Morocco: cancelling Arabic lessons has ‘dangerous dimensions’ say MPs

The Moroccan parliament has called for the education minister to be questioned about a French court ruling that extra Arabic language classes at the French School in Morocco should be cancelled, Rai Al-Youm reported on Wednesday.

Two new Arabic lessons were to be added to the syllabus at the school run by the French Cultural Mission in Rabat. This was in accordance with a new law ratified by the Moroccan parliament which stipulates that teaching Arabic to Moroccan students should be reinforced following a controversy about the status of the language.

Moroccan media, rights groups and political parties condemned the ruling and described the court decision as “bizarre”. According to Rai Al-Youm, the court acted after a complaint filed by families of students who attend the school.

Moroccan MPs said that the ruling “has dangerous dimensions” for Morocco’s national sovereignty. They called for the parliamentary Education, Culture and Communication Committee to be convened to discuss the mechanism that ensures the commitment to Moroccan law and culture of foreign education institutions in the country.

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