Darija in education divides Moroccans

Morocco is increasingly laced with a heated debate about the introduction of dialectal Arabic “Darija”
in school curriculum which has dramatically divided partisans and conservatives. Moroccans speak Berber and
Darija. It is a language that has kept changing along with the country's development. The dialectal Arabic or
Darija is a mixture of French, Spanish Berber and classical Arabic and varies from one region to another. […]

Among the staunch supporters of education in Darija is Noureddine Ayouch who is the founder of the
Zakoura Education foundation. Ayouch argues that teaching Darija will help resolve the crisis of education
because the dialect is spoken by the majority of Moroccans. […]

Darija supporters claim that the Moroccan dialect can easily substitute the classical Arabic in education
because it is used everywhere, including the parliament. “Moroccans talk daily in Darija. It is the language of
creation par excellence whether it is oral or written. We tend to believe that Darija should only be used orally.
This is not true. It can be also used in the production of novels and plays. Today, Darija is widely developed in
advertising, communication, theatre and cinema,”Ayouch told the Moroccan NGO “Marocains Pluriels.” […]

Defenders of classical Arabic argue that teaching in Darija will only destroy the language of the Holy
Koran and plunge education into the abyss. “I am against Darija being taught at school because of many
reasons,” said Ahmed Mansoury who is the director of studies at Jeanne d’Arc school in Casablanca. “Darija
differs from one city to another and from one region to another. The question is which one will be used for
teaching,” Mansoury said. […]

“There are no grammar rules for Darija. Furthermore, it’s very difficult to include Darija as a universal
language because it simply has no basis unlike the classical Arabic whose words have their
equivalent in other languages,” said Mansoury.
Taken from: https://middle-east-online.com (modified)

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