Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media platform: The Degel HaTorah party, which has four members in the Knesset, announces its withdrawal from Netanyahu's cabinet.
Local Syrian sources: The raids targeted the road between the village of Al-Mazra'a and the city of Sweida, where forces and factions affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Defense are advancing.
Local Syrian sources: New raids carried out by Israeli warplanes targeted vehicles and gatherings of military factions affiliated with the new Syrian Ministry of Defense.
Local Syrian sources: Israeli raids target, for the third time, gatherings of Syrian Defense Forces military factions in the southern countryside of Sweida.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza: Gaza Strip hospitals received 120 martyrs and 557 wounded in the past 24 hours.
The Israeli Walla! website: We are running out of stockpiles, our forces are exhausted, and the lives of the captives are in danger. It is time for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Several wounded in an Israeli bombardment of a tent in al-Mawasi, south of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media: Three wounded, three killed in an ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon: Israeli artillery shelling targets the outskirts of the town of Shebaa
Al-Qassam Brigades: The targeting took place at the intersection of 'Street 5' with the western line north of Khan Younis

Algeria introduces English into schools to replace colonial French

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 7 Oct 2022 12:45
  • 4 Shares
4 Min Read

The decision to shift the language of instruction from French to English in Algeria has caused a drift between the conservatives who agree and the secular public who oppose.

  • x
  • A classroom in Algeria (AFP)
    A classroom in Algeria (AFP)

Considered a spark of hope for many, Algeria decided to begin the introduction of English lessons into primary schools as a checkmate against the decades-long prevailing language of former occupier France.

A debated issue for decades in the North African country whose official languages are Arabic and the Berbers' Tamazight, French is still widely spoken in Algeria, 60 years after independence from 132 years of colonial occupation and a brutal eight-year war at the hands of the French, who still refuse to apologize for their colonial brutality infested in their past as former occupiers in the Middle East and Africa.

Algerian daily life embodies the French language as it is the mode of instruction in schools and businesses and is spoken by millions in the Algerian diaspora, particularly in France, but that has come to stir up memories of the European nation's former days of imperialist takeover. 

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune gave an order to the Education Ministry to introduce the English language into primary school curricula which began in September - marking the first task on the checklist in a plan to expand English tuition in the coming years. This comes weeks after Tebboune labeled the French language as "war booty" in a statement to journalists in July while adding that "English is the international language."

"I want to drop the language of the colonizer and adopt the language used worldwide," said Hacene, the father of a primary student in the capital Algiers.

Tensions began in October last year between the two nations when French president Emmanuel Macron questioned the existence of an Algeria prior to French colonization by asking, "Was there an Algerian nation before French colonization?"

Another father, Farouk Lazizi whose two children attend a primary school in the capital, expressed, "Teaching English in primary school is sensible" but admitted he has mixed feelings on the decision, adding, "We need to prepare things well because most Algerian parents aren't ready to teach English to their kids."

Related News

Estonia eschews ban on phones in schools, moves into AI

Democratic States sue Trump admin. over education department closure

In a span of two months, 5,000 new teachers were hired and put on an intensive training program to catch up, as new manuals were rewritten and distributed to schools. As a result, the Education Ministry confirmed job applications submitted by 60,000 people for jobs requiring an undergraduate degree in English or translation.

The process was criticized as being so rushed that translators who "aren't even trained to teach" were recruited to expand and make up for the scarcity of English-speaking teachers, according to linguist Abderzak Dourari.

Concerns worry education specialists regarding the challenges posed by adding another language to schools above Arabic, Tamazight, French, and now English, even if the flaws are phased out, as Ahmed Tessa, a pedagogy expert and former English teacher says, "Teaching four languages to primary school children will confuse them."

'French has done its time'

The decision was labeled as "overdue" by Sadek Dziri, a member of UNPEF, a powerful teachers' union, who also glorified English as "the language of science and technology," while an anonymous parent described French as the "language of the colonizer," adding that it "hasn't brought good results."

Teachers such as Abdelhamid Abed, who teaches English at an Algiers middle school, joined in on the argument that "French has done its time," and that "we shouldn't see this question in terms of rivalry between French and English but from a practical standpoint."

Although it would be considered a positive move for the country, Dourari said the shift would be hard to instantly execute since Algeria's history and cultural-economic ties are dependent on France, as he noted, "There's an Algerian diaspora of more than eight million living in France... there are mixed families, who come and go."

Macron attempted to rebuild ties with Algeria in August this year during a three-day trip he made to the country and after Tebboune withdrew his country's ambassador and banned French military aircraft from its airspace.

Tessa relayed the message that President Tebboune's "war booty" remark demonstrated the benefits Algeria has reaped from having French in its "institutional and socio-economic life," as he continued, "Those who are hostile to French believed it would be dropped entirely from primary school curricula... they're dreaming of seeing it disappear."

  • Education
  • Abdelmadjid Tebboune
  • French
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • English
  • France
  • Colonialism
  • schools
  • Algeria

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS