Last week, the Ministry of National Education, Preschool, and Sports in Rabat announced strategies to expand ELT coverage in middle schools.
Beginning this academic year, 2023-2024, English is planned to take centre-stage in classrooms. Coverage of ELT will start at 10% for seventh-grade and 50% for eighth-grade, increasing year-on-year until fully implemented by 2025-2026.
The new initiative will see English teachers undertaking 24 hours of teaching per week across 12 classes. Additionally, each grade will be expected to take two hours of English lessons per week.
In September last year, Minister of Education Chakib Benmoussa, announced he would be increasing the number of English teachers in a bid to reinforce ELT. Speaking about the new plans, he said, “our goal is to first, at the middle school level, reinforce students’ learning of the English language.”
This initiative comes at a time when Moroccan youth are expressing more desire to learn English. In a 2022 report by the British Council, they revealed 40% of young Moroccans consider English the “most important” language to learn. By comparison, just 10% thought the same for French, Morocco’s current first foreign language.
BC have said that, in Morocco, English is “growing rapidly in importance among Moroccan youth, who regard it as vital for unlocking educational, career, and cultural opportunities.”
