Educational Sovereignty and Artificial Intelligence Challenges: The Case of Morocco

Abstract

This article presents a concise and focused analysis of the most significant threats to educational sovereignty in Morocco in the age of artificial intelligence, highlighting the concept of educational sovereignty in light of the Moroccan media and the political debate on “ministries of sovereignty.” The article outlines the most important initiatives and projects in Morocco to overcome the challenges threatening the educational system and educational sovereignty in the era of AI systems, which have become unavoidable tools in the learning process and classroom practices. The study focuses mainly on the effects of the use of foreign languages; the proliferation of foreign schools and transnational universities in Morocco; the impacts of the intensive use of foreign EdTech by Moroccan teachers and learners; the platforms and programs disseminated by big techs such as GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft); and finally, the threats posed by the absence of a national cloud computing structure for protecting digital sovereignty and safeguarding the personal data of learners and the educational system. The article attempts to argue that Morocco’s plans to create a digital ecosystem capable of protecting its educational sovereignty still face many subjective and objective obstacles.