Rabat – The Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) partnered with Rabat’s French high school, Lycee Descartes, on Tuesday to celebrate the implementation of Amazigh language and culture into the school’s curriculum.
The inaugural ceremony allowed students to share their insight on the new linguistic and cultural opportunities that the IRCAM’s presence will provide the school.
The IRCAM’s director, Ahmed Boukous, spoke on the importance of the partnership between the cultural center and a prominent international school for Moroccan pupils.
“Next year, we will do everything to ensure that this experience of teaching the Amazigh language is deepened,” Boukous stated, noting the end of the current school year and the prospects of the coming school year.
Boukous added that, “We also believe that there is cultural awareness work to be done in the direction of the teaching staff of the Lycée Descartes because this allows expatriate teachers to better understand their new cultural and linguistic reality.”
The kingdom has continued to promote the incorporation of the Amazigh language and culture into society. In 2011, the Parliament proposed the recognition of Tamazight as an official language in Morocco. As of 2019, the government recognized the language as an official language alongside Arabic and French.
The government has continued to implement the language into government documents, public buildings, and even elementary schools.
Read also: Moroccan Government to ‘Integrate’ Tamazight as Official Language
In response to the IRCAM’s partnership with Lycee Descartes, the French embassy’s Deputy Cultural Advisor, Bruno Eldin, said the partnership “”illustrates the will of French establishments in Morocco to be part of their mission of sharing and intercultural dialogue with Morocco.”
“One of the major challenges of this development is to have teachers trained and competent to teach Amazigh to students in French schools,” Eldin added.
The 2021-2022 school year will begin on September 3 and the students of Lycee Descartes will begin learning the new Amazigh curriculum alongside the other standard curriculum.
