Morocco Boosts English Language Programs in Universities to Enhance Research and Education

Morocco is working to strengthen the learning of English in universities to improve scientific research and higher education. Abdellatif Miraoui, Minister of Higher Education, has announced that three Moroccan universities have been selected to test language support programs through various platforms. The programs aim to help students reach levels B1 and B2 - intermediate and upper-intermediate language levels.

To succeed in this reform, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports will have to coordinate on a platform. Once this step is taken, Moroccan students will be able to benefit from language support programs from primary school to the university level. The language support programs will be taught 30% on-site and 70% remotely. In total, more than 20,000 first-year students took proficiency tests in September.

The Ministry of Higher Education has created new subjects for the 2022-2023 school year that are taught exclusively in English, including 21 training programs in private and partner universities, ten bachelor’s degrees, seven master’s programs and one doctorate in medicine, said Abdellatif Miraoui, adding that several Moroccan universities have included new subjects taught in English in their programs.

This year, about 12,500 university students in Morocco will learn at least one subject in English. Starting this school year, doctoral students must provide the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and the DALF (Diplôme supérieur de langue française) to prove their proficiency in French and English. "To become university professors, they [the doctoral students] must have expertise" in several areas, such as language and digital skills, the minister also stressed.