Morocco campaign to adopt English instead of French

Activists from Morocco have launched an online campaign to adopt English instead of French in education, describing the latter as “outdated”.

This comes days before the start of the new school year in early October.

Researcher, Abdelilah Al-Mansouri, said: “Yes to English as a first foreign language in Morocco, instead of an obsolete language called French.”

In a post on Facebook, he added: “This is a circulating campaign demanding the removal of the French language as a first foreign language from academic curricula and to replace it with English, as it is the language of the future.”

For her part, activist Farah Ashbab said: “English is the language of learning and science.”

She added in a video posted on Facebook: “Most of the scientific data is published in English.”

“French ranks ninth in the list of the most widely spoken languages in the world, compared to English, which comes first.”

Most of the countries around the world use english as a second language (after the main language) which makes students feel confortable in English conversations. By using english language, Morocco will make a huge step into developement. #نعم_للإنجليزية_بدل_الفرنسية_بالمغرب https://t.co/TZ6SVx9Dvy

— Lina Abou El Marai (@linaaem2) September 18, 2021

For his part, Khaled Nadir said: “Moroccans demand that their children are taught English from a young age as a first language to facilitate their access to foreign universities and enable them to enter the labor market professionally and proficiently for a successful future.”

In mid-August 2019, a law to reform education in Morocco entered into force, one of its provisions was to allow certain subjects to be taught in French.

Article 2 of the law stipulates “the adoption of linguistic rotation,” by teaching some subjects, especially scientific and technical ones, or parts of some subjects, in a foreign language or languages.

The Moroccan constitution states that “Arabic remains the official language of the state, and the state works to protect, develop and broaden its use, and to consider Tamazight also as an official language of the state, as it is a common asset for all Moroccans without exception.”

READ: Morocco to include Jewish history and culture in its school curriculum