Morocco Debates Language of Instruction as Teachers Protest French in Science Classes

The group disapproves of "the teaching of scientific and technical subjects in French and the implementation of an undeclared plan imposing the Frenchification of education in Morocco, in violation of Article 5 of the Moroccan Constitution and the provisions of the framework law". It adds that the principals of colleges and high schools will be held legally responsible "if they eliminate the classes where scientific subjects are taught in Arabic".

"The objective behind the abandonment of the Frenchification of education is to face undeclared orientations and plans that were initially applied at the college level, before extending to secondary education," said the national coordinator of the group to the Madar21 website, stressing that "this plan has undermined the achievements of the process of Arabization of the teaching of scientific subjects in order to impose their Frenchification on students".

The teaching of scientific subjects in French has become an obligation for many students in several Moroccan regions such as "Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Casablanca, and even in certain regions of the Moroccan Sahara," the official said, stating that this imposition is "contrary to Article 5 of the Moroccan Constitution and Framework Law 51.17, which elevates the Arabic and Amazigh languages to the rank of official languages".

This latter text "enshrines the principle of linguistic alternation, i.e. the possibility of teaching scientific and technical subjects in other languages, without excluding the Arabic language or confining these subjects to the French language alone," he explains, warning that "the Frenchification of education will increase the school and university dropout rate, due to the low level of French language training in our education system".

The coordinator also denounces a "linguistic colonialism of Moroccans" with the imposition of French, calling for the opening of "university scientific programs in the Arabic language, as stipulated in Framework Law 51.17," a law that "provides for the creation of university units in scientific disciplines in the Arabic language, which has not yet been implemented to date".