The Macronization of France continues at a full speed even with the COVID-19

"While France is preparing to face the economic, psychological, human and political consequences of the Covid-19 crisis, the Head of State authorizes the teaching of Arabic at school.

On Saturday May 2 2020, as France prepares to begin its last week of confinement, a mysterious decree was published in the Official Journal. This document, signed by the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, provides for the organization, " in cooperation with the Tunisian authorities" , of "additional education in a foreign language relating to the Arabic language . " According to the legislation, this educational innovation would meet the requirements of " linguistic diversity in the first degree and continuity in the second. " One week before the fateful deadline of May 11, this document could launch a new controversy.

 Far from being new to the republican calendar, this decree actually corresponds to the entry into force of a Franco-Tunisian agreement dating from March 31, 2017, initiated by Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, former Minister of National Education under François Holland. Thus, in the political line of his predecessor, Emmanuel Macron is preparing to authorize the learning of the Arabic language from CE1 in French schools: "This education is accessible to all student volunteers, in agreement with their families and within the limit of available places, from the elementary class of first year to the middle class of second year ” , indicates article 2. For the most motivated, the lessons can even continue until college: “Continuity of learning will be gradually and according to local conditions, ensured at the college. "

The teaching of Arabic will however remain "optional. " However, the decree still specifies that " the results obtained by students in the context of this education [will] be taken into account in the general appreciation of their school work ". Like the Greco-Latin languages, formerly denounced as elitist by Najat Vallaud-Belkacem , Arabic could soon help some pupils accustomed to this language to consolidate their results at the end of the term. But what about the imperatives of “equality for all” put forward by the former minister?

State machinery never stops turning against France.
Not limited to a simple language course, this new subject would also aim to study the civilizations and cultures gravitating around Arabic: "This teaching offers a learning of the Arabic language which refers to the Arab culture , notably to elements of Tunisian culture ”."

LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE IN FRENCH