Map of Morocco courtesy of David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries | Source
انظروا هنا للنسخة العربية Guest Post by Meriem Sahli | In the following post, guest writer Meriem Sahli outlines important developments in education in Morocco and identifies remaining areas for improvement.
INTRODUCTION The Kingdom of Morocco is situated in the North-Western part of Africa. Its geographic location makes it both an African and an Arab-Muslim country; it is a member of the African Union and the Arab League.
This series seeks to map shifting levels of language dominance in Moroccan history in order to investigate contemporary developments in government policy. The previous post focused on Colonial Language Policy.
Nationalist Language Policy of Arabization The Moroccan constitution of 1956 names Arabic as the sole official language, and by the end of the 1950s, a project of Arabization was swiftly in place. A key component of Morocco’s Arabization project was a five-year plan for transforming the school system left by the French Protectorate.
This series seeks to map shifting levels of language dominance in Moroccan history in order to investigate contemporary developments in government policy. The previous post presents a Brief Linguistic History of Morocco.
Street sign, includes French and Arabic
Colonial Language Policy French Morocco’s first resident-general, Hubert Lyautey, relied on ethnological research to guide Protectorate policy. Georges Hardy, head of the educational service from 1920 to 1926, supervised the research. He sought to adapt Protectorate schools “to the specific characteristics of Morocco’s Muslim population,” based upon a psychological approach (Segalla 172).
Tiles in Bahia Palace, Marrakesh
Introduction This series seeks to map shifting levels of language dominance in Moroccan history in order to investigate contemporary developments in government policy. The debate over language policy is closely connected to Moroccan history. Language represents an important site of contestation in most modern states, and especially in post-colonial nations. In Morocco, the nationalist project failed to represent Imazighen (Berbers). As Amazigh (Berber) activists grew more vocal, the Moroccan government has begun developing new national language policies.
