Further to the news that Morocco will be increasing the number of English teachers in the country’s middle schools, which we reported on the EL Gazette website (Morocco moving toward English), Morocco’s Ministry of Education has now announced that science will be taught in English in primary and middle schools.
As reported in Morocco’s e-newspaper, Hespress, on 21 October, the race toward English is speeding up, with a Ministry spokesperson saying, “The Ministry believes that the English language can become the first foreign language within two years.”
Until now, French has been the second language, after Arabic, in the country. During King Hassan II’s reign, which ended with his death in 1999, there was a move away from the colonial language and all state education was delivered in Arabic. However, three years ago French was decreed the language of scientific education in the North African Kingdom.
However, not everyone is happy about this change in emphasis on languages, as both teachers and parents have been voicing their annoyance at the shifting parameters. As reported by The New Arab, a middle school maths teacher said, “As a teacher who studied French at university, I put a great effort into learning how to teach mathematics in Arabic. Then we went back to French. And now I must learn English. This is unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, science teachers must now begin up to eight hours of training a week to acquire the skills to teach in English.
