A symposium under the title of :"Together, to the excellence"

Article and interview by:

                     Adnane Salmi

               Zakaria Ayad

On Saturday, November 30^th 2013, Al Amal Club presented by Teacher Lahcen Behbawi, Teacher Mohamed Lemsafi and Student Hanane Krizza, Organized a symposium in Salah Eddine Al Ayoubi's High school with the presence of it's principal Mr. Ahmed Mskour, Under the title of :” Together, to the excellence”.

The symposium started with Mr. Lemsafi thanking the audience for coming, and giving a word concerning what will the event be about. Then he gave the word to Mr. Behbawi who again welcomed the audience, and presented some caricatures showing the reality of the educational institutions in Morocco, He then talked about the picture of a perfect student and the responsibilities of the teacher. And finished with a call to change.Student Hanane then talked about a survey she distributed to students in the high school which contained questions such as : « Why do you come to school ? » « What's your impressions on the teachers ? » « What method do you think is best for teaching ? » « What are the reasons of disturbance ? » etc... And as well finished with a call to change. After that, Mr. Mskour Talked about ''School Life'', Defined it and listed it's characteristics, Then asked the students in the audience to « profit from it, as it is a valuable thing » .

Mr. Lemsafi then opened the door for interventions, There was a lot of giving and taking, so many interventions were made to wich the teachers, student and principal responded to. The event ended with a word from Mr. Lemsafi thanking again the audience for coming, and for making the symposium succesful.And asked the audience to joing him for a cup of tea.

After the event had finished, we had the chance to interview Mr. Behbawi and ask him few questions :

Interviewers : Thank you very much Mr. Behbawi for accepting our request, The first question is : Where did the inspiration come to you to organize this event ?

Mr. Behbawi : Well, honestly the idea isn't mine or anyone's in particular. The idea was submitted by the members of the club, They have asked for such meetings that can improve the relationship between the students and the teacher. And that's where the Idea came from.

Interviewers: Concerning the club, can you provide us with some information about it ?

Mr. Behbawi : Of course ! Al Amal club for local affairs, rights education and citizenship was founded last year. The name was suggested by students/members. We had many goals such as the openness of the educational institutions to the surrounding, evoking the society in the heart of the educational institutions and many more goals. The club in general as you can see from it's name divides it's activities to three categories ; Citizenship, Human rights and local affairs.

Interviewers : What about the symposium, What are your thoughts about it ? In your opinion, Did it go well ?

Mr. Behbawi : Honestly, The symposium exceeded all the expectations, Because it's title was « together » (or let's help each other) which means communication, and as you have witnessed there was a lot of applauding and careful listening and also when we opened the door for interventions, there was a huge number of people who wanted to ask questions, even the time wasn't enough to answer all of them. And the biggest win as you have seen is the presence of the three sides;The administration, the teacher and the student and everyone had given his point of view, It was special because everyone believed in the importance of cooperation .

Interviewers : What were your expectations before the event ?

Mr. Behbawi : I was a little worried, because usually when you ask students to participate in such event they don't want to. And when I came I was surprised to find that the hall was full. And this is a proof that the students have a will to benefit.

Interviewers: How important do you think such meetings are ? And with which frequently do you think they should take place ? Weekly ? Monthly ?

Mr. Behbawi : Nowadays, the roles of the educational institutions have changed, an educational institution is no longer the blackboard and chalk as it used to be ! The institutions should rise with their functions towards the society and the individual, They should be filled with life. When a student comes to school, he comes to gather his thoughts, to communicate and to show his brilliance in every domain. For the second part of the question, concerning the frequency. Preferably, weekly activities would be the best, But we have to keep in consideration the studies of the student, so that we don't do these activities at the expense of his studies. Because in the end it's all about the student.

Interviewers : Thank you very much for your time Mr. Behbawi.

Mr. Behbawi : Thanks to you for your interest in this.