“It’s a matter of principle“. The mayor of Marignane is categorical, he does not want Arabic language course on extracurricular time in his schools. “VSit would be Chinese or whatever, it would be the same“says the first magistrate of the city.
However, the parents of students from two schools are demanding and rely on a device that dates from the 70s and 80s, recently reorganized, and which allows them to request lessons given on the extracurricular time of the children, within the establishments themselves. , from CE1. This teaching initially entitled “languages and cultures of origin“should enable children of immigrant origin to better structure their integration.
The town hall has received an official request from the Algerian consulate based in Marseilles to appoint literary Arabic teachers in the Marie Curie school and the Chave school.
A threat to secularism?
For Eric Le Dissès, there is no question of it: “it’s the responsibility of the town hall, it’s me who decides and it’s no. We already spend a lot of money on subsidies to associations that fight against illiteracy for people who speak Arabic better than French. It seems totally illogical to me to give Arabic language lessons in schools at the same time. It is not for the schools of the republic to do this but to families.”
Eric Le Dissès also did not appreciate that it was the Algerian consulate in Marseille who appointed the teacher to teach the lessons: “Let’s put a stop to the hypocrisy, in these courses we take the opportunity to approach and teach religion“.
However, the system of International Foreign Language Teaching is framed and precise: ” The EILE is a language teaching, provided on the basis of a program. _No EILE teacher teaches a religion_. Like any teacher, the EILE teacher is bound to respect secularism. Under no circumstances may he give religious instruction or proselytism.”
Improvement of modern language skills and enrichment of personality
In Marignane, some approve of the mayor’s decision, others, on the contrary, regret it, because this device can allow children to better structure their personality : “Me, for various reasons I could not learn Arabic when I was young, now with some old uncles of my family I can no longer communicate, I feel excluded, it’s a shame“says Rafik, French of Algerian origin.
For Jacqueline, from a Spanish family who arrived in Provence, it is also a chance to learn the language of her country of origin during extracurricular time: “_my parents did not teach me academic Spanish but a patois_, I learned words that were wrong.”
And Francis to conclude: “our country is cosmopolitan, it’s a chance, these courses can allow children from immigrant backgrounds to feel that we are interested in them, it can allow them to exchange with the old ones who have been settled here for a long time and who have not necessarily learned French well, it can create a bond and I only see good in it.”