MP: ‘France’s mission schools undermine religious, national principles’

Moroccan MP Hanan Aterkin has accused French mission schools in Morocco of undermining religious and national principles in the country, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

The Authenticity and Modernity Party’s MP addressed this in a letter to Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita on Thursday.

“Some of the French mission schools in Morocco have started to teach actions and behaviours to children that undermine the depth of the religious and national principles of the country,” the MP asserted in her letter.

The MP also stated that such actions and behaviours had angered the families of the children: “Who did not think that educational spaces would have ever been politicised or used for carrying out unreasonable acts.”

Aterkin cited an example of showing the map of Morocco: “Without its Sahara, preventing employees from performing prayers in isolated places during their work and encouraging homosexually.”

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Last week, parents from the Moroccan city of Kenitra, 36 kilometres north of Rabat, sued a French mission school for teaching students about LGBTQ+ related topics.

Moroccan lawyer Abderrahim Jamai confirmed that parents were shocked to learn that a teacher from the school: “Presented information on homosexuality and abnormal trends and spread insulting ideas on Islamic personalities and symbols that affect [children’s] religious beliefs.”

The MP called for the government to disclose its efforts to push these schools to respect Moroccan culture, religion and traditions.

More than 46,000 students attend 45 French mission schools in Morocco – 70 per cent of them are Moroccan.