Heeno International

Organiser: The Gambia Students' Association in Morocco (GASAM)

Sponsor: Heeno International

Objective:� to introduce students to essential maths concepts and notions necessary for success at university level

Beneficiaries: 26 new Gambian students

Tutor:�Mr. Alagie F. Nget

Duration: 1 month (August 2017), 4 classes per week (2 hrs)

Venue: Moulay Ismail University Hostel, Rabat, Morocco

The Gambia Students' Association in Morocco would like to once again extend its sincerest gratitude towards Heeno International, which has consistently provided financial assistance toward's GASAM's educational programs, for sponsoring this year's Maths Classes.

It is no secret that students from Anglophone countries, The Gambia included, often find it difficult to adjust to the tough mathematics courses embedded in the Moroccan curriculum. As a result, for the past four years maths classes have been organised by GASAM and supported by Heeno International for new students after completion of their French Year, thereby facilitating their integration into the Moroccan university system.

The objective of the Maths Classes was to equip Gambian students, after completing their preparatory French classes, with essential mathematics notions consistent with university standard mathematics in the French system.� The aim was to bridge the gap between the basic mathematics taught in the Gambian educational system and considerably higher level of mathematics taught in�Moroccan schools which follow the French system of education.

Employing the services of a bilingual maths tutor, a total of 26 new students benefited from the Maths classes for a period of one month (August 2017) at the Moulay Ismail University Hostel in Rabat.

Four classes, each lasting at least two hours, were organised per week. During this period, students became familiar with pre-calculus and calculus as well as other necessary maths topics. Students were also able to learn mathematics terminology in French, which will help them to follow lectures more easily at university. Students were encouraged to participate in class, and benefited from the bilingual abilities of the tutor to better understand lessons.

At the end of the classes and a few months into their various university courses ranging from economics to engineering, students were asked to give feedback on how useful the maths classes were in helping to overcome challenges and adapt to their new courses:

From the positive feedback we received from the students we can conclude that the Maths Classes achieved the objectives that were set out by GASAM and that it was, on the whole, a success. Suggestions were also made by students to increase the duration of the classes (i.e more than one month) and to extend the classes to other maths-related subjects such as accounting. The 26 students who benefitted from the classes have now been oriented towards different courses throughout the Kingdom of Morocco, getting ready to become leaders of tomorrow.