French Court Blocks Arabic Lessons in Morocco’s French-Managed School

It all started with a decision taken in 2019 by the director of the André Chénier primary and nursery school in Rabat, a French-approved educational establishment whose direct management is ensured by the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE). He had decided to make a weekly 5-hour Arabic language teaching compulsory from this 2019 school year, reports Medias24. Opposed to this decision, two parents of students had filed an administrative appeal with the deputy cultural advisor in charge of French education, at the French embassy in Morocco, to request its cancellation by the Council of State.

In January 2020, the Council of State transferred the file to the Paris administrative court. The following year, the latter canceled the decision of the school, but also that of the deputy cultural advisor at the French embassy. Dissatisfied, the AEFE which manages the school appealed the judgment. Relying on Article 10 of the Declaration of Intent between France and Morocco, signed on November 16, 2017, it explained that the decision to add two additional weekly hours of Arabic lessons was taken "by the joint evaluation commission" and consists of a "co-teaching of a subject taught in Arabic, simultaneously by a French school teacher and an Arabic language teacher, in accordance with the experimental system called EMILE". In addition, this system (teaching a subject integrated into a foreign language) "responds to the common will expressed by France and Morocco to strengthen their cooperation, particularly in the field of education".

Not enough to convince the Paris administrative court of appeal. It rejected the AEFE’s request through its ruling made public on January 25, 2023, thus siding with the two parents of students opposed to the decision of the André Chénier school in Rabat.