Tinejdad, Morocco- The Ministry of Education signed an agreement with British Council Morocco on Friday to introduce an “English option” to the Moroccan International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
In a ceremony held on Friday in Rabat, the Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, Rashid Ben Moukhtar, signed a new partnership agreement with Martin Rose, the head of British Council Morocco, to establish the Moroccan International Baccalaureate English option.
Under this agreement, the new baccalaureate will initially be adopted in three high schools in Rabat, Casablanca, and Tangier starting with twelve classes in common core (six in science and six in arts and humanities branches).
According to the Ministry of National Education, the same accredited programs will be adopted for the English option, with an increase in the allotted time for English language classes and gradually adopting English as a medium of teaching other school subjects.
The new program is intended to “foster the ministry’s policy seeking to diversify high school diplomas by integrating all foreign languages adopted in the Moroccan education programs,” said the Ministry in a press release carried by Maghreb Arab Press (MAP).
The Ministry has previously introduced the Moroccan International Baccalaureate for both French and Spanish options.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) has described this initiative of generalizing the International Baccalaureate for Moroccan high schools proposed by Ben Mokhtar’s department as “a grave violation of the national sovereignty” and “a humiliation of the Arabic language.”
Edited by Darren Raspa