Sidi Ifni- Morocco- Mohammed El Ouafa, the Minister of Edcuation denied on Thursday the rumor regarding his alleged decision to teach scientific subjects in French instead of Arabic.
Sidi Ifni- Morocco- Mohammed El Ouafa, the Minister of Edcuation denied on Thursday the rumor regarding his alleged decision to teach scientific subjects in French instead of Arabic.
This rumor has created an uproar among Moroccans, many of whom denounced such an alleged decision.
Commenting on this rumored decision, some inspectors castigated the use of French and explained that we should try to value Arabic as Egypt does in teaching medicine, but the Ministry once again falls prey to using what many call “the language of the colonizer.”
“Why should we use French to teach Physics? Arabic is not too poor to serve the purpose. In Egypt, for instance, students study medicine in Arabic and yet, they excel at that,” Mohamed Makhtari, a Physics teacher from Ifni, told MWN.
“Whenever the education system grows more deplorable, the Ministry comes up with untested solutions. Do they think that by changing the language we use to teach these subjects, we will succeed in reforming education? Language is just a means to an end, they must bear in mind,” Amina Kouda, a science teacher, told MWN.
“While developed countries, such as France and England, pride themselves in teaching scientific subjects using their own languages, Morocco intends to resort to French to supplant the alleged failure of Arabic, its official language, in serving the purpose,” several math graduates told MWN.
The circular continues to receive much criticism from high school teachers, inspectors, trainers, university teachers, and linguistic specialists.
“Instead of going forward and reforming education in more practical ways, we are going backwards and making the same mistake we made after Independence. If we give value to Arabic, this is a way of reforming education,” a teacher trainer posted on his Facebook wall upon hearing the news.
“Changing the official language and opting for that of the colonizer will not change anything,” he added.
Yet, there are some Moroccan Francophones who welcomed the idea, pointing out that French is stronger and more vivid in the teaching of scientific subjects.
“Math, Physics and Science contain countless technical words in French. Translating all that in Arabic leads to losing the exact meaning; these subjects are originally taught in French and English. French-based signs are proof to this,” Abdelhak Tijani, a teacher of French from Tiznit, in southern Morocco, told MWN.
Even though this circular is still in the process of experimentation, and the Ministry suggested calling on the concerned teachers to try their hands at this attempt, a number of language experts and inspectors of science subjects wrote through forums that adopting French will neither change the current situation, nor help in reforming education.
“As I explained in many seminars, a language is just a tool. No language is better than another. Instead, we must work on other areas of reforming, not on changing languages,” Lahcen Boutrouch, an Arabic teacher trainer from Inzegane’s (near Agadir) training center told MWN.
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