Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- The Moroccan Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, Rachid Belmokhtar, said that the Moroccan Ministry of Education has decided that the English language will be taught from now on starting from the fourth year of primary school.
“English will be taught starting from the fourth year of primary school,” Belmokhtar said in a press conference today.
Belmokhtar added that the decision to teach English from primary school falls within the Ministry’s strategic vision 2015-2030, a vision that puts a high priority on scientifically reforming the methods of teaching foreign languages in Morocco’s public schools, especially that studies have revealed that the current methods used are ineffective.
It is worth reminding that the current Moroccan government has been a staunch supporter of the adoption of English instead of French, even though concrete steps to instill this language as a first foreign language in the Kingdom are yet to take place.
Morocco’s head of the government, Mr. Abdellilhah Benkirane has even said during a meeting with members of the Justice and Development party (PJD) last year that he hopes “English will be adopted as the first foreign language in Morocco,” instead of French.
“If we have to pick between English and French, then English is the first choice as it is the lingua franca of science, technology and business,” Benkirane previously said.
The Moroccan head of the government even said that he regrets not having learned English.
“In all truthfulness, the thing I regret the most in my life is not having learned English very well, because when I go to the United Nations, I need English. When I visit Arab countries and Asian ones, I need English. And when I go to various African countries, I need English too there,” Benkirane said.
“When I go to Europe, it is the same story. I need it even when I head to Saudi Arabia,” Benkirane further noted.
The Moroccan Times.
