Rabat’s Descartes High School Introduces Amazigh Language and Culture Program

"This is a first for Descartes High School," said IRCAM Rector Ahmed Boukous, whose institution "is mandated to establish partnerships with educational and cultural institutions and to raise awareness of the richness and diversity of Moroccan languages and cultures," according to the MAP, adding that this was the place to take stock of the activities of teaching Amazigh in this high school for this month of June, to gather the opinions of the students who took part in the workshops on teaching the Amazigh language and culture, and to engage in reflections on the prospects for collaboration between the two institutions in this matter and to present a donation of documentary funds offered by IRCAM to the high school.

"Next year, we will do everything to deepen this experience of teaching the Amazigh language. We also think that there is a cultural awareness work to be done with the teaching staff of Descartes High School because it allows expatriate teachers to better know their new cultural and linguistic reality," Ahmed Boukous committed.

For his part, Bruno Eldin, Deputy Cultural Advisor at the French Embassy in Morocco, in charge of French education, noted that this partnership is "an important moment" which "illustrates the willingness of French institutions in Morocco to be part of their mission of intercultural sharing and dialogue with Morocco." And he added: "We provide teaching of the Arabic language and culture as well as the history and geography of Morocco, and it seems interesting to us in the long term to be able to raise awareness and train our students in Amazigh history and culture."

Already, he is aware of the task: "One of the major challenges of this development is to have trained and competent teachers to teach Amazigh to students in French institutions, as well as educational resources and programs that allow the construction of a continuous curriculum," he concluded.