the production of relevant, accessible, up-to-date, transparent and reliable information and the sharing of this information between the organizations, parties and regions concerned. They also undertake to create a quality control body to facilitate the accreditation process.
Tilila El Ghouari / ECO Inspirations