Is Morocco Ready to Get Rid of French Cultural Colonization?

The French conquest of Morocco began in 1907 and continued until 1934. This long period of French occupation had influenced Moroccan culture and French language had become even more important than Arabic. Not only Morocco, but most countries of the Arab Maghreb also continued to adopt French as the first foreign language since they gained independence. At a time where the majority of the world is adopting English as an international language.

However, the Maghreb countries are an exception and the adopting and speaking French in daily language has been able to impose its hegemony on the cultural and educational level, based on a political motive. But this year, days before the beginning of the school year in Morocco, campaigns on social media call for the necessity of adopting English as a first foreign language instead of French, due to several scientific and economic considerations.

 

Shakespeare vs. Molière

A large number of Moroccans launched a campaign on social networking sites, demanding the replacement of the French language, which they say is outdated, and the “adoption of English as the language of the digital era,” according to TRT. 

Many students and activists call on social media for the need to escape from French influence, considering that learning and adopting English as the first foreign language may open up future prospects for them in global job markets, and provide them with opportunities to discover new global cultures.

Moreover, learning English in schools helps the new generations acquire easier educational contents at universities, especially abroad, as they are mostly in English. Accordingly, the latest technical or scientific developments are available in a huge volume in English unlike French.

According to TRT, the latter ranks ninth in the list of the most widely spoken languages ​​in the world whereas English comes first. This is enough for Moroccans to call for the removal of French as the first foreign language in academic curricula and replacing it with English.

On his official account on Twitter, Edouard Philippe, the former French Prime Minister, confirmed that “learning English is the right way to ensure a better future.”

“Why English and Not French” is another campaign on social media that also calls for adopting English as the first foreign language instead of French explaining that it is a global language, so people can use the English language in any country in the world. English helps to open up to other cultures and to many opportunities as it has become the first language in most major institutions and companies in the world.

 

Post-Colonialism

During nearly 60 years, Morocco was under French dependence. This period was enough to let the Moroccan people adopt the French language in their daily life after the post-colonial era. 

The Moroccan “French education” started in 2015, when the former Minister of National Education, Rachid Belmokhtar, issued a memorandum in which the ministry’s regional officials demanded to “generalize” the teaching of scientific and technical subjects at secondary schools. The ministry at that time justified this decision by saying that this is a step to reform and improve and develop the educational system.

Opposition at that time were sure that there was "French lobbying " that wanted French as a language of teaching to maintain French power in Morocco. The imposing of the Molière language in the lives of Moroccans reflects the dominance and the “continued influence of Paris in the Kingdom of Morocco, even after it became independent.”

However, the French influence is gradually declining as the African countries are no longer dependent on French protection and funding. Despite its independence, Morocco is still adopting the French language as the first foreign language in educational institutes and administrations. Why? This questions how independent Morocco has become from the French colonization.

Once again, the debate returns in Morocco in terms of the French influence and its involvement over decision-making there.

The country’s elite are still attached to this European country which has a long history of massacres and war crimes in Morocco during colonialism.

The country is indirectly still occupied by French authority as “France has never managed to stay out of Africa for long.” The occupation now is represented by the inclusion of French in education curricula. Accordingly, a strong popular awareness against the policies of dependency has surfaced, and “the need for educational circles and cultural elites has begun to emerge to learn and adopt English instead of French, as it has become the language of scientific research, the labor market and technology.”

 

Old-Fashioned Government

The fifth chapter in the Moroccan constitution states that “Arabic is the official language of the state, and the Moroccan government works to protect it, and Tamazight (the Amazigh language) is also an official language of the state, as it is a common asset for all Moroccans without exception.”

Most people speak Moroccan Arabic which is a mixture of Arabic and Berber with words from French and Spanish. In schools, “children learn Standard Arabic, while students in universities study mostly in French.”

Supporters who believe that adopting French is important in the Moroccan educational system say that the adoption of French comes to reform education in Morocco, to invest in multilingual education, so that the student can choose more than one language to help them in the labor market.

“They believe that the failure of Moroccan students to learn the French language has increased the rate of economic decline and increased inequality in Morocco, where the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the unemployment rate among young people is 25% and the average annual income is approximately $ 3,440 per person, which is less than one-third of the global average.”

Moroccan researcher in political affairs, Sharifa Lemerre, says on social media that "no one can deny that French is the primary language for work in Morocco, and learning it well opens prospects for Moroccan graduates.”

She added that "the French language is indispensable even for businesses that do not require a university degree, and this can be seen, for example, for the French website of the Job Support Agency in Morocco, where the requirement to master the French language remains one of the most important criteria."

Adopting English as the first language may be a controversial issue in Morocco, especially at the beginning of every school year. Students and activists believe that it is very important to speak the language of the world and get rid of French influence and cultural colonization. On the other hand, the Moroccan state is hesitant to step ahead from French culture and dominance.