The challenges of Amazigh in education in Morocco

Abstract

After a decade of official recognition of Amazigh in Morocco, there are still many structural barriers which impede its widespread implementation in education. Specifically, teachers face a lack of resources to utilise it as the primary language of instruction, some stakeholders are reticent to recognise it as an official language, as well as the resistance from those who favour Standard Arabic (SA) as their preferred language of instruction. This study utilised quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the barriers to the implementation of Amazigh in primary schools and the effects on pupils’ academic achievement. Results from this investigation revealed that Amazigh is still not given the same status as SA in education. Therefore, the author recommends a substantial reform of its implementation to improve its use in all education levels and to bridge the achievement gap among its learners.