Flawed French handicaps young Moroccan job-seekers
2009-10-27
Because many employers are looking for candidates with strong skills in spoken and written French, young Moroccans with limited language abilities are having difficulty finding work.
By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 27/10/09
 [Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images] Students are still struggling to master French, which many jobs in Morocco still require. |
Young graduates who lack solid French-language skills are finding the Moroccan job market hard to navigate, as French still plays a critical role in business and administration.
The problem stems from ongoing efforts to standardise Arabic-language instruction that began in the 1980s, according to experts in the field. These "Arabisation" efforts decreased the emphasis on learning French.
Amine K. graduated with a business degree, but has struggled to find work for two years because most of the available jobs require him to speak and write French.
"I understand the language very well, and when I was at school, several subjects were taught in French. But my spoken and written French skills aren't great," said the job-hunter.
Amel, a young graduate in business management, is in the same boat. She acquired considerable technical skills at a public university, but ran into difficulties when looking for a job.
"I'm always told that I have to have a perfect command of French [to be considered for the position]," she said. "I'm currently attending special classes so that I can get a job and put my two years of unemployment behind me. I also need to improve my knowledge of English, because that's a great asset."
Hicham Bajidi, a human resources manager who works for a company in Rabat, said that finding young people who are fluent in French is hard these days.
"There are plenty of young graduates who are competent but can't communicate in French, and this is an essential skill, because it's the language of administration. So it's a real handicap for them," said the manager.
Leaders in the field of education are well aware of the language issue, and convened a conference to address the problem on Wednesday (October 20th). Abdellatif El Moudni, who serves as the interim secretary-general of the High Council of Education, acknowledged the importance of devoting more resources to language instruction.
"Language-learning is a major cross-cutting issue for the national education and training system and has a direct impact on its internal and external effectiveness, as well as on the economic, social, political, cultural and scientific sectors," he said at the two-day event.
Abderrahmane Rami, the head of the International Laboratory for Research on Education and Training, says that the stalling of the "Arabisation" process has greatly hindered efforts to improve teaching quality. In his view, the failure of Arabisation is due to the lack of a clear educational strategy.
"It was difficult to classify French, and at the same time, it was impossible to implement Arabisation for all curricula," said the education expert. He also said that the lack of teacher training is another problem affecting language-learning in Moroccan schools.
According to Rami, the amount of time spent learning languages at primary school is just 1,200 hours for Arabic and 825 hours for French, while the international standard for language-learning demands 2,500 hours per language.
Experts and teachers who participated in the conference recommended the creation of an integrated language teaching system, which would require changes to both timetables and staffing levels.
They also suggested that pupils should be offered a choice of languages in their studies, and that an additional emphasis on languages is needed at the level of secondary education.
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BMFA Posted 25 days ago
And they say that the “leaders” are moreover requiring young generations to learn the Berber dialect!? In terms of politics and schooling, this is a bunch of nonsense! This is most surely something to study for. As the other one above said, poor Morocco! Poor Moroccans!
Hatim Posted 24 days ago
Please do not change the spelling of names for reasons that we do not know. There are no women in Morocco named “Amel”, but “Amal”! –Thank you
manmanousi Posted 23 days ago
It is true we have many hurdles in French. We hope our problem will be solved because it has become the sole hurdle in our future. What can we do? We really need help. I wish for help from the bottom of my heart. Thanks to everyone who reads this call.
hanane Posted 21 days ago
Salam alikum. I want to learn Dutch but I found it a bit difficult. What can I do?
khalid filali Posted 21 days ago
Miss Siham Ali’s article is excellent. It deals with an extremely sensitive subject to a degree that the Minister of Higher Education would not dare. The situation with teaching languages in high-schools and preparatory schools, where young people are being prepared for higher education and thus for their active lives, is very clear: Group 1 – Private (Paid) Education: Certain programmes and private schools teach Arabic, French and English. The education is proper and they cram so as to be pushed in the direction of Moroccan and foreign colleges or med schools. Everything there is taught in French. The students succeed without too much difficulty and have the key to great employment opportunities when they finish. Group 2 – State Education: There is a predominance of classical Arabic, which no one speaks outside of the classroom. Human resources are weak both in quantity and in quality. The teaching of French is reduced to a bare minimum. Although the teachers prove their goodwill, they are not expert enough in their subjects. The students who do get into higher education do not master literary Arabic or French. In this case, how can they survive where everything in is French? Some of them succeed, more or less thanks to language courses, but upon arrival in the working world, they are generally incapable of writing a report or holding a meeting or making a public speech. In a difficult job market, where the use of French dominates, the young people of Group 2 are disadvantaged. The decision-makers often prefer to hire those in Group 1, especially as they themselves come from this group. The rest remain unprepared for the realities and the requirements of the market and content themselves with continuing to… remain that way. And this is all thanks to whom? It is thanks to the politicians.
ghizlan Posted 21 days ago
Honestly, the problem of the French language has become, for me and for most young Maghreb people, a hurdle to achieving their ambitions and goals. Unfortunately, this problem has caused me to despair of getting a suitable job, even though I have a university diploma. I hope that a solution will be found to this problem very soon so that the efforts of young Moroccans won’t be wasted. Thank you.
moroccan patriot Posted 20 days ago
Moroccan should stop learning French in school. Forcing Moroccans to learn French serves only to benefit the current power structure of corruption and nepotism and is yet another tentacle in the monster known as neo colonialism. French is a dying language. Moroccan students should study Arabic and English only. Most standardized exams to get into top notch universities are in English. Most Phd programs are administered in English. Most high level books in all disciplines are written in English. Why in the world should people have to learn French to get jobs??? French and Amazigh are useless languages. If you want to study either of these languages, you should retain this right, but it should be as an elective. The actual Bac exam should get rid of Arabic and French, unless they are the electives... English should be the only language that counts.
ابتسام Posted 20 days ago
I have one question. Why are Moroccans weak in French, and why this weakness?
خليل وصفي الحاج درويش Posted 18 days ago
Salam alikum. In order to get a job, regardless of its size, small or big, the applicant, man or woman, must have a very good knowledge of Arabic, English, French and computer skills. The reason is that in the world of computers, the Internet, mobiles and sudden openness, with its different forms to the world, it is necessary to attract the attention of others locally and internationally. We should begin with languages and computers, because the train of the 21st century can't wait. God grants success. Amman, Jordan.
abdelouahad Posted 15 days ago
Salam. Honestly, we also contribute to the problem because we don't read a lot. One goes abroad for 2 or one year, but we study it for at least 10 years and can't read it. Therefore, everyone of us must read even for one hour a day. If he doesn't know a word, he must check it in the dictionary, explain the word he cannot understand. In that way we would have achieved about 50% of reading. Then we can speak it.
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