Morocco’s Youth Embrace English, Shifting Away from French Education

A study conducted by the British Council reveals that 40% of young Moroccans consider it more important to learn English than French. Only 10% of them lean towards the need to learn French. Those who advocate for English believe that this language is a vector of education, employment and openness to the world, reports Jeune Afrique.

Khalil is 21 years old and a 4th year student at University College London. For him, the choice was obvious, even though he went to school at the French mission in Morocco. Like him, many students prefer to pursue their studies in an Anglo-Saxon country rather than in France. For Sara Mejdoubi, researcher and director of the Languages, Cultures and Civilizations Pole at the International University of Rabat, "any linguistic strategy reflects a country’s vision".

Former diplomat Ahmed Faouzi agrees. He argues that a language "serves not only to communicate. It is also an identity marker and an ideological vector. The power of the English language, like other languages in the past, reflects the balance of power between nations, which is now in favor of the Anglo-American axis," he wrote in a column published in Medias24.

By establishing itself in the world as a privileged language for negotiations, commerce and, for some time now, for education and research, English has become an essential language in Morocco, especially since the kingdom aspires to rise to the top of the world in terms of development.

French is also losing ground because it has ceased to be attractive. There is also the tense atmosphere that has prevailed for a few years, especially around the debates on immigration and Islam in the hexagon. For Moroccan students whose parents have the means, studying in Canada or Great Britain is preferable. For Khalil, who is following an engineering program, the question does not even arise. "Already, I can choose my specialization directly, without having to wait until the third or fourth year. Then, we acquire the same knowledge as if we were in France, but here, the professors and the administration are much more accessible," he explains.

Despite this gradual replacement of French by English, Ahmed Faouzi remains convinced that French could not disappear. "French is part of our heritage, our conscious and our subconscious." He also indicates that "Moroccans have always lived in a multilingual environment. Between Arabic and French practiced by a large part of the population, Spanish spoken in the northern provinces, not to mention the different dialects like Berber, Morocco has been built around a heterogeneous linguistic identity".