The exam’s Comprehension Text
[1] Brain drain is a major problem facing developing countries such as Morocco.The opportunities offered by new information technologies in western countries have attracted waves of Moroccan computer science graduates to migrate to Europe. They go there in search of higher salaries or better working conditions.
[2] In 1986, Dr. Mehdi ElMandjra, the Moroccan researcher who used to work as Deputy Director of UNESCO in human and social sciences, warned against the negative impacts of brain migration on the development of Morocco. In his book Premiere Guerre Civilisationnelle (1991), he mentioned that more than 700 Moroccan researchers at the doctoral level work for Le Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Morocco, however, has not benefited from their expertise although the cost of educating each of them is about 1,000,000 Dhs.
[3] On his part, Professor Khalid El Hariry , the president of the Moroccan Federation of Information Technology, says that: “since 1999, the number of Moroccan immigrants abroad has noticeably increased. Nearly 60% of the students who graduated from L’Institut National de Postes et Télécommunications (INPT) left Morocco in 2000.
[4] Ahmed Akartit, an engineer in a mobile phone company in Rabat, said: “The technology experts left Morocco as salaries here reach a maximum of $800 a month. In Europe, these engineers will receive salaries ten times higher than what Moroccan private or public firms can offer them.” The Moroccan government argues that it cannot increase salaries at a time it has to reduce the high rate of unemployment.
[5] Conversely, Morocco wants its citizens living abroad to come back although their money transfers are its second foreign currency source after tourism. But many expatriates in Europe say they have worked hard to build a successful career and returning home would be risky and uncertain.
[6] Ahmed Najm, an economist, stressed the need for Morocco to show more care for its experts and grant more importance to scientific research. Otherwise, the country will be out of the race. “Morocco cannot benefit from its human potential unless it takes full advantage of existing opportunities to develop science and technology,” he said.
Adapted from: http://www.angelfire.com/bc2/walid98/admira.html
National exam | Scientific Streams | Catch-up Session 2014 with Answers
