The Moroccan minister for Moroccans Living Abroad, Abdellatif Mâazouz, is pressing governments in Europe to make the teaching of Arabic a standard part of the European school curriculum.

For several months he and his governement have been undertaking a veritable cultural offensive to impose the Arabic language in the educational curricula of European countries, alongside English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and/or Mandarin.

“A special effort is made on the cultural level and on the level of language teaching…” explains the minister. His activism is starting to bear fruit, as he insists the “voice [of the Moroccan government] is starting to be heard, especially in France, which will soon announce something in this vein,” even going on to enlarge his listening audience to “the EU too”.

…The objective is that young people of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations remain attached to Morocco not only in their thoughts and hearts, but through culture,” explains the minister.

…For the idea of teaching Arabic as a foreign language to hit the target, the strategy of the minister is simple:
“We sell the idea that there are almost 4 million Moroccans living in Europe, 600 million Arabic-speakers across the world, and that Europeans and others must know this language, even if only to get to know some of their citizens better,” he argues.

The Moroccan diplomat’s communication tactic is effective since, based on the figures, and highlighting the mutual interests of the Arab and European countries, it reinforces the legitimacy of the demand that Arabic be included in the European educational curricula. MORE

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