Education for Sustainable Development

A book does not come into being in a vacuum. This one was born out of first-hand, long-standing experience of the Moroccan education system; in the corridors of state schools, which echo with voices yet lack resources, and in university lecture theatres that welcome thousands of students without knowing much about their dreams and concerns, during meetings with teachers whose eyes burn with passion for their profession but who come up against a stone wall of bureaucracy on a daily basis, and during discussions with parents who see education as the last accessible rung on the social ladder, even if its steps are crumbling. What struck us more than anything else was not the scale of the worrying figures - despite their gravity - but rather the glaring contrast between the richness of the official discourse on education and the poverty of the reality on the ground. Morocco has indeed never skimped on visions, plans and charters for its institutions, but the gap between what is written and what is experienced has continued to widen from generation to generation, to the point where it has itself become a subject of debate.