Rabat – Moroccan youth’s growing focus on and interest in British education reflect a “shift towards English,” Lord Tariq Ahmad, the UK Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations, has said.
In an interview with Morocco World News (MWN), Lord Ahmad spoke of Moroccans’ significant attraction to British education as well as English learning.
“We see more Moroccans increasingly attracted to British Education, and to studying in English, with growing numbers of students seeking to study for a UK degree via Transnational Education programs, sit for the UK qualifications, learn English or study at a British School,” he said.
Lord Ahmad made his remarks during a visit to take part in the fourth session of the Morocco-UK Strategic Dialogue. The visit came only a few weeks following the inauguration of Coventry University’s First UK University Campus in Morocco.
The opening coincides with a growing shift to English learning and rising demand for English language education in Morocco, particularly among youth who have been calling for education reforms.
Recalling the opening of the first Conventy University Branch in Bouskoura, Casablanca, Lord Ahemd stressed that the UK hopes to see the opening pave the way for more British universities in the North African country.
“On British schools, we have grown exponentially over the last two years with the number of British Accredited schools almost doubling from 4 to 7 across different cities with many more in the pipeline.”
A British Council report in 2022 documented the growth of interest in English learning, showing that 65% of young Moroccans regard English as important. The report includes 1,211 young urban moroccans respondents, who emphasized the importance of English as a language needed in key markets.
In addition to the education system, Morocco seeks to engage the English language in other public services, including television and news broadcasting.
On Thursday last week, Morocco’s Minister of Culture Mohamed Mehdi Benssaid announced the country’s plans to broadcast news in English on its public channels.
Bensaid added that state-owned Al-Aoula Channel is currently working on a new project to broadcast news in English, stressing that this will include covering international events inside and outside Morocco.
Beyond education
Lord Ahmad also commended trade cooperation between the UK and Morocco, recalling that the volume of trade between the two countries was estimated at a value of £2.9 billion in 2022, indicating an “incredible” increase of 53.3% from the four quarters to the end of Q3 2021.
“The business and investment ties between our two Kingdoms are booming and the UK government is determined to do all it can to make sure that this continues,” he said.
Other sectors the two governments are capitalizing on in terms of cooperation include education, healthcare, and agriculture.
“These sectors are growing rapidly within Morocco in response to exciting innovations, investment, and international demand,” he said.
Zooming in on UK-Morocco cooperation on agriculture, Lord Ahmed recalled that Morocco is the largest tomato supplier to his country. Morocco’s exports of tomato to the UK reached 30,000 tonnes in the first two months of 2023 alone, he noted, stressing that the country’s tomato exports accounted for 45% of all tomatoes that the UK imported during this period.
In addition to agriculture, the UK reiterated its ambition to see cooperation strengthened with Morocco in other sectors, including Climate and Energy.
“As a legacy of our COP26 Presidency, we are supporting Morocco’s ambitious energy transition through the Energy Transition Council which brings together all the donors in Morocco to match funds to projects to accelerate Morocco’s transition,” he said.
On Tuesday, Lord Ahmad and Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita signed a strategic cooperation framework that helps support the two countries’ cooperation in climate action, clean energy, and green growth.
