Evaluation and Audit of a Sample of Peripheral Higher Education Institutions
At the request of the supervisory Ministry, the Agency carried out, between February 15 and March 17, 2022, an evaluation and audit operation on a sample of eight peripheral higher education institutions. The aim was to find out how these institutions operate and what difficulties they face. This operation also aimed to identify the good practices of these university institutions in order to identify ways to develop and improve them.
To carry out this mission, the Agency’s experts relied on all the documents and data provided by these institutions. The evaluation focused mainly on governance, the management of support functions, training, scientific research, student support, student life and, finally, the services provided by the institution to society. The site visits to these institutions took place according to the schedule below. At the end of the operation, the experts drafted the corresponding expert reports, in which they noted the strengths of these institutions as well as some weaknesses that require further improvement efforts. The experts also formulated a set of recommendations to improve and develop these institutions in the various areas covered by the evaluation and audit operation.
| University | Institution | Date of visit |
|---|---|---|
| Cadi Ayyad University – Marrakech | Multidisciplinary Faculty of Safi | 15/02/2022 |
| Cadi Ayyad University – Marrakech | Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences – Kelaat Sraghna | 17/03/2022 |
| Ibn Zohr University – Agadir | National School of Business and Management – Dakhla | 25/02/2022 |
| Ibn Zohr University – Agadir | Higher School of Technology – Guelmim | 26/02/2022 |
| Ibn Zohr University – Agadir | Multidisciplinary Faculty – Ouarzazate | 23/02/2022 |
| Mohammed I University – Oujda | Multidisciplinary Faculty – Nador | 14/02/2022 |
| Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University – Fez | Multidisciplinary Faculty – Taza | 18/02/2022 |
| Sultan Moulay Slimane University – Beni Mellal | Higher School of Technology – Khenifra | 15/02/2022 |
This audit operation brought to light a number of weaknesses relating to the area of governance, in particular:
- The absence of action plans in line with the ambitions set out in the institution’s development strategy;
- The instability of administrative human resources;
- A budget that does not keep pace with the increase in student numbers;
- The difficulty of executing the budget;
- Partnership and international cooperation that require further development;
- Some institutions need to work on developing their internal and external communication policy;
- The absence of a quality assurance policy;
- The weakness of the institution’s plan for training and developing skills;
- The weakness or absence of student and teacher mobility;
- The absence of university residence halls and housing;
- The absence of a culture of self-evaluation of programs;
- The decline in the rate of teaching staff (permanent teachers) and administrative staff;
- The reliance, in most cases, on visiting teachers;
- The absence of a library in some institutions;
- The absence of foreign students in these institutions because of weak external communication;
- The weakness of research in some cases.