French Court Upholds Arabic Language Requirement at School in Morocco

This is the end of a long administrative dispute. In 2019, Moroccan parents had challenged the decision of the French school André Chénier, in Rabat, to increase to five hours the weekly teaching in Arabic language for students in grades CE1 and CM2. A scheduling adjustment that was not to their liking. They then brought the case before the administrative court of Paris. In 2021, they won their case. The court’s decision was confirmed in January 2023 by the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal. The decision of the establishment was then canceled.

Dissatisfied, the French school André Chénier appealed to the Council of State. The latter reopened the file and made a decision. On December 23, it canceled the ruling of the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal to the great dismay of Moroccan parents. These excesses of the total weekly timetable "must be considered as an arrangement to the organization of schooling [...] and to strengthen cooperation with foreign education systems," stressed the supreme administrative judge.