Moroccans demand English replace French as country's first foreign language

Moroccans have taken to social media to demand that English replace French as the country's first official foreign language.

Using a hashtag - which translates to #YesToEnglishInsteadOfFrenchInMorocco - Moroccans have argued that French is outdated, limited in its influence, and is the language of the "coloniser".

A campaign has started for English to take its place as Morocco's second language due to its wider reach and use in the sciences.

"Even the French people admit the importance of English, so why don't we just move on?" said Twitter user @Tarikilla.

AJI, an educational page on Facebook with the stated aim of simplifying Sociology, said in a statement that "English is the path to success in any field, as it is a language of science and most people in the world speak it".

لا توقفوا الهاشطاگ عسى ان ينظر في الامر ، و ندعو الشباب ان يتعلم الانجليزية بوموازاة مع لغات أخرى ، دون التفريط في لغاتنا الوطنية العربية و الأمازيغية. #نعم_للإنجليزية_بدل_الفرنسية_بالمغرب https://t.co/cobHvlnYXX

— 🇲🇦Khalifa Anid🇲🇦 (@AnidKhalifa) September 19, 2021

Twitter user Khalifa Aneed also encourages Twitter users to continue using the hashtag "so that the matter may be looked into".

The use of English would also be less likely to endanger the use of other languages in the country, with Aneed calling on "young people to learn English in parallel with other languages, without compromising our Arab and Amazigh national languages".

Facebook account, 'Kingdom of Morocco', which describes itself as a media company, said "mastering the English language will open doors and indescribable opportunities for Moroccan students".

However, the account also said French was important in allowing Moroccans to communicate with people from the West African nations of Senegal and Mali.

There was online uproar last week when reports emerged that the Islamic Education was removed from primary and secondary school exams as part of new procedures coming into effect this academic year.

Morocco's education ministry later denied the claims.

In the wake of Morocco's recent elections, the country's political parties will be expected to adopt a charter for "new models of development" and "new generation of reforms and projects" in the coming years, the king announced recently.