ENGLISH IN MOROCCO
MOROCCO // المملكة المغربية // KINGDOM OF MOROCCO// AL MAMLAKAH AL-MAGHRIBIYAH
INTRODUCTION AND HOME PAGE
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INTRODUCTION AND HOME PAGE
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On November 6, 1955 French Foreign Minister Antoine Pinay and Sultan Mohammed Ben Youssef signed the La Celle-St-Cloud agreements. This took place after international pressure called for Mohammed Ben Youssef, who was removed from palace and exiled to Madagascar due to his involvement with the Independent Party Istiqlal, to be reinstated. Morocco officially gained its independence on March 2, 1956 after a joint declaration was signed in Paris to replace the Treaty of Fez and 1912 protectorate.
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Antione Pinay and Mohammed Ben Youseff, 1955. Retrieved from: https://outlet.historicimages.com/products/rsd93257
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BRANCH |
ROLE |
EXECUTIVE |
The executive branch consists of a monarch and a prime minister. The king is hereditary, serves for life, and acts as a leader for politics and a Council of Ministers. The prime minister comes from the dominating party in parliament, and is appointed by the king. They serve as the head of government. |
JUDICIAL |
The judicial branch is a supreme court. Members are recommended by the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, then chosen by the king. |
LEGISLATIVE |
The legislative branch is made up of two chambers--the Majlis al-Mustacharin and the Majlis al-Nuwab. The Majlis al-Mustacharin are responsible for constitutional revisions, budgeting, bill approval, and investigations into government actions. They are elected by an indirect vote and serve for 6 years. The Majlis al-Nuwab serve for 5 years, and are elected by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. |
Morocco has a 9 year education system, with six years of primary school and three years of secondary school. The retention rate increases year by year, and in 2006 the percentage of students not continuing with their education dropped to 22 percent at the primary level. There are two systems--the Modern (influenced by the French education system) and the Original or Koranic (focusing also on Islamic law and Arab civilization to promote Arabization), with the Modern curriculum gaining popularity recently. Arabic is the main language of instruction, with French instruction beginning in third grade. Between 50 to 60 percent of students continue on to secondary education after.
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Students may take a general track for the Baccalauréate or the vocational track. Arabic is the main language of instruction; however, French is still used widely. Retention rates are around 80 percent, with about 11 percent of students pursuing tertiary or university level education. French is the primary language of instruction at universities; however, English usage is increasing in university classrooms due to the wide array of materials available in English and it's status as a language of science. Arabic is mainy used for humanities and social sciences.
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Morocco recognizes both Modern Standard Arabic and Berber (also known as Amazigh) as official languages. The Moroccan Arabic dialect is known as Darija and is the most widely used in Morocco. The most popular Berber dialect is Tashelhit.
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French is the official second language used in economics, culture, commerce, medicine, science, government, and education. Foreign languages include French, which was introduced by French colonial authorities in 1912 when Morocco became a French protectorate. When Morocco acquired sovereignty, French was still encouraged by the government to strengthen ties with France and Europe as a whole. Many Moroccans are fluent in French at a young age due to it being part of education curriculums.
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Some Moroccans also speak Spanish, due to the Western Sahara once being a Spanish province. It has been gaining popularity due to immigration between Morocco and Spain and the close proximity of these countries.
English began being promoted through national education reforms in 2002 and is used mainly in education, business, and science. |
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